16.00  Intro to Aerospace Design

Lab location, bag specifications, turn in Conceptual Designs

Clarification for the lab location: 16.00 lab, for both sections, are hosted in 33-218 on days with planned instruction time, and in the Mezzanine on days without. Their entrances are right next to each other, so just pop by if you're unsure where to go.

Some teams have asked for specifications on the LTA bag. These specifications have been uploaded and are accessible under `Materials`.

Finally, if you did not turn them in during class, please turn in your Conceptual Designs to a TA during your lab section.

Announced on 05 March 2019  4:46  p.m. by Michael Trinh

LTA Instructions Posted

Today's LTA Introduction lecture is now posted, along with technical information you will need to design your vehicles.
In Lab this week, the most important skill you need to master is heat-sealing the plastic. Experiment first with a straight lap seam. Then cut out some gores and try to seal them together to make a blimp. Seal a "fill tube" into the end of your blimp. The TAs will provide standard filling tubes to all teams. These tubes are designed to fit our gas flow equipment and to be sealed off easily after filling. Blow into the tube to fill your mini-blimp, seal the tube, and see if it is leak tight. Well sealed seams on your balloons will make flight days a lot more fun - you can spend time flying rather than continually going back for refills of helium.
Enjoy the lab! After this, you should be ready to start designing your gas bags. We look forward to seeing your designs next week.

Announced on 26 February 2019  8:15  p.m. by Jeffrey A Hoffman

Reminder for Class Today

16.00 Students-
Remember that the aerodynamic decelerator write-ups are due in class today. Both Professors Hansman and Hoffman are on travel, and today's lecture will be given by Professor Stephen Hall, who will explain how he works with an air racing team, using aerodynamic calculations to help their competitive performance. It's an interesting lecture, and we hope you will all both enjoy and learn from it.
Next Tuesday we will introduce the Lighter than Air project, including team assignments.

Announced on 21 February 2019  8:56  a.m. by Jeffrey A Hoffman

New lab section T4-5; first lab is safety lecture

16.00,

The alternate lab section has been scheduled for Tuesdays at 4PM-5PM.

The first lab will be the AeroAstro safety lecture, after which you will be given access to lab spaces. Please make your best effort to attend tomorrow's regular lab section, Wednesday 2PM-3PM (lab sections will be one hour). If you cannot attend that section, I can cover that material in TODAY's 4PM section; we will meet outside 33-419. If you can't make this time either due to the short notice, let me know and we can figure something out.

Finally, there have been some communication issues with the TA mailing list, 1600ta-s19@mit.edu. Those issues have been resolved. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Best,
Michael

Announced on 12 February 2019  1:46  p.m. by Michael Trinh

Drop Times Posted

Dear 16.00 Class -
Congratulations for an orderly and, for the most part, very successful drop today. The times are now posted in the "Materials" Section. Pay close attention to the instructions for your final reports. If you did not record your partner's parachute behavior, you need to get that information for your report.
The grading rubric for the final reports is also posted, to help you make sure you fulfill all the requirements.
Let the TAs know if you have any questions about the write-up.

We will have a short discussion of the drop exercise in class Thursday, followed by Professor Hansman's lecture about the Wright Brothers and the birth of Aeronautical Engineering.

Remember the lab session(s) tomorrow.

Announced on 12 February 2019  1:33  p.m. by Jeffrey A Hoffman