Shayne McConomy, Ph.D. ME Senior Design Coordinator
Functional Manager
Chiang Shih, Ph.D. AME Director/AIAA Advisor
Project Advisor
William Oates, Ph.D. ME Department Chair
Project Investor
Tom McKeown
Team Mentor
NASA Student launch Management Team
Fred Kepner
Project Lead
Zachary Koch
Saftey Engineer
Allison Chouinard
Logistics Coordinator
John Echart
Technical Coordinator
Tyler Sprague
Nasa Intern
About Our Project
As space exploration expands, so does the design and technology of modern high-power rocketry. The Zenith Program is a student rocket club at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. The program is led by Senior Design Team 501 competing in the NASA University Student Launch. This year’s program is set out to fly a high-power solid-fuel rocket to an altitude between 4,600 feet aboveground level. The rocket will carry a payload with a camera that will perform a series of tasks after landing. The rocket’s nose cone, fins, and tail cone are all made of 3D printed material. Store bought parts makeup most of the motor, avionics system, and parachutes. The flight computer is wired to batteries, kill switches, and ejection charges in a specific way to lessen failure points in flight controls. An Arduino Mega will control the movement of a servo motor that guides the camera device for the payload. The team will complete a series of design reviews that mirrors NASA’s industry standards. NASA Student Launch is one of eight Artemis Student Challenges. Their mission is to build knowledge and introduce students to topics, techniques, and technologies critical to the success of the agency’s Artemis program. This year the team has asked itself two main questions: how closely can we match the rocket’s flight profile to preflight computer models? Also, can we design a failure tolerant recovery system? Since this is a competition, our team will be scored at how close our predictions are to the actual flight data. Our work will support NASA’s research on reusable high-power rockets and the advancing journey of modern spaceflight. In addition, we will create a foundation for future Zenith members who would like to participate in student aerospace projects.
NASA Deliverables
Timeline of All Documention.
August 2022
Project Proposal
The NASA Student Launch Handbook Project Proposal is a proposed document for student teams who wish to participate in NASA's Student Launch program during the 2022-2023 academic year. The Student Launch program challenges student teams to design, build, and launch a reusable rocket with a scientific payload to an altitude of one mile. The proposal outlines the requirements for participating in the program, including team registration, vehicle design, safety protocols, launch procedures, and data collection and analysis. The document serves as an introduction to the team's plan for the competition. It allows the NASA Student Launch Review Panel to gain enough background information on the team's design to decide whether the team is capable of competing.
The PDR demonstrates that the overall preliminary design meets all requirements with acceptable risk, within the
cost, schedule, and technical performance constraints, and establishes the basis for proceeding with detailed
design. It shows that the correct design options have been selected, and interfaces have been identified. Full
baseline cost and schedules, as well as all risk assessment, management systems, and metrics, are presented
The CDR demonstrates that the maturity of the design is appropriate to support proceeding to full-scale fabrication,
assembly, and integration; showing that the technical effort is on track to complete the flight and ground system
development and mission operations in order to meet overall performance requirements within the identified cost
schedule, and technical performance constraints. Progress against management plans, budget, and schedule, as well
as risk assessment, are presented. The CDR is a review of the final design of the launch vehicle and payload system.
The FRR examines tests, demonstrations, analyses, and audits that determine the overall system (all projects
working together) readiness for a safe and successful flight/launch and for subsequent flight operations of the
as-built rocket and payload system. It also ensures that all flight hardware, software, personnel, and procedures
are operationally ready.
The Launch Readiness Review (LRR) will be held by NASA and the National Association of Rocketry (NAR),
our launch services provider. All rockets/payloads will undergo a detailed, deconstructive, hands-on
inspection. Be able to present: anchored flight predictions, anchored drift predictions (15 mph crosswind), procedures and checklists, and CP and CG with loaded motor marked on the airframe. The rockets will be
assessed for structural and electrical integrity, as well as safety concerns.
April 2023
Launch Day
All teams travel to Huntsville, Alabama to offically launch their vehicle and payload.
May 2023
Post-Launch Assessment Review
Review of the offical launch. Which includes successes and failures of individual subsystems, flight profile analysis and etc.
Awards Ceremony
May 2023
Senior Design Deliverables
Design Reviews
Evidence Manual
Bill of Materials
Risk Assessment
Misc.
Senior Design Team 501
Jedreck Acquissa
Recovery & Avionics System Lead
Jedreck is from Orlando, FL and will receive his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Florida State University. He plans to start his career in the food supply chain industry, and will be working for Mars Wrigley as a manufacturing engineer post-graduation. He hopes to one day obtain a master’s degree in business administration, which would help him transition to a management role.
Peyton Breland
Propulsion & Vehicle Design Lead
Peyton is graduating with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a certificate in aeronautics from Florida State University. His engineering interests include spacecraft propulsion and vehicle design. Upon graduation, Peyton will kick-start his engineering career in the aerospace industry with Blue Origin, where he accepted a position working with turbomachinery hardware for their BE-3 and BE-4 rocket engines.
Dylan Gardner
STEM Engagment Lead
Dylan is from Miami, FL and will receive his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Florida Agriculture & Mechanical University. Some of his engineering interests include thermal fluid sciences, aerodynamics, and manufacturing. Post-graduation he hopes to work in any industry that involves his interests.
Mark Ioffredo
Payload System Lead
Mark is graduating with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a certificate in aeronautics from Florida State University. His engineering interests primarily include thermal fluids and manufacturing processes. Mark plans to enter the field of manufacturing, where he would like to use his education to design and improve multi-disciplinary manufacturing solutions for a variety of engineering industries.
Zachary Isriel
Program Director
Zachary is a Mechanical Engineering major with an aeronautics concentration and minors in both physics and mathematics. His engineering interests are primarily in the commercial spaceflight and aerospace defense sectors, with a focus on human spaceflight and/or next-generation hypersonic and stealth technologies.
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