Students in the Aerospace Design Program at Plantation High School in Florida are using FlexiForce™ force sensors in their design of an 8 foot tall rocket for this year's NASA Student Launch Initiative. The students’ are using their design to test the effects of a protruding nosecone ring to reduce drag forces on rockets during flight.

The rocket has four nosecones mounted to it (two equipped with rings meant to cause a disruption in laminar flow and reduce drag, and two standard nosecones) that are equipped with FlexiForce sensors beneath them. The FlexiForce sensors are hooked into an Arduino Duemilanove microprocessor that records the downward force on the nosecones as the rocket launches up to a one-mile altitude.

The FlexiForce sensors, coupled with an on-board computing system, will collect drag and air resistance data during the flight which the students will then use to analyze which is the best nosecone design- those with the ring or the standard nosecone. The students’ have determined that the nosecone that provides the rocket with the least amount of drag has the ability to create the best aerodynamically efficient rocket, allowing for greater fuel efficiency at top speed.

The students will present their design in April at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama where NASA is holding this year’s National Student Launch Initiative. Last year, over 10,000 viewers watched a live webcast of the event.