Getting antsy for launching

I am anxiously awaiting ESL-133, and already have my tentative line up:

1. Goonball XL5 on a D13-7
2. Small Endeavour on a G69SK-7
3. Starfighter on an H148-4
4. NCR Archer on an H148-6
   
5. Big Daddy 29 on an F35-6
6. Hat of Death on an F24-P
7. 59mm JATO on a G64-7
8. D-Fusion bomb on a D12-something
9. Art Applewhite Texas Special Saucer on an I49 (if available)
   

Whirlygig 38mm - just thinking 'out loud' (update)

I've been thinking about building a larger Whirlygig for the newly announced AeroTech I49N or I59WN motors. These long burn motors will be good for either extreme altitude - or extremely low altitude in saucers, monocopters...or Whirlygigs.

I have some 3" tint tube and some 3/16" thick 4.5" wide plywood. I need to buy some 38mm tubing. But, the bigger issue is that this 'Gig will be heavy and will need a recovery system. And the I49 and I59 are both plugged so electronics will be required.

Thus, my questions so far are:

1. Can either my GWiz altimeter timer or Xavien timer work under spinning conditions?
2. Will there be enough Y-axis acceleration to activate these devices?
3. Will an extended main tube affect the Whirlygig's flight?

After I think some more I'll probably open a thread on Rocketry Planet.

Update: Thought I'd post a re-photo of my Whirlygig-24 in flight. You can read more about it on EMRR.

Nice video of flight 7 of Masten's lander

From their blog (short, so I quoted the whole thing - hat tip to Clark Lindsey):

Here it intentionally flies a jig around the center while fighting the tether, and then does 45 degree rotation using RCS before landing. The flight was 30 seconds long.This is the first bipropellant RLV to fly with an aluminum rocket engine, the second flight of the day with that engine, and the 7th flight of this vehicle.

"Rockets Beyond Strange" at NARAM 51!!!

As you all are aware, NARAM-51 is just around the corner. It will be held near Johnstown, PA on August 8 - 14, 2009. I sure had fun at NARAM-50 and #51 should be a blast. Unfortunately, even though it is relatively close, I won't be attending. As you all probably also know, I LOVE ODDROCS! So, when I noticed one of the events is entitled "Rockets Beyond Strange", I felt a heartache. Here's what the organizers have to say:

For the past eight years, a bizarre column has appeared in the pages of Team Pittsburgh. A few think it is strange. Many think it is quite beyond merely strange. In this discussion, Francis Graham, a physics professor at Kent State University and the founder of the Tripoli Rocketry Association, will discuss highly unusual rockets which use 18mm and 13 mm engines featured in his column "Rockets Beyond Strange". These flying devices include monocopters, aplanocopters, spinnerspools, helical rockets, magnus effect lifter rockets, caudipetors, rack rockets, autophagous rockets, and a host of other exceedingly unorthodox designs.

Let's run down the list of oddities:

• monocopters - there are so many of these around these days, they are almost not odd
  
• aplanocopters - follow the link for a description/photo
  
• spinnerspools - nope, never seen one
  
• helical rockets - yup, I built one - the Screw-Up
  
• magnus effect lifter rockets - follow the link for a description/photo
• caudipetors - follow the link for a description/photo
• rack rockets - also barely odd
  
• autophagous rockets - Never heard of 'em either. autophagous means 'self-consuming'. I want to see one in action!
  

Let me close by saying Francis Graham and the Pittsburgh group actually developed or at least introduced me to all of the above, except for the Screw-Up, which I screwed up all by myself. (See one of his latest projects here.)

I'm a 'dog person' but I shouldn't forget the monkeys too

I've posted a few times about Laika and the other space faring dogs who gave all for space exploration (see tag below). Tonight, National Geographic recognizes the monkey astronauts by commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1959 flight of Baker and Able on a Jupiter AM-18 rocket. Unlike some other unfortunates, this pair survived their 15 minutes of fame. 'Miss Baker' lived at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama until her death in 1984. See the site for additional photos and factoids.

(The article says the attached photo is Miss Baker, but Able's name is in the file name - no real matter.)

(Oh, yeah, some are technically apes...oops...)

Late Star Tek (2009) review (minor spoiler alert)

I may be the last citizen of the Federation to have seen the movie, but will try to limit the spoiler content anyway.

I was pumped by the trailers, had thought Sylar would make a most excellent Spock, and I'm a huge J.J. Abrams fan. Then, after seeing the 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I had really high expectations of the movie. And I wasn't disappointed. The story was classic Trek, the production and effects were great, and I think the casting was a master stroke. Kirk and Spock were individually great and really worked well together. Bones and Scotty were quirkier than I expected but also did a great job of channeling the originals. Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov were also solid performances. And Eric Bana should always play evil aliens.

The story line surprised me. There were a few minor twists but the biggie was that it ends in an alternate Star Trek reality. I really expected the movie to keep going but I wasn't watching the time and it did end. I was a little disappointed for about 5 seconds and I now am chomping-at-the-bit for a sequel. Will they continue in the alternate reality or will the sequel pull the new franchise back to the original? Either way, I should be good. I hope Abrams and all the main cast members return.

To close, here's Rachel Nichols as Cadet Gaila:

IEEE Spectrum is spaced out

I see the June IEEE Spectrum is packed with space stuff:

• Do We Need to Go to the Moon to Get to Mars?
• A Russian Return to a Martian Moon
• Mars Is Hard
• Could China Get to Mars First?
• Mining the Moon
• India Joins the League of Lunar Nations
• His Space - about space author James "Too Tall' Oberg
• How to Go to Mars--Right Now!
• Esther Dyson, Space Tourist in Training - an interview
• Mars for the Rest of Us
• and a multimedia feature on Mars exploration: WHY MARS? WHY NOW? It’s been 40 years since Apollo astronauts took humanity’s first baby step into the cosmos. Now it’s time to take the next one.
  

Whew, I probably missed something...and the last item presents the Mars items listed separately above.

Odd, sad (fireworks) rocket tragedy

News from Thailand about a mad who tragically lost his life at their yearly rocket festival. It sounds like the victim was drinking in the cordoned off recovery zone. Bad idea.

D-Fusion Bomb - named, and built

I finally got around to building a rocket form the D-Fusion Denny's drinking cup. The background can be found by following the tag at the bottom of this post.

I had previously ground the threads off the lid (aka the nose cone). This left a short shoulder so I was happy when I found 54mm tubing fit snugly in the lid's inside shoulder. This provided more support and an inside body. An inside tube will keep the ejection gassed from crudding up the clear outer body and will help with 'chute deployment.

It has a 24mm motor mount held in place with an upper centering ring and the bored-out base of the plastic cup.

The nose weight and 'chute attachment point are embedded in tip of the lid. A 1/4" lug (will want to fly from an HPR pad!) is CAed to the body. The launch rod also slides through a hole drilled in one fin.

Specs: 6 oz less chute; static margin of 0.56 with a D12; 300 ft altitude with that D12; need a -3 delay!!!

I may try to add some positive retention so I can use a 24mm reload since I don't have a D12-3 or an E15-4 in stock. I hope adding a 'phantom cone' to account for base drag was the right thing to do. The only way to tell is to push the button :)

Web site on "autorotative flight"

TRF user BobCox also posted the following link on the on the Monocopters Yahoo Group. Looks great on first glance, haven't read it yet.

Autorotative Flight

For the love of rockets and robots (RG # 72, plus)

Even rockets need a hug.



Images removed at reader request.

Cluster monocopter photos

After seeing my post on the 7 x 18mm cluster monocopter that flew at NSL2009, several folks asked be to cross-post the photos. Here they are, with the blessing of BobCox from TRF. Thank you for posting the awesome shots!

AeroTech announces the first three items in their new Karl E. Baumann Signature Product Line

AeroTech Information Release

5/28/09

AeroTech Creates Karl E. Baumann Signature Product Line

AeroTech is pleased to announce that it has created the Karl E. Baumann (KEB™) Signature Line™ of specialty and high-performance rocket motor products.

Karl is currently AeroTech's Director of Operations and was Tripoli Rocketry Association's (TRA's) first Level 3 certified flyer. Karl certified Level 3 in 1995 during LDRS-14 at the Black Rock Desert, NV with his beautifully finished 1/2 scale Phoenix missile powered by the then-new AeroTech M2400T Blue Thunder™ motor.

Karl said "Given the often generic and 'me too' nature of many of the rocket motors out there, especially recent competitive offerings, I thought it would be beneficial and interesting for AeroTech to develop and market a line of products that are truly unique and deliver exceptionally high performance".

"We've been perfecting a number of new methodologies over the past few years and I agreed with Karl that the KEB line would be the ideal marketing vehicle for new products using them" stated AeroTech/RCS President Gary Rosenfield. "For example, we recently demonstrated a delivered propellant specific impulse (Isp) exceeding 254 seconds in our advanced test motors. We want to incorporate some of that technology into our future high-power consumer reloads."

The line will initially consist of products to include endburning and Boost-Sustain™ motors and a number of high-power reload kits using a specially-optimized version of AeroTech's Blue Thunder propellant and other advanced formulations. Karl was personally involved in the selection, development and testing of the new products.

To that end, AeroTech is releasing the first three motors in the KEB line, the I49N-P, the I59WN-P and the L339N-P reloads.

The I49N-P (P/N 09049P) is a Warp-9™ propellant endburning reload kit that fits RMS™ 38/360 hardware. It delivers a National Association of Rocketry (NAR) certified total impulse of 383 newton-seconds (N-sec) over a burn time of 7.68 seconds with an initial (peak) thrust of 64 newtons.

The I59WN-P (P/N 09059P) is AeroTech's first Boost-Sustain offering and uses a coreburning White Lightning™ propellant boost grain coupled with an endburning Warp-9 propellant sustain grain. The I59WN fits RMS 38/480 hardware and delivers a NAR-certified total impulse of 486 N-sec over a burn time of 7.99 seconds. The motor delivers a peak "boost" thrust of 173 newtons followed by a long sustain burn tapering from about 60 to 35 newtons.

The I49N and the I59WN both require use of a new 38mm "endburning-style" forward closure, P/N 38EBFCPT. This is due to the fact that both reloads are sold in a "plugged" configuration with no delay components, and no void space can exist above the endburning propellant grain. The endburning-style forward closure is machined with a 5/16-18 threaded recovery system anchor point and also includes a threaded boss for attachment of the AeroTech Electronic Forward Closure (EFC-1).

The L339N-P (P/N 12339P) is a Warp-9 propellant endburner for RMS 98/2560 hardware. It delivers a TRA-certified total impulse of 2,793 N-sec over a burn time of 8.82 seconds, with an initial (peak) thrust of 445 newtons. The L339N requires the use of a "forward closure bulkhead plug" (P/N 98FCBP) installed in the standard 98mm RMS plugged forward closure, as this reload also does not include any smoke charge components.

All three of these reloads are perfect for lightweight altitude rockets or for upper stages. Currently, AeroTech is the only manufacturer producing endburning composite propellant hobby rocket motors. Look for additional products in the KEB Signature Line to be released at LDRS-28 in Potter, NY and in the near future.

AeroTech anticipates that shipments of the new KEB reloads to its dealers will begin in 3 to 4 weeks.

Motor instructions, thrust curves, assembly drawings and the official NAR and TRA certification documents for the three new KEB reloads are now available for download in PDF format from the Resource Library on the AeroTech website at http://www.aerotech-rocketry.com.


AeroTech Consumer Aerospace is a division of RCS Rocket Motor Components, Inc., Cedar City, UT.

Cluster monocopter spotted at NSL2009 (update)

Monocopters Yahoo Group member krambo63 provides news of a 7 x 18mm clustered monocopter at NSL. More importantly, he provided photos:

see this post

He notes:

It had flat balsa wing roughly 24 inches long x 3 inches wide. At
takeoff, the wing was flat with a constant pitch. However, once it got
up to speed, the wing developed a pronounced warp so that the pitch at
the wing tip was nearly flat.

He further wonders if such flexing is normal or even desirable. The one example that I've seen of a movable wing was on a retro off the shelf monocopter built to fly on fireworks motors. Its wing would extend and increase in angle of attack as the speed of rotation increased. However, I somehow doubt that the warp in a balsa wing would be controllable and thus wasn't planned.

More Air Command high tech low tech

Water rockets use the simplest of fuels. But they don't have top be simple.

When I built a water rocket, the components consisted of a tire stem, basswood, foamboard and duct tape.

For Air Command, the components include steel, aluminum, PVC, carbon fiber, rubber and nylon.

I jealous of George's mechanical skills.

Looks like Kosdon is back

Here's the announcement. Performance Hobbies has already announced the availability of some motors. Although not certified (at post time), these can be flown at MDRA.

To All,

I am very pleased to announce Tripoli Motor Testing and the Tripoli Rocketry Association has reinstated Dr. Franklin Kosdon as a Tripoli Certified Motor Manufacturer. Due to the recent court decision being upheld on the status of APCP and manufacturers no longer needing Low Explosives Manufacturing Permit (LEMP) licensing, Dr. Kosdon, again meets the minimum requirements to be considered a manufacturer in the eyes of this office. To that end, I submitted a motion to the TRA BOD for his reinstatement which passed as of 20 May 2009.

Dr. Kosdon and I will be exchanging information in the next few weeks concerning which motors he will be offering for sale in the next few months, but his intentions are to bring every motors originally offered back in 2001 to market. Once his intended list is received and confirmed against our records of previously certified motors, Dr. Kosdon will be allowed to sell those listed motors to our members for immediate use, with the agreed stipulation they be submitted within one year for recertification testing and confirmation comparison with the original test data. This action is deemed appropriate due to the excellent past history of these motors and periodic monitoring of his research work over the last eight years to insure he has maintained consistent standards.

In addition, once the agreed list is posted by this office, any past stores of these motors WILL be allowed to be flown.

I need to be perfectly clear, this announcement is to announce the legitimacy of Dr. Kosdon as a manufacturer, absolutely no legacy Kosdon motors are to be flown until specifically announced as recertified for use.

We welcome Dr. Kosdon back onto our commercial repertoire of motors and wish him success.

Paul Holmes

Chairman, Tripoli Motor Testing

Rocket Girls #71

First up are the V2 ladies of the White Sands Missile Range Museum (with a hat-tip to brianc).

Here's Hubble repair woman K. Megan McArthur.


She's 'spaced out':




No rockets, but here are a couple of biker chicks celebrating Memorial Day.

Happy Memorial Day!

My flag is out. I ate my BBQ (yesterday). I remembered, Yeater.

A shot from Rolling Thunder (2008). Over 400,000 bikes were expected this year.

German planes, rockets and rocket-planes

Luft'46 has been on my Aerospace Links list (see sidebar) for a while. I thought I'd featured this link in a previous post but so far haven't found the post. Wayne Hill just featured the site on his blog and I though I'd correct any potential omission here. The site is packed with real (and some possibly imagined) German planes, rockets and rocket-planes. Here are two that caught my eye (I haven't rescanned the whole site - there's a lot there!)

Josha Hildwine's A6 concept art:


Ronnie Olsthoorn's Focke-Wulf Triebflugel. OK, not a practical design for a real vehicle or even a flying model, but I'm fascinated with spinning thangs.

Pure unadulterated awesome

The Son of Rocket Jones got that right! Yeeehaw!

Hwacha say?

Here, the Mythbusters recreate an ancient Korean weapon called the Hwacha using around 200 Estes D12-0s. The fire and smoke was impressive but still doesn't challenge the largest sport rocketry mass launches (which use modrocs pointed in the safe direction - UP!). They did demonstrate that such a weapon could have been quite effective back in the 1400's.

Perfect weather, no launch

Dang. Low 80's. Crystal clear skies. Wind calm to maybe a few mph. Too bad there are no local launch areas around here anymore.

Speedweiser, King of Speed (big a$$ rocket of the day, again)

If you didn't read this thread the first time I posted the link, then you've been missing out. Not only is the rocket big but is is one of the most complicated builds I've seen documented. There are more wooden ribs and slotted components than you can shake a stick at. The builder, user GiachiG aka Typico, is providing a lot of detail and many photos. His CAD model should whet your appetite.

Odd rocket resource (but not oddrocs until ya' build 'em)

Another offshoot from my lenticular rocket surfing...

Designation-systems.net's Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 4: Undesignated Vehicles. The whole site is great, but this section seems to include some of the rarer, odder items. Not all are rare or odd, but how about items like the Applied Physics Lab D-40 Cannonball? I dare anyone to get that to fly with passive stabilization.

Drawing: UK National Archives, via Chris Gibson

Unknown rocket

I knew the Scale Rockets Yahoo Group didn't know what it is.

Then R2K posed the question on his High Power Rocketry blog.

And it appears the White Sands Missile Range Museum also wants to know. However, they evidently do know it's a USAF creation.

UFO - the movie

io9 reports that Gerry Anderson's UFO series from the '70s is being made into a movie. I watched the Thunderbirds as a kid but never saw this one as far as I remember. Might be fun nevertheless.

And, what's up with UFO's this week? This is my 4th post with some reference to them.

PEPP Aeroshell info

In my surfing for info on the Pye Wacket, I ran across an entry on the PEPP Aeroshell on the Identified Flying Objects site. (The site is packed with info on all sorts of real UFO-style vehicles.) I have seen many photos of the PEPP Aeroshell but had never seen photos of the motors firing. Here's one of the shots from the IFO site.


The following is a photo and description from the White Sands Missile Range Museum.

This vehicle was used to test the parachute NASA planned to use to "soft land" the Viking on Mars. To simulate the thin Martian atmosphere the parachute needed to be used at an altitude more than 160,000 feet above the earth. A balloon launched from Roswell, N.M. was used to initially lift the aeroshell. The balloon drifted west to the missile range where the vehicle was dropped and the engines beneath the vehicle boosted it to the required altitude where the parachute was deployed. The tests were conducted in the summer of 1966.

The IFO site also has a short video. I decided to check out YouTube and found several videos of the drop tests. If you go to YouTube and look for the other videos from this user, you'll find the others.



Finally, you might want to look at this build of a flying scale model of the PEPP Aeroshell on TRF - PEPP 1 Aeroshell Redux. I converted an Art Applewhite saucer to a PEPP-like model, but it is not even semi scale. And it only flies on one motor.

Lenticular rockets: FGG-3/Darque Sol/Pye Wacket

I just ran across this stuff and will present it in the order I discovered it vs. in any logical sequence.

First, I saw a brief report about a project called FGG-3/Darque Sol on the Tripoli Pittsburgh site. The FGG-3, named after Tripoli founder Francis Glenn Graham, is a lenticular rocket. That is, it is saucer shaped. The brief report indicates the project was mostly successful. What makes this saucer rocket unique is that it flew with the saucer edgewise rather than in the typical sport rocketry saucer configuration. (Aside: Francis is also a physics professor and an expert on, well, unconventional rocket designs. He authored the booklet Monocopters, which is available from Apogee. He also frequents the Monocopters Yahoo Group. Monocopters are some of the more 'normal' things he has tried.)


A quick search led me to this page on the Darque Sol project. This has plenty of info on the build and the testing leading up to the flight on April 18th, 2009. However, the flight report is not completed. In short, it is a 36" x 6" fiberglass shell molded from a foam core. The motor mount is on its edge and it recovers with rear ejection from 2 tubes mounted in parallel to the motor mount. The motor for the test flight was an hefty 'EX' L640.

The site also provides background research on the Convair Pye Wacket, which the FGG-3 was patterned after. The Pye Wacket was a conceptual Mach 6.5 missile intended to defend the North American XB-70 Valkyrie Mach 3 bomber circa the late 1950's. This section of the site, and the provided links, are also very cool. I grabbed the following photo from designation-systems.net.

More phenomenal Hubble eye-candy

http://gigapica.geenstijl.nl/2009/05/bye_bye_hubble.html

Fembot mania (updated)

Not rockets. NSFW. Blame this post on IO9 and the little red version of me that's sitting on my left shoulder...

Well, this post was removed for a while after a complaint from a reader. I just ran across it while clearing out the drafts that seem to spontaneously pop up while I'm composing my posts and decided I'd reinstate it.  While I will no longer post new 'R' rated material, I decided one infraction does not an adult blog make.  Don't proceed if you think you'll find this objectionable.

New rocket company says, "be square or be square."

New Way Space Models will do it their way - with square body tubes. They will begin offering their first three kits this summer.

Successful Ares parachute test

(click photo for more)

From nasa1fan:

NASA and ATK successfully conducted an Ares I main cluster parachute test at the U.S. Army Proving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona. The test was conducted on May 20, 2009. It involved three 150-feet diameter parachutes lowering a 41,500 test weight to the desert floor. The parachute system will be used to recover the first stage of Ares I. It will also be used to recover the first stage of Ares I-X following its test flight this fall.

Photo Credit: U.S. Army Proving Ground

More about Ares rockets:
www.nasa.gov/ares

p.s. You can see all of the Ares photos in the Ares Group in Flickr at: www.flickr.com/groups/ares/ We'd love to have you as a member!

TRF 1.0 - Back to the Future

TRF 2.0 just announced that the TRF 1.0 Archive is on-line! It's read-only, but at least all that great reference material is again available. Now to see if there's I can easily translate my stored links...

Schweeeeeet! All you have to do is follow the old link, replace 'rocketryforum' with 'rocketryforumarchive' in your browser, and the old thread pops up.

I updated the links in my featured posts and the ancient TRF links post. The rest are up to the reader. Note that old (low numbered) TRF 1.0 links point to the new TRF 2.0 posts, so some of my old links will appear out of context. As TRF 2.0 grows, this will happen to more and more of those TRF 1.0 references.

Rocket bathroom fixtures

These Rocketeer-styled faucets are perfect for space fan-atics. However, I think we sport rocketeers might be happier with a port-a-potty styled makeover and a deodorizer with the scent of burned APCP (or BP, as you prefer). Get a good rocket mag and dream of being on the field. Ahhhhhh.

Need to get a cable across that gorge?

Via Dark Roasted Blend.

Minotaur-1/TacSat-3 launch successful

Well, last week I waited by my computer with breathless anticipation. But, tonight I was distracted and missed the launch. The launch was successful and Wallops reports that both the TacSat-3 and PharmaSat spacecraft have communicated with their ground stations.

(click photo to see a few more)

The Millk Way rises

The following is a time-lapse video taken at a star party near Fort Davis, TX. It is a compilation of photos taken every 20 seconds over a 9 hour period. The camera was equipped with a fish eye lens and a red-filter that reveals the rise of the core of the Milky Way. How cool is that? You can see more from the photographer, William Castleman, on his website. (via Gizmodo)

UFO over Montgomery County, MD (update?)

Just spotted this UFO hovering nearby. It emitted a cyclic pulse of bright light, which I suspect was some sort of communication.

Or, it was a balloon of some sort and was reflecting the afternoon sun.

Update: It seems there was a similar sighting in Arizona, which turned out to be a NASA gamma-ray-measuring balloon. (via UPI)

Update 2: This report was duely logged by the Alien, UFO and Paranormal Times and Alien Casebook.

Jet flyover alert - a bit late (updated)

Fighter Jets to Fly Over D.C. For Next Two Nights

Either the didn't fly over my house or I slept soundly. Maybe tonight. Last year some jets buzzed us at a surprisingly low altitude. Cameras, it seems there's never one around when I need one.

Update: Nada, not a peep.

Hubble SM4 on The Big Picture

Here are 31 amazing images of the mission. Amazing, simply amazing. Includes the Shuttle silhouetted against the sun. Did I say amazing?

MOL parts reused in Arizona (?)

In today's Space Review, Dwayne Day explores the possibility that mirrors from the canceled Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) made their way into the unique, 6-mirrored, Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona. His facts aren't all confirmed, but it is an interesting story either way. I'm sure he will have a follow-up.

The date to appeal Judge Walton's ruling, which vacated the classification of APCP as an explosive, has come and gone

Hot off the presses. I may actually fly an 'H' motor next month to celebrate.

JOINT NAR/TRA STATEMENT ON THE LAWSUIT VS BATFE

Since the BATFE has not appealed the decision of the Federal District Court of March 16, 2009, which ordered the agency to vacate their classification of APCP as an explosive, and the period for their ability to do so has expired as of May 16, 2009, on advice of counsel, the judgment is considered final although we have not received confirmation from BATFE. Accordingly, members may operate under the understanding that APCP rocket motors are no longer regulated as an explosive material by BATFE, and no longer require the permits formerly required by the agency to buy, sell, or possess such motors.

Members possessing a LEUP are advised that they should evaluate their individual situation based upon whether they possess (or plan to possess) and store materials that are still considered regulated by BATFE. While APCP rocket motors are now no longer regulated under the requirements of the "Orange Book" and are not subject to requiring a LEUP, other materials may be subject to these requirements.

Members are also reminded that both NAR and TRA safety codes stipulate what motors they may possess, depending on their level of flyer certification. These rules still apply to our members. We likewise strongly encourage vendors of hobby rocket motors to continue to work cooperatively with the rocketry community to only sell rocket motors to customers who possess flyer certifications commensurate with the motors they wish to purchase. Ensuring we maintain our strong level of self-regulation will be an essential element in our ability to retain this freedom from overregulation by outside agencies.

Members should immediately contact the leadership of NAR or TRA should they encounter situations where any BATFE personnel conduct themselves in a manner inconsistent with the final judgment of the Federal District Court.

Trip Barber Ken Good
NAR President TRA President

LAUNCH Missile - built!

Here's a photo of my completed Semroc LAUNCH Missile. The stand-out feature is the laser cut fins and rings. The rear ring is notched to accept tabs on the tail vane. Nice! The down-side is that several of the decals flipped over on themselves and were a bear to straighten out. In fact, it is supposed to have small decals overlapping the tip of fin's root edges. I botched one up so I left them all off. If there is a way to screw up a decal, I'll find it. Grrr.

Rocket Girls #70 - a nice pair...

...of SRBs, that is. Follow the links back to her Flickr page for more shots in and about the Shuttle.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robynw/35505007/in/set-785794/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robynw/35505085/in/set-785794/

Minotaur-1/TacSat-3 scheduled for tomorrow

NASA Wallops reports that the launch of the Minotaur-1 carrying the TacSat-3 satellite is set for May 19th or 20th between 7:35 to 11:30 p.m. EST. The webcast should again be active for your viewing pleasure. Right now, the weather looks great for both days. I hope it's on the later side so that it will be visible over a wider area.

Sport Rocketry - May/June 2009

This is a great issue. But a slightly odd one. First, the cover shot is cool but it is the second in a row that was not taken at a NAR event (not that I care, just a curiosity). Second, there isn't a single launch report article. I don't remember another issue that didn't have at least one.

What this issue does have is three solid tech articles. The first is Boris Katan's how-to on Clusters and Igniters. If you are on the rocketry forums, it would be hard to have missed reports on his handiwork, however, this article ties his work together nicely and is packed with nice launch shots. You just gotta love a 27 motor cluster!

Ed Miller continues his series on finishing with an installment on Primer and Filler Coats. Ed's articles are great, but if you aren't going to use them... :(

The third tech article in on tip-to-tip glassing techniques. Useful stuff but best served right before you are going to apply the glass. Well, at least during the planning phase of your project.

Smaller articles include a build report on the FlisKits Rose-a-Roc and a short one on the rec.model.rockets newsgroup. The best part of which was a photo of the author sitting in front of his computer wearing a welder's helmet. LOL, perfect RMR gear.

I also want to point out a link to Roger's Rocketships. Chuck Rogers, the co-author/illustrator of the Spaceship Handbook, now is offering his fantasy scale plans on a per-item basis. I've only taken a quick look but the items seem to be the same ones as shown in the book. There are many other sections on the site so I will have to do more poking.

(The attached photo of Steve Jurvetson's V2 was lifted from his Flickr page, by me and by the magazine. This was taken at a Rocket Mavericks launch. In fact, last month's cover photo was also Steve's. Another curiosity.)

SS2S video compendium

All the Sugar-Shot-to-Space videos have been compiled into a YouTube Channel: moonlighter 1000.

Amateur geekiness from the old world (rocket motors!)

Great find! The EGE links to a fantastic British site - The Rockets Red Glare - a very different British amateur rocketry page featuring model rocketry heritage. Although British, it also has motor history from othe European countries; and even a little from America. So far my favorite tidbit is the "The Guppy", a 3.3" diameter, 3.3 inch long G156-0! I'll explore the site later. Right now I have to sop up the drool that the thought of this motor caused.

Slow motion video of unguided rocket cars

The latest documentation from Rocket Car Day 11 is the slow-motion montage embedded below. Safety code? We don't need no steenking safety code! My favorite is the Steve-a-pult.

Rocketcar Day 11. Slow Motion Montage from sixty40 on Vimeo.

Rockets Into Space documentary on YouTube

Wayne Hill points out that the 5-part episode of the “Rockets into Space” documentary entitled “The Edge of Space” is available on YouTube. Here is the link to the playlist.

The USAF looks at reusability (again)

Clark Lindsey points to this Aviation Week piece on the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Reusable Booster System (RBS) request for information (RFI). A YORF user found another reference, which includes a link to a white paper that you can download (if you register). I didn't, but I did grab this graphic from YORF:


The right most variant reminds me of something:

Are 'fizzy' propellants in your future?

Chilled “Fizzy” Propellants for Vapor Pressurized Rockets are being discussed over on Jon Goff's Selenian Boondocks (with a hat tip to Clark Lindsey)

Space music video - Plasma

RP user Chuck_Rudy pointed me to the following rocketry/space themed music video on Sinch TV Well worth a look! Chuck notes:

They have something called the Occular sound machine, which stores the clips you see and one of the band members changes the clips on the fly. If you go to a Sinch concert this video will never be the same twice.

While on the subject of space music...Clark Lindsey lists a few items.

Drogue-less recovery, Shuttle style

Here's a video of STS-125's External Tank falling after separation. This was taken from the flight deck to inspect the tank for foam loss.

Re: accuracy of info in the Dungeon

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Rocket Dungeon ain't journalism. My posts, other than those reporting my work and experiences, are derived from one or more sites and are often copies of copies. If there's one thing I learned from the movie Multiplicity, it's that, "You know how when you make a copy of a copy, it's not as sharp as... well... the original." (yeah, I didn't double check that quote either)

There are many sites that I trust (for instance Encyclopedia Astronautica). There are others that I kinda trust (for instance Wikipedia). I just saw a report indicating the the operative word is 'kinda'. Reportedly, an Irish student added a fake quote to the Wikipedia entry on the late composer Maurice Jarre. He then monitored on-line obits and found many blogs and some newspapers picked up his quote. The moral is that if you use anything from Wikipedia and you want to have journalistic integrity, the material should be tracked to a trusted source.

I see the rub is finding said source and not just another that also grabbed the info from Wikipedia. Oh well, like I said, I have no journalistic integrity. Instead, I trust my teeming throng of readers to slap me back in line.

Cool EMRR contest entry!

For me, the highlight of today's update is Hans "Chris" Michielssen's entry into the Elevate 11 Contest, aptly named Elevate 11. The name is not exciting but the number of features with the number eleven is amazing. I emailed Nick and said he should declare a winner and continue the contest for the runner ups. From the contest entry:

There are 33 - “Elevate 11 Features”:

1. Rocket built using an specially designed 11" long Ruler, all inches divisible by 11
2. Every rocket component (except for screw eye) Incorporates the number 11, in measurement or markings.
3. All rocket construction dimensions divisible by 11.
4. 11 sided parachute,
5. 11 inches in diameter,
6. 11 shroud lines,
7. Each shroud line is 11 inches long.
8. Tape “disks” were cut from white adhesive backed paper. All pieces were cut to 1.1" x 4/11" long.
9. Add 11 streamers down shock cord,
10. Each Streamer is 1" x 11" long.
11. Each streamer is attached to the shock cord by an masking tape tab that is 1 1/11" square.
12. The main body is made up of two Series 11 tubes,
13. Both tubes are 11 inches long.
14. The tube coupler is 1 3/11" long
15. Two launch lugs, both 1.1" long.
16. 11 fins,
17. All 11 fins are different sizes
18. Fins made from 11 ply cardstock and paper overlays,
19. All fins are numbered “countdown” style with decals, 11 to 1 going towards engine end. Fins glued in a spiral pattern,
20. 11 Different Fonts, one font style on each fin.
21. Engine mount Centering “Ring” is 11/11" long
22. Engine Block is 2/11" wide,
23. Engine sticks out back of model by 3/11".
24. 11 inches of Kevlar tied to,
25. 44 inches of shock cord (four pieces of 11 inch elastic tied together.
26. Rocket trim color is light green. On a standard Color Wheel, the color at the 11 O’Clock position is light green.
27. Decal stripes beneath Nose Cone joint is actually an eleven applied on it’s side.
28. Another 11 is included in the EMRR Elevate 11 decal.
29. Launch with C11-5 Estes engine.
30. Launched on May 2, 2009 at 11:11:11 a.m.
31. Count down from eleven,
32. Launch button pressed by an eleven year old girl named Emily. (R.O.C.K. section family member)
33. All rocket features - 33 in all - are divisible by 11!

Had to post this Atlantis STS-125 video

My 2 favorite parts are:

1. About 30 seconds in when the Shuttle rolls and you get a side view showing the massive SRB plumes and the clear, mach diamond laden main engine plumes. Awesome!
2. On-board video at 2:13 seconds when the SRBs separate. Very nice!
   

Atlantis is Hubble-bound

I was Internetless until a few minutes ago, so I had to watch the Shuttle Atlantis launch on the TV in the ER. (Don't ask - besides the psychosis induced by 7 1/2 hours of sitting on my a$$, all is now well.) Hubble SM4 is a GO!

Here's a great photo of the launch! (embedding turned off, grrr)

They ain't just blowin' smoke, but the smoke they are blowin' is cool

A reader just pointed me to this interesting photo on Blackfive. Thanks, Skycopp!

(U.S. Army photo by Spc. William Hatto)

Photo of TX-38 SPARM ramjet missile

TX-38 SPARM solid rocket / ramjet missile, ATK rocket park, Utah / 2008 (hat tip to Greg Goebel's Public Domain photo site)

Note: I've followed the occasional discussion of ram-rockets on the various rocketry forums with interest. So, when I found this photo I thought I'd post it. A quick Google search didn't find anything else on this rocket but I haven't looked specifically on other aerospace reference sites.

Make mine a Bud (big a$$ rocket of the day)

Speedweiser, King of Speed

NOTSNIK

The High Power Rocketry blog has an interesting and detailed post about the title project, which might have been the first, all-solid motor, orbital-capable vehicle. Evidently, there were both air- and ground-launched tests, none of which worked. So, I guess this program was a FLOPNIK (haha).

Here's a brief summary from one source, Gunther's Space Page:

Project Pilot was the first attempt to create a air launched satellite launch vehicle. The vehicle was better known by its nickname 'NOTSNIK', a combination of NOTS and Sputnik. The NOTS-EV1 was also the first all solid orbital vehicle. It was launched by a Douglas F-4D1 Skyray airplane. After separation from the aircraft, the first pair of HOTROC motors, derived from the SUBROC anti submarine missile, were ignited. Five seconds later, the second pair was ignited. After jettisoning the first stage, the X-241 and NOTS Extruded motors put the payload into a transfer orbit, which was circularised half a orbit later by the fourth stage, which was mounted backwards in fron tof the payload. As the vehicle was designed for maximum simplicity it featured no moving parts.

This would be a cool subject for a semi-scale build. Canted motors with parallel staging for stages one and two (the main visible motors). Going all the way to 5 stages would be a tad complex for me ;) R2K notes that the spherical 5th stage motor was roughly a J700-equivalent.

Ref:

1. High Power Rocketry
   
2. Gunter's Space Page
3. Encyclopedia Astronautica
4. Aerospaceweb
5. High Power Rocketry follow-up post
   

Rockets promote dental hygiene

I was just browsing the latest issue of IEEE Spectrum and saw a modroc...in an ad for IEEE dental insurance. The teaser says, "Remember when you were a child, you imagined anything was possible?" I see the tie-in between that statement and rocketry but the link to dental insurance still elludes me.

Boring, I know.

Minotaur/TacSat3 update - scrubbed at T - 00:02:13

Posted by RCC on 2009-05-08 at 22:50:49 EDT
We have scrubbed the launch for tonight

Minotaur/TacSat3 update - launch time moved out

Posted by RCC on 2009-05-08 at 21:42:31 EDT
In the final phase of the countdown

Posted by RCC on 2009-05-08 at 21:38:04 EDT
New launch time is 10:40 p.m.

Minotaur/TacSat3 update - launch time moved up

The latest from NASA Wallops' webcast status page:

Posted by RCC on 2009-05-08 at 17:35:11 EDT
T-5:35p.m. T- 2 hours and counting. Expect to begin moving the shelter from around the rocket in next 30 minutes.

Posted by RCC on 2009-05-08 at 15:53:24 EDT
New launch time of 7:35 p.m. This to take advantage of the expected better weather early in the window.

Posted by RCC on 2009-05-08 at 15:28:19 EDT
Latest forecast has a 50% probability of acceptable weather for launch tonight.

Best of the Rocket Girls Series - Volume Two

About a year ago, I compiled the first 'best of'. I figured that I might as well make this a yearly feature. Enjoy!

Patriot launch

Follow the link to see more in the sequence.

Delta II launch at Vandenburg, May 5th

Posted by the Air Force Space Command on Flickr.

Rocket Girls #69 - nuttin' but Flickr