Experimental Sounding Rocket Association

Where tomorrow's rocket engineers and rocket scientists get their start
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About Us

The Experimental Sounding Rocket Association is dedicated to getting students of all ages excited about rocketry and space exploration through building and launching experimental sounding rockets and other rocket-related technology.


An "experimental sounding" rocket bridges the gap between "experimental" or "research" rockets built by hobbyists and professional/government "sounding" rockets that reach suborbital space, with potentially some overlap at each end of the spectrum. Generally, "experimental sounding rockets" can be a small as launching a 10-pound payload to 10,000 feet above the ground, to being able to launch a 50-pound payload in excess of 100 miles altitude.



Current Efforts:


 - Holding annual Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competitions to give college engineering and science students hands-on experience in building and launching experimental sounding rockets and their payloads. As part of this effort, we also conduct Experimental Sounding Rocket Worskshops for college teams to help them develop their own rocket programs for participation in the competitions.


 - Providing exciting and educational outreach programs and demonstrations for K-12 students including student-built 2-liter hybrid rocket launches and static firings of a powerful hybrid rocket motor on a portable demonstration trailer.


 - Developing student launch opportunities for launching CubeSat payloads in excess of 62 miles (100 km) altitude for scientific experiments and in-space testing of components or payloads to be launched into orbit on other vehicles. This effort is still in work and more information will be posted as more progress is made.



Officers and Board of Directors:


President: Dr. Paul Mueller

BS, Engineering Sciences, US Air Force Academy, 1984, MS, Systems Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, 1988, MS, Engineering (Mechanical), California State University-Fresno, 1991, PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Utah State University, 1997. Cryogenic Systems Engineer, Space Shuttle launch complex, Vandenberg AFB CA, 1984-87. F-16 Flight Test Engineer, Edward AFB CA, 1989-92. Engineer, USU Space Dynamics Laboratory, Logan, UT, 1997-2000. Instructor, Adjunct Assistant Professor, USU Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Logan, UT, 1998-present.


Chief Engineer: Matthew Dushku

BS, Mechanical Engineering, Utah State University, 2003. Engineer, Boeing Strategic Systems, Clearfield, UT, 2004-2007. Engineer, ATK Advanced Launch Systems, Clearfield, UT, 2007-present.



Systems Engineer: Otto Krauss

BS/MS, Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, 2005. Mechanical Engineer, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, CO 2003-2005. Postflight/Postfire Engineer, ATK Launch Systems, Promontory, UT, 2005-present.

 


Board of Directors:

Dr. Ralph Haycock, Professor Emeritus, Utah State University

Dr. Paul Mueller

Matthew Dushku



History
ESRA was formed in 2003 in Logan, Utah, as an outgrowth of the "Unity IV" four-university (Brigham Young University, University of Utah, Utah State University, and Weber State University) student hybrid rocket program. The Unity IV program had several successful launches, but they were generally years apart due to the difficulty of coordinating the efforts of students from multiple universities into a single program.

Here is a YouTube video of the last Unity IV launch in December 2003:


By 2003, the remaining Unity IV participants (BYU and USU) had sufficient experience to build their own rockets. The founders of ESRA wanted a way to have college and university teams launch their rockets in an engineering competition similar to others that exist for solar-powered cars, Baja buggies, etc. An annual competition would provide an impetus for teams to design, build, and launch their rockets more quickly. To help teams get started, ESRA also developed experimental sounding rocket workshops.

Also, the ESRA founders enjoyed bringing the excitement of rockets to K-12 students and wanted a means to formalize outreach efforts.

And finally, the ESRA founders wanted to develop a large experimental sounding rocket capable of sending student payloads into space (>100 km altitude). A generous donation by an anonymous donor has enabled this dream to take shape. This project is in work; updates will be provided as significant milestones are met.

For its first few years, ESRA operated "under the wings" of the Utah State University College of Engineering and the Rocky Mountain NASA Space Grant Consortium. We are very grateful for their support. ESRA is now an independent 501(c)(3) tax-exempt Utah nonprofit corporation and continues to work in partnership with these and other organizations.