This R24000 is the largest civilian rocket motor I have ever seen โ and I have been going to gonzo rocket launch weekends in the Black Rock Desert every year since my son was 5.
They cracked down on access this year, so I was one of a handful of people out at the far-away launch pads to capture the moment.
340 lbs., over 12-ft. tall, estimated altitude 146K ft. The going-up part was beautiful, and loud. From my DSLR photos (below), I measured the peak purple plume to be 25 ft. of fire. I also put together a launch video.
But it came back ballistic, and the GPS-feed last reported a descent speed of Mach 1 and a final altitude of negative 16 ft. Last words from Kate, the onboard streaming GPS: “Unfortunately, that flight did not quite go as planned.”
Case-bonded 8โ-diameter homebrew motor built by Anthony Lazarro of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Rocket name: Mr. Fish Business
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