FireStorm 5 is the next proposed FireStorm rocket. It will be a multi-stage rocket built for the Estes rocket engines, and have a science payload with a data logging altimeter, timer, and temperature sensor. It will also use composite and modern building materials in it's construction, including carbon fibre, aluminium, titanium, and gold. Estimated launch cost is now around £150+, so donations are essential to ensure scheduled launch for July 2012. The project will be broken down into 4 different stages of development to ensure a succesful launch:
The first stage of the project is to build and test the EIM. It will be made using a lot of composites and expensive "super materials". The main section containing most of the electronics and the batteries will be made of aluminium. It will be enclosed at both ends with carbon fibre or possibly titanium or aluminium sheet. On top of this cylinder will be a cube made from titanium surrounded by gold foil to shield it and improve thermal conductivity. Housed in the cube will be approximately 3 instruments to record and log things like altitude and temperature. The whole EIM assembly will be housed inside the PVC (TBC) payload bay of the FS5. The parachute will be attached directly to the bottom by shock cord, and at apogee, the nose cone will be jetissoned and the EIM will be the only thing recovered by parachute. The expensive, high precision and lightweight instruments take up most of the cost of the EIM, followed by the materials to be used in the construction. Designing and developing the PCBs will be done by myself, so not much money will be used here other than for a few high-precision components. It will then undergo thorough testing for consistency, latency, reliability, and a battery life/stress test. The EIM design will consist of 4 main steps:
Total estimated cost for EIM: £83
The multi-stage engine will be tested in a disposible rocket before the launch of FS5. The estes rocket motors of some variants support staging by opening the motor tube at one end, so the next engine is ignited by the exhaust from the previous. However, this process will needed to be tested for reliability, power, and altitude before using it on FS5 and either having it failing to reach predicted altitude, or loosing the expensive EIM. It will also give valuble information about the altitude and load bearing abilities, as well as overall stability of FS5. If anything fails during the engine test, another test will be carried out to attempt to rectify the problems before launching FS5. The fuel needed is as follows:
Total cost for fuel and testing: £33
Most of the material for the recovery system exists from previous FireStorm launches, so very little will have to be invested.
Approx. £20