A pair of launch site photos

R2K posted this shot of the Pine Island, NY launch site after Irene.  Rowboat required.

Here's a photo of the Goddard Spaceflight Center showing the site of the monthly public launch conducted by NARHAMS (in the rocket garden behind the visitor's center).  Original photo found on GSFC's Flickr photo stream.

LDRS in (near) real time

Bayourat Rocketry plans to document this year's LDRS.  He'll try to broadcast live from Argonia  but, if his cell service doesn't cooperate, he'll record a nightly show.  Check out his UStream channel for either live or nightly broadcasts.  Rumor has it, Kari will be back!  Oh, and there are a lot of cool and crazy projects planned.  I wonder now Neil's car air bag deployment will work?

Hobby Lobby run

Earlier today, I went to HL with a 40% coupon in hand.  Since the rocketry stuff was on 30% sale anyway, I used the coupon for a pack of Testor's clear decal stock.  I'll experiment and hopefully (*) will get decent decals for my Zoomie P51-D.  I didn't get the Testor's clear coat so I'll try Krylon and/or Future Shine.  Also got a pack of E9-6's and some brush-on black paint. 

(*) After reading posts in the various rocketry forums, I'm wondering how these will turn out on my HP with Costco ink.  It is what is is.  I'll let you know.  It will be a couple of days.

Flight of the JayCoke Zero

Flight on a Cesaroni L3150 Vmax, drag separation, tree recovery.

Vintage rocket stamp

Space Shuttle Atlantis silhouetted against the moon

Canon20d_AtlantisReturn 046.jpg, a photo by Vincent P Greenwade on Flickr.

Click through for some additional shots of Atlantis.

Zoomie P-51D, update 4

Irene may have kept me from the painting booth that is my back yard, but she didn't stall my progress.  In between preparations for Fajitafest, I managed to press forward.

I didn't have black brush on paint, but I did have a jumbo sized Sharpie.  I think they look good enough as-is.  I also painted the cockpit.  I tried thinning white paint, adding blue streaks, and ended up leaving them a somewhat mottled sky blue.  Not what I envisioned, but not bad.

The big change is the exhausts from the P51-D's Packard V-1650 V-12 engine.  You may notice that the simple dowels were replaced with something a bit snazzier. Anyone want to guess what these are?

Zoomie P-51D, update número tres

As you see, I got the silver base coat on.  I probably should have laid on another coat but I got antsy.  Due to Hurricane Irene and Fajitafest, I won't  be able to get back to her until Monday and I have a case of build fever.  Next, I grabbed a Sharpie and highlighted the cockpit, wheels, and tail section.  I'm going to thin some blue paint and give the cockpit 'glass' a blue tint.  I plan on brush on black paint for the wheels but have to make a Michael's run.  For the general marking scheme, I'm flip-flopping between:

• No decals, just paint.
• Decals printed on white label stock.
• Buying a cheap kit just for the decals.

The latter may be an option if they have one at Michael's and if I have a 40% or 50% coupon. If I go this route, I'll follow the model's paint scheme.  If not, the tip of the nose, the wing tips, and the rear of the rudder will be painted either red , blue or yellow.  (That's a flip-flop within a flip flop.) If I print the decals, a checkerboard pattern will be involved.  I don't think I'll trouble you any more until I decide.

The shock cord is installed but I haven't given any further thought to nose weight.

Stay dry,  my friends!

Sometimes you're the mountain and sometimes you're the airplane

Attached is a photo of an engine from a B-36 which crashed into mount Franklin, El Paso, TX on December 11, 1953.  Reportedly, the engine is still up there.  (via)

Modroc to launch in the eye of Irene :eek:

Dr. Zooch reports that, should Hurricane Irene pass over his Rocket Headquarters, he will fly a Titan IIIC into her eye. Wes, I hope you stay safe.  This sounds a little like fooling with Mother Nature to me.  But if you have to be in the eye, you might as well fly a rocket.  (via TRF)

Zoomie P-51D, update 2

I have attached the the wings, fins and all related structures.  Along the way, I readjusted the cockpit and intake sections.  They looked OK but sat too far forward (stability issue).  Next, I added some sections of FirstFire tubes under each wing.  Either will work as a launch lug on 3/16" or 1/4" rods.  They look ordinance-like, so they should fit in well enough. Finally, I settled on a 2.125" plywood disk, cut in half, for the wing mounted 'landing gear'.

I cut some dowel strips to emulate the engine exhausts. I haven't attached them yet since they may be easier to paint separately.  Daddyisabar used launch lugs on his P-40E and I thought the result was good.

That will leave nose weight, recovery harness and finishing.  I hope to get some primer on before the weekend and Irene.

Big a$$ project of the day...this is what I call a supersized serving! (updated)

Check out SMR ground testing the ejection charges on his recycling container Jayhawk, the JayCoke Zero.  You can read all about the build here (direct link to the page showing the full view, with the Coke decal, see post #119). While on the subjects of Jayhawks, SMR has a whole fleet one them, from LPR to HPR.  He's my kind of rocketeer - he also made them from crayon coin bands and various plastic doohickies. You can see his fleet, along with other people's Jayhawks, here (see post #8 for SMR's fleet).

Update: The flight report can be found here.

Zoomie P-51D update

Today, I installed the motor mount in the tail cone.  I used polyurethane glue, which seems to work well on plastics. Instead of the SuperFil, I filled the gap between the tail cone and the motor mount with Testor's Contour Putty.  Much easier for a really small volume and it should work well with the plastic.





I made a card stock cone to fit in the space between the motor mount and the wall of the tail cone's shoulder.  For just for a tad bit more durability., the double-wall card stock is coated was coated with carpenter's glue   I consider this an experiment and will report back via my flight reports.  For the record, the black dots seen in the photo are crud that popped out of the spent motor when I dropped the assembly.






I'm still not convinced that the plywood retainer will hold up when abutted to the end of a motor.  So, I'm going to use a piece of Kevlar though the wall adjacent to the intake mounted on the bottom.  The lug will be in the same general spot.  I'll also report back on how the retainer holds up.

As for future plans, I have been kicking around how to trim out the model.  Almost all the P-51D's that I've seen have a silver base, so that part is easy.  After that, there is a wide variety of trim colors (or none).  If you look at the post-war racers, the options increase even more.  If nothing changes, I plan on a yellow and black checkerboard just behind the cone and on the rudder fin.  That means the nose will probably be yellow, as will the wing tips.  I'm planning on using the blue and white National Aircraft Insignia that was used from 1943 - 1947.  This appears to have been used on most if not all of the P-51Ds.  But, plans may change.

New build: "Zoomie" P-51D

Recently, TRF user Daddyisabar posted a thread on his Estes SpaceShipOne to P-40E kit bash.  I am a big fan of the SpaceShipOne as a subject for kit bashing (ref. Goonball XL5, SpaceShipSqrt(-1)).  I loved the P-40E and had another SpaceShipOne.  So, I decided to try a P-51D.  Daddyisabar coined the term 'zoomie' for a 'goonie' version of a scale aircraft.  I call mine the Zoomie P-51D. (So original, eh?).

Here's my progress to date:

The first photos show the wings and other fin-like objects.  I patterned the general concept after the P-40E and even the Semroc Gee'hod.  I first roughed them out based on drawing of the P-51D that I found on the Web.  I laid these out on a rough profile of the SpaceShipOne's body.  All the components, except the lower 'air intake' are cut from dense 1/8"  balsa and the intake is 1/4" balsa.  I thought about using the thicker balsa for the cockpit too...but didn't.  The wings are 2-part because I only had 4" wide stock and the whole wing wouldn't fit with the proper grain orientation.  All wing/fin parts were laminated with full page label stock. The edges were treated with thin CA and minor imperfections were filled with Fill'n'Finish. Oh, yeah, there will also be landing gear (large half circles) on the wings.  I may use a centering ring cut in half.

Based on my prior experience, stubby winged rockets require a good bit of nose weight.  My XL5 is 18mm but requires a D13, D21 or D24.  The SpaceShipSqrt(-1) has a 24mm mount, and can fly on a C11 or D12.  For this latest model, I thought a 24mm mount was the way to go.  I didn't need that nozzle anyway.  The photo to the right shows the motor mount.  I expanded the center holes in the stock centering 'rings' and positioned them per the instructions.  On the front, you can see an I Build Rockets plywood shock cord mount.  This serves as a motor block and an attachment point for a steel leader.  However, having built this 'on the fly', there is a problem.  Mounting this mount so close to the motor could result in an over pressurization. That is, the mount might be ejected.  I'm still mulling this issue over.

The final photo is the in-progress tail cone.  I just roughed out the rear opening.  Once the mount is installed, I'll seal the rear gaps with SuperFil epoxy clay.  One thing I learned from the Sqrt(-1) is that 24mm ejection charges are tough on plastic cones.  The upper ring on the SpaceShipOne leaves almost half of the cone exposed - not good.  I think I'll make a card stock cone to fit between the inside if the shoulder to the upper ring.  That should keep the hot gasses away from the wimpy plastic.

For the record...(updated)

Two items popped up today, yielding a bunch of hits to some old posts.  So, I decided I might as well make some mention of them.

The first item/event was the 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered near Mineral, VA. I was driving at the time and didn't feel it.  My wife claims she thought she felt the car skid, but didn't mention anything because she is used to my driving.  The media is full of coverage so there is not much reason to repeat the details.  Here is one of the more sciency reports: The Mineral, VA earthquake of August 23, 2011 Updated - Mountain Beltway. Watch the seismic wave from this afternoon's event sweep across the country...and your screen - USArray Ground Motion Visualization (GMV). I had to download the MP4's to get the full effect.

And, it appears that another NOTAM has been filed by Blue Origin.  Parabolic Arc has the full text of the notice.  In summary: Van Horn, TX area, August 24th, noon to 3PM UTC, max altitude of 18k' MSL.  I'm no longer that excited about Blue Origin.  I need launch photos and videos.

WANT: coolest pool floatation device...ever!

V-2 launch at White Sands

Another photo stolen from FB.  Not the one that landed in Juarez.

Monday monkey business

This morning, I woke up to a robo call from a company that purportedly sells pre-paid calls to the prison industry.  WTF?  Donotcall complaint filed.

Today's Space Review has two interesting articles (well, probably more than that, but these especially caught my eye).

• An enduring value proposition for NASA human spaceflight (part 3) by by Mary Lynne Dittmar presents the political value of the Space Shuttle and manned space flight in general.  I haven't seen this subject discussed before.  The article is an interesting read.
• The wit and wisdom of Burt Rutan by Eric R. Hedman.  Burt is an interesting dude. 'Nuff said! (Now I know why he sports those mutton chops.)

Scott Lowther has started a Tumblr blog to help promote his Up-Ship Aerospace Projects Review business.  This blog should provide an never ending stream of interesting "Unflown aircraft and spacecraft projects. The results of work by the aerospace industry... not science fiction."  Like the C-130-derived glider/carrier for Saturn I stages that is depicted to the right.

Shuttle over the Organs

Borrowed from Facebook...

Return of the Night of the Return of the Son of Rocket Jones

I haven't seen much from Ted in a while.  Maybe some gardening stuff.  Anyway, he's back with some posts resurrected from his old(er) blog.  He's posting his 'built it' series, starting with a good ol' rubber band gun.  Useful for kids, fathers and grandfathers (or any combination thereof). Wear eye protection.

The latest Blogger formatting craziness

A couple of days ago, something happened with the way Blogger handles non-alphanumeric codes.  On parsing the text, it is replacing the obvious ASCII versions with their HTML character string. This is messing up the formats of new posts and, now, even old ones.  I first noticed it when Blogger wouldn't parse the iframe tags from YouTube.  These sometimes appear as text, sometimes are invisible, and sometimes Blogger removes them entirely.  It turns out these problems are mostly limited to Firefox (up-to-date version).  So, I've been resorting to Chrome just to get my posts working.  I'm beginning to think I need to switch over entirely, but that's another discussion.

A few minutes ago, I noticed most of the text in my sidebar has strike throughs.  This was tracked to a strike-through I added to my post about Darrell.  This post was appearing in my 'Popular Posts' widget.  The ASCII was replaced and the close tag wasn't being recognized. I hadn't touched this post recently so it wasn't associated with publication/republication.  What's even weirder is that the mystery strike throughs only were there on my top-page and went away when an individual post was viewed.  This behavior was there in FF and Chrome.

Other than that, hard break characters seem to be needed and or are mysteriously removed. And, sometimes whole paragraphs are being tagged a misspelling. :eek:

I think this is related to Blogger's adoption of the Google Scribe tool.  Or at least coincident changes.

Big a$$ project of the day - Wildman & Crazy Jim's "Flying Circus" 2011

"Wildman" Tim Lehr and "Crazy" Jim Hendricksen are known for their extreme projects. In a TRF thread, Tim presents one of his LDRS projects, a 12" diameter, minimum diameter, 'Mega" project.  Tim describes the project as: "A single use Carbon fiber P-motor. Should fly it to over 20,000ft. That's a 25ft, 325lb. rocket!"  He has another thread that details all of his LDRS projects. Here, it is revealed that this motor is probably a CTI product from the Affordable Weapon System.



Makes me realize that, in the sport rocketry ecosystem, I am a mere tick on the back of a big dog.

Rocket Girls #91

Via rocketreviews.com, Norton Sales and elsewhere on the web...

Selling rocket parts to Jay Leno (and new-space companies too)

Parabolic Arc's Doug Messier interviews Carlos Guzman of rocket surplus mega store Norton Sales.  Most surplus stores don't deal with ITAR, the FBI, low-riders and Jay Leno.  Norton is one of those places that I'd place on my bucket list if I had one. (found via Clark Lindsey)



P.S. - Anyone want an X-15 engine? (I do...but I didn't win the lottery.)  Here are a few of the photos.

The Cluster Bomb facelift is complete

As noted early this morning, I found a scan of the Estes decals.  I upscaled a few of them and filled in the background with what I thought was a suitable green.  It turns out that it wasn't that close, but then the whole model isn't in great shape.  I decided that it was close enough and that trying to photograph the paint and find its RGB values wasn't worth the effort. 

To treat the label paper, I first shot on some matte clear coat.  Once installed, I tacked the edges with thin CA. Next, I coated them with Future Shine (or whatever it's being called nowadays). The stickers looked OK but I got some on the matte paint.  So, I added another coat of the matte clear coat. (Remember, my finishing skills are remedial at best.)

I also made the following adjustments:

• I added a small spacer under each rail button.  After the rocket sat in the water the tube was slightly warped so the rail scraped the nose cone.
• In true trash rocketry style, I reinforced the top of the tube with a wrap of black duct tape. Despite using a home made cord protector, the top of the tube has had to be repaired a couple of times.
• Finally, I installed two MDRA stickers, which will ensure the rocket flies perfectly from now on.

So, it's ready for its secret payload.  I'll report back if the payload has its desired effect.  If not, this will be the last I say about that!

Lost decal image and secret payload (updated...already)

My Upscale Cluster Bomb has a new fin and a new coat of paint.  I searched my computers for the decal image that I made from the Estes Cluster Bomb sheet, but couldn't find it.  I wonder if YORP or JimZ has a scan of the decals (thinking as I type)?  Either way, it will be ready for the next launch.  It and its secret payload (suggested by Will M.).

Update: YORP had the decal image.  I'm off to upscale it and to convert the otherwise clear background to something that resembles the Cluster Bomb's OD paint.

Samarai and Flexrotor UAVs in the news

IEEE Spectrum reports on two of my favorite items, monocopters and tail sitting aircraft: Weird UAV Demos: Lockheed Martin's Samarai and Aerovel's Flexrotor.

I've commented on the Samari monocopter drone a few times over the last three years or so.  It is cool that it can navigate autonomously and that they can stabilize a surveillance camera on it. I know of two other guideable monocopters, a palm-sized one built at UMD and one by Woody Hoburg at MIT.  LockMart's latest version is 3-D printed, has two moving parts and can provide 360-degree video without a gimbal.  I also note that the propeller is on the wing instead of on the counter weighted boom.  Pretty awesome stuff.



The Flexrotor, in true tail-sitter form, takes off, lands and hovers tail down and transitions to horizontal flight.  I think this profile will work better for an unmanned table-top vehicle than for a manned one.

Turbonique, lots of Turbonique

TheTunersGroup has a nice article on the Turbonique rocket-powered superchargers and drag axles. I've covered a lot of this stuff before (follow the tag, below), but they have some additional references.  In my favor, they didn't include links to Ky "The Rocketman" Michaelson's site (you'll now have to follow said tag).

Life Magazine A Look Back: Rocket-Propelled Rides

Jet packs, bikes, cars, an ejection seat, a sled...did I miss anything?

Honoring people and animals in space

Via...more info

"Between a rocket and a hard place"

Lost & Found, a photo by jurvetson on Flickr.

All hail the Anti-Hail Rockets

I have heard of several examples of rockets being used in lightning research but this is the first I've heard of small rockets being used for weather modification.  A long list of links for cloud seeding/anti-hail rockets was provided by YORF member blackshire as potential subjects for full-scale model rockets.  I included a photo of the Serbian PGR PP-8 and -6T as  examples.  These are 72mm in diameter and 950mm/1170mm in length.  These would be easily modeled in full scale.  Well, you'd have to build your own tubes of course.  For me, a standard old 3" tube would be close enough!

I found it interesting that several (including the Russian made Alazan-5) say they are safe for use in densely populated areas, with a "probability of safe use for population, not less than 0.99999."  I guess they don't need no steenkin' safe distances! The Alazan-5 also introduces a new type of recovery, which I'll call intentional in- flight rekitting:

The rocket can be safely used over densely populated areas due to body crushing into small fragments after the seeding is over. 

I've done that, but not intentionally!

So, take a look-see.  I surfed them with scripts blocked so I missed some things.  Let me know if you  find anything interesting.

Caption This Week 3 (8/15 thru 8/19)

Caption This Week 3 (8/15 thru 8/19), a photo by NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr.

It's rocket bunker and a coffin (if things really go badly). (Homage to Saturday Night Live's 'it's a dessert topping and a floor wax" skit.) 

Reworking the upscale Cluster Bomb

At this weekend's launch, the 'chute on my Upscale BLU-97B Cluster Bomb tangled and it came in hard..  One foam board fin was totalled and, upon closer inspection, the nose cone (thin glass over pink foam) had a crunch and there was a slight compression crack along the tube spiral.  The Cluster Bomb has had a hard life.  The body isn't in the best shape after landing in a pond in Middletown and one of the surviving fins had previously been cracked.  Since the new fin will have to be painted and I don't have matching paint, I decided to rework more than just the fin and repaint the whole thing.  It won't be in really great shape, but should look a lot better.

Big a$$ project of the day

Overheard at MDRA in the aftermath of a rain shower:  20' tall, 20" diameter, 150lb, N2000.  Custom tube, 1/16" thick.  Lots of discussion on non-standard building techniques internally.  The guy had pages of mechanical engineering calculations to show it will be strong enough (compressive forces and the like).  Me asks, why is he building a tube and having to mess with the internals?  Answer, he wants to keep it light.  But, that's backwards of what most people do - find a tube and build the nose cone.  Answer: he got the cone from a movie set or some such (2nd hand info) and needed to build the tube to match.  Sounds intriguing.

Launch Report 2011-5

Location: Central Sod Farm, Centreville, MD (MDRA ESL-159)
Weather: partly-rainy, high70s, wind ~5 MPH
Total flights: Today - 10; YTD - 48
Total motors: Today - 13; YTD - 63

I almost blew off the launch as I sat and watched the rain pour down at home.  However, the forecast for the Eastern Shore was better so I went.  I'm glad that I did.  It rained twice, once for about 5 minutes and once for about 15.  Other than that, it was cool and the wind was generally light. My two foam rubber rockets (#2 and #3, below) were on the pad throughout the longer downpour.  Although their general construction is impervious to dihydrogen monoxide, the motors aren't.  This proved not to be a problem as both flew nicely.

The somewhat disturbing looking rocket shown in the photo had one of the more amusing flights.  It went up on an E75.  The boost was so fast and short that it didn't have a chance to be unstable.

My Flights:

1. Thoy Snipe on 3x E9-6 - Nice long burn with ejection at apogee.  The walk was very reasonable. The wind was light and pointed the rockets toward a large field of mowed grass.
2. Ankyo234-2 on a D12-3 - Now, featuring streamer recovery! Worked as planned.
3. Give 'em the Finger on an A10-P -  Boink! (also as planned)
4. Eenie Meaner on a C6-0 staged to an A10-3 -  This really ripped off the pad and went out of sight.  The Eenie Meanie sustainer was recovered intact but the booster was damaged.
5. Art Applewhite Stealth D5 (original version) on a C6-3 - I dragged raced the new and old versions of this rocket (both beta test versions that I converted to 18mm).  I couldn't tell the difference in terms of spin rate or altitude.  However, the motor on the old version was discolored, which probably indicates a higher spin rate.
6. Art Applewhite Stealth D5 (new version) on a C6-3 -  This revised version should have a lower spin rate and thus should have out performed the original.  As mentioned above, I couldn't tell.
7. Yarn Cone Nonami on an E15-7 - Good flight.  Ejection was after apogee.
8. Iron Man on a C11-3 - Nice flight, rough landing.  I need to reattach one fin and two of the non-functional boosters.
9. Hat of Death on an E9-4 - The crowd loved it (again).
10. Cluster Bomb on a G64-6 - Great flight but with late ejection.  'Chute tangled, one fin was totally destroyed. 

P.S. - I wore my Rocketry Planet tee shirt today!

New composite motors coming

As discussed on YORF, a new line of composite motors have been developed by the German manufacturer Klima.  These are currently being CE certified.  Here's the most interesting revelation from Bill Stine (Old Rocketeer II):

The new Klima line of motors will distributed exclusively by Quest Aerospace in North America (USA and Canada).

Details on pricing and availability are still a ways off.

They will be stagable (and include booster motors) and will be available in retail stores. Of course, they will include Q2G2 igniters!

Follow the leaks from Germany, because there won't be a lot of information published by Quest until we are finished with DOT EX Numbers and NAR/CAR Testing.

I'm not holding my breath for these either, but I suspect they will be much easier to get to market than the Chinese made motors Quest has promised. 

Recovery landing velocity tips

Via Bob Krech on TRF.  Good basic stuff, now easier to find.

1. Smaller, lighter model rockets can normally descend at a higher velocity than a heavy high power rocket.
2. The surface is important. At grassy field will support a higher descent rate than a sun baked playa or asphalt.
3. Smaller rockets landing on grass fields can handle 20-25 fps landings.
4. Smaller rocket landing on hard surfaces and larger rockets ideally should have a final descent speed of ~15 fps.
5. Drop test your rocket over the same type surface as your LZ before you launch.
   • A rocket dropped from 4' has a terminal velocity of 16 fps.
   • A rocket dropped from 6.25' has a terminal velocity of 20 fps.
   • A rocket dropped from 10' has a terminal velocity of 25.3 fps.
   • To determine the drop high, ft. for a velocity, fps: d=(v/8)^2
   • Drop from all orientations. If nothing breaks, you're good to go with landing speed comparable to the velocities obtained in the drop test.

Rocketry Planet's Darrell Mobley has passed away

This news was announced this morning on Rocketry Planet.    Follow the link above to read everyone's comments.

This is very sad news, 54 is way too young.  Although not a terribly active poster, I have really enjoyed RP and MyPlanet. RIP Darrell, you will be remembered.

Doing the Space Shuttle shuffle

Orbiter kiss, a photo by Flying Jenny on Flickr.

I have heard that the NASM's Udvar-Hazy annex will have two Shuttles on display for a short period - the Enterprise and the Discovery. They currently have the Enterprise, which will be off to New York, and will be getting the Discovery. If so, I hope to go see them! If not, I'll have to settle for Flying Jenny's photo.

Lockheed F-80A JATO launch

Lockheed F-80A, a photo by kitchener.lord on Flickr.

I don't know about you, but I love JATO's :)

Falcon HTV-2 is on-track updated AGAIN

DARPA was giving some mission status via Twitter and reports that they lost telemetry after the HTV-2 successfully entered the glide phase about 30 minutes ago. The attached graphic depicts the flight phases from its launch atop the Minotaur IV, through its Mach-20 re-entry, and on to said glide phase.  You can find some simple videos depicting each phase here and some more photos on Space.com.

Update:  My positive sounding post title was premature.  As I noted, DARPA's range assets prematurely lost telemetry after the HTF-2 entered its final glide phase. I had assumed this was the planned splash down but later posts made it sound like they had hoped to re-acquire signal. At least this test landed longer than the prior attempt.  Build a little, crash a little...

Update 2: Since this post continues to get a lot of hits, I guess that I should point out the latest news.  It appears the HTV-2 rode the Mach-20 (~13k mph) hypersonic wave for three minutes before it aborted.   (Probably not the latest, but at least the most interesting.)

Unknown boost glider from the late 1960's

The attached image roughly depicts a boost glider that I built in the late 1960's.  I think I followed a plan but am not sure.  It flew great and was one of the few rockets that I had wanted to keep after dropping out of rocketry during college.  However, it disappeared along with my collection of 45 rpm records, my posters, and a unknown other treasures.

The black ends of the canards would be flush during boost and would pivot down on ejection. There was a wire that sat on a slot in the BT and was held up by a piston.  Someday, I should try to recreate it.  However, I haven't had any success with gliders after becoming a BAR for the second time.  I'd prefer to follow plans.

Fixing and changing

After last weekend's launch, I was short two fins and one nosecone with streamer.  I cut two replacement fins for the Mini Patriot from 1/64" glass - thin, light and cuttable with scissors.  It is once again ready to fly.  To fix the Eenie Meanie, I rummaged through my box of dead and scrap rockets, most of which were inherited from Paul Miller.  I found a suitable cone, which was even painted orange to match the Eenie Meanie.  I also found the fin section of an 18mm rocket...which was also painted orange with black trim.  How could I not convert it to a booster for the Eeenie Meanie?  Add a short piece of 13mm tubing (yes, also from Paul), a sliver of a spent motor, a paper shroud, a BT5-BT20 centering ring, a launch lug and, voilla, you have the Eenie Meaner.  A C6-0 to an A10-3 should get to around 1,500'.

YAHP (yet another hodgepodge post)

A reader provided links to photo essays about the Russian museum of the "NPP Zvezda" aerospace corporation.

• http://maksimzaitsev.livejournal.com/37521.html (translated)
• http://ru-cosmos.livejournal.com/805118.html#cutid1 (translated)

Parabolic Arc has update on Firestar Technologies' new, environmentally friendly mono-propellant.. NOFBX, a nitrous oxide/fuel/emulsifier blend, will be tested next year on the ISS.

Parabolic Arc also reports that NASA has selected 7 companies for suborbital research flights under the Flight Opportunities Program.  The selected companies will get two year IDIQ contacts with an aggregate value of $10M.  That's what I call keeping your options open!

1. Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
2. Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
3. Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
4. Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
5. Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
6. Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
7. XCOR, Mojave, Calif.

Chris Taylor, who provides NARAM Live, has also announced that he will publish a free, semi-annual e-magazine entitled Trust in Thrust.  The full scope is up in the air, but initially will focus on micro/nano (think MicroMaxx) and "exotic/interesting" rockets.  I'm not sure what the latter means but it opens the magazine up to pretty much whatever he wants in there.  I won't post his email here.  If you want to submit material, you can probably contact him through Rocketry Live or the MicroMax Yahoo Group (login required).

Big a$$ project of the day - Eric Gates Memorial Saturn-1B

I just found out about the 1/10th scale Saturn-1B that is slated to be built and flown in honor of Eric Gates at BALLS 20 -- http://www.saturn1b.com -- Flickr album.

22' tall, 27' in daimeter, 2-stage, 22 motors, ~1 ton total vehicle weight, projected altitude of 27k' AGL.

Booster: five 152mm P5466 motors, four 98mm N1960 motors, combined liftoff thrust 11,548 lbs
Sustainer: one 152mm P5219 motor, four 98mm N1960 motors, combined sustainer thrust 4368 lbs
Total installed Newton-seconds at liftoff: "Over a half million.... give or take..." - P. Gordzelik

That should be worth the price of admission.

Launch Report 2011-4

Location: GSFC Visitors Center (NARHAMS)
Weather: clear, mid 90s, wind 0-5 MPH
Total flights: Today - 10; YTD - 38
Total motors: Today - 10; YTD - 50

This is the first time I have attended one of the Goddard public launches so I didn't know what to expect.  The site is about as far away as the main NARHAMS field, the impulse is limited to single stage 'D' power, and they only fly for an hour.  Still, I had gathered all of my mini-motor rockets and thought this would be a good venue for them.  Ed Pearson handled LCO duties in an entertaining manner and Jennifer Ash-Poole provided the launch briefing and acted as RSO (she also made use of her GSFC badge to recover the few that strayed on base).  Two others worked as pad managers and an intern from the GSFC Visitors Center collected rockets from the roof.  There was a good turn out of kids and I was the only gray beard flying.  Jennifer also had a box-o-rockets for the kids who didn't have their own.  I flew 5 rockets in the designated launch window and Ed graciously let me have a round mostly unto myself at the end.  It was fun but I probably still won't be a regular.  The field has trees on 2 sides, a barbed wire fence in back, and the visitor center in front.  Too small for most of my flying.  It was fun to see the real rockets in the rocket park and I was highly disappointed that I forgot my camera.

My Flights:

1. Mini-V2 (A10-3)
2. Mini Marz Lander (A10-3)
3. Skinny Mini (A10-3)
4. Mini Patriot (A10-3)
5. Cognis Eenie Meanie (A10-3)
6. Little Joe I paper conversion (A10-3)
7. Art Applewhite Saucer (A10-P)
8. Odd'l Birdie (A10-P) 
9. Estes Snitch (C6-0)
10. Quest Area 51 SPEV Saucer (C6-0)

Saturn V attack!

Coming to a hobby shop near you (as close as your keyboard). Via Quest Aerospace.

When supercells collide...

...they form a "tsunami in the sky". Check out DRB for more photos of this an other supercells.

(image credit: Mike Hollingstead)

rocketreviews.com appears to be back

rocketreviews.com

Harbor Freight trip

I went to Harbor Freight today, coupons in hand:

• I intended to pick up their oscillating multi-tool that was on sale for $19.99.  Found it had no attachments.  The version with attachments and a plastic carrying case was $39.99, $31.99 with a coupon.  By the time you count the cost of the attachments (cutters, sanding pads, etc), it was a wash.  The plunge cutter made short work on 3/32" ply so I think it will be useful.  May have to cough up $8-$15 bucks for a half moon cut-off blade.  The more expensive range is for a diamond crusted blade.  Need to wait for a better sale on that.
• Got a new heat gun since my old one suddenly gave up the ghost (~$8).
• Two 9-LED flashlights for 2 bucks.  I keep leaving them places so I wanted more.  Soon, there will be one within reach, no matter where I am.
• A free multi-meter.  (The same one that reportedly bursts into flame on the high current setting?)  Just fine for determining the impedance of your igniters or to determine the state of your 9v batteries.  It's in the box.  The range box, that is.

Estes Asteroid Hunter debut at NARAM-53

Via Wallyum on Flickr. He has lots of NARAM photos!

rocketreviews.com is down

The RocketReviews.com web site is currently offline.  There was a serious
problem with the server. Since I was already in the process of moving all of the sites I host to a newer, faster server, I decided the best thing to do was to go ahead and move everything off the old server at once.

Unfortunately, this means that RocketReviews.com will be down while I transfer the files to the new server and make the changes necessary for it to function on the new server. I expect RocketReviews.com to be back online later this evening or tomorrow.  But, there may be a few hiccups, so please be patient.

JonRocket.com, PayloadBay.com, and R-O-C-K.org are also hosted the same server and are down right now.

As always, thanks for your support (and patience).

-- Roger
rocketreviews.com

"Peering inside the flame" - a fused image of STS-135

So, what's a fused image, anyway?  Via NASA Ames:

Image fusion is a technique which begins with image files taken simultaneously at nearly identical angles and positions, each with different filters. The images are processed through minute alignment and warping to match camera angles precisely and account for the inches between each camera's position. The files are then transferred to software that combines each set of now identically framed images to highlight the different levels of detail captured in each. The processing software digitally removes saturated pure black or pure white pixels from one image and replaces them with the most detailed pixels in the set. The resulting image is sometimes called a high dynamic range image, referring to the different dynamic ranges, or exposure and brightness, in each image. 

In short, it's an HDR technique optimized for very bright environments.  Follow the link above for more info, photos, and a video.

Yarn wrapped cone experiment - results

The pluses - It looks like a usable cone.  It's nice and sparkly in the sun (better live than in the photo).

The minuses - It's not perfectly uniform.  The surface is not smooth.  The deck need cleaning and sealing.

I won't try to fill in the gaps since that will wash out its shininess and brightness. It will now be returned to my fleet of unused cones.  I don't need another 29mm 3/4FNC rocket so I'm waiting for some fin/body options to make it more unique/odd.

Oops...just found I didn't publish the background post.  So, there it is...

Background/history

At LDRS 2000 in Orangeburg, SC, a local vendor was selling awesome looking cones made from yarn wrapped Styrofoam cores.  They were cased in clear epoxy and looked great.  When I gathered my cash and returned, they were sold out.  I have tried yarn wrapped cones twice before.  The first one had an AquaPod water bottle core and it was laminated with Mixwax Polycrylic.  It didn't turn out a nice as the ones seen at LDRS, but I was happy.  On the next try, I used a floral Styrofoam core and laminated it again with Polycrylic.  I had tried West System epoxy, but it was not clear enough.  The color of the yarn really was washed out.  I have since painted it.

After sorting through my unused cones, I decided to try again using the cone that was turned from pink Styrofoam. I was going to try thin casting epoxy but is is so slow curing that I thought it would take a month of Sundays to complete.  Being lazy, I am used Modgepodge, a thin white glue intended to seal jigsaw puzzles among other things.

Spacecraft on a chip

I missed the talk about this subject at the last MDRA meeting.  Today I found an article on Centauri Dreams - A Swarm of Probes to the Stars.  The article also provides a link to the related IEEE Spectrum article, which was written by Dr. Mason Peck...who also spoke at MDRA!

Cornell researchers have hand built Sprite prototypes, which have been mounted on the ISS's  MISSE-8 (Materials on International Space Station Experiment 8) pallet.  This experiment will assess how the integral solar-charged capacitors will perform and more importantly, whether their RF 'pings' can be detected on the ground.  The Sprite's radios employ ultra-low-power 902-megahertz radios whose signal is a mere 7 percent of the background noise.  To overcome this deficit, the radios use CDMA coding.  CDMA, which is used in GPS and cell phones, can allow you to pull weak correlated signals from strong background noise. [thinkingoutloud] I didn't see this in the article, but it can also be used to sum sets of weaker signals into a stronger one. Globalstar does this.  I don't know if this would have any applicability to a swarm of Sprites. [/thinkingoutloud]

The Sprites would be deployed in large swarms but with size, and hence  power, limitations, it is not envisioned that they will intercommunicate with one another.  They would be small and light enough to make use of the solar wind and to ride the magnetic fields.  Pretty wild stuff.

An Unreasonable view of NewSpace 2011

Paul Breed attended Space Frontier Foundation's annual conference, NewSpace 2011, and gives us his impressions of the state of the industry (old and new players, the economy, etc) - Back from newspace 2011.

I like the conferences banner.