Make: Rockets

Chapter 15. Minimum-Diameter Rockets

You saw in Chapter 14 that drag is one of the three forces that control how high and fast a stable rocket will travel; the others are the force of gravity acting on the mass of the rocket, and the thrust of the motor. You also saw that most of the drag on a rocket is proportional to the area the rocket presents in the direction of travel. That means one of the easiest ways to make a rocket go faster and higher is to slim it down. And that’s what’s done with Hebe.

Hebe: Skinny Rockets Fly Faster and Higher

Hebe’s body tube is the same diameter as the motor, keeping the frontal area presented by the rocket as small as possible. That’s what a minimum-diameter rocket really is; it uses the smallest possible body ...