NASA Said There Would Be Days Like This

Maiden flight. And first crash.

Somehow, I've gotten myself on a bit of a rocket kick lately. (Squirrel!) I guess the kicker was when I took my dog for a walk one evening last week down by the field at the end of the road. It was a clear, windless evening, and the farmer had not planted his crops yet. (Corn this year, I think.) In other words, ideal rocket launching conditions!

So I dug through the stash, did some repair work on some, completed one kit that's been lying around for a year, waited for another ideal evening, and off we went.

Well, sort of. Some went off. Some went and came down hard. Some just went boom. Or fizzle. Or whatever.

First up was the little Yankee rocket to check wind conditions. That one went well on an A8-3 rocket, streamer out, nice landing, no damage. Then the troubles started.

Second one, I somehow missed that the launch lug was missing. No go.

Then the parachute troubles began. Of the following five launches, only one actually opened. Damage was a couple broken fins, and one lost one as my helpers were a little eager on retrieval and failed to fully check the rocket before removing it from the LZ. Oops. Not the first time I've had to cut a new fin. Too bad it was that rocket's maiden flight.

Epic fail

Then I tried the shuttle. It felt a little sticky going on the launch rod, which should have told me to abort. But no, I tried anyway, and as the engine went, it just sat there and burned a hole through the shield! It was actually kind of funny when the parachute and wadding popped out, kind of like that old NASA video.

We didn't want to end the evening like that, so I switched engines on one that had been a dud earlier. Then the igniter fizzled. This thing just didn't want to go! I should have listened... when it finally did go, the shock cord snapped! The nose came down nicely on the parachute, but the body fell to earth with all the grace of a falling sack of door knobs. Night over.

Plus the gnats were atrocious! I've never heard them so bad. Yes, heard. Sure you could see the clouds of them, but I don't know that I've ever heard such swarming noise. Weird.

Anyway, I took some notes in a logbook, which I wish I had started years ago. It's back to the repair bench, and hopefully another launch date this summer. Where, I don't know. Once the corn is in, it gets tough!

Those engines burn hot!

We Have Liftoff!

Historical results in wargaming are desirable, n’est pas? But are they in model rocketry?

No, I haven’t completed my Mercury Redstone model yet. But in a not-so-intentional historical recreation, two members of my flight crew had to, um, relieve themselves on the launch pad. Of course, they are both 3 years old, so perhaps they can be forgiven.

But full “flight suits” or not, Friday marked a reasonably successful launch session, the first since that highlighted in this blog earlier this spring. The weather was nearly perfect. Just a few light clouds, temps in the low 70s, and a light breeze out of the west/northwest that became calmer as the evening progressed. Here’s the details on the five launches conducted:

·      Orange plastic-fin rocket: Pretty much the perfect launch. Used an A-8-3, it flew straight and true, deployed the parachute perfectly, and drifted due east straight down the middle of the recovery field.

My fearless flight assistants!

·      Yankee: First launch for this small rocket I built this summer. Again an A-8-3, and man, did it fly! This is the only rocket I have with streamers instead of a parachute, and deployment failed. I’m not sure if it’s because the wadding was too tight or what. The motor was missing on recovery, so perhaps that ejected itself rather than pushing the streamers out? Anyway, damage was only one broken off fin, which was recovered and reattached.

·      AstroBee: The first launch of one of my restored rockets from when I was a kid. I had to put on a new nosecone and replace a fin, but it looked good. And it launched well, too. Another A-8-3, and another near perfect launch. Good parachute ejection, and while it came down a little fast, there was no damage.

·      Flower: This is the one I built for the girls, because it has flowers on it. It’s my biggest rocket, so I used a B-4-4. Man, did it motor. This one drifted a little south of east, to the point I was afraid it would come down in the treeline. Fortunately, it fell just short, maybe 15-20 feet.

That's either the wadding, or a UFO.

·      Payloader: Unfortunately, the last one was maybe the worst, but still OK. This was another restored rocket, having put on a new nosecone and two new fins. The launch looked good, as an A-8-3 carried it nearly straight up, but then nearly as quickly it came straight down, landing less than 50 yards away. Parachute failure again. This is a smaller tube, and it’s a tight fit. Still, damage was minimal, with just a lost fin, which I did not find. It’s simple to replace, though.

Another good launch.

My "recovery system."

The parachute never fully deployed, and I thought the fin was lost
 on impact, but it appears to be already missing.

I still have two more rockets for the girls to finish (more on those later), along with the Redstone. So hopefully I get at least one more night this fall.

What I've Been Reading: Moon Shot

I finally finished another book over the weekend, and it was a good one: Moon Shot, by Jay Barbree with Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton.

Shepard and Slayton probably (I hope, anyway) don't need any introduction here. Jay Barbree was a news correspondent throughout the golden era of space flight, from Mercury through the shuttle, and his insider's view is evident throughout the book.

While I thought it was mostly going to be about the Apollo program, the book covers pretty much everything from "Hey, we got these German rocket scientists, now what?" through the Apollo-Soyuz mission. In addition to outlining every mission, the book infuses some personal stories of the astronauts and what makes them tick. Suffice to say, these are not your average folks. Test pilots are indeed a rare breed, and their coolness under extreme pressures is something to behold.

As an aside, you have probably figured by now that I am a race fan, and I've always thought race drivers share many of the same attributes as astronauts. That aspect is also considered in the book as the friendships that developed between the astronauts and Indy 500 winner-turned-car-dealer Jim Rathmann are examined.

Another fascinating topic is the rivalry between the US and Soviet programs. Barbree introduces the various cosmonauts and takes a look at some of the most notable missions, something I knew relatively little about.

Overall, the book is written in what I would almost call a magazine feature story style, making this an easy read for the lay reader with an interest in the space program. It's probably not techy enough for the true space enthusiast, but is a great overview for most people wanting the highlights in an easy-to-read format.

The book was obviously written in the mid-70s (it alludes to Skylab and hints at the forthcoming shuttle program), but has been revised somewhat since. To wit, it does not exactly praise President Obama's space policy in its concluding chapter. But NASA has been something of a political hot potato since day one, so I could overlook it regardless of my personal positions on the various issues.

I picked this up when I visited the Huntsville rocket center this spring. So yes, I have been on a bit of a rocket kick lately. Just last night I finished my second rocket of the year, and hope to launch it soon. I will wait until the replacement parts I ordered for my old rockets arrive and I can fix up the fleet. Pics forthcoming.

Also, maybe its the wargamer/modeler in me, I have been left a little unsatisfied with the selection of rockets available from Estes and others due to their, I guess we'll call it fantastic nature. I'm more for historical accuracy. So I just ordered a Dr. Zooch kit of the Mercury Redstone. That looks like a fun, old-school type of kit and I'm looking forward to it. Watch this space! (No pun intended...)

3, 2, 1 Blastoff!

I know, I need a new hobby activity like a hole in the head, right? So why not model rockets?

Last Saturday, my wife and I dropped the kids off at my parents so we could take a trip to Ikea to pick up some furniture she wanted. I parleyed that into a stop at the FLHS, where I saw my esteemed gaming opponent, picked up a few miscellaneous items, and bought an Estes model rocket starter kit.

Wait, what?

Yes, it's true. I've been thinking about it for a few weeks since our trip to the Huntsville rocket center so I could show the girls what a rocket does. Plus I used to do these quite a bit as a kid, so it wasn't a complete shot in the dark, so to speak.

So Sunday I put together the first rocket along with the launch pad and surprised the girls. Their first question was "Will it fly to the moon?" Well, not quite. But the FLHS did have that 1/100 scale flyable Saturn V...

Anyway, for those interested, this is a nice set from Estes. It comes with the rocket seen here, which required some minimal assembly and sticker adhesion - no painting, no gluing on of balsa fins, etc. It also includes the launch pad and ignition controller. Just add engines and batteries and you're good to go. Pretty good bargain, actually.

We managed two launches. The first I put in only three squares of wadding (the instructions recommended 3-4), and the parachute must have gotten too hot and spot melted in a couple spots and didn't fully open. I gently pulled it apart, repacked it, put in five squares of wadding for launch 2, and everything went perfectly. I'm sure we'll do it again!

Space Cadet

I guess I can be a bit of a space cadet at times. At least in terms of focusing on one hobby!

So just in case I needed something different, I was inspired over the weekend to order this collection of US manned space launch vehicles from Squadron. It's an old kit, AMT's Men in Space set, and includes five rockets from the golden age (read: early days) of manned space flight: the Mercury Redstone, Mercury Atlas, Gemini Titan II, Saturn 1B and the massive Saturn V. Even in 1/200 scale, apparently the Saturn V checks in at about 21 inches high.

I also ordered a replacement set of decals from Indycals. If this project goes well, I'm looking at a Hasegawa 1/200 scale shuttle to complete the set.

Part of the inspiration came from plans to visit the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, this coming weekend. We're heading to Florida for a week, and decided to stop to see an old friend (and best man in my wedding) who works at NASA there. We don't have a ton of time, but have scheduled a tour with him.

I think I've just been getting burned out on some other hobby aspects, and just need something different on the table.

Updates as events warrant!