About Chimaera

Utah State University (USU) is home to the Chimaera rocket team, which is currently comprised of 29 undergraduate and graduate students from three different majors. Each student adds their expertise in mechanical, electrical, or computer engineering to the success of the group and the quality of engineering work accomplished. The USU team is supervised by a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering graduate student, Shannon Eilers, who has been involved with the rocket project for seven years and has participated in the construction, design and launch of three amateur class hybrid rockets in addition to the 2007-2008 USU entery in the USLI competition. The teams faculty adviser, Dr. Tony Whitmore, worked with NASA for 27 years and is currently an assistant professor at Utah State University.

The Chimaera rocket project has existed in its current form for seven years. During this time the project has been responsible for the design, construction, and launch of several amateur-class hybrid rockets. These launches included the Unity IV rocket, a rocket designed and built in coordination with Brigham Young University, University of Utah, and Weber State, the Trout, a 20 foot 10,000 lbf-s impulse motor, and the Guppy, a 500lbf thrust class rocket. In 2008, the Chimaera rocket team entered the USLI competition and designed, built and launched the Barracuda, the winning entry in the USLI competition.