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To the Moon, Alice
Wa7ly writes: "An amateur rocket scientist in the US hopes to blast off into space this autumn in a $250,000 rocket he built in his back yard. This seems to be a really great idea if he can successfully pull it off and come back to earth safely!" *cough*Darwin Award*cough*
The guys got a website http://www.rocketguy.com
As a close friend of Rocket Guy ...
You might be the right person to ask this to then. How does he intend to prevent the rocket from going up and over and straight back down into the ground, or else up and around and around like a catherine wheel?
The mere fact that the rocket outlet is in front of the centre of mass of the vehicle does not guarantee anything at all about the direction of travel. If the thrust is sufficient but not perfectly balanced on the line between the centre of mass of the rocket and the gravitational centre of the Earth, the leading rocket can easily pull the whole vehicle up and around and down or into a rapid catherine wheel spin.
There could be absolutely nothing the pilot can do about this manually because the potentially huge inertial forces could pin him (or any mechanical devices) into immobility. And it could all happen so fast that he wouldn't have time to balance the upward thrust nicely.
The time to think about this is now.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
Ahem... the guy (AKA Larry Walters, e.g. "Lawn Chair Larry") who put baloons on his lawn chair and flew up into the sky had it go off like a charm, if I remember correctly. He got up to about 16000 feet, drifted for 14 hours, drank beer, and ate sandwiches, before finally drifting into an LAX approach lane, at which point he descended, got caught in some power lines, and climbed down. He survived, and got probably the coolest, quietest, and most serene bird's eye view of Los Angeles (parts of it at night, no less) that anyone in history has ever gotten. How do you call that a failure?
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I think there is a world market for maybe five personal web logs.
Maybe Slashdot should set up an interview so we can submit questions to him. It would be interesting to see what he has to say.
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some fucking bike shop owners from north carolina trying to FLY, for god's sake, FLY!
This would be very like /. considering the brothers weren't from North Carolina. :-)
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
How about the February issue of Space Illustrated, the magazine produced by the space.com people?
http://www.space.com/mag/contents_february.php3
(Now granted, space.com may not be a reputable source either, to those in the space biz, but it's at least better than the NY Post...)
Considering the odds, he should be asking for more Hooters girls, and he should be getting more than beer and champagne from them! No offense to the girls too - they should feel safe making this bet with him. ;-)
Many people called the Wright brothers nuts, and they made their stuff out of bicycle parts.
Both dropped out of High School.
They acheived flight w/o government/public money -- only what they earned via a printing business, then a bicycle shop.
I think he is carrying on a fine tradition where one person with guts can make a big impact on the world.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
It takes a lot of skill and intelligence to NOT kill yourself and do it. It takes a bit of skill and intelligence to kill yourself like this. But it also takes the immense amount of stupidity that is required in order to not realise that you don't have the skill and intelligence to survive it.
Thus, if he dies, he will have eliminated from the world his own lack of ability to assess his own ability, and hopefully any potential genetic causes it might have. He will be a perfect darwin award candidate.
Of all the famous people that we get an Ask _____ about, why not this guy? Seriously, someone from /. should contact this guy and set him up with an interview. By the sound of his intent, I bet he'd be happy to do it. And we could get some great info from him about his attempt (since we realistically might not be able to talk with him AFTER the attempt, God forbid)
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Let me give you the lowdown
After all, this is rocket science, not brain surgery.
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Freeper Logic
I mean, come on, just because the guy did not complete a college degree doesn't make him an idiot. It seems too many people are down on this guy just because he doesn't have a degree behind his name. Don't get me wrong, I do find the magnitude and risks of this undertaking quite high. That's a no brainer. But who here is to say he won't pull this off. If its because he has no degree, I say think again.
One thing I keep learning as I get older, there are a lot of idiots with degrees out there, engineers and computer scientists included. I have a neighbor who works for Boeing, has a masters engineering. He supposedly designs the consoles in F15's. This same guy has his pilot light go out a few years ago in his water heater, and had no idea how to relight it! So he came over and ask my step-father, who has no degree, to come over and fix it for him.
My step-father on the other hand can do about anything he wants. I've seen him build computers, write his own programs, fix cars, build cars from scrap, build an in ground pool of his own design, add on to our garage, repair air conditioners and heaters, wire commercial building, and build a network at his work...he's supposed to be the maintenance guy. Did I mention he only had a high school graduation?
Of course there are idiots w/o degrees and geniuses with several, but there is no good correlation (ie. degree=intelligent) that I have noticed in my admittedly short time on earth. Just a lot of idiots that think they know something because they have a degree.
Mr. Walker should be commended for his ambition, its people like this that change the world.
puck
I can imagine Orville Wright saying the same thing...
"If I die, I die", he scoffed. "I'd rather die trying this than spend the next 40 years making bicycles, bitter that I never made the attempt."
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-- russ
"You want people to think logically? ACK! Turn in your UID, you traitor!"
Natural != (nontoxic || beneficial)
Darwin Award, Schmarwin Award. At least he's out there trying instead of sitting around mocking people for expending effort.
"'If I die, I die,' he scoffs. 'I'd rather die trying this than spend the next 40 years bitter that I never made the attempt.'"
Godspeed and good luck, Mr. Walker..
end communication
Momentum will carry Walker and his capsule up to 32 miles, where he will experience several moments of weightlessness and then begin to fall back toward Earth.
Reporter: Since you've miraculously survived your voyage in Earthstar 1, we'd like to ask a few questions. Looking back on your project, what would you have done differently and what will you do differently when and if you try again.
Walker: (In a body cast) I think I'm going to spend a less time concentrating on those few moments of weightlessness and a little more time packing some reentry parachutes.
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
Before you judge get a few of the facts straight.
He is NOT going into space. Space starts at 58 miles up. The goal is to go straight up 30 miles. There are no plans for orbit just to set the altitude record for a private citizen. Orbit requires going at least 170 miles up and going 17,000 MPH around the earth. Lots of up and lots of sideways. Going up to a straight up to a stop and dropping back down is different.
The rocket will be fueled by 90 percent pure hydrogen peroxide. It reacts with a silver catalyst screen to produce thrust. This is the same thing the Bell jet belt used. Footage of the Bell jet belt was used in the TV series "Lost in Space" the TV series. This fuel only has about 1/3 the energy of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. That's why it usually isn't used for a rocket. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are also very dangerous to deal with.
What about re-entry? Since he is going up and not sideways re-entry isn't as much of a problem as going 17,000 MPH and hitting the atmosphere at an angle. It's up, up, up to basically a stall and falling back down with parachutes to slow you down. He is going to have an option to eject and use a conventional backpack parachute.
Russia was similarly successful in avoiding fungal monikers. Sputnik, however, might be considered only a minor success, mind you, as it makes the mistake of being most easily likened to a sound you make when you sneeze.
Not too far off :). He could go to http://www.duats.com and fill out an FAA Flight Plan. It'd end up looking something like this:
1) Type (IFR/VFR/DVFR): IFR
2) Aircraft Identification: EARTHSTAR1
3) Aircraft Type: ROCKET, Heavy, No Transponder
4) True Airspeed (kts): 2,200
5) Departure Point: Oregon Desert
6) Proposed Departure Time: May 2002
7) Cruising Altitude: 158,400ft
8) Route of Flight: Up, Down
9) Destination: Oregon Desert
10) Est. Time Enroute: 100 seconds
11) Remarks: "It may be a technical dream but he's just crazy enough to push that button."
12) Fuel on Board: Lots
13) Alternate Airport: Mexico Desert
14) Pilot Name: Brian Walker
Address: 2002 Darwin Award Ave, Oregon
Phone: 555-RKIT-GUY
Aircraft Home Base: Oregon
15) Number aboard: 1
16) Color of Aircraft: Rocket-Gray
17) Destination Contact: Hooters girls
Phone: 555-4HOOTERS