My First LDRS -- Safe Arrival at Campsite

After an 18+ hour drive, I finally made it to Middlesex, NY and set up camp. It was a fun drive. I stayed the night in Cleveland in a parking lot of a Wal-Mart Supercenter o.O No problems, no break-downs, no getting lost. It went very well. Now I am here at the campground trying to relax before tomorrow.

If I'm going to fly Longshot Starkiller, I've got a lot of work yet to do. It's a tossup at this point whether he will fly or not.

This evening I met a guy named Larry who's camping next to me (who I think I already knew a little bit from TRF). I only got to talk to him for 3 or 4 minutes, but he cryptically said something like I'd see things at this LDRS that I would never see again in my life. Hm... he couldn't say more than that. Whatever the case, it will be an exciting event. Also, apparently Discovery Channel and some Mythbusters people will be here.

I like this camping stuff. It's so open and friendly for opening up conversations and getting to know people. There will be a campfire later and I'll get to meet even more people. Picnic tables also make such great workbenches for rockets.

In pictures, departure from home to arrival at the campsite:

My First LDRS -- It's Official!

Yep, it's true. After a few weeks of uncertainty whether it would actually happen or not, it is finally official, and I am leaving tomorrow morning!

LDRS -- Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships -- is the annual Tripoli Rocketry Association meet. It's the biggest high-power rocket launch in the country. Thousands of people will be there, and some of the biggest projects ever.

Believe it or not, I am actually driving. That's okay, I love driving! It doesn't really save any money with just me in the car, but this way I get to bring my own project: Longshot Starkiller, the big two-stage level-2 rocket. While it is uncertain that he will be ready to fly in time, it will at least be great to show it off and talk about it.

I'll be camping at the Flint Creek Campground, just 2 miles from the launch site. There will be lots of LDRS attendees staying there, so hopefully I will be able to meet some new people!

Stay tuned for travel updates, pictures and videos!

Adventurous People

I'm starting a new series! I'm pleased to introduce Adventurous People, a series of interviews with, well, people who lead adventurous lives. So what exactly defines an Adventurous Person?

Adventurous Person -- s.o. who has a propensity for exploring new places, learning new things, meeting new people, and generally have no two days alike.

That said, you don't necessarily have to currently be leading a life that most people would consider adventurous to be an Adventurous Person. At the first opportunity life throws at you, you take the more adventurous, new and exciting path.

I am looking for people to interview! If you qualify as an Adventurous Person, you should contact me (my email can be found on my profile).

Maybe you're a bush pilot in Alaska, or a missionary in India, or naval officer on a submarine, or an engineer on an Air Force Base, or live in a tree house in the Amazon. Maybe you're a high-tech nomad that travels across the country on a motorcycle, or live in a Soviet missile silo in Lithuania! Your stories and adventures would be read by hundreds of people; this blog receives over a thousand hits a month. Stories are the single most effective means of inspiring All Ducks In A Row People to become Adventurous People. And, lets be honest here. Everyone needs at least a few ducks out of line.

Dare Mighty Things -- Curiosity Landing Procedure

Just imagine you're a Martian for a minute. You're standing out in your yard, and this... "thing" drops out of the sky on a tether.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this thing works on August 5th.

High Frontier

The High Frontier, Human Colonies in Space, by Gerard O'Neill.

Depiction of "Island Three" concept, a 3km radius cylindrical space habitat.

Last year the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) gave out several copies of The High Frontier by Gerard O'Neill to its Chapters, including Iowa State Space Society (I triple S). Somehow I ended up with a copy. The book was originally published in 1976 and therefore contains some hilarious estimates of time scales and costs, particularly for nearer term projects that are already completed such as the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. I knew NASA was overoptimistic about the economic efficiency of the Shuttle, but I had no idea they were expecting 50-100 flights per year at a cost of $20 million per flight!

Without all the red-tape, setbacks, disasters, and other unforeseen complications, the original concept for the Shuttle indeed was simple enough to be inexpensive access to LEO.

What is now known as the ISS was discussed in the book as a "workbench" in space, and the real construction efforts would be for Island One, a giant space habitat longer than three Empire State Buildings. The hilarious part is that he predicts conservatively that Island One could be built by 2010, which more or less corresponds to the completion of the ISS. Technically, it is completely feasible, perhaps even economically. However, he accurately identifies one of the biggest variables that is nearly impossible to predict, which is the politics behind the development of space.

There are many cool ideas throughout the book, and it is an inspiring picture of the future. But I also imagine that human colonies in space could lend themselves easily to "dystopic" scenarios. Such is the theme of my most recent novel, written last November, entitled "Supervessel." Currently I don't like my story at all, and it needs a lot of reworking.

I do believe that if the world can remain somewhat stable in the coming future that human colonies could be developed in space within my lifetime. However, while the technical details can easily be worked out on paper, the political and economic stability of the globe will play an important part in whether or not we permanently get off the ground.

Successful Launch, Failed Recovery

After a fantastic liftoff, the rocket disappeared into the sky. I quickly set down my camera and picked up the receiver. I caught a signal to the southeast, and hopped into the car with some friends to go chase it. Two hours of driving around did not yield a single signal, and the rocket was given up for lost. We had several ideas why the signal could not be picked up: The rocket could have come in ballistic and buried itself underground. The rocket could have landed in water (since it had rained a lot previous days and flooded parts of the fields) and shorted out or blocked signal. Or it could have landed behind some structure or in a valley or ditch. The battery was new and good, and taped in securely, so it is unlikely that it caused the loss of signal. And while I did tape around the entire transmitter with electrical tape, there is a possibility that ejection gases could have gotten to it and messed with the electronics.


Since the rocket did hold together and didn't do anything wild or unstable, it is safe to assume that it did go supersonic, maybe as fast as Mach 2. I'm hoping to try some even faster minimum diameter projects in the future. First I have to earn some money.

Mach 2 Rocket Launch Today

It's going to be a little soggy in the field today, but a great day to launch rockets. I'm planning to launch my Mach 2 rocket. I did a nice black paint job after a lot of priming and fine wet sanding. It will never look this nice again.

I'll be sure to post a video to YouTube later.

Due to RockSim's ever optimistic weight estimations, I believe Mach 2 might be a little fast. I'm sure it will hit at least 1.5 (and hopefully not shred), but it will be impossible to tell for sure since there won't be any onboard electronics except a transmitter.

As usual, I have come up short in the Name Department. The RockSim file is called "38mm Attack," but I think that sounds kind of lame. Commend if you have any suggestions!

Note: If I am unable to borrow a transmitter from someone, I don't think I'll be launching today. Hopefully I can work something out.