Telescope Reviews: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch

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lightfever
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 09/27/04

Loc: Macomb Michigan

Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch
#4853950 - 10/10/11 01:16 PM

Title says it all, check it out here.

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Mary B
Vendor - Echo Astronomy and Electronics

Reged: 05/21/10

Loc: Minnesota

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: lightfever]
#4854475 - 10/10/11 06:32 PM

Sweet!

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Alex_M
member

Reged: 10/03/11

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: Mary B]
#4854483 - 10/10/11 06:38 PM

Awesome!

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deSitter
Still in Old School

Reged: 12/09/04

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: Alex_M]
#4854608 - 10/10/11 07:50 PM

another

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvDqoxMUroA&NR=1

-drl

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Shadowalker
Apocaloptimist

Reged: 11/23/04

Loc: Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, ...

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: deSitter]
#4854728 - 10/10/11 08:53 PM

I love rockets...

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star drop
Snowed In

Reged: 02/02/08

Loc: Snow Plop, WNY

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: Shadowalker]
#4854824 - 10/10/11 09:50 PM

That is so cool!

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jchaller
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 05/29/08

Loc: Tenino, WA.

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: star drop]
#4855093 - 10/11/11 01:47 AM Attachment (23 downloads)

Gotta love rockets.

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lightfever
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 09/27/04

Loc: Macomb Michigan

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: jchaller]
#4855442 - 10/11/11 10:06 AM

It would be interesting to know what that launch cost and if they made the solid motor themselves.

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KWB
Postmaster

Reged: 09/30/06

Loc: Westminster,Co Elev.5400 feet

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: lightfever]
#4855634 - 10/11/11 12:09 PM

You beat me to the punch,Mark.

I'd love to know what the total tab was for the design, materials and assembly,plus the launch and what the exact composition of the propellent that was used. My guess is it wasn't cheap.

Incredible.

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EJN
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 11/01/05

Loc: Highway 61

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: KWB]
#4855766 - 10/11/11 01:26 PM

Propellant is Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant (APCP)
in a rubber binder with 8% metal powder using a Fin-O-Cyl
grain configuration.

There is a website with construction details here.

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ColoHank
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 06/07/07

Loc: western Colorado

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: EJN]
#4856144 - 10/11/11 04:51 PM

I'm amazed how smooth the footage suggests the launch was, with no evidence of vibration or shuddering. Was it because the camera was that well isolated, or was the rocket really that steady?

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lightfever
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 09/27/04

Loc: Macomb Michigan

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: ColoHank]
#4856172 - 10/11/11 05:05 PM

Do those cameras have image stabilization?

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Shadowalker
Apocaloptimist

Reged: 11/23/04

Loc: Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, ...

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: lightfever]
#4856380 - 10/11/11 07:27 PM

Don't know about the camera, but I do know all rockets vibrate - a lot. Now that you mention it, Hank, I'm surprised at the stability of the image. The ascent video on shuttle, Atlas 5 and Delta 4 are similarly stable. I'm guessing they do use image stabilization. Must mean consumer grade video has pretty sophisticated stuff in order for this rocket to have such good video.

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groz
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 03/14/07

Loc: Duncan, BC

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: Shadowalker]
#4856396 - 10/11/11 07:35 PM

Quote:

Don't know about the camera, but I do know all rockets vibrate - a lot.

I know that a liquid fueled rocket, with all the pumps and gizmos that accompany liquid fuel, will have a lot of vibration. It's especially noticeable when thrust/weight ratios are just slightly over 1, so acceleration is rather slow in the early state of liftoff. But, will an all solid fuel system, with no moving parts, and a thrust/weight ratio that start at 12.5, rapidly increases to 22 only 8 seconds later, have that much vibration?

Probably not......

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David Knisely
Postmaster

Reged: 04/19/04

Loc: southeastern Nebraska

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: lightfever]
#4856441 - 10/11/11 07:59 PM

This was much better than the National Geographic Channel program "HOW HARD CAN IT BE? when they tried their hand at a "rocket to reach the edge of space" (it didn't). It was sad to see one of these "engineers" on that program try to light a clustered model rocket using black powder!

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llanitedave
Humble Megalomaniac

Reged: 09/26/05

Loc: Amargosa Valley, NV, USA

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: groz]
#4856602 - 10/11/11 09:24 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Don't know about the camera, but I do know all rockets vibrate - a lot.

I know that a liquid fueled rocket, with all the pumps and gizmos that accompany liquid fuel, will have a lot of vibration. It's especially noticeable when thrust/weight ratios are just slightly over 1, so acceleration is rather slow in the early state of liftoff. But, will an all solid fuel system, with no moving parts, and a thrust/weight ratio that start at 12.5, rapidly increases to 22 only 8 seconds later, have that much vibration?

Probably not......

I'm pretty sure that the combustion process in a solid fuel motor provides all kinds of vibration sources. I don't think the fuel mixture and internal packing can possibly be homogeneous enough to prevent a tremendous amount of chaos in the combustion chamber.

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Shadowalker
Apocaloptimist

Reged: 11/23/04

Loc: Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, ...

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: llanitedave]
#4856640 - 10/11/11 09:53 PM

Actually, solids vibrate a lot more than liquids. It's not the pipes, valves and fluid flow, it's the combustion rate. In a solid there is a huge area burning at any one time. There are local areas that burn faster than others. This produces pressures that are non-homogeneous, resulting in forces that are varying. All of which contributes to uneven acceleration and vibration.

Liquid fueled rockets have a much more even burn rate.

I'm not saying liquids are better. Just that solids provide a more interesting ride

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deSitter
Still in Old School

Reged: 12/09/04

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: Shadowalker]
#4856650 - 10/11/11 09:57 PM

There was one bug in his launch - something MELTED from friction and partially covered the camera lens!

You know you've got a fast rocket when the FRONT end melts!

-drl

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lightfever
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 09/27/04

Loc: Macomb Michigan

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: deSitter]
#4856662 - 10/11/11 10:02 PM

Quote:

There was one bug in his launch - something MELTED from friction and partially covered the camera lens!

You know you've got a fast rocket when the FRONT end melts!

-drl

Reading the website it appears it was a deflector that was planned on being machined from aluminum but was made from plastic because of time constraints.

Yeah, your rocket is really moving when you can melt things.

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Achernar
Postmaster

Reged: 02/25/06

Loc: Mobile, Alabama, USA

Re: Awesome Amateur Rocket Launch new

[Re: groz]
#4856700 - 10/11/11 10:19 PM

Not necessarily, a pressure fed rocket would have no pumps at all, just two propellant tanks, a pressure bottle or bottles charged with helium, nitrogen or some other gas, a valve and regulator for the pressure bottles, two valves and the engine itself. Liquid fueled rockets don't vibrate nearly as much as solid fueled rockets do, even the ones that burn some of the fuel in turbines to drive super powerful turbopumps vibrate far less than a solid fueled rocket. They force the propellants into the engines while the turbines that drive them vent their exhaust through the engines at the same time for maximum thrust. This was how the main engines of the Space Shuttle orbiter functioned, and once the SRB's were cut loose the ride smoothed out dramatically for the astronauts in spite of the fact each turbo pump spun much faster than a jet engine at full thrust.

Taras

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