A group of students from the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Alabama in Huntsville has built, launched, and recovered the world's first concrete rocket. Dr. Marlow Moser (UAH-MAE) led the rocket design team, a NASA funded student launch initiative. Another larger prototype is already in the works and will be ready for launch in the near future. The wall of the rocket is a half-inch thick concrete with carbon fiber mesh.
The UAH SLI team recently launched and recovered a 14-feet tall rocket, which they designed and built. The rocket blasted to an altitude of about 10,600 feet. Using onboard avionics, the team mounted a camera with a GPS overlay feed, and it transmitted the data back down to the control station where it was processed in real time. Parachutes were deployed and the rocket drifted slowly back to earth, meters from where it took off. This is quite remarkable to experience such success on the first try of a launch this massive.
UAH knows it's way around concrete. It is a perennial national powerhouse in the annual ASCE/MBT National Concrete Canoe Competition. With 5 national titles and 5 second place finishes in 11 years, the concrete canoe team is pressing the envelope and developing stronger and lighter materials for everyday life. From super lightweight steels to space age polymers, this school owns sky, land, and sea.