Programming and Technology in Amateur Space Exploration
summary
Copenhagen Suborbitals explains concrete lessons from amateur rocketry: a liquid engine test ruptures, spilling 600 L of alcohol and sending a GoPro tumbling but yielding critical data; an iterated program of 50–60 engine tests produces stable thrust and guidance; a failed flight exposes brittle state-machine logic and a parachute sequencing bug; LOX boiloff is measured on a launch weighing cell for LOX leading to underpressure, premature cutoff, and redesigns that then produce a successful NEX flight.
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chapters (10)
- 0:00Copenhagen Suborbitals intro
- 5:02Building rockets from scratch
- 10:40How a rocket flight works
- 15:58Designing a good-enough rocket
- 21:45Learning from failures
- 30:27Software and state machines
- 36:55Failure teaches more
- 41:15Non-rocket rocket projects
- 50:06Live from Baltic Sea
- 57:05Summary and future
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