NAU Professor Carson Pete was one of the team's clients. He provided us with important information, pointers, and recommendations for the project as a whole.

Acting as both a client and a stakeholder, the Capstone team worked directly with the NAU Rocket Club throughout the entirety of this project.

2022-2023 NASA Student Launch Competition Handbook

Click on the Handbook Cover above to view the NASA 2023 Student Launch handbook download page!

As outlined within the 2022-2023 NASA Student Launch Competition Handbook, the Rocket Payload must be capable of performing various tasks. These tasks are outlined below.

General Requirements

The Payload will be capable of remaining in launch-ready configuration on the pad for a minimum of 2 hours without losing the functionality of any critical on-board components, although the capability to withstand longer delays is highly encouraged.

Any structural protuberance on the rocket will be located aft of the burnout center of gravity. Camera housings will be exempted, provided the team can show that the housing(s) causes minimal aerodynamic effect on the rocket’s stability.

The payload shall be fully retained until the intended point of deployment (if applicable), all retention mechanisms shall function as designed, and the retention mechanism shall not sustain damage requiring repair

Teams who successfully complete a Vehicle Demonstration Flight but fail to qualify the payload by satisfactorily completing the Payload Demonstration Flight requirement will not be permitted to fly a final competition launch.

Teams who complete a Payload Demonstration Flight which is not fully successful may petition the NASA RSO for permission to fly the payload at launch week. Permission will not be granted if the RSO or the Review Panel have any safety concerns.

Recovery Requirements

The payload electrical circuits will be completely independent of any recovery system, GPS and altimeters electrical circuits.

Any payload component which lands untethered to the launch vehicle will contain an active electronic GPS tracking device.

All payload designs shall be approved by NASA. NASA reserves the authority to require a team to modify or change a payload, as deemed necessary by the Review Panel, even after a proposal has been awarded.

Teams shall design a payload capable upon landing of autonomously receiving RF commands and performing a series of tasks with an on-board camera system. The method(s)/design(s) utilized to complete the payload mission shall be at the team’s discretion and shall be permitted so long as the designs are deemed safe, obey FAA and legal requirements, and adhere to the intent of the challenge.

The payload shall not be jettisoned.

Radio Frequency Command (RAFCO) Requirements

Launch Vehicle shall contain an automated camera system capable of swiveling 360º to take images of the entire surrounding area of the launch vehicle.

The camera shall have the capability of rotating about the z axis. The z axis is perpendicular to the ground plane with the sky oriented up and the planetary surface oriented down.

The camera shall have a FOV of at least 100º and a maximum FOV of 180º.

The camera shall time stamp each photo taken. The time stamp shall be visible on all photos submitted to NASA in the PLAR.

The camera system shall execute the string of transmitted commands quickly, with a maximum of 30 seconds between photos taken.

NASA Student Launch Management Team shall transmit a RF sequence that shall contain a radio call sign followed by a sequence of tasks to be completed.

The NASA Student Launch Management Panel shall transmit the RAFCO using APRS.

NASA will use dedicated frequencies to transmit the message. NASA will operate on the 2-Meter amateur radio band between the frequencies of 144.90 MHz and 145.10 MHz. No team shall be permitted to transmit on any frequency in this range. The specific frequency used will be shared with teams during Launch Week. NASA reserves the right to modify the transmission frequency as deemed necessary.

The sequence of time-stamped photos taken need not be transmitted back to ground station and shall be presented in the correct order in your PLAR.

The list of potential commands to be given on launch day along with their radio transcriptions which shall be sent in a RF message using APRS transmission in no particular order are:

A1—Turn camera 60º to the right.

B2—Turn camera 60º to the left.

C3—Take picture.

D4—Change camera mode from color to grayscale.

E5—Change camera mode back from grayscale to color.

F6—Rotate image 180º (upside down).

G7—Special effects filter (Apply any filter or image distortion you want and state what filter or distortion was used).

H8—Remove all filters.

An example transmission sequence could look something like, “XX4XXX C3 A1 D4 C3 F6 C3 F6 B2 B2 C3.” Note the call sign that NASA will use shall be distributed to teams at a later time.

The NASA Management Team shall transmit the RAFCO every 2 minutes

The payload system shall not initiate and begin accepting RAFCO until AFTER the launch vehicle has landed on the planetary surface.

General Payload Requirements

Black Powder and/or similar energetics are only permitted for deployment of in-flight recovery systems. Energetics shall not be permitted for any surface operations.

Teams shall abide by all FAA and NAR rules and regulations.

Any secondary payload experiment element that is jettisoned during the recovery phase will receive real-time RSO permission prior to initiating the jettison event, unless exempted from the requirement the CDR milestone by NASA.

Unmanned aircraft system (UAS) payloads, if designed to be deployed during descent, will be tethered to the vehicle with a remotely controlled release mechanism until the RSO has given permission to release the UAS.

Teams flying UASs will abide by all applicable FAA regulations, including the FAA’s Special Rule for Model Aircraft (Public Law 112–95 Section 336; see https://www.faa.gov/uas/faqs).

Any UAS weighing more than .55 lbs. shall be registered with the FAA and the registration number marked on the vehicle.