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| The British Amateur Space / Rocket Programme |
| THE ASPIRE I ROCKET |
ASPIRE I was started early in 1991. The project involved commitment from student groups from four
universities:
and was supported by a number of UK commercial organisations such as
British Airways, Serco Space, Irvin Emergency and Recovery Parachutes,
Reaction Engines Limited, Department of Aerospace Engineering - Bristol
University and Dynamite Nobel. This support ranged from the provision
of system components and financial aid, to access to materials,
fabrication facilities and expertise.
| AIRFRAME (BRISTOL UNIVERSITY) |
ASPIRE I was of all-aluminium construction with a carbon fibre
nosecone. It measured 1.9 metres in length and had a launch mass of 21 kg. It was powered by a solid rocket motor with a total impulse of9100 Newton seconds.
| AVIONICS (BATH UNIVERSITY) |
ASPIRE I carried an avionics package consisting of a flight
computer using a Z-80 CPU, 2 backup parachute timers, onboard data
recorders utilising a tape system and the telemetry system (operating
at 136 MHz).
| PAYLOADS (KENT UNIVERSITY) |
The payloads carried were a 35 mm stills camera, and a
nephelometer. The avionics system also carried sensors to measure
temperature, pressure, altitude and air speed.
| RECOVERY SYSTEM (CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY) |
The vehicle was designed to be recovered by a cruciform parachute,
deployed by a descent stabilising drogue parachute which opened at
apogee.
| THE FLIGHT |
The culmination of the year-long effort, which included the
development of an airframe, avionics package and payload, was a launch
of ASPIRE I on 26th of July,
1992. Following a successful launch, the rocket reached a height of
3.5 kilometres (11,200 feet) and a peak velocity of
Mach 1.3. The apogee was reached 25 seconds after lift-off. However, due to a change in launch angle imposed on the rocket
by the organisers just before the launch took place, the
subsequent vehicle apogee speed exceeded the design limit of the
drogue parachute. The drogue parachute separated from the main
vehicle, thus the parachute recovery system failed to deploy,
resulting in the crash landing and destruction of the
vehicle.
Although the propulsion section and fins of the rocket survived
completely intact, the payload bay was all but annihilated. All that
survived of the various on-board experiments was a single frame of
film which although slightly damaged, clearly shows the launch site
and surrounding area from a great height.
The disappointment at the loss of ASPIRE I and it's payload was soon
overshadowed by the feeling of achievement felt by all associated with
the project - the ASPIRE I team had managed to come together and solve
all the various technological and organisational difficulties
associated with a project of this nature - successfully and within an
extremely tight set of timescales.
Photograph taken from ASPIRE I
Model of ASPIRE I in Wind Tunnel at Bristol University
ASPIRE I Payload (foreground) and Avionics / Flight Computer
(background)
ASPIRE I Team
ASPIRE I Launch
ASPIRE I Payload and Avionics Bay - Following Touchdown
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