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Inventor Building Rocket In Backyard
brundlefly writes: "Brian Walker, a toy inventor with no college degree and
almost no flight experience, plans to blast himself into space next summer in a rocket he is building in his backyard." Man, I gotta get myself a backyard!
I could submit this to the Darwin awards even before this happens, I can tell you how it is going to end if he gets 5 feet off the ground with flames under him :)
I wasn't lost... I was only momentaraly confused of my spacial orientation relative to my prime destination.
Brian Walker has no wife, no kids. No startup to babysit. Nobody that depends on him. His death wouldn't put anyone in a desperate situation ('cept himself). It may be hard on his parents, but he's 35, all grown up. In other words, he has no moral obligation not to kill himself.
:-)
It seems to me that his trip only has two possible outcomes, (a) spectacular success and (b) spectacular failure. If the rocket fails Brian Walker will be instantaneously oxidized by 7000 pounds of 90% H2O2. Which really isn't a bad way to die if you think about it.
It's rather unlikely he will suffer injuries great enough to put him in a wheel chair but small enough not to kill him. Mind you, it isn't my intent to write off the lives of the disabled, but rather to evaluate the 'regret factor.'
It is unlikely Brian Walker will regret his experience, whatever the outcome.
Seen in this light, his rocket may be very 'safe' indeed.
Ryan
I've been interested in rockets for a long time now, and spent countless hours in OAC chem doing reaction energy equations to find the best fuel for a good home-built, *unmanned!!!!* rocket.
... or:
The most severe problem I've seen with rockets isn't deciding on the most efficient, safest fuels, but rather making sure they burn; expand; heat; react.... in a completely symmetrical way - so you can avoid pressure buildups and eventual explosions (or immediate explosions). Every documentary I've seen on rockets from German V2's to home made rockets - shows an incredible failure rate during the initial stages of developement. Failures which end in explosions.
Now my question is, would you rather:
1. swallow your tongue and choke on it for approximately 10 - 15 seconds before being incinerated in a disoriented haze miles above the earth
2. swallow your tongue and choke on it for approximately 10 - 15 seconds before being ejected through a steel casing, miles above the earth, and experience 5 - 10 minutes of your skin peeling away from your body as you plummet to the earth below through vast amounts of caustic, unreacted hydrogen pyroxide.
I know its been said, but it has to be said again: this guy has balls! (for the time being)
Ace
Correction: For "space", read "smithereens".
Home-made rocket ship
Recipe for disaster
Still safer than Mir
...that we always hear about these guys when they're starting, but never when they end it? This is the aerospace equivalent of vaporware; they promise a lot but deliver very little. I can't recall how many times I've heard about people taking spaceflights "For under a million dollars" when they're just coming out, but how many of them have succeeded? You'd think that the media would jump all over any successful attempts to do so, right? And why haven't we heard about them? They don't exist. A month from now you won't remember what he planned to do, much less his name or what toys he is receiving royalties from. Rediculous...
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VERY smart, considering the trip back from beyond the atmosphere is *tricky*. You have to have the EXACT angle for re-entry. If your angle is too low, you burn up. If it's too high, you bounce off right back into space. This dude is just taking an elevator up, and using gravity for the return trip.
Although I suspect he'll be screaming too much to enjoy the view, but hey - Gutsy if he goes through with it. More power to him!
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
At first I thought it was just bad reporting, with "Most of the weight will be behind, and gravity will keep the rocket pointed upward", but seeing the picture on his site backs that up.
Putting a big, fin-looking cockpit ahead of the fuel tank mass is going to make every breeze cause a heading change.
His site goes on with:
"What about guidance systems? The thrust will come out at the top of the rocket. An early American pioneer Robert Goddard did the same thing with his early test rockets. The rocket should "hang down" from the thrust like a pendulum"
That DOESN'T WORK.
It doesn't matter if a rocket is being pulled or pushed, all that matters is the relationship of the center of gravity to the center of pressure.
The reason why the intuitive "hangs like a pendulum" doesn't work out is that gravity acts on a deflected pendulum in a direction out of line with the pendulum string, while a rocket thrust will always be in line with the body.
John Carmack
Actually, I don't see a single reason why this can't be done, according to the research I've done by watching hours and hours of cartoons.
My findings show that one of the most popular techniques involves using a giant slingshot.
Phallic Symbols in LOTR
You can find more details this guy and his inventions at his website. He is apparently currently in Russia undergoing Cosmonaut training.
There is no doubt that this guy has far too much time and money on his hands.
-- David Smith
C:\ is the root of all evil.