Student Projects

NUSTARS Rocket Team (2024-2025)

Project Manager

Tara Saxena, NUSTARS

Amount Requested

$5,000

Summary

Northwestern University’s Space Technology and Rocketry Society (NUSTARS) is the premier aerospace organization at Northwestern dedicated to rocketry, aerospace engineering, and experimental space technology. Our mission is to advance aerospace at Northwestern and equip undergraduate students with hands-on experience and industry skills.

The NASA Student Launch Initiative (NASA SL) is the main project of the rocketry branch of NUSTARS. Through this project, undergraduate students have the opportunity to design and manufacture a rocket and payload to meet competition objectives that are closely aligned with the challenges of NASA’s Artemis missions. Last year, the payload challenge focused on designing a non-parachute alternative for a human landing system, and although this year’s challenge has yet to be released, we expect an open-ended problem that allows for creative solutions. Participating in this competition requires extensive engineering work including design, CAD, simulations, manufacturing, testing, and documentation. This comprehensive experience equips members with valuable skills and fosters teamwork, preparing them for industry and enhancing their coursework through practical projects. An equally important part of the NASA SL competition is the extensive documentation—proposals, design reviews, and launch assessments—justifying the safety and effectiveness of our project. This work will be assessed by NASA judges, providing valuable feedback and opportunities for students to practice their technical presentation skills.

After completing the NASA SL competition for the first time since 2020, NUSTARS is eager to build off the momentum and contribute to enhancing the Northwestern undergraduate aerospace engineering experience. NUSTARS is currently designing a novel Active Drag System (ADS) for altitude control and has helped initiate a partnership with Illinois Institute of Technology for physical wind tunnel testing. Additionally, NUSTARS plans to expand the reach of its middle school STEM engagement rocketry programs by partnering with other community organizations in the Chicago area to increase the excitement and opportunities for learning about aerospace engineering.

NUSTARS welcomes and values all members, irrespective of their grade or experience level. We hope that through NUSTARS, undergraduate students can practically explore their interests in aerospace engineering, find a community with older students with similar interests, and inspire younger members of our community. Through the team’s efforts on the NASA SL this year, NUSTARS will not only be able to help current Northwestern undergraduates gain industry experience but also provide the framework for future students to access these resources. As the home of aerospace, an investment in NUSTARS is an investment in the future of engineering at Northwestern.

Planned Activities/Investments

The primary goal of the Rocket Team is competing in the NASA SL competition. The team will be conducting design work and education for new members until the end of the fall quarter, then will transition to manufacturing and testing during the winter quarter and finally compete at the beginning of the spring quarter.

The Rocket Team has already begun work for next year’s NASA SL competition in the form of our novel Active Drag System (ADS) for altitude control. This system works to ensure the rocket reaches the desired maximum altitude by removing energy during flight through flaps that deploy from the rocket airframe. Members have been working on rapid prototyping of possible mechanical designs, analyzing the viability of these designs using CFD and FEA simulations, and researching possible control systems with the help of McCormick faculty. These efforts lead towards physical testing of the aerodynamics of the ADS system using a wind tunnel in partnership with Illinois Institute of Technology.

Once the competition cycle officially starts in the fall, the Rocket Team will hit the ground running with a four-week education program to train new members in rocket design, manufacturing, and technical communication. The basics of aerodynamics, CAD, assembly integration, and the NASA SL competition will be covered. The program will culminate in each new member writing a small justification of a component on our 2025 NASA SL rocket and payload for the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) at the end of October.

After the PDR, new and returning members will partner up in a newly implemented buddy system to finish designing and manufacturing the rocket and payload. Each subsystem is carefully designed using industry-standard software, then prototyped and iterated upon using the tools in the Ford shop, and finally manufactured using advanced techniques like CNC milling and carbon fiber filament winding. Through this process, team members will gain valuable practical engineering skills about how to turn an idea into a final product, work with others to improve and integrate their designs into a larger project, and make adjustments when things go wrong. Members will get the opportunity to see the culmination of their hard work through numerous test flights to validate the feasibility of each component throughout winter quarter and the final competition in early April.

In tandem with this design work, the Rocket Team will be conducting an extensive STEM engagement program with local middle schools and community organizations to promote interest in aerospace engineering. Team members work hands-on with middle and high school students on rocket building and answer questions about what engineering is like.

Impact

The Rocket Team and its efforts to compete in the NASA SL competition will provide immense value to students interested in aerospace, the Mechanical Engineering Department in McCormick, and local middle and high schoolers who participate in the STEM engagement program.  

The NASA SL competition is a unique opportunity for students at Northwestern to practically engage in aerospace engineering, learn the basic skills required to work on an engineering team, and make valuable connections with peers who have spent time in the aerospace industry and research. Previous students have found membership integral to the start of their careers at companies both inside and outside of aerospace, like SpaceX, Anduril, Boeing, and many National Laboratories. The impact on students will be quantified through membership and member retainment on the Rocket Team and discussions with alumni about how NUSTARS impacted their career paths and goals.

NUSTARS serves McCormick by helping the school meet the rapidly growing aerospace interest at Northwestern. The NASA SL is a great recruitment tool for engineering both for prospective and current students, and many current members specifically chose McCormick engineering due to the work of NUSTARS. It serves as a lower-commitment avenue for underclassmen in mechanical engineering to explore a possible concentration. This impact will be quantified through membership in NUSTARS, the number of students who declare an aerospace concentration, and the success of initiatives that NUSTARS promotes, like the recent pending agreement for wind tunnel access with Illinois Institute of Technology.   

Finally, the Rocket Team will directly impact the local middle and high school students at the community organizations it works with in the STEM engagement program. In addition to helping to encourage interest in aerospace and STEM in general, planned activities with a local Scouts of America division will enable the scouts to gain their rocketry patches. This impact will be quantified through how many children participate in the program and the number of rocketry patches awarded.

Deliverables

Our main deliverables will be what we submit to the NASA SL - a launch vehicle, payload matching the competition specifications, and competition documentation. This documentation includes the Design Proposal, Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), Flight Readiness Report (FRR), and Post-Launch Assessment Review (PLAR).  As part of the competition launch vehicle, we will also complete the development and integration of the ADS. The team also aims to interact with at least 250 middle and high school students through our STEM engagement initiative. Additionally, we will be actively producing social media content and updating the NUSTARS website throughout the competition cycle. Our last deliverable will be the feedback from NASA engineers on our competition entry and subsequent final placement.

Sustainability

NUSTARS aims to be the home for all undergraduate aerospace activity for many years. This year, we attracted over 90 members, and out of those members, we have cultivated a strong corps of returning members to preserve and pass on the skills and technical knowledge developed in the club. This expertise extends into our alum network, and this year we had multiple events where NUSTARS alums came to share their experiences and industry knowledge. To fund this continual transfer of knowledge and experience, we plan to supplement our Murphy funding with MSAB grants and corporate sponsorships. Currently, we receive in-kind donations from companies like Onshape, which allows us to use industry-standard software at no cost. We are currently in discussions to expand our corporate network with companies such as Ansys and Lockheed Martin, and plan to attract more monetary and in-kind donations through a sponsorship package that is in development. We are also contacting our alumni to invite them to more events, with one planned for homecoming. These efforts will work in tandem to ensure that NUSTARS retains the funds and knowledge to continue promoting aerospace at Northwestern.

Previous Projects

With the help of Murphy Society funding, the rocket team competed in NASA SL for the first time since the pandemic, where we placed 11th out of over 50 teams. We constructed Chrysalis, an over-10-ft., 45-lb. rocket that flew to 5,000 feet with a custom deployable fixed wing glider inside that was ejected upon descent. Both the launch vehicle and payload were constructed entirely in-house by students in the Ford Prototyping Shop and North Garage spaces. The rocket featured many newly designed systems, like swappable fin clamps, that made it almost entirely modular and repairable. Chrysalis flew eight times - more than any previous NUSTARS project - including the culmination of the project in Huntsville, Alabama, where team members got the opportunity to present their work to fellow universities and NASA engineers. All of this work was documented through 4 detailed technical reports submitted to and approved by NASA. In addition to Chrysalis, NUSTARS was able to impact 144 middle and high school students through its STEM engagement program. Competing in the 2024 NASA SL helped NUSTARS train its team of over 65 percent new members, giving them valuable knowledge for future careers in aerospace research or industry.

Budget Overview

• Full Scale Launch Vehicle - $ 5,500.00

  • launch vehicle structures such as fins and body tubes, as well as motors, parachutes, avionics, and    structural composites

• ADS - $ 500.00

  • mechanical and electrical components – like stock metal, motors, and controller boards – of the active drag system

• Subscale Launch Vehicle - $ 250.00

  • subscale launch vehicle structures, recovery hardware, and high-powered motor

• Payload Mechanical - $ 1,000.00

  • mechanical structures of the payload, TBD until the competition is announced

• Electrical - $ 500.00

  • payload electronics, TBD until the competition challenge is announced

• STEM Engagement - $ 1,000.00

  • low power rocketry kits and snacks for students, transportation

• Safety - $ 300.00

  • PPE such as gloves and respirators

• Travel - $ 7,700.00

  • transportation, lodging, and food for flight tests and competition

• Shipping - $ 600.00

  • shipping, mainly from McMaster-Carr and speciality rocketry suppliers

Total Budget Amount: $17,350

Faculty Adviser/Department

Nick Marchuk/Mechanical Engineering