𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙍𝙚𝙙 𝙂𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙚…. 🚀 💥 Over the past […]

𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙍𝙚𝙙 𝙂𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙚…. 🚀 💥
Over the past 17 years, I have built and launched hundreds of rockets with my son.
The brilliant laser red comes from Strontium Nitrate in the AP propellant. When the excited Sr ions in the plasma drop to their ground state, they emit a photon of a precise λ. In this lineup:
1) Our Sledgehammer on a M1550. Retired after 9 successful flights.
2) Night Launch: the excited metal salts make for some great colors
3) Propellant Disposal Afterparty: https://youtu.be/zY5xrJQj4w0
4) Mixing up some Red AP propellant
5) The NASA PhoneSat test, part of the Planet origin story, and an awesome video: https://youtu.be/Ews23BQ1tAU
6) My V2 launch at that event, with an 80 ft. plume from a different propellant additive and with 3 lead bricks as “warhead nose weight” to stabilize it. When the U.S. first fired a V2 at White Sands, they left out the warhead as this was a peacetime test flight. So, it spiraled out of control overhead until enough propellant weight burned off, then shot straight into Mexico and destroyed a cemetery. No joke. The U.S. paid the Mexican villagers to keep this little mistake quiet.