Here at Daedalus, we are especially thankful to those who have helped us prosper in the past and continue to do so in the future. As such, we have included a brief synopsis of our sponsors and their more than generous contributions. But who are we to not name our peers in our Links page? In that regard, also listed below are the websites of some fellow University level rocket groups from around the United States as well as the websites of our launch sites. Send us an email if we missed anyone (we're likely bound to miss a few...) So kudos all around, and thanks to everyone who has contributed!
Raytheon has been the title sponsor and a strong supporter of Daedalus Astronautics dating back to 2003. It was their charitable contribution that got us started and has kept us motivated to perform an ever increasing number of outreach programs. And with the coming shortage of engineers and scientist, Raytheon is also the founder of the MathMoveU initiative, whose goal is to demonstrate to middle school students that learning math and science can be fun and may lead to an exciting profession.
The Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) department at the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona Sate University deserves more thanks than we know how to give. We are ever so grateful for their constant support and immediate troubleshooting of any and all problems that we may face. And saying that the staff and faculty are always "happy to help" is an understatement to the n-th degree...
*Additional Sponsors *
Orbital Sciences is a new sponsor to Daedalus. Their launch systems groups is located close to the ASU campus and as such several of our Daedalus members have/are serving as interns. A few more Daedalus alumni have gone on to work for Orbital.
Freescale Semiconductors is also a new sponsor to Daedalus. Since mid-2008, engineers from Freescale have been working with Daedalus members to help develop a new breed of custom flight computer and roll control systems.
*University Level Rocket Competitions *
The Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA), run by Dr. Paul Mueller, hosts rocket workshops, various rocket outreach programs to children, and the Intercollegiate Rocket Launch Competition, of which Daedalus is a yearly competitor. The competitions are divided into two categories: basic and advanced, with specific goals to loft 10lbs of payload to 10,000ft AGL and 25,000ft AGL, respectively.
The NASA University Student Launch Initiative, or USLI, is a competition that challenges university-level students to design, build and fly a reusable rocket with scientific payload to one mile in altitude. The project engages students in scientific research and real-world engineering processes with NASA engineers. Students propose to participate in USLI during the fall. Once selected, teams design their rocket and payload throughout the school year. USLI requires a NASA review of the teams’ preliminary and critical designs. The project also requires flight readiness and safety reviews before the rockets and payloads are approved for launch. After launch, teams complete a final report to include conclusions from their science experiment and the overall flight performance. The Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review, and Flight Readiness Review are conducted by panels of scientists and engineers from NASA and from NASA contactors and external partners.
Contact the Daedalus Project Director: James Kendall Villarreal