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21 <h1>Documentation for OpenRocket</h1>
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49 <h2>User documentation</h2>
51 <p>No user's guide currently exists for OpenRocket. There is a
52 <a href="http://apps.sourceforge.net/mediawiki/openrocket/index.php?title=User%27s_Guide">page on the wiki</a> for creating a User's guide.</p>
53 <p>If you would like to help, please extend it!</p>
56 <h2>Technical documentation</h2>
58 <p>Coming within the next few weeks.</p>
60 <p>OpenRocket was originally written as the Master's thesis of
61 Sampo Niskanen at Helsinki University of Technology. The thesis
62 currently functions as the technical documentation, and will be
63 updated in the future to account for further enhancements.
64 The thesis is licensed under a
65 <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/1.0/fi/deed.en">Creative Commons BY-NC-ND License</a>.</p>
67 <p class="right"><a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/1.0/fi/deed.en"><img alt="Creative Commons BY-NC-ND License" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nd-nc/1.0/fi/88x31.png" /></a></p>
71 <p><a href="thesis.pdf">Development of an Open Source model
72 rocket simulation software</a> (PDF, 1.3MB)</p>
75 <p class="quote"><strong>Table of contents:</strong></p>
77 <li>1. Introduction</li>
78 <li>2. Basics of model rocket flight</li>
79 <li>3. Aerodynamic properties of model rockets</li>
80 <li>4. Flight simulation</li>
81 <li>5. The OpenRocket simulation software</li>
82 <li>6. Comparison with experimental data</li>
83 <li>7. Conclusion</li>
86 <li>A. Nose cone and transition geometries</li>
87 <li>B. Transonic wave drag of nose cones</li>
88 <li>C. Streamer drag coefficient estimation</li>
94 <p>Below are resources that have been found useful in the analysis
95 of model rockets. Many useful scientific aerodynamic articles and
96 documents are available at the invaluable
97 <a href="http://ntrs.nasa.gov/">NASA Technical Resources Server
102 <a href="http://www.apogeerockets.com/Education/downloads/barrowman_report.pdf">The Theoretical Prediction of the Center of
103 Pressure</a></em>, James and Judith Barrowman, 1966.</dt>
104 <dd>The original NARAM R&D report explaining how to
105 calculate the CP position of a rocket.</dd>
108 <a href="http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?Ntk=all&Ntx=mode+matchall&Ntt=Barrowman+Practical+Calculation+of+the+Aerodynamic+Characteristics+of+Slender+Finned+Vehicles">The Practical Calculation of the Aerodynamic
109 Characteristics of Slender Finned Vehicles</a></em>, James
110 Barrowman, 1967.</dt>
111 <dd>The more in-depth and technical thesis, where Barrowman
112 presents methods for calculating the CP position of a rocket at
113 both subsonic and supersonic velocities and its other
114 aerodynamic properties. Available on
115 <a href="http://ntrs.nasa.gov/">NTRS</a>.</dd>
118 <a href="http://projetosulfos.if.sc.usp.br/artigos/sentinel39-galejs.pdf">Wind instability—What Barrowman left out</a></em>,
120 <dd>An extension to the Barrowman method to account for body
121 lift at large angles of attack.</dd>
123 <dt><em>Topics in Advanced Model Rocketry</em>, Mandell,
124 Caporaso, Bengen, MIT Press, 1973.</dt>
125 <dd>An excellent theoretical study on the flight of model
126 rockets. Available as a reprint edition.</dd>
128 <dt><em>Fluid-dynamic drag</em>, Sighard Hoerner,
129 published by the author, 1965.</dt>
130 <dd>An excellent resource for all kinds of experimental data
131 regarding drag. Available as a reprint edition.</dd>
133 <dt><em>Tactical missile design</em>, 2nd edition, Eugene
134 L. Fleeman, AIAA, 2006.</dt>
135 <dd>Useful approximation methods for estimating the aerodynamic
136 properties of rockets.</dd>
138 <dt><em><a href="http://www.aoe.vt.edu/~mason/Mason_f/CAtxtTop.html">Applied
139 Computational Aerodynamics</a></em>, William Mason.</dt>
140 <dd>An online textbook on computational aerodynamics.</dd>
142 <dt><em><a href="http://www.combatindex.com/mil_docs/pdf/hdbk/0700/MIL-HDBK-762.pdf">Design of aerodynamically stabilized free rockets</a></em>,
143 MIL-HDBK-762, US Army Missile Command, 1990.</dt>
144 <dd>Military handbook on the design of rockets, a good resource
145 for aerodynamic estimation methods.</dd>
148 <a href="http://www.thrustcurve.org/">ThrustCurve.org</a></em>,
150 <dd>An excellent resource for model rocket motor thrust curves.</dd>
153 <a href="http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?Ntk=all&Ntx=mode+matchall&Ntt=NASA-TN-D-4013">Static stability investigation of a single-stage
154 sounding rocket at Mach numbers from 0.60 to 1.20</a></em>, James
155 Ferris, NASA-TN-D-4013, 1967.</dt>
157 <a href="http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?Ntk=all&Ntx=mode+matchall&Ntt=NASA-TN-D-4014">Static stability investigation of a sounding-rocket
158 vehicle at Mach numbers from 1.50 to 4.63</a></em>, Donald Babb and
159 Dennis Fuller, NASA-TN-D-4014, 1967.</dt>
160 <dd>Experimental data of a wind tunnel investigation of a
161 sounding rocket at subsonic, transonic and supersonic
162 velocities. Available on
163 <a href="http://ntrs.nasa.gov/">NTRS</a>.</dd>
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