Prison Mike

Prison Mike is a high-powered amateur rocket designed, scratch-built, and
launched in Minnesota in October 2025. This project was successful,
accomplishing the goal of a Level 1 Tripoli high-powered rocketry
certification.

Repository contents

• This file, README.md documents the Prison Mike project from start to finish.
• prison-mike.ork is an OpenRocket file containing
  the full design and simulations for Prison Mike.
• The media folder contains photo/video of the rocket.

Project goals

The Tripoli Rocketry Association offers
three levels of certification for its members to purchase and fly
high-powered rocket motors. The primary objective of the Prison Mike rocket was
to build an H-class rocket to fly in an attempt for
Level 1 certification. This sets a few requirements, particularly relating
to a safe recovery. Here are the key rules kept in mind for this project:

• The rocket must be built from scratch and of conventional design.
• A parachute must be deployed at the main event to slow the rocket to a safe
  descent rate (a maximum of 35 feet per second).
• The rocket must be retrieved in a condition such that it could fly again with
  only a new motor.
  • The motor cannot experience a catastrophe at takeoff (CATO).
  • The shock cord cannot create any large zippers in the rocket body (larger
    than a quarter caliber).
  • Fin tabs must remain securely bonded to the motor mount tube and body.

This project was completed as part of the
University of Minnesota Rocket Team's GOPHER program, which
aims to have new members build simple rockets to achieve their Level 1
certifications in a controlled environment with experienced mentors.

Design

The body of the rocket is a cardboard tube with a diameter of 3.15 inches. The
rocket has a 5-inch conical nose cone—its 3-inch shoulder contains a secure
attachment point for the shock cord.

The shock cord was tied with attachment points for an AltimeterTwo, 30-inch
nylon parachute, and a piece of Nomex fabric to wrap the parachute.

Prison Mike has four elliptical fins to minimize risk for damage to the fins or
their tabs on landing. They have a 6-inch root chord and a 3.5-inch height. Each
fin is attached to the inner motor mount tube with a 3-inch-long and
0.97-inch-tall through-the-wall tab. The fins were laser-cut from 0.25-inch
birch plywood, then attached using epoxy.

The rocket was launched with an AeroTech HP-H135W motor. Its 14-second
motor ejection delay grain was drilled to an 8-second delay for parachute
deployment, calculated to be just after apogee.

The full design specifications for Prison Mike can be found in
the OpenRocket file.

Appearance

Prison Mike's design is modeled after the bandana Michael Scott wears in season
3, episode 9, of The Office. It is spray-painted purple, with white
decals cut from permanent sticker vinyl, transferred to the rocket, and covered
with a clear coat spray.

Launch results

Prison Mike was successfully launched and recovered on October 18, 2025. It
reached an altitude of 1995 ft, then drifted just over a quarter of a mile away
from the launchpad, where it was easily recovered with no observable damage.

Expected values were simulated using OpenRocket, and experimental values
are according to the AltimeterTwo flown in the rocket.

People and thanks

While this was primarily a one-person project as a certification flight, lots of
people helped behind the scenes.

Thank you to Drew Miler, who mentored me from start to finish and made this
entire project possible. I also appreciate the
University of Minnesota Rocket Team, especially all those who made the
GOPHER program smooth this year. Finally, thank you to the members of
Tripoli Minnesota who made the actual launch and certification process
possible.