2011 Recapitulation

Way back in the beginning of the year I came up with three "Big, Fun Scary Adventures," referred to herein as "BFS Adventures." The first of these was a concrete goal: to obtain my level-2 certification for high-power rocketry. The story of this adventure was a long and comical one:

My first attempt was in June, using my rocket called "Stinger." I used a Cesaroni J285, which is a very small J-motor. For some reason, the flight was just a flop:



Next month I managed to put together an entirely new rocket (can't remember the name of it). It was a big, galumphing rocket made from thick cardboard tubes. The idea was to build heavy so that the rocket didn't go very high so I didn't need dual-deployment. That idea came back to bite me:



So I figured that the third time is usually the charm, and I came out next month with this rocket, which is the sustainer stage of a multistage project.



I figured that I had failed, but we kinda had to rush off at the end of the launch, and didn't talk much with the certifying member afterward. But a few weeks later I got my card in the mail, which read "cert level 2." So that's the story of how I got my level 2 certification.

My second adventure was less than exciting. I set a specific goal to "earn at least $5000 by working and at least $5000 of non-ISU scholarships." This one was also a success. I failed to find an internship, so I worked hard on a sod farm all summer, some weeks working 60 hours! It was quite the arduous ordeal but I earned about $4500 for school. Previously during the spring semester I had earned about $800 from working at Target. So there's my $5000 by working. And I got a pretty nice engineering scholarship for $8000 which helped me stay in school!

My last BFS Adventure was rather vague. "Invent something cool," I said. I'm counting the payload we built for USLI for this adventure. While it was not entirely my invention, I learned a lot of great stuff from being on that team and helped develop pretty cool technology for it. All of the structural components were designed and built by me. A lot of the programming was me, too. One thing is irrefutable: It was cool.

So there's 2011 in a nutshell. Of course, that leaves out 99% of my life, but now you have the 1% worth talking about.

I sense 2012 has some adventures in store that will make 2011 look like a walk in the park. Bring it on!

My Identity

A good thing to know about one's self is one's identity, especially when said identity will be challenged by the world when one moves to college.

So here's mine:

Above all, I identify myself with Christ. Since he saved me from sin and God's unbearable wrath, I am pleased to live my life following him.

Everything beyond that is just detail:

• I am exceedingly fascinated by all things that fly, and the giant expanse of the sky calls to me.
• So I study rocket science.
• I was born into a wonderful, Christian, home-schooling family.
• I have been lucky enough to live on a sod farm (rocketeer's envy!)
• I used to hate math, but now I love it.
• I am currently stepping up to the 2nd and 3rd rungs in my Ladder to Space.

The list was going to go on, but I ran out of time!

Thou hast given me understanding to compass the earth,
   measure the sun, moon, stars, universe,
   but above all to know thee, the only true God.
I marvel that the finite can know the Infinite,
   here a little, afterwards in full-orbed truth;
Now I know but a small portion of what I shall know,
   here in part, there in perfection,
   here a glimpse, there a glory.
To enjoy thee is life eternal,
   and to enjoy is to know.
Keep me in the freedom of experiencing thy salvation continually.

~A puritan prayer from The Valley of Vision

AP Week!

This coming week is going to be utterly insane. I have three AP tests in a row, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Stats, Calc and Lit. The following Monday I have Physics. And then... Then I will break my record for a good night's sleep and sleep 15 hours.

Here's how I feel about my prospects:

Stats - 4
Calc - 5
Lit - 2, MAYBE 3
Physics - 4

My blog may fall silent for a week or so.

Details on my L1 HPR cert design are coming up. AFTER the AP.

Iowa State University!

I decided. Iowa State is it. I made up my mind, and mailed in the acceptance form.

It just means I'm going to have to scrimp and save this summer. $15k should be doable... but I sure hope it doesn't interfere with my certification attempts. I turn 18 this summer, so I included getting certified in my short list of Big, Fun, Scary Adventures for 2010.

1) Get L1 certified for high-power rocketry
2) Earn and save a lot of money applying for jobs, scholarships, and just being an entrepreneur.
3) Go to COLLEGE!!

How scary! I'm attempting two steps in my Ladder to Space in a single year.

Let me talk more about my college decision: Iowa State has everything going for it. It is the right compromise of $$$$, engineering prestige, and location. It has a wonderful campus, and has one of the best engineering programs in the country. Specifically, it has an excellent aerospace engineering program, even compared to Embry-Riddle. Being a state university, I am of the opinion that it has more resources available to it. For instance, Iowa State has a supersonic wind tunnel, whereas Embry-Riddle has only a subsonic one, up to about 200 mph.

I am content with my choice, and recognize that:

"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." ~Proverbs 16:9

He sure does, and I'd rather go where He'd have me go than go where I think it would be best for me to go... if you get my meaning. Because, as somebody said (I don't remember who; you can comment if you know who): "You're only watching the train cars whiz by in front of you. God's up on the hill and he can see the whole train."

In conclusion...

Gulp.

Stay Tuned...

March 14th, 2010 at 1:59 pm EDT is a very important moment. It decides my future.

I've applied to MIT, and that is when I find out whether I'm good enough. I certainly hope I make it, but it isn't likely. 10% of the applicants get accepted. Only 6% of last year's accepted applicants had an ACT score of between 26 and 29. Hmmm. It doesn't sound good for me. But you never know. I have an outstanding record in other areas.

How exciting! I can't wait to know where I'm going to be studying next year!

Stay tuned for the upcoming Big Decisions...

Aerospace Engineering at STEP

I'm all excited, because this next semester I'm going to be taking aerospace engineering via Secondary Technical Education Program. I don't know much yet; all I know is that its major outcomes are:

• Introduction to aerodynamics design and testing.
• Flight systems and areospace materials.
• Space life sciences and astronautics.

And its instructional focus is on: experiments, project testing and field trips.

It sounds right up my alley, and is completely free (considered part of high-school education). I'll post more about it when I get more information.

XCOR LYNX Mk.1 Suborbital Launch Vehicle

This is precisely the sort of thing I want to be building when I get older and augment more resources! XCOR Aerospace is a private aerospace company (apart from government) which is building a suborbital launch vehicle for the growing market of space-tourism. Sort of like Virgin Galactic, but frankly I like this one better:

(Click the flight profile to enlarge it)

A Ladder to Space

A whatta to wha? What do I mean by a ladder to space? Am I going to try to build the World’s Largest Structure Ever Conceived by Man?

DTH Rocket Endeavors’ Ladder to Space – noun: A metaphorical ladder consisting of certain steps I must take in different seasons of life to get to the point where I have the ability to build spacecraft and other Vehicles of Wonder.

As far as I can see, this ladder has 5 rungs:
1) Model rocketry
2) High-power rocketry
3) College
4) Either get a job or start a privately funded aerospace research company, eventually augmenting the resources for step 5
5) Build a spaceship

Step One: Model Rocketry

Model rocketry is currently where I'm at in my ladder. Model rockets are small, lightweight rockets propelled by commercially-manufactured, NAR-certified motors under 160 Newton-seconds (35 pound-seconds) of total impulse (that probably doesn't mean anything to you, but it equates to a type "G" motor). On the low end of the spectrum, model rockets are typically made from a paper tube, balsa wood fins, a plastic nosecone, and are propelled by black powder propellants. On the large end of the spectrum they are usually powered by ammonium perchlorate composite propellants, which is what NASA uses to power the Space Shuttle solid rocket boosters!

Step Two: High-Power Rocketry

This step will probably be the longest process, because it ranges from rockets slightly larger than the ones I'm building now to behemoth monsters that are almost as tall as some baby model rockets can fly! (That might be a slight exaggeration!) There are three levels of high-power rocketry, but I like to think of it as four, because beyond level three you have to build your own motors. Each level is defined by the power of the motors.

Level 1: H - I motors

Level 2: J - L motors

Level 3: M - O motors

Level 4: Research rocketry - Scratch built rocket motors up to size "T." That's 131,072 times larger than any rocket I've built and flown!

Above is a rocket powered by an experimental "S" motor.

Step Three: College

I can't possibly expect to get to space without learning a few things, can I? Next year I will be a Junior in high school (homeschool) so I still have some time to think about it.

Step Four: Undefined

There are zillions of things I could do in this step. I could either get a job with a pre-existing aerospace company, or I could start one. I could build experimental research rockets, join the air force as and aerospace engineer, or anything else that would bequeath to me valuable experience and consolidate my resources.

Step Five: Outer Space

Uh... Why again would I devote my entire life to this? The answer is surprisingly simple: I am fascinated by it. I want to go there. And it's not just outer space that fascinates me, it's the vehicle to get there!