In August of 2000, the Aeroscience Progam students
at Fredericksburg
High School in Texas, launch their Redbird
9-H at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
The students designed and built the 185kg, 7m solid
fueled rocket,
which reached over 10km in altitude. NASA
MSFC PR - Aug.2.00
Rocketry Stores &
Companies
Vendor
List at Rocketry Online!
Rocketry Online provides a huge list of online sites of
rocketry stores, rocket and parts manufacturers, and other
related companies.
Apogee Model
Rocketry A rocket company that specializes in combining
model rocketry with education about rocketry. Some of
their many pages include:
Educational Literature, RocketKits, Software, and more.
Rocketman
Inc. Ky
Michaelson is "The ROCKETMAN". The Rocketman
website sells high-power rockets kits, recovery systems
and videotapes of rocket meets but also much more.
Rocketman supports the Civilian
Space Exploration Team, which claims to be the first
amateur team to fly an advanced amateur rocket to space
after its GoFast two stage rocket reached a 77 mile
altitude in May of 2004.
R.A.T.T.
Works - Advanced high powered rocket manufacturer
of bi-propellant and hybrid rockets. The bi-propellant
version uses Alcohol and Nitrous Oxide. Checkout their
video clips of a hybrid
rocket launch.
Retro
Flight - " specializes in the design and
fabrication of robust high quality composite radio
control high power rocketry kits and sub scale UAV
for hobby and commercial use. Retro Flight kits are
based on sleek, swept wing x-planes, concepts, and
sci-fi spaceships of the past and the future. "
X-15
Project - all composite radio controlled project
X-15 rocket
Video
Rocketry - Clay Brother
Installing a low cost wireless web cam in a rocket,
Jamie Clay provides some great videos from the cameras
looking back at the launch sites as they shoot skyward.
Also, the site offers design information, plans for
future improvements, etc.
Rocketman
Videotapes
Videos of highlights of recent high power rocketry events
such as Big Bad Rockets 2 and Balls 007.
Rocketry
Online - Video
Rocketry Online provides this list of videos with descriptive
summaries of each.
Astrosaint's
Recycled Rocket Page
Manuel Mejia shows how to create rockets with " household
discards and other recycled parts". While using standard
safe motors , he shows how a bit of imagination and effort
can produce something nice and different from the usual
store boat structures.
George
Gassaway's Rocketry Page
George Gassaway's site includes lots of scale information
for various launch vehicles. In particular, check out
hisShuttle Model Homepage. His shuttle models
not only are meticulous models of the real ones, but they
also fly, including dropoff boosters.
Blast
Off for Britain
This organization is "an educational charity that
assists dedicated and talented British youngsters under
the age of 18 to learn 'rocket science' so that they
can effectively compete in national and international
rocketry events as a Junior British Rocketry Team."
Estes
Educator
The leader in low cost model rockets offers teachers guides,
intro to rocketry, etc.
"The Clarkston Christian Association, in partnership
with the McMath-Hulbert Astronomical Society is now
offering classes in Unigraphics computer drafting
(CAD). Our classes will be working with teams of amateur
and professional rocket builders to design actual
rocket projects. "
".. is a unique "hands on" three day class in
beginning composite solid propellant motor technology.
Students will spend the first day in classroom work
covering theory, materials, procedures, and safety.
The second and third days of instruction will be held
in the field at the Society's Mojave Test Area."
Pendulum Rocket Fallacy
Though Goddard tried it on his early rocket designs,
you cannot use gravity alone to keep a rocket pointed
upward. Follow these links to understand why:
CERTA
is a "new, not for profit organization which
promotes math, science and techology education through
hands on experience and participation in experimental
rocketry."
Millenium
Academy - David Luther runs this program in
which offers classes in solid modeling computer drafting
(CAD) tools to design actual rockets.
OrionCraft
- "a non-profit educational outreach to youth
and adults. This group intends to develop new
technologies for use in actual future spacecraft.
These may lead to commercial development and even
real career opportunities."
Rockets4Schools.org
- ths program at "Spaceport Sheboygan has been
Wisconsin's home of Rockets for Schools since its
inception in 1995. May 14-15, 2004."..."Student
teams construct a rocket equipped with a powerful
motor that lifts it into high altitudes."
Rocket
Boys By Homer Hickam
Homer Hickam's autobiography about his growing up in
a small coal mining town in West Virginia. Hebecame
inspired by Sputnik and the space race to build rockets
himself. This book was made into a movie called October
Sky.
Rockets
by Robert H. Goddard , available at Dover
Publications, "comprised of two papers written
by Robert Goddard for the Smithsonian Institution:
"A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes" and "Liquid
Propellant Rocket Development." Two of the most significant
publications in the history of rockets and jet propulsion,
these reports--the first published in 1919 and the
second in 1936--were issued at a time when little
was known about rockets and jet propulsion."
Miscellaneous
Articles & Issues
Regulatory
Issues in Rocketry
Consumer rocketry involves very safe fuels that have been
used for decades. Small model
rockets, which typically use a blackpowder based fuel,
are often found in toy stores and have been deemed safe
by various state and federal agencies such as the FTC.
High
Power Rocketry involves motors rated H and higher
(see motor
codes) and use composite fuels, particularly ammonium
perchlorate composite propellant or APCP. A rubber binder
is mixed with the ammonium percholate and renders it
non-explosive. Instead, "it burns in a controlled,
predictable, and focused manner" as needed for
rocket propulsion.
Despite these known physical properties and a history
of safe use, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
(ATF) decided to put ammonium percholate on its list
of explosive substances and since 1994 has sought to
regulate its use in high power rocketry. HPR enthusiasts
must now pay for permits, must store rockets in certified
magazines, etc.
Subsequent to Sept.11, the ATF went further to place
several new registration and other requirements on the
use of ammonium percholate. This led to various political
action campaigns to change the regulations.
The following links provide more information about
the legal situation:
Space-Rockets.com - John
Wickman's site is headquarters for Congressional action.
ATF
Joint Statement 03/02/02 - injunction to preven
the ATF from requiring that "motor types whose
propellant grains consisted of 62.5 gram and smaller
units, generally referred to as 'easy access', now
be subject to the magazine and record keeping requirements
of larger motors if the propellant are designed or
intended to be combined and used in a rocket motor
whose total propellant weight is greater than 62.5
grams."
Though the above court case is going well, unfortunately
the recently passed Homeland Security Law adds even
more legal burdens for rocketry.
It subjects any substances listed as explosive by the
ATF to even further restrictions. For example, previously,
moving a composite motor across state lines required
a permit. Now moving it even within a state will require
a permit.
Liability Issues
In the USA suing over any accident, regardless of personal
responsibility. has become a way of life. Insurance
is needed to protect oneself even in a hobby as safe
as rocketry. See these pages for info on liability related
questions:
Water
Rockets
A pressurized tank of water won't compete with LOX/LH2
but it can give a good kick for low altitude booster
and a big kick for those who build and fly such things.
The
Next Shuttle CD-ROM by Dave Ketchledge. As described in the PR
posted at "The
Next Shuttle" by Dave Ketchledge - RLV News - Sept.18.05,
the CD contains lots of articles, data, drawings on rocketplanes
that have been built like the X-15 and on concept vehicles
like Dynasoar and Venturestar. Some chapters are specifically
aimed at modelers.
Peter
Alway
Author of Rockets
of the World and publisher of Saturn Press (see
next entry), Alway's home site includes a lot of model
rocketry resources.
His Space
Rocket section, for example, gives details on many
rockets and missiles.
Saturn
Press
Saturn Press specializes "in rocketry publications,
offering books, posters, and booklets for modelers and
space enthusiasts." Most of these are by Peter
Alway (see previous entry).
Model
Rocketry Software - Apogee Rockets RockSim
allows the amateur rocket maker to design rockets "by
pointing and clicking at the parts". Then the rocket
can be run through a flight simulation which will describe
how fast it will travel, how high it will go, when and
where during the flight the parachute is deployed, and
most importantly, it determines if the model will be
stable and therefore safe to fly."
"You don't need to be a rocket scientist or
a computer expert to use it. Just select the parts
to create your design. When your design is complete
open the stabilizer window and watch as the system
checks and stabilizes your design automatically. If
your design is stable run the performance test and
see how high and fast your rocket will go. That's
all it takes now you can build your model rocket and
launch it."
Aerorocket
Aerodynamics Software
AeroRocket "specializes in high speed aerodynamics,
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and aerospace technology
related software development. Other services include
Visual Basic/C++ computer programming, structural analysis
and wind tunnel testing using AeroRocket's subsonic
wind tunnel."
SpaceCAD
Model Rocket Software
This prorgram allows you to build your own rocket designs,
predict flight and stability , center of gravity and
pressure (CP). The program description:
"SpaceCAD allows you to design and build your
rockets very quickly and easily - the perfect rocket
tool for both expert and novice rocketeers. More than
7,000 people are using it today to design real, flying
rockets!"
"a complete trajectory simulation program for
both unguided and VTS (vertical trajectory systems).
The built in chart recorder captures over 29 variables
during launch and flight. The program has a 17 motor
database in MS Excel to select from or you can customize,
The flight manual that comes with the software is
more than a review of the Barrowman equations, its
a fully documented course in flight mechanics and
the methods of performing vertical trajectory control.
"
Model
Rocket Altitude Predictor - Mark Sullivan
provides this online altitude predictor program. Also,
available are programs for multi-stageanduser motor.
RocFlight.com- This company specializes in rocket trajectory
software for model & HPR rocketry.
wRASP
- Rocket Altitude Simulation Program (RASP) for windows
by Chuck Gibke.
Winroc01
- "Easy-to-use altitude prediction software,
includes motor files and center-of-pressure calculations"
NERO
Software
Software available from the NERO rocketry club in the
Netherlands
Rocketry
Online - Software
Rocketry Online! provides many resources including lists
of rocketry software websites.
