JP Aerospace Blog

It’s space week at Make Magazine. They featured a great article about JPA and PongSats!

Last night we conducted Magnetohydrodynamic generator test number 107.

Initial burn

Mid run

Intake detail

A moment in the life of a PongSat.

We finished glassing down and sanding the electromagnet mount on the bottom of the sub. This pics shows one being tested. The 40 pound weight is being held in place by the electromagnet. I wanted a sphere for the drop weight so it would roll off the hull if the sub was upside down. Kettlebell weights are prefect for the job. They are spherical, come in all sizes, are iron that the magnet really likes and they even have a handy handle!

STEM is an education acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. PongSat has it all!

It was a busy day yesterday Just about all aspects of JPA got worked on. From camera prep for the next mission to building a new wiring harness for the MHD the team was cranking.

Paul working on the max current config for the MHD generator and our intern Julian learning how to solder.

Richard measured the velocity of wave in the first one inch of the supersonic shocktube. We first glued then glassed the magnet mounts to bottom of the hull of the submarine.