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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.
It's at the bottom of the page; look closer next time.
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.
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.)
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
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
Non-metal hulls on ships are not as stupid as they sound. The UK Navy (and I presume others) uses plastic-hulled minesweepers - not as likely to set of mines that sense changes in the earths electromagnetic field and all that.
Erosion could be a bitch though!
<fnord>OBEY</fnord>
SR71 is made of titanium that expands while in flight. In order to get this to work, the metal is smaller while it's on the ground, causing gaps in the metal where fuel leaks out.
On a side note, it's pretty hard to get the jet fuel the SR71 uses to ignite. A plain 'ol match won't do it. The plane needs a separate starting vehicle to get the fuel lit.
The plane is still cool, even if it's almost 40 years old.
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
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.
I E-mailed Dr. Moser (pictured on the website) who happens to be a friend of mine... when asked "Why?" here's his response:
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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.
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So you can see it's not QUITE done... Slashdot posters don't always have their facts straight.
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