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Reggie Bell
Aztec High School
Experiment Overview
Determine if piezoelectricity (AC current) can be generated on a rocket launched into space to heat-up or roast a New Mexico home grown green chili.
Experiment Description & Goal
Is it possible to harness mechanical vibrations or other physical pressures to help produce a steady electric output for the experiment?
The New Mexico Chili team will roast a section of green chili that will be on-board a rocket to be launched at Spaceport America on April 1 2011.
The student experiment will generate piezoelectricity to power a nichrome heating element and roast a home grown NM green chili in space for the first time ever. The students will condut a second experiment that will calculate the acceleration of the rocket using a separate piezoelectric sensor.
Student research indicates that neither of these two experiments utilizing Piezoelectricity have been conducted on-board a sounding rocket.
Analysis
As part of pre-flight testing, students monitored voltage with deflecting materials to help comute actual deflection during flight.
The team will compare their flight data to other experiments that used standard accelerometers for their experiments to determine the effectiveness of this method.
