Egg-O-Naut

Egg-O-Naut is an event that involves building a rocket designed to stay aloft for the longest amount of time, and carry an "Egg-O-Naut" (a Grade A chicken egg) all the way up, and return the egg to earth again, intact.

Bottles to Use
Depending on the rules, either 1 liter and/or 2 liter bottles may be used. The bottle must be from a carbonated drink, and if you remove the label(s), you must have them present at checking.

Building The Main Vehicle
Fins on the rocket is a commonly used method of maximizing the height the rocket climbs to initially. 3 fins is a good idea, since it is just as stable as 4 fins but lighter.

The scoring system for 2010 puts great emphasis on the condition of the egg. The recovery system was extremely important because with these rules, a well-built rocket with a broken egg will almost definitely be beaten by a poorly-built rocket with an intact egg.
 * 1 point for every second that the egg is airborne.
 * 15 points for the recovery of the egg in an intact state.
 * 3 points if the egg or egg capsule Completely detaches from the rocket.

Recovery System
A commonly used, but not required device, is a recovery system. This would help reduce the risk of breaking the egg. It also awards extra points if a module of the launched rocket returns to the ground separate from the main vehicle.

Parachute
Parachutes work very well as safety devices. A larger parachute is usually better, unless, of course, it is too large. A 2 to 4 foot diameter should be large enough, although the biggest parachute that will fit in the nose cone is always optimal. Suggested materials for building a parachute are:
 * a thin plastic, such as thin drop cloth
 * Mylar or even plastic garbage bags

By attaching the parachute to the egg but not the rocket itself, when it deploys it should separate the egg from the bottle, which the current scoring gives several bonus points for.

Cushioning
Cushioning around the egg is a good idea in case the parachute fails to deploy. Cushioning can also prevent it from breaking upon impulse or upon hitting the ground.

For cushioning around the egg, suggested materials are: Add your suggested materials to this list!
 * bubble wrap

The egg could be suspended by using strings or bungee cords (the strings would have to be pretty tight). Another idea is to place the egg in a padded capsule.

Other Ideas
Backsliders are another idea for a deployment system, but a well built parachute will almost always beat a backslider.

Separating The Egg From the Rocket
If you manage to make a successful, retrievable egg deployment, bonus points are awarded, so in order to keep up with the competition, it is almost a must. A good way to achieve this would be a cone that falls off and pulls the parachute and egg chamber with it, or just having the egg chamber fall off on its own.

Links
Bottle Rocket is a similar event to Egg-O-Naut, but without the need for an egg deployment system, or an egg at all.

North Carolina 2007 Results-

NASA Rocket Basics

NASA Rocket Simulators