Slashdot Mirror
The Demise of Model Rocketry?
Mark Lytle writes "Due to restrictions imposed by the rather broad Homeland Security Act, the hobby I suspect many Slashdotters, being technology buffs, grew up with, the Estes Model Rocket is now firmly on the endangered species list. The little cardboard rockets I learned science with in high school are evidently suspected of being potential weapons of mass destruction. Go figure. Perhaps by getting involved, we can stop this sillyness... Anyway, i hope so...."
Read the article! The problem is not the rocket but that shippers won't ship the solid fuel motors any longer because their employees would have to get licenced with the ATFE.
How are you going to build the motors?
I'm assuming this was a joke. Much more capable delivery systems exist in the form of r/c planes, light aircraft, needles in a crowd, etc.
The chances of a model rocket, which is capable of lifting grams, actually becoming a preferred delivery system for any terrorist is nearly nil. To say they are inaccurate is an understatment. To say they have a short range (couple thousand feet at best), is an understatement.
Larger rockets can be created by means of combining many motors together but this is more complex to launch, harder to construct so that it will survive launch, and quickly becomes very expensive. Even if multiple motors are used, it still becomes a tradeoff of payload versus range. If you any sizable payload, your range is significantly going to suffer. These things are just not designed for heavy lifting. They certainly are not military grade and they leave a rather noteworthy exhaust trail behind. Not like you can hide and launch these things.
Long story short, only an idiot would attempt to use these things for any form of terrorism.
How about BIC lighters? Each one containes enough butane to make a nice little bomb!
First off.. not nearly enough butane to do any damage. Second they are already restricted. You maye carry up to two (2) butane style lighters on board an aircraft. The complete list of what is/isnt allowed can be found here
http://cryptome.org/tsa021403.txt
The relevant text is:
(9) Lighters (maximum of two, fueled with non-refillable liquefied gas (Bic-type) or absorbed liquid (Zippo-type).
(10) Matches (maximum of four books, strike on cover, book type).
If privacy had a tombstone it would read "We did it for your own good" . -- John Twelve Hawks