Canon EOS 5D
ƒ/4.5
100 mm
1/6,400
400

Three rocketeers, scattered across the globe, coordinated designs over the Internet to converge for a surprisingly fair drag race (I suspect Thermite igniters). The rocket on the right came from Australia to rural Kansas for this launch.

Each rocket has a sparky M-size motor from Animal Motor Works (titanium sponge and Midas brake filings are special ingredients in these AP-based solid rocket motors). Two of the rockets experienced tangled chutes and thus a hard landing. Hope they did not coordinate on the recovery strategy…

9 responses to “Three Sparky Horsemen”

  1. Wow great shot – the timing is spot on!

    I hope it was as loud as it looks!

  2. Almost looks like HDR.

  3. Wish I could shoot the action with HDR…

    Neil: Yeah! The sparky motors crackle across a deep constant roar. This one had surround sound!

    Jaako in the notes: The "little stumpy guy" is always the underdog… Here’s a sense of scale:

    And to think that the Australians (right) were declaring victory off the pad!

  4. Man that is a great shot! Looks like an amazing event.

  5. That’s a "whoosh" shot if ever I saw one!

  6. Only had a few small grass fires, if I remember correctly… Was a great launch. The sound of the skidmark motors are very distinctive.

  7. Sparky motors = All Show and No go. Why because they Ti Sponge is being burned out of the motor and not inside it.

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