Aftershock II, a new rocket built by students at the University of Southern California, recently broke a number of 20-year-old amateur spaceflight records for altitude, power and speed. It reached ...

Remarkably, the rocket accelerated to 5,283 feet per second (1,610 meters per ... a new type of heat-resistant paint and titanium-coated fins. “Thermal protection at hypersonic speeds is a ...

They painted the spacecraft with a thermal protection coating and upgraded the fins' bare carbon edges ... The 330-pound, 13-foot rocket achieved a velocity of 5,283 feet per second at Mach ...

The students calculated that the rocket accelerated to an astonishing 5,283 feet per second ... thermal protection systems, fin designs, and other upgrades for the Aftershock II.