Epic Rocket – Ground Cam

8 responses to “Epic Rocket – Ground Cam”

1. 

   jurvetson

   Dec 7, 2011 at 7:30 pm

   It was a windy day, so I thought the arc off the pad was weathercocking from an overstable design, but the forensic photos below show that one of the Metalstorm motors was late in coming up to pressure. Each photo is .26 seconds apart (followed by the one above):

   

   and off into the wild blue yonder, a wide-body shower of sparks from the titanium sponge mixed in the fin motor propellant:

   

   The HCX flight computer logs 500 datapoints/second:
   
   The rocket went horizontally under thrust, and the motors came up to thrust sequentially. It did not go a mile high as planned, but more like a mile downrange. While screaming along at about 242 MPH horizontally, the parachute popped out with a strong kevlar cord (at the vertical apogee, 11 seconds in), inducing an instant air-braking… which to quote Bill Murray: it’s a little harsh.

   With the red g-force curve above, you can see a fin motor come on a bit after the others, and then the spike of the I100 kicking in at 0.5 seconds. The fin motors cut out at 1.5 seconds, leaving the smooth curve of that central long burn motor:
   

   Reply
2. 

   Telstar Logistics

   Dec 7, 2011 at 8:09 pm

   Meanwhile, rocket mania has taken hold in Bernal Heights, San Francisco:

   bernalwood.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/the-right-stuff-berna…

   Reply
3. 

   jurvetson

   Dec 7, 2011 at 11:54 pm

   punks!

   =)

   Reply
4. 

   solerena

   Dec 8, 2011 at 5:38 am

   They are so sweet!

   Reply
5. 

   Telstar Logistics

   Dec 8, 2011 at 6:34 am

   Totally punks.

   Reply
6. 

   scleroplex

   Dec 9, 2011 at 3:44 pm

   bright kid 🙂

   a rocket boy!

   Reply
7. 

   pburdylo

   Jan 3, 2014 at 5:11 pm

   Thanks for sharing on Creative Commons. I used this on a blog post: pburdylo.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/what-i-learnt-in-2013

   Reply
8. 

   jurvetson

   Oct 3, 2017 at 5:42 pm

   and now… part of a children’s science book… “Acqua, Aria, Terra, Fuoco – La Natura e i Suoi Elementi”
   (Water, Air, Earth, Fire – Nature and Its Elements).

   Reply