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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday August 26 2020, @09:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the to-infinity-and-beyond! dept.

Student research team develops hybrid rocket engine:

In a year defined by obstacles, a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign student rocket team persevered. Working together across five time zones, they successfully designed a hybrid rocket engine that uses paraffin and a novel nitrous oxide-oxygen mixture called Nytrox. The team has its sights set on launching a rocket with the new engine at the 2021 Intercollegiate Rocketry and Engineering Competition.

[...] Last year the team witnessed a number of catastrophic failures with hybrid engines utilizing nitrous oxide. The propellant frequently overheated in the New Mexico desert, where the IREC competition is held. Lembeck said this motivated the team to find an alternative fuel that could remain stable at temperature. Nytrox surfaced as the solution to the problem.

[...] In June 2021, the rocket will be transported to Spaceport America in Truth or Consequences for its first launch.

The team collaborated online to build their rocket.

Vignesh Sella et al. Development of a Nytrox-Paraffin Hybrid Rocket Engine, AIAA Propulsion and Energy 2020 Forum (2020). DOI: 10.2514/6.2020-3729


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 27 2020, @08:09AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 27 2020, @08:09AM (#1042591)

    Those Aerotech hybrids were developed about 22 years ago, and advanced rocketeers (certified to do this stuff) were experimenting with N2O/sugar, N2O/Ammonium Perchlorate, and other custom formulations. I question the validity of "Student Research Team Develops Hybrid Rocket Engine" when this tech was available off the shelf 20 years ago.

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