You also can't get enough photos of JATOs

Republic F-84E-5-RE Thunderjet rocket assisted takeoff on Feb. 21, 1952., a photo by aeroman3 on Flickr.

Republic F-84E-5-RE Thunderjet rocket assisted takeoff on Feb. 21, 1952.

You can never get enough Project 463

 Click on the 'Project 463' tag for more info on this 'ground breaking' project.

MDRA tree project update

This will be yet another image free, and likely content free, post.  No reason to snap a photo until its done.

First, the answers to the questions I posed to myself:

1. Cheap foam-safe acrylic craft paint.
2. It isn't going to be fuzzy.
3. It will have no bobbles.  They would just add weight, add drag, an make a mess on the field.
4. A cheap foam doodad.

I almost lost my senses and added a recovery device.  Luckily, I realized that: 1) It would ruin the lines of the tree shape; 2) It would decrease performance; 3) None of the other trees will have one; and, 4) It's survival is dubious anyway.  It will fly far from the crowd.

Which brings be to a name.  So far I have Burning Christmas Tree of Death/Apocolypse (that's two options) and Bad Santa.  More options may come to me before I decide.

I may have lied earlier.  I still am considering an unreliable and ineffective recovery system. 

Sport rocketry and JPL: Re-Launching History

"A rocket hobbyist builds a WAC Corporal replica to honor aeronautics pioneer Frank Malina." 

Click this link - the embedded video didn't work on my 'puter.

Top ten reasons for lack of posting

C'mon, you really didn't want to hear about it, did you?  

Meanwhile, MDRA's RG XI photo gallery has grown some.

"When Black Friday comes..."

MDRA Red Glare XI, the Official Album

I have pointed to a couple of RG albums, but haven't tried to keep up with them all.  However, I will point out that the official MDRA archive has awakened from its fall slumber and is being populated - Red Glare XI Photo Gallery.

Tired of keeping track of the Black Friday rocket sales?

Then, check out rocketreviews.com's compilation.

Thanksgiving Day questions

How to paint it green?  How to make it fuzzy? Should I hang bobbles on it?  What to stick on top? You know, all the important things.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Started something for the MDRA Christmas Tree launch

In an uncharacteristic demonstration of optimism, I have started a rocket for the MDRA Christmas Tree launch, which is typically held in January.  It will loosely resemble a tree and will fly on a undermined number of black powder motors.  It won't be as fun as a K550 in a real tree but at least I can add to the hilarity.

In an alternate reality, KSC could have been in Southeastern New Mexico

Via the El Paso Times' Tales from the Morgue - 1961: Moon Man Shoot Would Place Eyes of World on White Sands Base.

The date is 196?. The place: White Sands Missile Range. A colossal rocket is poised; The countdown ends. With an ear-splitting roar the spacecraft rises above the fluted Organ Mountains and disappears into the cloudless Southwestern sky, destination moon.

Incredible? Yesterday the Army said it favors White Sands as the launching site for this nation's first manned flight to the moon. It is one of eight sites being considered.

The ice tornado of death!

For the first time ever, a BBC cameramen has captured the formation of a brinicle. Described as either an 'ice finger of death', an 'icicle of death' or an 'ice tornado', a brinicle is formed as brine from sea ice sinks. Fresh water around the sub-0C brine freezes and forms the brinicle.  The time lapse of this process in amazing and, when it gets to the sea bed, things really get eerie.  The ice creeps along the sea floor, freezing everything in its path.  The result looks like CGI from a movie.  I can't embed the video, but you can find it on BBC Nature. This is worth your time!

I just had a big plate of rocket étouffée

Now, you can get yours served up by the Bayourat and his Cajun Coalition.  Check out the before, during, and after of the infamous Tiki Bar.

And even more landers in the news

I have this fascination with lander style rockets - Armadillo, Masten, Blue Origin, Unreasonable Rocket, JSC's Morpheus and, now, MSFC's Mighty Eagle.  I love the way the latter appears to sputter as is preps for take off. (seen via Clark Lindsey's RLV and Space Transportation Blog)



Speaking of Morpheus, they were 'sposed to have a hot-fire test earlier today.  Didn't see a Twitter update. Wonder if the lack of status is a good or bad omen? Update:  Just saw that there was a propellant leak, so the test was scrubbed.

And, finally, here's a photo of Armadillo's Sitg-A 'Tube Rocket'. This was posted by Armadillo's Phil Eaton on Facebook. Phil comments that they hope their new 5000-lbf engine will take the Stig-A to 60-km (196k ft) in early December.

Big A$$ Rocket of the Day

_MG_4157, a photo by Disaster_Guy on Flickr.

Nick DeBrita's 1/6th scale Mercury Redstone flew Saturday on an M2400T and four K1100Ts. Click through to see the rest of the excellent RG XI photos.

Antirocketry!?!

The Antirocketery Challenge, conducted by WOOSH, involved "extremely inefficient, extremely frivolous [rockets], ..., and ends in the destruction of the rocket so it can't fly again immediately after the flight" and "has to happen without violating any of the safety rules of rocketry."

Case in point.



Check out this YORF thread for more antirocket videos and this thread for the full rules and some build documentation..

Launch Report 2011-7 (Red Glare XI)

Location: Higgs Farm, Price, MD (MDRA Red Glare XI, day #1)
Weather: clear; high was in the low 40s; wind 5 MPH, mas o menos
Total flights: Today - 5; YTD - 57
Total motors: Today - 5; YTD - 72

I left early in rush hour. Since I avoided the Beltway, the trip only took 15 minutes more than usual. The Bay Bridge toll is now $4. I can handle the increase 6 - 7 times a year. I got a spot on the flight line with the three musketeers (Warthog, Itchy, and Mikey). It was colder than I usually tolerate but reasonable winds, bright sun, gloves and ear muffs made it tolerable. The wind got better as the day progressed. That was probably due to my early sacrifice to the rocket gods (see flight #1, below). The crowd was light as many people use Friday as a travel day. Still, the racks were fairly full and Neil did a good job moving things along. I left early to search for the Fat Boy from the road with binoculars. No luck there. I added my photos below the jump break.

My Flights

1. Fatboy-29 on a G80-13 - The little rocket tore off the pad, but with negative weather cocking.  Since it went up with the wind it landed even further away. I didn't even bother walking the large potential impact zone..
2. Upscale Big Brute on an I357 - This was a good choice for a windy day.  Fast, low, almost no walking. The altimeter said 807 ft.
3. Big Brute on a G64-6 -  Nice flight with a long 6 second delay.  Landed close by.
4. El Tubo Loco on a G64-4 - Now with a carrot nose cone!  The -4 delay was perfect.  I thought it had plopped into the irrigation ditch, but it had dropped behind a rise just before the ditch. Whew!
5. AquaBottleBat on a F35- 4 - Nice boost, nice delay, no 'chute.  One tube fin was oval but was squeezed back into shape.

The latest lander videos

Early Prototype New Shepard Vehicle

Blue Origin has a couple of videos from a test flight earlier in the year.  While there, you might want to poke around the rest of their newly updated site.







Also, Masten has video from a down looking camera on the November 16 test flight of the Xombie.

"A Multiverse of Exploration: The Future of Science 2021"

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C. Clarke  

Here's an interesting chart put together by Davis Pescovitz and his colleagues at the Institute for the Future. Rather than paraphrase any more info, I ask you to check out his article on BoingBoing for background and discussion. I sure hope these things help end war and hunger, clean up the planet, and fix the stock market.

Quick update: When I click on the attached image on my net book, Blogger's new 'lightbox' format presents an image that is smaller than the in-line version! Please go to the BoingBoing article to view the details of the graphic.

Nevada Test Site photo gallery

If you are interesting the history of nuclear testing, NERVA and other propulsion programs, photos of explosions, and big holes in the desert, you may like Nevada National Security Site Office's Flickr stream.  Being secure, they won't let me embed or otherwise steal the photos even though they were paid for with public money.  Oh well.

Army hypersonic success

Space.com reports that the Army's AHW (Advanced Hypersonic Weapon) had a flawless first flight, streaking across the Pacific at "several times the speed of sound." To be considered hypersonic, that would mean at least Mach 3.  It was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility by a three stage booster and splashed down near the Kwajalein Atoll. That's especially good for DARPA considering the Falcon HTV-2 had problems in its first two flights.

Now, all we need is photos.  Preferably of the AHW with and without its booster.

Pick one from Column A and one from Column B...

Scott Lowther presents this McDonald Douglas graphic on Shuttle options (circa 1971).  He refers this to a 'Lego' approach.  What popped into my mind was the old adage about Chinese food menus.  Either way, I'd like the see how they combined and rated the resulting options.

Alternative fuels

The guys at Air Command decided to try some alternative fuels in their water rockets. Since most of these didn't have any water in them, I guess I should call them air rockets v. water rockets. They and others have previously tried flour as a fuel.  This time, they went a bit over the top and used three dry fuels: finely ground bread crumbs, a candy called 100's and 1000's, and granulated sugar.  They also tried Ramen-style noodle soup.  As usual, the flights are well documented.  The web link above has all the details and here is the eye candy (pun intended).

The Clear Lake Project

Here is an interesting photo from the Rice Space Science Department, circa the early 1960s.  Most interesting is the map that clearly identifies Rice University as the owner of the property that became the Johnson Space Center.  On a related note, this is the 50th RiceNASAversary!

Expedition 29 Preflight in a snowstorm

Expedition 29 Preflight (201111140002HQ).jpg, a photo by nasa hq photo on Flickr.

The Eye of Sauron as seen by STEREO

Photos of the night

A snowy launch from Kazakhstan and a waterfall, moonbow, and aurora from Iceland.

Meteor Jr.

Scott Lowther has posted photos of the Meteor Jr. spaceship concept designed by Darrell Romick of Goodyear Aerospace, circa 1957.  The model is on display at the NASM's Udvar-Hazy Facility. Scott has more photos and you can read about it here.

Inverted Space Shuttle booster concept

Scott Lowther presents this "interesting inversion" of the Shuttle stack, having two tanks for the SME's and a single SRB.

Coming to Red Glare XI

DSCF0535-13.jpg, a photo by Nick DeBrita on Flickr.

Nick DeBrita's 1/6 scale Mercury Redstone: 100 lbs; Predicted alt: 8,000' Motors: 1x M2400T, 4x K1100T

2011, the year of uncontrolled reentries

First UARS, then ROSAT, and now Phobos-Grunt. The apparently dead Russian Mars probe is now expected to reenter sometime around November 26th. That's 3 tons of hardware, ten tons of fuel and oxidizer (unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide), and a small amount of radioactive cobalt-57 in one science instrument. Thus the Phobos-Grunt has earned it the title of "Most toxic falling satellite ever." (via Discovery News)

Convair Little Joe II

Convair Little Joe II, a photo by San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives on Flickr.

The SDASM just uploaded a ton of space and rocket scans. Navigate forward and backwards(mostly)from the linked photo to see the latest uploads.

{insert sound of a record scratching to a stop}

I have been playing with fin styles for my big crayon.  From a typical 4 fin arrangement to 3/4 fins with winglets like the Jayhawk to a near minimum diameter ring fin like some people use on water rockets.  I had wanted to keep it very light, but it needs big fins, nose weight, or both.  When it gets heavier, the pink foam parts seem less ideal.  I'm now thinking about cutting some ply rings to support bigger fins and then just stuff in whatever weight is needed.  But then I might want to move up to a 38mm mount.  Sigh.

So, the only real progress has been to cut up a PVC fitting to make an el cheapo motor retainer.  If not used on this rocket, it will eventually find a good home.

Happy Veteran's Day (and Binary Day too)

My thanks to veterans past, present and future!  My flag is flying, is yours?

As for the Binary Day part, look at the post date/time!

NASA's Swift Satellite Captures Asteroid 2005 YU55 Flyby [video]

NASA's Swift Satellite Captures Asteroid 2005 YU55 Flyby [video] a video by NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr.

Hobby rocket motors used to boost satellite

Credit: Aerospace Corp

Rocketry Planet reports that the grains and nozzles from four AeroTech E28T RMS motors were installed to boost a picosat in orbit. The PicoSatellite Solar Cell Testbed 2 (PSSC-2), built by the Aerospace Corporation for the US Air Force, was deployed from STS-135 on July 19th where its 1st mission was to take some of the last on-orbit photos of the Shuttle.  On November 4th, the first of the E28T's were fired to raise the PSSC-2's orbit.  An Aerospace Corp rep stated that it is believed that this is the first time a rocket motor was used on a picocat and the first time that a picosat had re-boosted itself. This is also the first time a hobby rocket motor was used for any similar purpose. The article further notes that the stock Copperhead igniter was NOT used.

How cool is this?!?   Also, it's good to see some new content of Rocketry Planet.

On Super Balls and composite solid rocket fuel

File this under interesting trivia.  It appears that the classic Super Balls of my childhood were (are?) mostly comprised of polybutadiene, with the other components being used to cure the polymer, speed up the cure process, etc.  The rocketeers out there will recognize that hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) is commonly used as a binder in composite rocket fuel compositions.  (hat tip to Dave McVeigh of Red Arrow)

I still have an original, medium sized Super Ball that was rescued when my dad replaced the cabinets in his kitchen.

At Armadillo, the rockets are beginning to look more like rockets

Credit: Phil Eaton/Armadillo via Clark Lindsey

Watch the 2005 YU55 flyby live

The SLOOH Space Camera will provide live coverage of YU55 starting at around 4PM EST.

YU55, government statement of alien life, EAS and a conspiracy theory!

I have reason to believe that our government has been in contact with an alien civilization.  It is unknown whether Washington has been infiltrated by alien agents or is merely hiding this fact from the public "for our own good."

The web has been abuzz with news that asteroid 2005 YU55 will make its closest approach to Earth at 6:28 p.m. EST (2328 GMT) today. (ref. Space.com)  But, is this really an asteroid?  I have read  things that make me think that this is a ruse to hide the approach of an alien mother ship!

In clear evidence of the government conspiracy, the White House issued a conveniently timed statement about about lack of contact alien life.  Also found via Space.com.

"The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race," Phil Larson, White House Office of Science & Technology.

While we are all distracted, the alien mother ship will communicate instructions to agents who are embedded among us and are already Occupying DC, Wall Street and major cities across the nation.  This communication will occur tomorrow, Wednesday, November 9 at 2 p.m.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will make popular media available to the alien horde by conducting the first ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).  Although not at the supposed YU55's closet approach,  this is close enough to represent further evidence of the massive conspiracy.

We have all seen NASA JPL's radar image of the supposed asteroid (attached).  However, one blogger has found the truth!  I sure hope that amateur astrophotographers manage to capture additional evidence!

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Disclaimer: This post does not reflect the opinion of NASA, Space.com and its editors, Ian O'Neill, Blogger, Rovio, Leonard Nimoy, Alf or any other entity, living or dead, real or fictional, from Earth or from any other planet.

Derek Deville interviewed on Slashdot

Derek answers questions about his Carmack Prize attempt at BALLS XX.  (hat tip to Clark Lindsey)

... Atlas options!

... Atlas options!, a photo by x-ray delta one on Flickr.

Aerobee rocket launched metal pellets into interplanetary space

On his HPR blog, R2K relays the interesting story of the first attempt to launch an man-made object into interplanetary space. His post has additional discussion. See also http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/181/1/zwicky.pdf.

"On October 16, 1957, the Aerobee rocket was launched by the US Air Force from White Sands. On reaching an altitude of 56 km the nosecone was separated and upon reaching an altitude of 87 km the charges were triggered producing a -10 visual magnitude flash seen as far as mount Palomar, 1000 km away. In the same images which recorded the flash of the explosion the trail of a -2 visual magnitude meteor, clearly caused by the atmospheric entry of one of the spheres was recorded. The other two spheres were not recorded by any observer and it is possible that, if they were deployed in a correct attitude and having a speed much greater than Earth escape speed (about 11 km/s), they entered a solar orbit, thus becoming the first artificial "planets." - http://utenti.multimania.it/paoloulivi/aerobee.html

1964 ...green dawn lift-off!

1964 ...green dawn lift-off!, a photo by x-ray delta one on Flickr.

Would need clear fins!

Re-launching LAUNCH

Mario Perdue announces that he has cleared up the old LAUNCH Magazine website and has loaded .pdf files of the last full year of the print magazine.  The site is ready to publish new material!.

LAUNCH Magazine On-line

Tales of the STIP!

Geeked on Goddard reports on project at the NASA Science and Technical Information Program (STIP) intended to remind us about its on-line archive of technical reports.  STIP is creating faux pulp magazine covers for various projects from NASA's history, starting with the 1966 technical report, Feasibility study for lunar worm planetary roving vehicle concept (NASA-CR-66098). These are fun, but I don't know how effective they are.  It seems only people who are well aware of the the NASA Technical Reports Server will see the covers.  Unless maybe you read the Dungeon.

The reason we have away cells

Here's a video of a full scale Phoenix model that gets ignorant on an 'O' motor. Luckily, the carnage stayed safely away from the crowd. It is believed that the rocket had flown but this was bigger (i.e. heavier) motor and the flier had concern about its stability. This is hearsay but I think it's crazy to fly this class rocket if you weren't convinced that it would be successful. Just shows to go you that TV rocketeers don't have a monopoly on safety lapses.

CalTech Target Rocket

I previously posted a photo of the business end of this rocket. The poster didn't have many details and said it was known as the CT target rocket. Tonight, I decided to look further and found both another view from the same photographer as well as a .pdf with some details.

This was the first rocket developed for the Navy during WWII under CalTech's Rocket Program.  The rocket served two purposes.  First, it was a target vehicle and a testbed for testing experimental solid propellants.  In the first role, it was a fast, erratic flier that honed the skills of over 21k Navy gunners.  In the latter role, it allowed CalTech to pioneer extruded and double-base propellants (which may not be mutually exclusive).

This would be a good subject for a semi-scale project, although more details of the forward fins would be required.  It might be a good place to test free-pivoting forward fins (a way to reduce their negative impact to stability).

Five inch liquid propellant target rocket, a photo by skyhawkpc on Flickr.

New Air Command YouTube Channel

Air Command Water Rockets has set up a new YouTube channel.  This will consolidate their videos from all across the web into one easy to find place.  The new ones will go there and George will begin populating the channel with the older ones.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AirCommandRockets

Fat Crayon Bank progress

Will fly on 29mm.  Centering rings, nose cone core, and nose cone shoulder made from 2" Styrofoam.  One ply thrust ring will also hold the motor retention stuff.   Maybe I'll make a PVC retainer if Warthog is good enough to share the parts and techniques he used.  (He already did, but I didn't take notes.)  Still haven't figured out the fins.

Throwable ball cam

R2K found this video on what may be the ultimate rocket camera payload. The ball is covered with cameras and generates a 360 x 360 degree view of the world.

Update on new German motors and the Estes E12

Via TRF:
German model rocket distributor and manufacturer Robert Klima (Raketenmodellbau Klima GmbH) will offer 18mm, 24mm and 29mm in both 70mm and 95mm length.  The propellant is termed "white powder" and is pressed like BP.  One goal is to get full class impulse from the motors (i.e. the 'E' motors will be a full 40 N-s).  The propellant is also reportedly amenable to a wide range of average thrusts.  The assembly line is under construction but an accident in a nearby, unrelated plant, could throw a wrench into the works. [This is the same manufacturer whose motors Quest is planning to distribute.]

Via European Model Rocketry:
This company formally announced their plans at the 2011 Nuremberg Toy Fair. There, they announced:
18 mm: A6-2, A6-4, A10-0. A10-3, B6-0, B6-2, B6-4, B6-6, C6-0, C6-3, C6-5, C6-7, D3-P (long burner), D7-0, D7-3, D7-5
24 mm: C12-x, D18-x, Ex-x

The propellant was called 'composite'.  Production estimates were in the 6mo range [from exactly when is unknown].

My comments:
No body is holding their breath.  Once produced, there is all the import, transportation, and certification requirements.  Sounds more like they will be available in 2013 rather than 2012.

Packed powder typically isn't what we call a composite.  A gum binder in a BP motor doesn't make it composite.  But, this may just be semantics.  Hopefully the packed powder means they can be direct staged. I see 29mm and 'F' motors weren't listed on the European site.

Meanwhile, Estes commented on Facebook regarding the E12's availability: "Not until 2012. Still lots to do once we get this part taken care of."

Five inch target rocket at China Lake's museum (update)

Five inch target rocket , a photo by skyhawkpc on Flickr.

Interesting rear view.  Update: the poster relays, "As I recall it was an in-house China Lake item made from surplus AIM-1A's etc. Don't know that it had an official designation... informally the LF target rocket."