LR-101 Combustion Chamber

A nice looking LR_101 combustion chamber/injector recently sold on EBay. These seem to be getting scarce as the prices are rising fairly quickly. I've seen several of these fired at the RRS. The most memorable one just managed to clear the tower before rust in the internal passages clogged the injector and caused the fully loaded rocket to come crashing down to the ground at the base of the tower and directly in front of the (substantial) spectator bunker. Cool!

More machining for Sugar Shot to Space project

I recently finished some more light machining for an upcoming static test of SugarShot's ProtoSShot-M Mark II motor. The work included cutting the casting tubes to length and making a new set of support rings. A recent Short Stack motor test utilizing titanium casting tubes revealed that they did not hold up as well as was expected. (see image below) That lead to a decision to use thicker walled titanium casting tubes, as well as several other minor changes. The move to thicker tubes necessitated the need for a second set of segment rings to be made.

MiniSShot Motor Parts

I just finished some grain support rings for an upcoming firing of the Sugar Shot to Space ProtoSShot-M Mark II motor. This will be the second firing of what is essentially the full, dual-phase, flight weight motor for the MiniSShot vehicle. While the motor was pretty sophisticated from the beginning, at this point I would say it's one of the of the most sophisticated amateur designed solid propellant rocket motors I've ever heard of. Some highlights of the design include a three piece nozzle, thin walled fiberglass casing, extensive use of a variety of ablative materials (commercially available asbestos based material, cork, and epoxy/glass), and major components made from steel, aluminum, and titanium. For more information and official updates on the Sugar Shot to Space project visit http://sugarshot.org/

Cutting Metal

I cut some propellant segment spacer rings this weekend for the Sugar Shot to Space project. It's been a while and it felt good. We moved a while back and I just recently have had the time to build a workbench, shelves, and unpack some tools. My friend Peter and I wired some new outlets on the wall behind the bench. I'm pretty excited about the new shop. At the old place I had no space, poor lighting, and ran all the tools off of one outlet and an extension cord.

The Largest Solid Rocket Motors Ever Flown

This is just one of the many cool images from a book titled Nasa: Visions Of Space. A book that combines two of my favorite things; Art and Rocketry. Painted by Maria Epes as part of the Nasa Arts Program, the scene depicts one of the SRB's undergoing recovery testing in July of 1980. I love the sense of scale that you get from this image, those things are huge!

United Technologies Center Rocket Motor

This item is currently up for auction on eBay. Unlike the actual (Altair?) motor that I found for sale on eBay recently, this one appears to be strictly a model, perhaps of an actual production motor. It does seem to be proportionally similar to the Altair motor. The model is described as being 15 inches tall with the embedded nozzle measuring 2 7/8 inches. It's not clear if the nozzle measurement is length or diameter. The current asking price seems pretty high, but as far as models go this one seems pretty nice.

Successful Launch!

While not the largest rocket I've ever launched at a meager 8lbs and 4 ounces and a mere 21 inches in length it was definitely in the top three; Big sisters Grace and Lily rounding out the top three. This one is known as Theodoor Stephen after two of his great uncles. Mom, Dad, and two previous launched projectiles all doing well.