Purdue Space Program: A SEDS Chapter

Two posts in two days - this is some kind of record for me! Even though I'm 2 months late, I wanted to give a recap of my year as Project Manager of Purdue Space Program: A SEDS Chapter's Spaceport America Team. In the fall, we recruited a record number of new members, as well as a record number of women. Our newcomers worked to plan, build, and launch their first rocket, Hyperfrank, to an apogee of over 10,000 ft, getting hands-on experience while learning the basics of rocketry. For the 2024 Spaceport America Cup, the team successfully went through 3 design reviews, months of designing, planning, and fundraising, and months of building for Project Midas, testing out new concepts like hand-made tip-to-tip composite fins and a 3D printed avionics sled. We collaborated with PSP Sats for our payload - a structural vibration and verification test for the housing of their future customer-decided sattelite payloads. PSP Spaceport successfully completed a test launch of Midas in April, going to an apogee of ~7500 feet and testing the functionality of the rocket as a whole to prepare us for the real deal in June. A group of 22 members and mentors travelled to Las Cruces, New Mexico in late June this summer to attend the 2024 Spaceport America Cup. The team networked with thousands of students from around the world and industry representatives, presented our project to judges, and even got 2 on-the-spot recognitions from the judges for exterior rocket design and team-wide preparadness during poster judging! On Wednesday of competition week, Midas launched in the first volley of 10k COTS rockets to an official apogee of 10,060 feet. Though the recovery wasn't as ideal, every other aspect of the rocket worked in beautiful harmony as intended. The team ended up placing 8th in our category and 13th overall! I genuinely could not be more proud of every member of the team and their dedication, tenacity, and ingenuity. Despite setbacks and time crunches, we represented once again the quality and pride of Purdue Engineering both on and off the launch pad. This team holds some of my best memories of college so far. Special shout-out to Jackson Warren and Neer Patel for being my partners in crime this year, as well as Zachary Noller for keeping our budget on track. Other huge thank-yous to Joshua Anderson, Ben Murdock, and Christopher Nilsen for your invaluable mentorship and help. I cannot wait to see what Tim Zyla and Merritt Alspaugh do as next year's leaders - I have nothing but confidence that they will take the team to even greater heights!

I'm thrilled to be at Small Satellite Conference (SmallSat) this week representing Purdue Space Program: A SEDS Chapter's Satellite team and Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). My co-author Nathan Drzadinski and I will be presenting on our conference paper: Achieving Low-Cost, High-Reliability Payload Services Through a Collegiate Approach Using Standardized Satellite Bus Architecture. (SSC24-P4-13). Visit us in the USU Fieldhouse Wednesday afternoon or reach out anytime, we'd love to connect!

This past school year, I had the pleasure of acting as the Project Manager for Purdue Space Program: A SEDS Chapter Student Launch Team. In this challenge, we had less than 9 months to design, build, test, and fly a vehicle with an L-class motor to deploy a lander during descent. This role was extremely rewarding, allowing me to hone my skills as an engineer while teaching me all about the highs and lows of managing a large team and continuing my passion of rocketry. I’m very proud to announce that this year we were one of twelve teams who were able to deploy their payload during the competition week at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with our final ranking being placed 7th out for 68 teams! I’m incredibly proud for everything this team has accomplished, keeping a great attitude in the face of multiple shipping delays, machining issues, and component failures. Each time we were able to rally (sometimes taking all night!) and successfully repair and complete the vehicle for a successful competition season! This year was definitely one for the books and I can’t wait to see what next year’s team does!

You carried us through! Donors gave nearly $1.2 million in 24 hours just for #PurdueAAE on #PurdueDayofGiving — and Purdue Space Program was the #2 student organization! You are amazing! THANK YOU! https://buff.ly/3waKxX4

Who's got killer selfies? #PurdueAAE Boilermakers do! On launch pads, flight lines, test cells, vehicle recovery sites, as analog — wherever you are, share your best selfie and help us win $750 in bonus funds this hour! Be sure to use #PurdueAAE and #PurdueDayofGiving in your post.