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Rocket Guy Getting Closer - But No Firm Launch Date

Posted by timothy on from the check-out-the-napkin-art dept.

BoomZilla writes "Brian Walker, the self styled "Rocket Guy" is making excellent progress with his one-man booster. Project R.U.S.H. plans to launch Brian in to orbit 'sometime later this year'. Brian's site (http://www.rocketguy.com/rocket.html) has many excellent pictures of the rocket and launch site (his backyard!) under construction. This is certainly the real (if somewhat dangerous) deal." (And Napkin Art? Look here.) Update: 05/29 04:08 GMT by T : Brian Walker dropped a note to point out that his plan is actually for a sub-orbital flight 35 miles up, not Earth orbit.

10 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. google's cache by sheol · · Score: 2, Informative

    gotta love google's cache of the site, if only it cached the images too...

  2. http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.rocketguy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.rocketguy. com/rocket.html

  3. Google's cache by reparteeist · · Score: 1, Informative

    Since it's already slashdotted, you can view Google's cache here

    --
    If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time Windows crashed... Oh wait, he does.
  4. Not going into orbit by mikosullivan · · Score: 5, Informative
    He's not planning on going into orbit, or even into space. From his page (Google cached version):
    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.
    --
    Miko O'Sullivan
  5. Not planning to orbit by markov_chain · · Score: 2, Informative
    From his page:
    THE ROCKET GUY PLAN:

    It may be a technical dream but he's just crazy enough to push that button.

    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.

    --
    Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
  6. Re:Brin wrote a story about this.. by SWPadnos · · Score: 2, Informative

    Hmmm.

    I remember a story almost exactly like this, but the rocket wasn't a home-brew. Basically, people would pay to get launched into sub-orbit, then they would parachute back down. This guy's rocket didn't eject him, or the parachute wouldn't deploy correctly or something, so the "thrills company" couldn't pick him up. He was befriended by the smart dolphins, and the rest is history...

    --
    - The Sigless Wonder
  7. Re:Rocket Guy by terrymr · · Score: 3, Informative

    FAR 101 (Federal aviation regulations) regulates what can be launched in the world of unmanned rockets - I'm not really sure what section covers manned rockets as I'm not crazy enough to sit on anything I build - I believe there is now a separate commercial space launch agency which deals with any kind of private space shot. Our local club routinely has clearance up to 11,500 feet above ground level and higher clearances are given to launches in more remote areas.

  8. For comparison.... by Mulletproof · · Score: 2, Informative

    The highest balloon flights attempted...

    1961 -- Current Official Altitude Record Set: Commander Malcolm Ross and Lieutenant Commander Victor A. Prather of the U.S. Navy ascend to 113,739.9 feet (just over 20 miles) in 'Lee Lewis Memorial,' a polyethylene balloon.

    1958 -- Project Manhigh, Major Simons takes his balloon to an altitude of 101,516 feet.

    I wish this guy good luck. I'll be impressed if he launches, more impressed if he returns in one piece, but let him orbit the Earth a few times before calling him an astronaut. Hmmm... I know Mr. Chuck Yeager wouldn't be too happy with that comment.

    --
    You need a FREE iPod Nano
  9. Re:NASA? What about the FAA? by terrymr · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm gonna have to call BS on the taking it to a military base - our local club has a regular clearance up to 11,500 ft above ground level - that's about 3.5km without any inspections at military bases.

  10. It's unstable by Animats · · Score: 4, Informative
    The "exhaust in the nose, stabilize by gravity" approach doesn't work. Tailfins work in atmosphere, and active stabilization works, but putting the exhaust in the nose, pointing rearward, does not impart any stability. When the rocket tilts, the thust angle goes with it.

    Goddard tried that in his first model. "In his earliest rockets, he placed the engine at the top of the vehicle and the fuel tanks below. However, he soon found that this "nose drive" arrangement was too unstable, so he placed the motor at the bottom, as in all modern rockets."

    More specifically, Goddard's 1926 rocket (Goddard 1) reached an altitude of 41 feet. (Not 41,000 feet, forty-one feet.) It was really just an engine test vehicle. Goddard 2 was the same design, 20x bigger, and was a failure. Goddard 3 caught in the launch tower a few times, and finally flew 205 feet. Goddard 4 reached 2000 feet. Goddard 4 used various control systems; remote control was tried, then eight gyro-controlled vanes. Goddard A made short flights without a control system, then 1000 feet up (but 11000 feet horizontally - oops) with a pendulum-controlled stabilizer that didn't work very well.

    Once Goddard got gyro-controlled stabilization working, things got much better. Goddard A reached 4800 feet, then 7500 feet. WWII interrupted further experimentation.

    The German V-2 was actively stabilized with gyro controlled vanes in the exhaust. Those big tailfins didn't do the whole job. Since then, rockets have dispensed with the fins and relied entirely on the control system.

    Rocket Guy has to have been told this by now. He must be in denial about the stability problem.