The bottom of the stick is being melted by the heat of the combustion chamber. Some downward force is applied by the upward acceleration of the rocket. This is "mg" just prior to launch, when the stick is heavy, is slightly larger when the engine starts or else it won't lift off, and remains at that slightly larger value throughout the flight as long as you are burning the stick at a uniform rate. Note also that the thrust is constant even as the stick gets lighter, so the actual acceleration is presumably pretty huge near the end of the burn. Probably not person-friendly. Stick to cube-sats.
The cube-sat itself might reasonable be placed at the other end and be given a heat-resistant beanie to wear for the flight, thereby reducing the problem (mentioned further up) of firing an inflammable stick through oxygen at high Mach numbers. I imagine the sides of the stick would see less atmospheric friction and might be protected by a thin layer of something air-tight.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
