Technical papers and articles

Aspirespace has benefited greatly from knowledge and advice passed-on by fellow rocketeers, so it's only fair that we pass on some of our own findings.

The technical papers below are written in PDF format for which you will need acrobat reader

We hope that you find these useful and educational, though remember that we're an amateur society: there may well be errors or omissions. Please send constructive criticism to Rick Newlands.

These papers get updated regularly, so do browse again. I've recently updated the hybrid safety paper to include the new knowledge on nitrous oxide hybrid safety.

The physics of nitrous oxide : updated 11/10/2007
Introduction to hybrid design : updated 13/5/2007
hybrid safety : (NEW!) greatly expanded 12/9/2009
Hybrid effects on stability : updated 27/4/2004
Area-ruling, lowering rocket drag : updated 10/5/2007
Supersonics and Waveriding : updated 5/11/2007
Modelling the nitrous run tank emptying : updated 11/10/2007
Nitrous tank emptying code : updated 11/10/2007