Wiki¶

Welcome to the Shepard Test Stand project Wiki. This wiki contains documentation covering the design, development, fabrication, and use of the test stand. Much of the information here started life over in the forums, where we held discussions and worked to achieve a consensus on all items. If you have questions about the thought process behind an item, the forums would be a good place to start. In most cases link(s) to the appropriate forum discussions will be included in the wiki pages.

The idea behind the Shepard Test Stand project is to start small and simple, and then build on what is learned when moving to larger and more complex stands later on. This is very much in keeping with Mach 30's philosopy of starting (literally) from the ground up to build the infrastructure required to facilitate safe, routine, reliable, and sustained access to space. The first iteration of Shepard will only measure the thrust and exhaust temperature of model rocket motors sized A through E. The second iteration will step beyond that to offer higher resolution measurements and high speed video capture, among other things. The Shepard project is structured in such a way that should allow anyone to build and improve upon the designs. Everyone from experienced space flight hardware designers to educators and students are welcome to get involved with the project and share their knowledge and enthusiasm.

If you're interested in getting involved, a good place to start would be the Initial Questions page. There you will find the foundational questions that will guide the rest of the design process on Shepard.