Mavericks Clotho Research Rocket First Launch

7 responses to “Mavericks Clotho Research Rocket First Launch”

1. 

   jurvetson

   Aug 1, 2010 at 10:04 pm

   Note: none of these photos has been rotated in orientation…

   Arcing over with 2 of 3 motors lit; the rocket did not reach a stable speed on the short rail:
   
   …and that sets up everything that follows…

   Booster chutes shred while going 1000 MPH horizontally (the flight computer detects vertical apogee and deploys the chutes)…
   

   Sustainer buckles over from separation attempt:
   

   Separating it in two:
   

   And the booster keeps going… in an unstable corkscrew…
   

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2. 

   Pacdog

   Aug 1, 2010 at 10:58 pm

   poor rocket. Never saw it’s demise. Great stuff but I’m sure was not cheap.

   edit: just watched the video. Well done. the video that is. =o)

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3. 

   Dr DAD (Daniel A D’Auria MD)

   Aug 2, 2010 at 10:14 am

   I’m sure a disappointment for the kids, but it doesn’t sound like it was anything avoidable. The photos are excellent. Vaguely reminiscent of the shuttle O-ring disaster.

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4. 

   DixonTJ

   Aug 2, 2010 at 3:11 pm

   Yikes! Any analysis? Thermite supplement to the initiators I assume?

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5. 

   rocketmavericks

   Aug 2, 2010 at 8:09 pm

   Actually not.

   The sustainer did not stage because the flight electronics safety systems disabled the motor ignition because of the orientation of the booster would result in an un safe trajectory for the sustainer. The booster drag separated, and the sustainer did not buckle as you state. We have the upper stage and plan to fly it again in a couple weeks. Because of the orientation, the flight electronics and avionics detected what looked like an apogee event, and fired the separation charges, which caused deployment of the recovery system into the supersonic airstream, which it was not designed for.

   The payload and upper sections were recovered and will be flown again after some modifications to the design of the recovery systems to handle a supersonic deployment.

   It appears on the ignition that the third igniter did not have sufficient current to cause it to fire until the rocket was leaving the pad. We have video footage that it did fire after the rocket left the pad, suggesting that it likely pulled out of the motor before firing. We are still analyzing what happened here, but we are suspect of the pad ignition system connected to the igniter assembly which may have had some corroded contacts and dirt and dust inside it. More once the full debrief and analysis can be completed.

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6. 

   jurvetson

   Aug 2, 2010 at 11:23 pm

   Thanks for the update! "Buckles over" is perhaps the wrong verb – "bends over" (without damage) sounds closer.

   Good luck with the analysis! Good thing you had that 2000 fps zoom in on the launch pad.

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7. 

   msamaclean ©

   Aug 3, 2010 at 2:30 am

   Good video…all three viewings!….

   Reply