Purdue Team takes part in the University Student Launch Initiative (USLI)

Event Date: April 22, 2011
After eight months of work on the Blue Ribbon, a 12 foot 6 inch diameter rocket to travel one mile in the sky, the Purdue Ballistic Rocketeers set off to NASA Marshall in Huntsville, AL for NASA's University Student Launch Initiative rocket competition.

USLI Team PhotoAfter eight months of work on the Blue Ribbon, a 12 foot 6 inch diameter rocket to travel one mile in the sky, the Purdue Ballistic Rocketeers set off to NASA Marshall in Huntsville, AL for NASA's University Student Launch Initiative rocket competition. The goal was to lift a scientific payload that would measure pressure, temperature, solar irradiance, humidity, ultraviolet radiation and capture images during descent.

This is the first year Purdue has entered the competition and with the help of Tripoli Indiana, especially from mentor Professor Victor Barlow, the team was able to design a rocket that would match the other 44 teams from schools across the United States from Hawaii to Massachusetts.

USLI Team Photo2After dealing with some technical problems on the launch pad, the Blue Ribbon roared off the pad to an impressive altitude of 5167 ft putting the Purdue Ballistic Rocketeers in third place for altitude and first among the rookie teams.

Purdue's USLI team is a part of SEDS at Purdue and hopes to continue the team in years to come.

  • David Fox - Team Leader
  • Dan Kolenz
  • Mark Lefebvre
  • Kaizad Raimalwala
  • Devin Kees
  • Alexander Krob
  • Steven Jacque
  • Michael Quann

 

For more information, visit http://purdueusli.org/