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Rocket Guy Getting Closer - But No Firm Launch Date
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.
Rocket jumping taken to extremes.
graspee
To be added to the Darwin Awards in Real-Time. Maybe we will get streaming video of it too?
"Get them before they get....
This guy must be seriously confident about his abilities. Just one small error in his calculations and he is dead. I can't manually configure X without screwing it up.
It's all Politics
"Brian Walker, the self styled "Rocket Guy" is making excellent progress with his one-man booster.
... burning out his fuse out here alone...
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
This guy makes the rest of us look sane by comparison. I've always wanted to go into space, but I'm not sure I'd try it in a BYO machine. Then again, if it does work, imagine what that will do for space travel. I'd predict that a lot of people will try, and a lot will die, but in the end, the big corps will figure out that if some yahoo in Bend can do it on a shoestring, they can do it too - for a profit! /.ed already - in what must be record time. :)
'Course, his site is
Moderators: I've got 50 points. Do your best
political_news.c: warning: comparison is always true due to limited range of data type
...I can't help admiring the dedication and courage of this guy, if he actually climbs into that thing and sets it off.
There are few things as stimulating as such unbridled enthusiasm and resolve. Actual success is of less importance. Every now and then you meet a guy like this, at work or elsewhere, and I count myself lucky every time that happens. Makes my year, it does.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
gotta love google's cache of the site, if only it cached the images too...
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.rocketguy. com/rocket.html
He's crazy.
Unless things have changed hugely in the last year, and that seems to be precluded by the expectation of launching later this year, he's just another idiot without much clue - but enough money to make a real big mess. Don't take it from me. This guy comes up as a topic of discussion in rec.models.rockets a couple times a year. The wonderful thing about the discussion there is that everyone has some idea of what it's like to fly rockets, and some of them really are rocket scientists (and aerodynamicists, and airframe designers, and so on) in real life.
G'wan, get off your lazy slahdottie behind and Google for it. Dare ya!
Future /. headline:
Rocket Guy shot down by 'Star Wars' Missle Defense system.
On the other hand, neither is strapping on a tank of high explosives in your backyard.
Six of one, I suppose.
The site is /.ed right now, but I'd like to know what hes doing for safety systems. Will he have other people check over his work, calculations, manufacturing etc?
I would think NASA would be happy to lend a hand in that department, because if this goes wrong it could mean some seriously bad PR for any space related agencies. But there is great potential to reignite (no pun intended, really) interest in space, if common people can make it to space. I wish this guy the best of luck..
"You cannot achieve the impossible without attempting the absurd."
now appearing at the bottom of my page..
If this is Heaven I'm bailin out! I cant tolerate this ol tin-tub, so fulla trash and rats...
According to legend, sometime around 1500 AD, a Chinese official named Wan Hu constructed a chair, to which numerous rockets were attached. With this device, Wan Hu intended to ascend to Heaven.
:)
When the rockets were ignited, there was a tremendous flash of flame and thunder. After the smoke cleared, Wan Hu was never seen again, which I suppose means he must have made it.
Check out http://www.armadilloaerospace.com. They're also trying to get manned rockets up in space. It's being worked on by a group of people including John Carmack.(Of Doom/Quake/Wolfenstein fame if you are the one person on earth that didnt't know)
Miko O'Sullivan
political_news.c: warning: comparison is always true due to limited range of data type
NASA? Doesn't he need permission from the FAA to do this? Manned flight, makes him a pilot, right? He'll need to be licensed and his vehicle will need to be approved or he'll need certification as an experimental aircraft, right?
I couldn't find any mention of his getting this cleared with the FAA on the cached website page.
Is there some exception that this guy is using, or do I not understand the FAA regulations? Admittedly, I've not studied them at all...
In some interview I read - don't know which, might have been space.com or wired - the Rocket Guy said that if he couldn't launch legally in the US, he'd just move the entire rig and launch from Mexico, or some more friendly country.
I'm the stranger...posting to
Y'know...the cynicism of people... it amazes me...
Yeah, this guy is a bit of a nut. I cant disagree with that. But as loony as this is, he has a dream and he is going to make it happen.
Maybe instead of derision being aimed at this guy, we should all be praying that he succeeds. I for one would love a chance to do something like this, but if we wait for NASA and/or other government agencies to make it a reality I cant see it happening in my lifetime. Unless of course you have enough money to get tthe Russians to take you. Guys like this, and all the folks working on winning the X Prize are pioneers... and deserve more that the ridicule they get from the folks around here.
Laugh at him if you will, but what is the last daring thing you did to realize a lifelong dream? Hmmm?
Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
Rocket Guy Getting Closer - But No Firm Launch Date
Well no wonder, every time he makes progress, we go and slashdot his site, so he has to redirect all his funds to bandwidth bills.
--
Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch.
David Brin wrote a short story several years back on this subject. In it he had a private citizen building a rocket and launching himself into space despite the best efforts of environmentalist, etc to stop him. The rocket malfunctions and drops him into the ocean on the other side of the planet where he ends up staying with a bunch of uplifted dolphins for a few months. Excellent story, might be called "Rocket Man" or something obvious like that but I'm not sure. I'd love to find that story again.
'There is great chaos under heaven, and the situation is excellent.'
(Of course, if he's got enough money to build a private rocket, I'm guessing he doesn't live in a typical 'burb, but most test ranges are built with many miles between them and the closest civilian areas, or they launch out over an ocean, so the rocket can safely be ditched if something goes wrong.)
Your Servant, B. Baggins
I think you may want to reconsider calling 10 km the threshold to outer space. By that definition, anybody who has ever flown across the country is an astronaut. 10 km is roughly 33,000 feet after all. Hell, folks who have climbed to the top of Mount Everest would nearly qualify by that yardstick.
Guns don't kill people -- people kill people.
But the guns seem to help a bit. (apologies to Eddie Izzard)
I suggest you all check back here at a later date to check up on his progress.
No, Thursday's out. How about never - is never good for you?
if i were him i would send the rocket up with a dead weight in it before going there my self.
It makes him not only a pilot, but also the owner (and launcher) of an object which could (depending on commercial flight routes in his area) end up near a commercial (or private) plane. Or be mistaken for a missile, and acted upon accordingly by the US military.
I know there are some rules you must observe if you wish to launch a model rocket. Some guys at my Uni were (are still probably) designing a small rocket able to reach a couple kilometers high (not manned, very small payload). They can't just launch it from anywhere: for one of their latest tests, they had to take it to a military base nearly 10 hours away to be able to do it legally.
If you don't get clearance beforehand, you will have some serious problems if it is to reach a couple kilometers high and be detected by military (or civilian) radars. Of course, thi is assuming the guy survives the launch and the flight...
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.
"Attention all planets ...."
I am sure that someone has said this already... but this has go to be illegal. I mean you need a license to pilot an aircraft over U.S. territory why not one for this. Anybody want to explain this to me?
The usual boundary for space is 50 miles, just below minimum low earth orbit. Other than regular rockets, only the X-15 Rocket Plane has reached this height.
If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
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
He has bought a Russian pressure suit. As for engine failure, he is buying commercial peroxide rockets, which are very reliable due to their monoproppelent simplicity. The rocket is very unlikely to fail.
If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
"launch" should read "blow"
"orbit" should read "smithereens"
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.
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.
Here's some correspondance I exchanged with the RocketGuy last year. I was a bit harsh with him, but I was really concerned that he'd show up in the Darwin Awards:
To:
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2001 1:57 AM
Subject: WWW:Rocket Guy Site Feedback
Message: Are you going to do an unmanned test flight (or several) before you launch yourself in this rocket?
If not, I suggest you go to space.com and look at the videos under their "launches" section. You will see many rockets exploding and crashing.
If you launch yourself without doing unmanned test flights, it must be concluded that you are either an idiot or suicidal.
I hope that neither is the case and that you do the test flights and insure that you are not remembered as a fool.
Best wishes.
========
And his reply:
========
From Brian Walker Fri Oct 12 08:10:26 2001
From: "Brian Walker"
Subject: Re: WWW:Rocket Guy Site Feedback
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 08:10:26 -0700
Yes, I will be conducting unmanned launches. The first will be is a smaller rocket 12 foot high, 320 pounds fuel,gross weight about 4000 pounds). It will demonstarte the separating fins and air launch system.
No, I am neither an idiot of suicidal.
Thanks for the message and concern.
Think about it, DAs are given to people who prove themselves to be the weakest losing out letting the strongest survive. This guy put a lot of thought and care into this; he did not blindly build a rocket. If he dies it won't be because of stupidity, rather miscalculation--something we all make daily.
I'm impressed at this effort. I have to admire anyone who has a dream and just does it, danger be damned. But read this--I'm surprised nobody mentioned it yet:
http://www.snopes2.com/spoons/noose/balloon.htm
Granted, a weather-balloon-covered-lawnchair doesn't have the same geek appeal and doesn't require the same technical expertise and long hours of work as a rocket, but still--this guy had a dream, he did it, he got a lot more than he bargained for, and people still read about him 20 years after his feat.
You've got to be impressed, in some manner or another...
Chasing Amy
(We all chase Amy...)
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws"-Tacitus
I've had a look at his site. Believe it or not, he's done a lot of work including:
1. Unmanned test flights
2. Safety reviews
3. Actually talking with govt. agencies.
It is easy to be negative, but I don't believe the guy is going to ride a rocket until he is d*mn sure he'll come down again in one piece. A lot of nay-sayers said that we'd never fly. A lot of people don't even believe we got to the moon.
Neither is he even going into space. He is going 30 miles up, using a far less explosive fuel than normal rockets. And before he gets in, you can be sure that he'll already have done enough test flights to be sure he'll get out in one piece.
All in all, I believe that if he does the flight, he is relatively likely (75%+) to survive.
No progress has been without risk, but I believe that he is unlikely to kill himself. And if he does, it is his life he risks - no one else's. He is doing the right thing.
"As a writer / novelist you might want to spellcheck your sig.
How many of the people reading this havce really checked out the guys site? He has done a *lot* of planning, and is in touch with a lot of people who know what they are doing - e.g. he has done some Cosmonaut training in Russia. Most of the critics seem to have jumped to the conclusion that this guy is a lone nutter in a back yard. He isn't.
He is trying to do less that than the Gemini missiona in the early '60s. Admittedly, thosw were powered by great lumps of Government money. But 40 years of rocket and control system technology, modelling systems etc. will help enormously. I don't reall see this as more risky than those early NASA launches, as narrated in "The Right Stuff" - and probably quite a bit less. I would give him good odds of succeeding.
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
Sorry - I missed that - even then I wasn't aware that they were so restrictive in canada.
Isn't it time we give him a chance to explain himself, since he's been featured on /. about a dozen times, and he has been called every possible kind of idiot by us?
- Have a picture
In celebration of the new album being released, he will be playing "Vapor Trails".
ASCII tastes bad dude.
Binary it is then.
He has become a bit more risk averse with a good reason.
0 01_upda te.html
Excerpt from his site:
http://www.rocketguy.com/rocket/December_2
And of course, there has been another major change in my life. During my trips to Russia (now numbering 4), I met a woman who is my soul-mate and the love of my life. We fell in love after we met. This occurred in April 2001, when I went to fly the MiG 25. previously, we had emailed each other almost every day for two months. When I met her face-to-face, that was all it took. Her little boy is a wonderful child, and I look forward to having him as my son. He has no active father in his life, and at 45 years of age, I have determined that being alone without a family sucks.
I am hoping to have them here in late April or early May. I want to launch the test rocket first, and when they arrive, I plan on spending the Summer months taking them on trips around the US, and helping them adjust to a new culture and language. When the boy begins school in September, I will jump back into the rocket project.
Prior to meeting her, I was prone to taking risks of a considerably higher nature. No test launches just get in and go. Now, I have decided that it would be wise to be more careful, and make sure that my design and concepts will work the way I want them, or more correctly, the way they need to.
He's not planning to do an unmanned test flight of his rocket... danger, danger!
----
From:"Brian Walker"
Re: WWW:Rocket Guy Site Feedback
Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 17:36:27 -0700
Dear Well-wisher,
I appreciate your comments and concern for my safety. I have considered an unmanned launch, but am currently looking into having a 250 foot launch tower built (similar to the ones you see in amusement parks that blast people upwards). This would allow the rocket to be accelerated
under a controlled situation where it would gain aerodynamic stability and enough momentum to carry it to a minimum altitude of almost 2000 feet, even if all the systems failed. This is more than adequate altitude for one of three abort modes.
There is no doubt that this carries a certain amount of risk, and even if a did a full-on test launch, there is no guarantee that a second such launch would not develop a problem.
Also, there is no guarantee that the rocket would survive the first launch with capabilities for second launch. I am self funding this project, and I am not that rich. I am counting on the data that has been generated over the past half century, along with the space suit and multiple escape/abort/survival options. But I don't have a death wish, so when it all comes down to it, if it appears to be too risky, I simply won't go.
Best regards,
Brian Walker