X marks the spot

Erik’s 10-ft. tall Bullpup rocket, with a 48 lb. nose cone, did not create a crater.

It disappeared into the solid clay, the fins slicing an X, like a pirate’s buried treasure.

Luckily there were a bunch of ATV and motorcyclists tooling around the playa and they spotted the landing, which would have been very difficult to find otherwise.

After a bit of small talk, I said “Oh my god – Hoppy is in there.” Erik: “My daughter will never forgive me for taking her bunny without permission.” Me: “Yeah, you are in trouble man.” The ATV folk started backing away slowly with looks of shock and disgust on their faces. Erik: “Oh, no, it’t not like that. Hoppy is a stuffed animal toy.”

Time to get the shovels and pneumatic cutter.

After a bit of reflection, the putative culprit for this ballistic lawn dart was old batteries. The 9V Duracells had been used last summer on Erik’s successful L3 launch with this rocket, and had aged, and we forgot to replace them with fresh ones. They most likely did not provide enough current to fire the e-matches that ignite the black powder pouch that ejects the parachutes. So it all came back in a sickening thud, making a cloud of dust in the distant mirage. (photo of what we saw below)