darkjohnson - Slashdot User

Submission + - Qu8k: Above the Balloons (ddeville.com) 1

Submitted by

darkjohnson

on Sunday October 09, 2011 @12:02PM

darkjohnson writes: "Lately we've been inundated with 100k' balloon flights and amazing video footage from space — the flights usually taking better than an hour to achieve apogee. Derek Deville took a shortcut to 121k' using a 'home made' Q rocket motor and a ton of engineering genius.

On September 30, 2011 at 11:08am, Qu8k (pronounced "Quake") launched from the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to an altitude of 121,000' in 92 seconds before returning safely to earth.

This small documentary on the flight is probably one of the most brilliant Amateur Rocket videos out there right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvDqoxMUroA&feature=share"

Submission + - One man's quest to honor America's Saturn V rocket (rocketryplanet.com)

Submitted by

darkjohnson

on Friday April 17, 2009 @03:14PM

darkjohnson writes: "On April 25, 2009, history will be made. At Higgs Farm in Price, Maryland, Steve Eves will enter the history books as the person who flew the largest model rocket in history. The rocket will weigh over 1,600 pounds, it will stand over 36 feet tall and it will be powered by a massive array of nine motors: eight 13,000ns N-Class motors and a 77,000ns P-Class motor."

Submission + - Backyard Rocketeers Keeps the Solid Fuel Burning

Submitted by

Jamie Clay

on Saturday October 14, 2006 @05:51PM

Jamie Clay writes: " From the New York Times Article:

"At a cultural moment when billionaires like Paul G. Allen, the Microsoft co-founder, and Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Atlantic chairman, are getting into the space business, the members of the Tripoli Rocketry Association are the ultimate do-it-yourselfers — backyard versions of Burt Rutan, the legendary engineer of the first privately financed manned rocket.

On Tuesday, lawyers representing Tripoli and the National Association of Rocketry and officials of the firearms bureau will head to Federal District Court in Washington to resolve the seven-year-old dispute over the hobbyists' use of a flammable propellant, ammonium perchlorate composite, or APCP. The chemical is the main ingredient on the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters." The firearms bureau classifies APCP as an explosive and, amid post-Sept. 11 security concerns, requires that anyone who uses more than two ounces of propellant undergo federal background checks."

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