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The Huntsville Concrete Rocket
eric writes: "Students at the University of Alabama in Huntsville have designed and launched the world's first concrete rocket. Video of the launch can be found on their site" Look to the bottom of the page. What's next? Concrete cell phones? I could use a cell phone that could float.
Sorry, I didn't find the rocket. I found a concrete canoe. And a part of the article mentioned that the concrete could be used to make a rocket.. COULD...
In the distance you hear an ominous moo.
I haven't noticed anyone from Slashdot coming to my dwelling and putting a gun to my head.
Getting the fine quality content, like these belated April Fools Day stories is well worth having to close a few pop-ups.
So grow up, and quite whining and complaining about the things you bring on yourself of your own free will.
Sheesh.
As far as I can see, all they have done with the concrete is build a canoe. Not build and launch a rocket, like the text on the frontpage suggests. Am I missing something?
Be careful-Wet Concrete can burn off all your skin.
A guy at my company last month was wading in so much concrete up to his crotch that he had to be hospitalized and lost a lot of skin.
The wet concrete eventually ate away his skin!
Calling it a concrete rocket is a bit misleading however IMHO - if it is like the boat, it's got a very thin layer of concrete ( < half an inch) over the top of a structure made from another material.
What is more interesting is the concrete - waterproof, high tensile strength, etc. etc.
Ok, I see it now... rocket launch
In the distance you hear an ominous moo.
"Fly's like a brick" might have to be re-evaluated.
if only she were real........time to get a whore (and then not pay her)
Yeah!
Or, if you are using mozilla, just right-click on some image and say "block images from this server".
A second Washington monument has appeared overnight. The second one is round, but of similar dimensions to the original monument.
President Bush was quoted as saying "Cool! Bungi jumping!"
Former President Clinton was quoted as saying "Yep, almost lifesize! Now THAT'S a legacy, baby!"
More on topic- this impresses me less than the concrete boats the military used in WWI (I think). I can understand blasting concrete around, but my mind just can not wrap itself around a big hunko concrete actually floating. Of course, iron/steel would also be a non-starter if I didn't grow up with it as the standard, probably.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
so what happens when it comes crashing back to earth?
Concrete is an exothermic process (gives off heat, and a good bit of it). Could he have been burned by heat, not the chemicals?
"Up to crotch"... ouch
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
It is a felony in most states to launch a model rocket exceding certain characteristics.
For example tipping it with a nail, or making it a DESTRUCTIVE DEVICE by merely increasing its girth to over sixty hundredths of an inch, or using its fuel as a type of explosive payload.
But you cannot tip it with a metal mass.
These people cleverly used concrete to skirt the state laws on illegal rocketry.
Thats funny.
We used to shoot metal tipped rockets into aluminum siding of college busses using c engines in mosquitos at college (actually the NROTC guys did it all the time as a thrill)
They stopped when springtime brought prospect of open bus windows.
the rockets stuck into the bus (north campus busses).
They would have used cement to stay within the law if they knew it could be done.... too bad it would be a small pinch of payload.... no way to get thrust for much concrete.
or you could just try ignoring them. would you rather slashdot just got shut down? they probably get paid by the impression rather than the click. no one is asking you to look at, or click it. just ignore it, slashdot gets paid, slashdot stays up, and you can keep trolling another day...
There was a whole article about this in the New Scientist a couple of months ago, it's not on their site but I seem to recall it mentioned concrete planes too...
gets there first. I`m sure, though i cant remember the title, that i read a book about concrete space-ships. The idea was that if it got hit by a missile/laser, it`d just crumble a little - it wouldnt be as noticable around the whole craft. Something like that. (I`m sure someone reading this knows exactly what i`m talking about!)
I dl. the video of the launch... hell, it could have been made of plastic for all I know... Even so, the rocket was not all cement anyway. Is this trula an amazing feat? I fail to see in what way, maybe someone could explain this to me.
oh actually, maybe it's just a slow news day maybe that's why tremendous bit of info arrived a year late. I think they could be keeping the "metal boat" info for an even slower day.
how does one change his
Someone tries to call me on this every time I use that word. No, it is not a typo. There is a key separating the 'g' and 'd' keys, so you can assume I meant to type that.
oddly not heat... was a lye or base type of reaction I guess.
sure its warm.. but not hot
He ignore the stinging then the numbness much later it was hospital time.
he should have done his thing and then rinsed off.
I do not know what tYpe of concrete.
The up to crotch part made me feel pitY for him too.
was out for many weeks.
burn unit type of stuff.
wow. no creativity at all...
take a good high flying rocket 2 stage is best.
remove parachute... insert wadding, cut chute out. fill with thousands of flat tiny pieces of aluminum foil. launch and get in the car and run like hell.
Wait for news reports of UFO sightings by local airport.
(Note: launching a chaff rocket like above is dangerous and illegal. do not do this.
you can kill billions of people and the homeland goard will come and beat you and then imprision you for at least 30 years for being a suspected terrorist.)
Portland cement (the skin eater from hell) :
SiO2 10%
MgO 5%
CaO 10%
the rest is aggregate granit rock.
=====
OSHA says do not touch it PERIOD, let alone allowing it to destroy skin up to your crotch while wading in it or making cement snow-angels lying in it for fun.
Wow, I must say, I'm proud to live in this state now! Billy Bob spent his 4 years learning how to make concrete fly! See, Alabama isn't so bad, after all. No, really.
you are my hero
Edmund scientific sold spools of aluminum wwii radar chaff in the 1980s.
It was cheap and sefl unwound into long streamers.
but your method sounds much more devious.
quite amusing and the short pieces avoid powerline problems.
The us navy has powerline killing ordinance using metal streamers but your stuff sounds funny and less evil... merely asserts sovereign rights over your own farmland.
So you want an Aquapac?
)9TSS
If it's only 1/2 inch of concrete, how can they really call it a "concrete" anything. When I envision "concrete canoe" or "concrete rocket" I think of something made purely of... you guessed it... concrete, not a cheap thin layer of concrete around a canoe that's *really* a graphite fiber mesh.
What's next, "solar cars" that have a single 1" sq. solar panel but are *really* powered by gas engines? "Hey! It's got a solar panel, so it's a 'solar' car!!"
There has even been serious military planning for concrete submarines. Since concrete is very strong under pressure, such subs can sink to enormous depths and lurk on the sea bottom, looking like a rock to enemy sonar. Steel subs can only go down about half a mile.
-- We don't understand software, and sometimes we don't understand hardware, but we can *see* the blinking lights
Did you know that Huntsville, Alabama (where UAH is located) is also the home of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center? It seems to me that an interest in rocketry at this university would be a given - either naturally-occurring or sponsored by NASA.
From teh article: "The vehicle was successfully launched on April 19, 2001"
-
And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour Isaiah 3:5
Check out the GNCTR:
o ggan&hl=en&safe=off
Great
Northern
Concrete
Toboggan
Race
at http://www.google.com/search?q=gnctr+concrete+tob
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
Was he called Deutritus?
Several Universities around here build concrete toboggans. Take a look, it's actually quite intersting.
Thomas Edison designed a concrete house,
and a concrete phonograph to go in it. Plus
all kinds of other concrete things.
Seems he was trying to find a new market
for all the portland cement his factory was
generating. There was a glut of cement on
the market at that time.
I guess when the attack of the smart elephants starts we really will be able to build concrete rockets powered by nuclear bombs!
Who knew Jerry Pournelle was a true visionary?
NASA is located on Redstone Arsenal and is technically not part of Huntsville, but that would be nitpicking. (Redstone is also home to the US Army's Missile Command, MICOM). One of the early rockets developed at MSFC was the Redstone Rocket, named for the arsenal and developed by Wernher von Braun and his team. A version of the Redstone called the Jupiter C launched the USA's first satellite into orbit, and Mercury Redstones launched Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom into suborbital flights prior to John Glenn's first orbital flight.
So all this history has me wondering: do the UAH students call it the "Graystone" rocket?
--Jim
Here in Huntsvegas we refer to the missile command as "AMCOM," the Aviation and Missile Command. As far as I know, we don't call the rocket anything around here. In fact, I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't seen it here. (I go to UAH.)
OK, so it's been twenty years since I worked there as a co-op, so maybe a few things have changed.
"Huntsvegas"... I love it. We used to called it Huntspatch - probably bastardized from Lil Albert.
I considered going to UAH, but for me UAH would have been the University At Home.
--Jim
A little known fact of the Gulf War is that Iraq, in it's hasty effort to fire missiles at Israel, launched several missiles which appear to have been armed with training or dummy warheads. On US Embassy employee reports that several craters with no explosive materials and, instead, pieces of concrete attached to the metal nose cone.
so, you want to get into space, huh? well, you're gonna have to talk to vito, cuz nobody gets no rockets til vito and his boys are in on the action.
_ __ __
_______________________________________________
...vividly encapsulates that post-Watergate/pre-punk/coked-up moment when you could trust no one, least of all yourself.
I wouldn't be caught dead in a concrete submarine until they get their shit together with concrete surface ships.
~Philly
I, and I would hope many Slashdotters are also, familiar with the term 'hygroscopic', meaning a substance, normally crystaline, that takes up water from it's surroundings. I think that concrete probably damages skin in all three ways simultaneously, drying it out, potentailly burning/scalding and chemical attack. In short, not very pleasant stuff.
1. "This unique interaction prevents the concrete from cracking and, when properly designed, the composite section can withstand more stress and absorb more energy than an advanced aerospace composite made using materials such as graphite and epoxy."
2. "Two of our chapter members and some other students on campus recently put this claim to the test by designing, building, and launching the first rocket made from reinforced concrete."
Maybe the SR-71 won't leak on the runway!
"I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)
New Zealand man builds Brick boat.
"As Peter Lange's two-tonne brick boat was lowered into the water for its maiden voyage yesterday, it was hard to ignore the fact that it was April Fool's Day."
Because of the need to rush construction, the ready availablitity of concrete (as opposed to scarce metal) and the 'who cares about fuel mileage' attitude, Liberty ships during WWII were sometimes produced in concrete. These were trans-Atlantic freight haulers, deemed perfect for moving armoured vehicles. Of course, if struck by enemy fire, they gave a quick refresher on the phrase 'sinks like a stone'.
So long and thanks for all the fish . . . !!!
Sure it can fly... that's just a matter of putting enough explosives under it. The real question is: can you make concrete float? These guys can.
You mean Lil' Abner, maybe ?
The American Society of Civil Engineers holds and annual concrete canoe competition for student chapter/club programs. Check out the site for more information...
"He was a wise man who invented beer" Plato
Well I guess that might apply if they didn't launch it on Federal property. I know what test sites they use and they're on a military base.
I'm a model rocket enthusiast as well. You're right--there are rules for specific model rockets (1 pound or less, no use of metal, et al.) The National Association of Rocketry set these rules.
But there is such a thing as amateur rocketry, which has a different, more complex set of rules. I don't want to talk much more about this since I don't participate, but these people have massive rockets that fly to substantial heights with very high impulse engines. I don't know if the NAR is the sanctioning body for these people, but, provided they follow the rules for these devices from whatever body provides them, it shouldn't be a problem.
Otherwise, people like Dick Rutan and other amateur rocketry fans would have a very hard time trying to win the X Prize (http://www.xprize.org/).
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
Hmmm. Actually, the US government embarked on a program to develop a fleet of concrete ships during WWI and WWII. If you've ever been to Cape May, NJ or Seacliff Beach, California you may have seen the remnants of two of these boats. The "Flagship of Texas" is another concrete wreck off Galveston, Texas and one ran aground off Cuba and is now a hotel.
There's actually ten of these ships still afloat as part of a giant floating breakwater on the Powell River in Canada.
I lived in Madison, AL (just outside Huntsville) for six years, technical writing & training at Intergraph. One of our customers was in town for a week of training and asked what there was to do in town.
"Have you been to the Space and Rocket Center?"
"Did that yesterday. What else is there?"
"Well, um, have you been to the Space and Rocket Center?"
They should team up with this guy; he can help them out if they have any in-flight damage.
I wouldn't like to be under one of those when it falls out of the sky.
a Led Zepplin.
(couldn't resist)
-"The early bird catches the worm, but the late bird sleeps the most"
What the heck! We're talking about making rockets and submerines and stuff out of this super concrete?!?!?? Let's be practical and fix the damn streets with the stuff!!!
The mix design for their winning canoe can
be described as "graphite-reinforced waterproof
foam rubber" just as well as calling it
concrete. While it does have a large amount
of portland cement in the mix, it also has
latex and microspheres (which reduce weight
by providing air bubbles), and is reinforced
by graphite fibers.
Daniel
Here's a link to Google's cached copy [google.com].
Of course, the story is from April 19, 2001, so it's not exactly breaking news.
From the sig:
Error 1701-D. file not found.
Obviously you forgot to purchase the Enterprise version.
--- I wish I could hear the soundtrack to my life. That way I'd know when to duck.
So you use this word "hygroscopic" a lot in normal everyday conversation????
The American Society of Civil Engineers runs a nationwide contest each year, where teams of college students build concrete canoes, race them against other schools in their area, and then meet for a national race. This year's race is in Wisconsin. I've also been told that some places build concrete tobaggans too, but not for a contest.
My girlfriend is the captain of the Johns Hopkins University Concrete Canoe Team. The presentation was held just this past Sunday, against Catholic University in DC. Over the past 3 years of her doing this, I've picked up a few things. Concrete isn't just for cinder-blocks... depending on how you mix it, what you add to it, how you pour it and cure it, and what you pour it ON (example: mix it with microspheres or layer it between sheets of fiberglass mesh), you can make a very lightweight, low-density (read: floats) structure.
Even though I know all this, the old jokes never get less funny. "Concrete canoe? You row, I'll watch."
Intercarve Networks, LLC
I believe the hulls are actually more traditional GRP composites, its just that usually when a boat reaches around 50 foot long you normally build in steel because whilst GRP and similar is great for small light hulls, it gets progressively more difficult to fabricate as the size goes up.
The UK Navy minesweeper fleet was nick named the Tupperware Fleet - Presumably RubberMaid Fleet elsewhere!
Ferrocement Hulls (to give them thier proper name) were reasonably common for 'home build'. You form the hull using a matrix of steel rods and then usually 'spray' the concrete into this matrix, effectively giving you a cast reinforced concrete hull. Whilst these are strong, they are bulkier than steel hulls and can shatter/crack in impacts where steel would just bend or split. These sort of hulls can be quite large, and the concrete sets into a single very strong monocoque structure.
Whilst ferocement hulls do sound wierd, heavier than water steel hulls still work - what is important is that the hull wieghs less than the volume of the water it displaces (Archemedies Principal)
What is wierd is 'floating concrete' that looks like a fine matrix breeze(UK)/cinder(US) building block, but floats because it is mainly air - freaky when you pick the block up and it weighs so little!!!
Ok I know there are alot of people who think that the whole concrete rocket thing is stupid. In fact it was done just to see if it could be done. The real project that this team works on is much bigger. I helped. Student Launch Initiative of The University of Alabama in Huntsville's official website is: http://www.eng.uah.edu/~sli/ You can fins the videos and such there. The newest videos of our launch to 11,000 ft should be posted soon.
The pad they're using is obvoiusly an Aerotech Mantis, and the rocket isn't much bigger than the standard rockets for that pad.
It looks like a White lightning motor from the plume, but it's hard to tell. I'd guess it flies on somehing like an F or a G. Probably under LMR rules.
There are of course local ordinances and stuff that you need to now about, but should be nothing illegal about that launch from a national POV.
"An object declared as type _Bool is large enough to store the values 0 and 1." -- 6.1.2.5, C99 standard.
I E-mailed Dr. Moser (pictured on the website) who happens to be a friend of mine... when asked "Why?" here's his response:
========
Because we can.
The concrete canoe contest has been a long standing contest started at BYU civil engineering department many years ago. The UAH students have made some very light weight tough concrete. As part of our Student Launch Initiative we were talking about different material and some of the students work on the canoe. I asked if they could make a tube from it and so they did. They have a large one (3" dia. and nearly 4' long) about 90% complete.
========
So you can see it's not QUITE done... Slashdot posters don't always have their facts straight.
I can assure you that the rocket was not made to get around any laws. If we wanted to make a rocket out of metal we could have. As a university we are immune of the laws regarding model rocketry when used for experimentation. Visit UAH's Student Launch Initiative's official website: http://www.eng.uah.edu/~sli/
That is how the project started actually. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center wrote a proposal to our university to build and launch some very large rockets. The concrete rocket was built as a side project to experiment with using the concrete as a building material. The concrete is actually lighter and stronger than what we have used already.... http://www.eng.uah.edu/~sli/
The concrete rocket was not launched on Federal Property, but the much larger rocket that was built (not of concrete) was: http://www.eng.uah.edu/~sli/
The rocket was launched on a White Lightning E motor from Aerotech. The rocket is very light and this was only a test launch. We didn't want to go overkill. Because we are a university we have to have our own safety procedures and are not required to follow NAR rules, etc. We do however adhere to those rules as much as possible. Also, this concete is not any going to hurt any more than a normal phenolic/cardboard tube! http://www.eng.uah.edu/~sli/
Like we don't have ENOUGH jokes about Huntsville?
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
if you run a DHCP setup this don't work.
I'm a member of CMASS, a NAR section in New England. In the past, I've been responsible for doing the regulatory paperwork needed to have a high power rocket launch.
(speaking of which, we have a launch coming up on April 20 in Amesbury, MA -- see our launch schedule)
So, while in most states there are usually no additional local restrictions (California is a notable exception). The states usually adopt the NFPA codes 1122 and 1127 as their regulations. These are what actually limit the amount of structural metal (and that's only on a high power rocket).
However there are FAA regulations that restrict the weight, altitude, and amount or propellant that a model rocket can use. Generalizing (see the schedule link above for a more detailed table), and assuming you meet the other restrictions outlined in FAR 101 (i.e., not within 5 miles of an airport):
- A rocket under 1lb and with up to a "G" motor can be launched with no altitude restriction.
- A rocket under 3.3lbs and with up to a G motor is only a large model rocket; it requires no approval from the FAA, but it does require a LMR notification prior to the flight
- A rocket over 3.3lbs of rocket or over 125g of propellant requires an FAA waiver to allow the launch.
So, depending upon the weight of the concrete rocket (I didn't see that offhand on their page), they could have been fine with their launch, especially since they only launched on an Aerotech "E" (which is generally under 20g of propellant).That all being said:
None of the FAA regulations have provisions for such blanket immunity of universities; I think you are mistaken here. You should check into this.
And, let me point out that none of this applies to amateur rocketry. As said above by someone else, that has it's own, more complex rules.
Outside of all that, there is ongoing litigation with the BATF about their attempts to regulate the hobby. See the information at the NAR (National Association of Rocketry
I don't have a copy with me, but we were required to read these codes so that we were sure we complied with them. Near the end it said that this code does not appliy to universities. I think there is a copy in our lab and I will get back to you. Ricky
I remember when I was about 8 years old (2nd grade or so) and taking a test in school. There was this one multiple-choice question that went something like:
"What can a telescope be made out of?
A. Concrete
...some other choices..."
After thinking for a minute I figured that I could build a telescope out of concrete. Well, most of it anyway, then fit the lenses inside.
Naturally the teacher marked that answer wrong. I did try to explain why I picked that answer only to be blown off and told that is not the right answer. Man, that still pisses me off even though that was 20 some years ago. No wonder I hated school.
FRP - commonly known as Fiberglass re-enforced plastic.. is a very common structural hull material - in vessels well over 40meters in length. It's rare to find a boat hull under 15meters that isn't FRP. So metal isn't the only boat structural material. More to the point, WW II (not WWI) saw extensive use of floating concrete platforms - and many are STILL in use - 60 years later. The Liberty class (and Victory class) ships were ALL steel hulls though. As an avid scuba diver - I have seen a number of (non-floating) concrete ships as well... but they were on the bottom due to being caught in hurricanes - not even metal would have helped them! As a hull structural material, it has the advantages of it doesn't rot, doesn't rust, and doesn't pollute (the outgassing of FRP is now subject to EPA controls due to the volatile nature of the solvents), and requires a lower level of technology in construction. The bad rep for concrete hulls is mostly due to the homebuilt hulls in the 50's and early 60's... in building concrete hulls... air entrenchment is a problem along with the need to "build" the hull in one pour (so that a new pour does not need to bond with an already poured "cured" concrete). Anyone who has a good background in structural ceramic materials knows that floating volcanic rock is old news - and this is a solid... if formed into an H2O displacement shape it floats as good as metal... So, rockets formed from concrete are not a big stretch...
They luanched one of these out of Vandenburg AFB
~20 years ago, sort of...
Seems they were testing an ICBM silo. The
concrete cover was still closed when the
rocket inside exploded. A big square very
thick concrete cover whent up real high. came
down near the control building.
They don't test with real covers any more
In the copy I have: NFPA 1122 (1997 Edition) Under Chapter 1 General Requirements. 1-1.4 "This code shall not apply to the design, construction, production, manufacture, fabrication, maintenance, launching, flight, test, operation, use of, or any other activity in connection with a rocket or rocket motor when carried out or engaged in by any of the following: (a) The government of the United States of America (b) Any state or local government (c) Any individual, firm,....engaged as a licensed business in the research, development, production, testing, maintenance, or supply of rockets, rocket motors, rocket propellant chemicals, or rocket components or parts (d) Any college or university."
I could make a joke about Alabama having yet to make it to the Bronze Age. But I won't.
Oops.
Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun working on it. If it weren't for that annoying life and family thing, I'd be shooting up, too (Uh..rockets, that is...)
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
This reminds me of an article i read in new scientist (i think) about this guy who developed concrete submarines.
The idea was that they would behave like aeroplanes, having wings, so instead of controling altitude with varying bouyancy as in a balloon or conventional submarine it would fly through the water like a heavier than air aircraft.
This would have lead to subs which could carry very heavy loads. The major problem was safety if there was an accident the sub couldnt rely just on its natural bouyancy to surface.
According to him the Germans in WWII and the russians afterwards put some serious research into it.
Not at all. If it were true, then most of the model rockets sold would be in violation. Ie: most have at least one metal part, many are over .6 inches in diameter.
;-)
There are no laws explicitly setting out rocket limits, except for the maximum limit of model rocketry (impulus and weight limit) to be classified as a "model rocket". All other rules are implemented by the rocketry association (CAR, NAR or TRA). Which aren't enforced thru the penal code. Such as building materials, launch angle limits etc.
The concrete rocket doesn't sound like it would qualify under association model rocket rules, because it probably needed a motor bigger than a G.
Amateur rocketry rules are considerably different (my largest so far is almost 20 pounds, 6" in diameter, and flies to 1400 feet on a J motor). While those rules may not cover a concrete body tube (they only went so far as to ban "non malleable metals"), if it was done responsibly, most Range Safety Officers would probably approve it at a high power launch. If not, it would certainly still be legal at an "official experimental" launch.
level3rockethead,
Certified to level 3 high power rocketry
Almost a RSO level 1
...I can say that it probably is a decent place to work if you're a programmer. But, (and this is a big "but"), if you want to do anything beside being a programmer and/or aerospace engineer for every waking minute of your life, forget it.
Dining choices? Mostly fried, and mostly catfish.
Music scene? *Abysmal*!
Natural scenic beauty? Well, I have to be fair, that's one thing that Huntsville does have going for it fairly well. But, still, when you're living in Huntsville, you just feel like you are isolated from anything cool that is going on in the world....
In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris will still kick your ass.
actually the concrete rocket flew on a E motor and is not much bigger than most model rockets. And we just finished launching a 14' rocket (made with phenolic tubes) 6" diameter. It went to about 11,200 ft. AGL on a HyperTek M1010 hybrid motor (nitrous oxide and thermal plastic)
A concrete hot air balloon would really be something.
Um, I was just there a few moths ago, the Redstone Arsenal was on the South (South East?), side of Huntsville. The Marshall Space Flight Center is almost across the interstate from the Museum, both of which are quite near UAH and just a few miles from a rather insipid Mall (a rather large one).
Wait, no.
If nothing else, they claim to be sponsored by NASA. Now, if anybody could arrange an FAA exception, I'm sure that NASA has the connections/rights/knowledge to arrange it.
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
As I said, it's a nitpick, but Redstone is not technically part of Huntsville, though it is cheek-to-jowl up against it. I think of Redstone as being largely to the west of town, at least the parts of town I used to frequent; it's also south of the area you mention: UAH and the research park. Gates to the Arsenal are distributed all across the city. I used to use the gate on south parkway, down near the river, back in my co-op days at what was then called the MICOM Research Directorate.
--Jim
because it was SO FRICKEN STUPID! The fact it even made it as a submission just really pissed me off.
Let me get to my first beef. The link take's you to a page that describes a cement canoe. BIG WOOT! Out here in California, around Santa Cruz we have a state beach with a HUGE cement boat, not some dinky little canoe.
I wish I had a link to a picture, or something from the state park, but Iâ(TM)ll do my best to tell the story. During the war metal was in short supply (all going to the war effort) so efforts were made to find alternate materials (ala cement)
Now my second point concerns that rocket. I've built quite a few model rockets in my lifetime, mainly Estes kit's. The concrete rocket looks exactly like a Estes model 1818. It sounded like they used a C6-7, i.e. engine size C, 6-second burst, 7 second delay to parachute deployment. Listen to the video yourself you can hear it. The point Iâ(TM)m trying to make is ANY dope can take a Estes model kit, cover the paper tube with some stucco, stick a fat engine in there and it will probably fly. Will Nasa be looking at this anytime soon? Hell No! Model rockets with their solid fuel gunpowder engines are no comparison to a huge steel rocket pressurized with several atmospheres of oxygen as fuel.
Anyways, really stupid article, whoever submitted it THANK YOU for making the slashdot population just a little dumber.