5-10 launch report

This was a small FAA notification launch. This is a central CT field, about 125 acres filled with trees and wetlands including a substantial stream. The weather conditions for the day were predicted to be: 30% chance of rain, cloudy, with winds 10 - 20 mph. The actual conditions were a bit different: winds were gusty and lower at ground level, around 5 - 15 mph, but seemed to be a constant 10 - 15 mph at altitude. There was significant flooding from previous rain, the field was loaded with water (but that was not a huge problem and provided a few comical "splashdown landings".) Around 1:00, the sun came out and it was suddenly a perfect day with somewhat reduced wind even. I was able to fly three rockets, burning a total of 5 motors (out of 7 attempted). All rockets came back in one piece, so that is the most important result. No hardware was lost or damaged. The first three flights - E11J in the SNP, F39T in the LOC Graduator, and D15T in the SNP again were perfect. The final flight for the day, a 4xD12 cluster in the Viper did not go exactly as planned, but the rocket was fine.

This is my SNP discussed previously, ready to go on an E11J-4. What a perfect flight! This motor was very old (5 years maybe?) and had some irregularities in the burn, but overall it was the perfect slow, graceful flight. I have one left, and three F12Js... and cant wait to use them again.


The LOC graduator here is ready for a nice flight on an F39T-4. This was a concern for me for several reasons. First, this rocket is getting old (20 - 30 flights over 9 years) and also getting very heavy. I was worried that the F39, essentially an E39 with a bit of extra power, wouldnt quite cut it. Also, the launch lug and rod didnt seem to get along for some reason. I had this problem on my viper as well, clearly I need to sand or even replace the lugs on these rockets... along with lots of other changes I need to make to upgrade my hardware for next time. In any event, with some sanding, the flight was great. Nice and low, but perfectly safe with great recovery. I will continue to fly this combo in the future.


This is a general view of the launch pads - this was a small event with 15 "pads" on 3 racks. The inner two are low and mid power, the outer pads are for higher power - 1/4th inch and up, and a rail.


Here is the motor block on the attempted 4XD12 flight. Not only was the launch lug too tight for the 1/4th rod (I was lucky enough to be given a 3/16ths, a pretty risky allowance I have to say!), but as you can see only two motors lit. My igniter setup was a bit sloppy, I will admit, and though it worked last time for 5 motors, this time it didnt work out. Next time I will have to do a better job, clearly. In any event, one motor lit right off, and the rocket was getting tossed off the rod to basically crash land. Around the end of the rod, the 2nd motor lit, and was just enough to launch the rocket to between 50 and 200 feet (yeah I was that nervous). The 3 sec. delay saved the rocket, and the chute ejected with a matter of feet to spare. The rocket was safe, but the two unused motors got wet and had to be destroyed. A small price to pay. But this is a good lesson, next time I will do a better job.

Overall, a great launch. Good to be back. I may attend a launch next month, check back for more updates.

First Launch in several years.

I will be attending a launch this weekend, for the first time since NYpower 2004. This is going to be a low power, notification launch. That means there are some limitations - the rocket has to be under about 3 lbs, the motors installed must be under 80 newtons of thrust, max motor power is a G, there is also a propellant limit and a materials limit (no large metal parts), and there is a fairly low max altitude. But because I am planning on sticking to low and mid power, this is the kind of launch I will be doing for the foreseeable future (I sold some of my 38mm cases so I am really committed to lower power).

Pictured above is part of my collection as it was at the start of this rocketry page. Some of the rockets are gone, some are in deep storage. The three rockets highlighted with numbers are those that will make the trip this weekend.

Number 1 is the all time classic, the LOC Graduator. My oldest active rocket by far, and probably the best mid power rocket ever made. Just a simple 3FNC classic. This rocket has seen some heavy use, and it is nearing twice the production weight due to layers of paint and epoxy. But it still works, flying on as little as an E30 to as much as an H238. This weekend it will go up on F motors (I will discuss the motors below).

Number 2 is the Estes Super Nova Payloader. This is a great kit, made for motors from C to E power. Best on slower motors like the D12, E15, and others. This weekend it will fly on several different motors, probably some BP Ds and F12s. This kit has a clear plastic payload section, and is pretty big for an Estes kit. The SNP in the image is actually my old model, it is now gone and replaced with a new kit. (I did a better job this time...)

Number 3 is my LOC viper 4 - a cluster rocket with 4 24mm motor tubes. This rocket has never flown, so I hope to test it starting with 4 D motors. I will eventually (maybe this weekend, maybe next time) cluster two composite motors as well using my 24mm reload hardware. Two F39s, for example, would give nice power. Actually 78 newtons of thrust would just fit under the max for this launch... pretty nice to sneak that under the wire if I can. But I need to use two spent D motor cases as plugs before I use the two motor cluster - because the two unused tubes cant be left open; that would allow ejection gasses to escape and maybe prevent recovery. Why not 4 24mm reload motors? I cant afford that much hardware! Thats almost $200!

So I will be bringing a ton of black powder (BP) motors, including about 10 D motors. Great to cluster, as well as fly my SNP kit. I also have my 24mm composite reloads and they are:

D15-4T (3)
E11-3J (2)
F12-3J (3)
F39-9T (3)

The D, E, and F motors are right now only going to work in the SNP kit - they simply dont have the power or thrust to fly any other kit, and wont cluster very well either (J type motors, smoky formulation are hard to ignite reliably). I plan on building a new 24mm kit to take advantage of the full 24mm range of motors, something light and fairly small. The F39 will power the LOC graduator, as it requires this amount of thrust due to its increasing weight in old age. But note, the 9 sec delay is clearly wrong. I will have to replace with a shorter delay if flying the graduator, probably a 4 from the D15 if that seems to work. I also want to cluster the F39s as mentioned above. The E11s and D15s are also quite old - several years old. I have some concerns that they may be more likely to fail.

I will report back after the launch, and try to take some pictures or videos if I can.

Sugar Shot to Space

The goal of this project is to send a sugar motor rocket into space. This will be a fairly large rocket, and will contain two combustion chambers and one nozzle. In effect, it has the longer thrust duration of a two stage rocket, or a slower burning fuel, by having a booster motor and a sustainer motor that both share the same nozzle. After the burnout of the first motor chamber, a delay will burn through the bulkhead at the top end, igniting the next motor.

"Sugar propellant used by amateur rocketry experimentalists worldwide due to its inherent simplicity and safety, is not a high performance propellant. Therein lies much of the challenge of this project."

If this project works, it will be a huge step as only the third amateur rocket on record to get into or near space. (I include the RRS boosted dart as essentially a space launch, though technically it did not appear to hit space.) As of right now, only one team has ever made it to space... that would be the CSXT with the GoFast rocket (ugh what a name, the things you have to do for sponsors). However, the GoFast rocket had a huge amount of funding and was nearly commercial in nature. I would welcome this far more amateur attempt because it is far more of a grassroots type project. Yes amateur can be a good thing.

"Besides the extraordinary goal of sending a rocket into space, there are other equally important and more fundamental goals. This project is intended to be universal in scope with regard to involvement, and as such, participants from around the world are invited to join in this quest. It is hoped that the Amateur Experimental Rocketry community, which over the past decade has grown in size and in collaboration thanks to the internet, will bond even more closely -- to share our ideas, experiences, successes and failures. Other goals include expanded development of "sugar propellant" technology, leading to greater knowledge and enhanced safety of sugar propellant rocketry. And no one can argue that success of this project would provide incontestable legitimization of the remarkable "sugar propellant". Last, but not least, it is hoped that attention spurred by this project will promote an interest in science & technology and begin paving the way for future "rocket engineers" to take us further."

I hope that the Sugar Shot works, and that we will soon be launching amateur rockets to space on a regular basis.

RTGs

"A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) is an electrical generator which obtains its power from radioactive decay. In such a device, the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material is converted into electricity by the Seebeck effect using an array of thermocouples. RTGs can be considered as a type of battery and have been used as power sources in satellites, space probes and unmanned remote facilities. RTGs are usually the most desirable power source for unmanned or unmaintained situations needing a few hundred watts or less of power for durations too long for fuel cells, batteries and generators to provide economically, and in places where solar cells are not viable."



Some RTGs have been used on land (larger scale) to produce power, in Russia for example. Many people have been injured (and possibly even killed) trying to scavenge these in remote locations (places that require compact, portable power), or even sleeping next to them at night to stay warm! I guess the warnings were not good enough.

"In addition to spacecraft, the Soviet Union constructed many unmanned lighthouses and navigation beacons powered by RTGs. Powered by 90Sr, they are very reliable and provide a steady source of power. However, critics argue that they could cause environmental and security problems, as leakage or theft of the radioactive material could pass unnoticed for years (or possibly forever: some of these lighthouses cannot be found because of poor record keeping). There has been even an instance where the radioactive compartments were opened by a thief; it was inferred that the resulting radiation poisoning was fatal. There was also the case of two woodcutters in Siberia who came across one of these units and slept close to it as a heat source during a cold night. They both died of radiation poisoning within a few days afterwards. The unit was eventually recovered and isolated.

There are approximately 1,000 such RTGs in Russia. All of them have long exhausted their 10-year engineered life spans. They are likely no longer functional, and may be in need of dismantling. Some of them have become the prey of metal hunters, who strip the RTGs' metal casings, regardless of the risk of radioactive contamination.

RTGs are also utilized by the United States Air Force to power remote sensing stations for Top-ROCK and Save-Igloo radar systems predominantly located in Alaska."

6,453 mph rocket sled

Four stage rocket sled to about 6.5K. Note the impact at the end.

Rocket bike

"This project & the bike started off being called "Maximum Impulse", however this changed when I was fortunate enough to secure Gillette as Title Sponsor. This World Land Speed Record streamlined motorcycle was designed and built as a pure rocket propelled vehicle. Capable of carrying three hydrogen peroxide hybrid rockets and incorporating many innovations, the Gillette Mach 3 Challenger set an outright British Land speed record at 216.55 mph using just one rocket, & just one year later in 1999 on the greater expanse of the Bonneville Salt Flats I became the fastest ever on two wheels at an average of 332.877 mph with a peak speed of 365 mph still using just two of the available 3 rockets. (The average speed has now been surpassed) With metal wheels and three rockets the bike was clearly capable of its design performance- an official average speed for the flying Mile of well over 400 mph."


Rocket Bike

Nose Cone Parade

This is the post I do when I don't have anything to post. There is no object in the world or beyond that is as cool, as good looking, as indicative of the speed and power of rocketry, as a nose cone. Nozzles are pretty good, parachutes and fins as well, but no it is the nose cone that makes the rocket.

Nice railgun test

"In February 2008 the US Navy tested a magnetic railgun; it fired a shell at 5,600 miles per hour using 10 megajoules of energy. Its expected performance is over 13,000 miles per hour muzzle velocity, accurate enough to hit a 5 meter target from 200 nautical miles away while shooting at 10 shots per minute. It is expected to be ready in 2020 to 2025."

The best parts of these images are the burning metal, and the shock wave clearly visible way way out in front of the projectile.

Rocket launch in Iran

This appears to be a rocket launched in Iran as part of their attempts to place a warhe... I mean satellite into orbit. There are very many moderate people in Iran, and probably many scientists with great ideas and goals, and motivations... but much like in our country, the crazy ignorant conservative religious nuts tend to stand out and steal the lime-light. Best of luck to them. Btw placing an object in orbit means they could deliver a nuclear bomb to any part of the planet. Something to think about.

Armadillo Aerospace

Some great tests from AA.

Sea Dragon

"Sea Dragon was an immense, sea-launched, two-stage launch vehicle designed by Robert Truax for Aerojet in 1962. It was to be capable of putting 1.2 million pounds (550 tonnes) into low Earth orbit. The concept was to achieve minimum launch costs through lower development and production costs. This meant accepting a larger booster with a lower performance propulsion system and higher stage dead weight then traditional NASA and USAF designs."

This was one of the many great plans for a cheap, giant rocket that could do in several launches what years of shuttle launches could not. This rocket could, among other things, launch a large mars mission in only a few flights, launch a Keck sized (10 meter) telescope into space, or build the ISS in a few flights. The rocket would be very cheap because it would use simple technology to build, and also because of the large size - large rockets are generally more cost efficient.

"Manufacturer: Truax. LEO Payload: 450,000 kg (990,000 lb). to: 185 km Orbit. at: 90.00 degrees. Liftoff Thrust: 350,000.000 kN (78,680,000 lbf). Total Mass: 18,000,000 kg (39,000,000 lb). Core Diameter: 23.00 m (75.00 ft). Total Length: 150.00 m (490.00 ft). Launch Price $: 300 million. in: 1962 price dollars."

Source: http://www.astronautix.com

M to M flight

Rump Aerospace takes a two stage 3" diameter rocket to almost 50,000 feet in the rich, colorful and exciting black rock desert.

Phreedom Phiter

This great rocket, flown a few years ago, contains I think 3 Kosdon M-3000 motors, or something along those lines. Very nice sound, would have been better in person. No rocketry people are not perverts, the voice on the video is a normal reaction to such a sound. You all would have done the same.

More nose cones

A sub scale SRB static fire

"November 2nd, 2007 An amazing sight lit up and roared in the Utah desert Thursday (11-1-07) and it was witnessed by many wanting to check it out. Alliant Techsystems (ATK) test fired a reusable solid rocket motor, the type that is used to launch the space shuttle. Engineers test fired NASA's four segment reusable solid rocket motor at ATK's facility Box Elder County, Utah. The RSRM spewed a huge stream of fire and smoke as dozens of kids and kids at heart watched, listened and felt the power of the rocket at full throttle. The booster rocket generates an average of two point six million pounds of thrust. This is comparable to 12 jumbo jets running at full throttle. Engineers conduct the tests to maintain safety standards on the shuttle. The tests also prep engineers for the development of other rocket systems."

"A concept image shows the Ares V Earth departure stage and lunar surface access module docked with the Orion crew exploration vehicle in Earth orbit. The departure stage, powered by a J-2X engine, is needed to escape Earth's gravity and send the crew vehicle and lunar module on their journey to the moon."

Basically, we have spent almost 40 years to get back to the same place. Brilliant work as always from the political NASA.

Full X wing footage

A great model, a great attempt that is. It is important to note that these guys are serious rocketry people, this was not just a slapped together project. They simply did not built it well enough - but this isnt just cramming motors into a model and blowing it up.

Aerospike Engine

A high power type Aerospike motor - basically an inverted bell where the flame is built around a graphite spike. Very nice! I bet hobby motors could use this technology.

This is the big kind - bi-propellant. It would be very important to use a motor like this for a single stage to orbit rocket, because it would allow for high efficiency (isp) over a range of altitudes. However staged rockets are by far more efficient overall - single stage to orbit is a hard and costly thing!


Still complex on the inside.


"The aerospike engine is a type of rocket engine that maintains its aerodynamic efficiency across a wide range of altitudes through the use of an aerospike nozzle. For this reason the nozzle is sometimes referred to as an altitude-compensating nozzle. A vehicle with an aerospike engine uses 25–30% less fuel at low altitudes, where most missions have the greatest need for thrust. Aerospike engines have been studied for a number of years and are the baseline engines for many single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) designs and were also a strong contender for the Space Shuttle main engine. However, no engine is in commercial production. The best large-scale aerospikes are still only in testing phases.

The terminology in the literature surrounding this subject is somewhat confused — the term aerospike originally was used for a (very roughly conically tapering) truncated plug nozzle with some gas injection to form an 'air spike' to help make up for the absence of the tail of the plug. However, frequently, a full-length plug nozzle is now described as being an aerospike." wiki

Target: Horsehead Nebula in Orion.
Uranometria map: 226
Centered at: 5h 38m, -03 degrees
Exposure: 30 minutes
Film: Hypered Kodak Technical Pan and a #92 filter
Also imaged: M42 (the Orion Nebula), M43, NGC 2024 (the Flame Nebula), B33 (the Horsehead Nebula)

By: Kent Kirkley (c)

The Schmidt Camera is a telescope - camera that takes very wide angle shots. Ideal for nebulae and other large objects like comets.

More images

Largest RC Plane (maybe?)

I don't know if this is really the largest yet flown, as I have seen others very big. If you count military aircraft, obviously this is not. I do also love the large Jet RCs that I see out there. Anyway this thing is a beast, and it is pretty scary to see this guy hand start each engine with the other right next to his arm and leg, ready to remove some body part. I wonder what the top speed - range for this craft would be? Have RC planes (of this kind, I suppose still a hobby craft) crossed the English Channel?

Cluster Bomb (Scatterbomb) Warhead

Not all nose cones are good. With rockets there is a huge contrast - either they are doing something noble for all humanity, like the titans that sent two voyagers into deep space with a gilded disk, a billion year time capsule of humanity, or they carry a weapon of mass destruction. Rockets are like that, they can be so polar, diametrical opposites, but that is why they are so great; how can you compete with the wonder that is rocket science?

Shock (Mach) Diamonds

THE PHYSICS OF SHOCK DIAMONDS

Shock diamonds are formed when the exhaust (or any other flow) exits a nozzle supersonically and at a pressure different than that of the ambient atmosphere, i.e., the nozzle is either underexpanded or overexpanded. Because the flow is supersonic, the adjustment to the atmospheric pressure is through waves; these are initially either oblique shocks or Prandtl-Meyer fans. As the waves reflect from the edges of the jet, they change polarity, i.e., an expansion fan reflects as a compression wave and a compression shock reflects as an expansion fan. Thus, both types will ultimately be present. In the above sketch, the nozzle is taken to be overexpanded so that the initial wave system is comprised of oblique shock waves.

Each type of wave will intersect its counterpart originating at the other side of the jet or nozzle exit at the plane or line of symmetry. Because of the symmetry, the intersection can be modeled as a reflection from a rigid wall. It is well known that shock waves may reflect from rigid walls either as a regular reflection or a Mach reflection. The case of a Mach reflection is depicted in the above sketch. In the case of an axisymmetric jet, the Mach stem is a Mach disk which is recognized as the shock diamonds seen in the exhaust of many high speed aircraft.

Because of repeated reflections and re-reflections, several Mach stems will appear until the disturbances are damped out by viscous effects.

The situation for an underexpanded nozzle is essentially the same. As pointed out above, the expansion wave converts into a compression wave upon reflection from the contact surface, i.e., the edge of the jet. The Mach lines then converge to form a compression shock which may then undergo a Mach reflection similiar to that in the case of the overexpanded nozzle.

Thats how the pros explain it, I just say the more the better. The best part of a rocket is the flame, lets face it.

Nuclear War

Not everything shooting through space is a good thing. Here are two MIRV tests. These all came from one rocket, as I understand it, and hit targets in the pacific at high mach speeds. The trails are marked by, I think, incandescent plasma as a result of heating from such fast objects. It is shocking that they can maintain such high speeds for so long - all the way to impact it seems. Granted they may be 1000 lbs each, and inside a very compact package that is aerodynamic, but still machs of 5, 10, or even more are hard to sustain without tons of rocket power. Much of nuclear war is still unknown, probably for the best.



This last image shows what the two tests would have done to New York.

View from a Space Shuttle SRB

Life is hard when you travel back and forth to space all the time, then crash land in the ocean. I bet you would have wanted to be born a monolithic motor : )

LDRS 16 Video

Great video of some flights from LDRS - one of the biggest national high power events during the year. If you cant watch all 8:00 of this video, skip to the last 45 sec. to see a pretty great flight: a huge rocket going very high, but also doing something big rockets seldom survive.

Nose cone parade

Warp 9 - A discussion of rocket motors

A rocket gets off to a very fast start on a new type of propellant - Warp 9

Rocket motors come in many different forms. There are disposable motors and re-loadable motors in which you keep some parts and build it yourself each time you fly. These have various pros and cons, and and move from largely disposable in the lower power levels to mostly reusable in the upper levels.

Motors are named a letter first, this is the total impulse (total power, size) of the motor. This starts out at A, and doubles with each letter after so that a B = 2As and a C = 2Bs. This continues as far as you want to go. Sometimes we discuss Nasa rocket motors and call them Ws or X motors. The largest hobby rocketry motor is the O, anything larger is no longer hobby but amateur. Next you have a number, the average impulse (or thrust) in Newtons. Newtons are a measure of force that can be converted into Lbs. Finally you may have a number, such as 5, 7, or 10. In some motors there is an ejection delay that automatically ejects the recovery system. This is very common in smaller motors (and almost universal in motors smaller than G), and the number represents the delay time in Sec. And after this you may have a letter such as T, SS, W, R.... This represents the type of propellant in the motor. Here is a list of the Aerotech types:

T - Blue Thunder Propellant - producing a violet blue flame (fast burning).
W - White Lightning Propellant - Producing a white flame with dense smoke (moderate).
J - Black Jack Propellant - producing dense black smoke (slow).
R - Redline Propellant - producing a bright red flame (moderate - fast).
And the new warp 9 as seen above - A very fast, clean burning propellant.

The warp 9 motors are so strong that they are ideal for getting rockets to high speeds.

*Edit* There is now a new propellant on the way out called Majve Green. Obviously it makes a green flame, it is moderate - fast burning like Redline, and has a very high ISP (efficient) like Warp 9. Great times we live in!

Super nova payloader

This is it! After about 2 years off, I have returned to hobby rocketry. As a result of several issues, the biggest being new BATF regulations that make the hobby of high power very expensive and hard to deal with, particularly for NYC residents, I will start out slow and stick to mid and low power work. I have a rocket ready that will be great on D and 2x24mm reload clusters. Also, I got a new Super Nova Payloader and will fly that on single 24mm motors of all kinds. All of my larger rockets remain, but some are in need of a ton of work. They will be set aside for quite a while, only the smaller kits will fly for now. However I feel it is important to relearn and do better at low and mid power work and only later move up organically. All too often people in this hobby, myself included, get forced into this passion for higher levels of certification, faster flights and greater altitudes, but I think that can ruin the fun. I have never seen a flight better than my first composite motor - a SNP (the one seen above) on an E15. PERFECTION. Expect a launch report soon! Here is a video of a Super Nova Payloader on D power:

Saturn V Large Scale Cutaway

Enjoy this all time great rocket, one of the most sexy yet made. If only we had a few left for large scale missions to mars or the outer planets, or to launch large space telescopes (a folding 30 foot mirror could probably be made to fit on top of a modified Saturn). I know it probably cost a ton, but so does the space shuttle.

Large rocket falls back to earth

I love the reaction of the people.

Project Tupelo

This is project Tupleo, one of the best I have seen so far. See below for the details.





"I had this project in mind prior to the start of my two 2002 projects, the M-Python and the Shock Value. This project combines those two rockets into a two-stage configuration. The objective is to get the highest possible altitude out of my M1315 motor used as a booster. For some reason, I got stuck trying to come up with a name for this project. Whenever I get stuck on something, I've found that the best thing to do is ask the question "What would Elvis do?". If I was Elvis, I would name it "Tupelo."

More about Tupelo

Sprint ABM Video

You may remember a post I did a long time ago about the sprint system. This is a great video of the sprint in action. Here is some basic Sprint info for you:

"This is the sprint system. It was a two stage rocket with a 1 KT Neutron bomb to take out the IRVs via explosive force and neutron flux. It worked up to 100,000 feet, and could hit more than mach 10. It was about 7,700 lbs, but took off with 650,000 lbs of thrust. Acceleration was 100 Gs."

Rocket sled?

I honestly do not know exactly what this is. I suspect it is a rocket launched sled used to crash test an object. If that is the case, I suppose the main explosion would either be some charge used to send it on the way, or the sonic overpressure as it broke mach. I suspect that the other sounds are hits on the rail and the crash at the end. But I really don't know, this is just my guess. Anyone here with more information please comment your ideas or what you know.

Methane Engine

"NASA contractors Alliant Techsystems and XCOR Aerospace are developing a rocket engine powered by liquid methane. Earlier this year the companies conducted a series of successful test firings of their 7,500 pound-thrust LOX/methane engine . Such technology could one day allow for the exploration of deep space, as methane can be found or made on many worlds throughout our solar system."

Early manned space flight plans

CATO of Nasa Rocket

Pretty sad, what a huge waste of AP.

NASA Trajectory Design Tool

"Ever try to shoot a slow-flying duck while standing rigidly on a fast rotating platform, and with a gun that uses bullets which curve 90° while in flight?" This question appeared in the July 1963 issue of Lab-Oratory, in an article about spacecraft trajectory design. Today, computer-generated plots and animations are used to calculate the path of spacecraft during a flyby.

The trajectory design model shown above allowed Mariner mission planners during mission development in 1967 to illustrate the orientation of the planet and calculate the the expected path of the Mariner 6 and 7 spacecraft, as well as the window of opportunity for the instruments and television cameras to operate during the flyby.

Image credit: NASA/JPL

Falcon 1 Onboard Launch

"SpaceX demo2 rocket launch in March.

• A privately funded rocket launches from a Pacific atoll Tuesday
• The rocket reached space but re-entered the Earth's atmosphere after half an orbit because of a problem during the second-stage burn, an entrepreneur said
• Falcon 1 is a 70-foot long, 2-stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene
• SpaceX founder Elon Musk was a co-founder of PayPal Inc."

Note the 2nd stage motor nozzle almost instantly start to glow red with heat. Great stuff. Sorry to hear that it didn't make a full orbit, but this was still a great flight. I did notice some significant yaw late into the 2nd stage burn, maybe this had something to do with the lack of performance? Rockets really tend to shake and rattle and yaw and pogo if you don't balance them perfectly. But when you think about it, I would say this was a pretty smooth ride for mach 5, 10, and 15.

Delta III Solid Rockets Fall Away

There is nothing like the power of solid rockets, but they cost a ton, are less efficient, and are not so great for the environment.

Rocket in a supersonic wind tunnel

"This 1963 photograph shows vent flowing cryogenic fuel and T/C Rake mounted on a 1/10 scale model Centaur rocket in the Supersonic Wind Tunnel at the Glen Rsearch Center. The fuel being tested is liquid hydrogen. Such tests were conducted to determine how far to expel venting fuel from the rocket body to prevent explosion at the base of the vehicle. The vent is used as a safety valve for the fumes created when loading the fuel tanks during launch preparation. Liquid hydrogen has to be kept at a very low temperature. As it heats it turns to gas and increases pressure in the tank, and, therefore, has to be vented overboard while the rocket sits on the pad."

Image Credit: NASA

Project Courage

The Courage is a very high performance (dart) hybrid N class rocket project by MB Rocketry that can probably break 30,000 feet. Check it out to see the whole building process and other projects.