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Most Powerful Amateur Rocket in Canada
Alex Schmidt writes "A group of Canadian 'amateur' rocketeers successfully launched a 16 1/2 foot rocket to a height of about 5500 feet. The rocket is based on the 'Dauphine' a meteorological rocket from the 1960's. The rocket weighed 300 pounds, stood 16.5 feet high and 21 inches in diameter. The motors generated 2400lbs of thrust. It successfully landed after 3 of 4 parachutes properly deployed."
Did they use a "C" engine or were they able to stick a "D" in that baby?
Sorry, got flashbacks from the South Park movie. I can almost see Rummy deliver the speech.
Canada has set us up the bomb!
I've launched 500foot and a 1000foot rockets under the Heathrow flight path, which go nowhere near the planes, but do you think anybody would mind if I launched one of these under the same route?
Mattb90
Editor, allaboutgames.co.uk
They would be arrested already, under the patriot act, for developing terrorist weapons...
Somewhere near Sudbury....
"Hey Doug, watch me shake up this Molson's 12 pack, like, real good and hard, eh?"
"Eh, Bob, let's open them all at once"
WHOOSHHHH!!!!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
So if there is a war and a draft, I don't guess going to Canada is an option?
Three children, ages 7, 9, and 11 were arrested by the Department of Homeland Security on charges of "terroristic activities" for launching an unauthorized Estes model rocket with... wait for it... an explosive substance.
Am I the only one who feels the rocket should have done better than 6000 feet? In the highest amateur rocket records,Ive seen 30 kilometers for about the same size of a rocket. Maybe that was liquid propelled and multistaged.
It was impressive though and looked like an anti aircraft missile.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
When the fuel runs out..... the earth!
That's taking model rocketry to a whole new level. Sounds like good fun, I'm looking forward to watching the Discovery program to find out what they used for control, etc. Sounds like it worked, and I bet it came about through a consensus process (i.e., all 4 had to agree it was ready). I wonder if they went through a no/ no-go checklist-- Controls? Go! Engine? Go! Parachutes? Go! etc.
It's also curious to see this happening in Canada. Would DHS or the FAA allow this in the states, and what kind of permits are required before launching something to 5000 feet?
What's the attraction?
Chicks dig things that big, that aerodynamic and with that much thrust.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
They are doing cool stuff!
But this reminds me that someone should develop/build something better than rockets for reaching the space. They've been used for a too long time now.
There are alternatives... electromagnetic propulsion, laser heated plasma propulsion etc.pp.
It is technically feasible. But noone seems to be interested in it.
The scientists doing such stuff are unfortunately short of money...
Until then it's still a boyish hobby
And just when I'd thought we'd finally mustered up the full might of our canadian army and air force to attack America, the parachutes deployed.
:P
Oh well, guess we'll continue taking over the hollywood, maple syrup conglomerate and beer industries.
Yo Grark
Canadian Bred with American Buttering.
Canadian Bred with American Buttering
Just in case any of the crew are slashdot readers, Free Beer to you, eh!!
I read the article, and it seems to me that what these 4 guys did was quite impressive. The article mentions this was the largest launch in Canadian History. Anyone know what the largest anywhere was?
What I am really happy about is the amount of publicity they got. Having the rocket being put in a museum and making a Discovery Channel special about the event is going to catch a lot of people attention. Well maybe not that many, but at least the people who care about space exploration.
Perhaps amateurs like these guys will lead to private space travel organizations.
100% Crunchier
Cripes. I can fart olives higher than 5500 feet.
Why is the article so confusing about the units ?
The rocket is 16 feet 1/2 foot high, diameter in inches, weight in pound as is the thrust..
Then they move on to the landing zone, and switch to meters for that and also where the crouwd was watching, then back again to pounds..
Confusing read..
Why can't they stick to real scientific notations, all with SI units ??
Is it me or do the three guys pictured in the article look like they're identical? I mean, even their baseball caps, t-shirts and footwear are the same and their only distinguishing features are their trousers - presumably so that they can tell each other apart.
Hmmm, clones with rockets. Where have I heard that before?
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
"Mission Accomplished: Blastoff was a real blast for four Calgary"
hrm.. shouldn't that be lift off? I can imagine "Blasting" is not something they would want to have happen.
Does anyone think that this guy is enjoying his work a little too much?
I see no mention of the Canadian Defense Dept. being notified that this launch was to take place. Isn't there a chance that this sort of thing can be misinterpreted by Canadian or U.S. militaries as being a hostile missile attack coming from another country or by terrorists within Canada? Was there a tense moment at NORAD, I wonder? Can I build my own mega-missile and launch it a mile up whenever I feel like doing it?
Slashdot will report on the most powerful amateur rocket in Zimbabwe.
[ed. note: no it isn't]
(without any links of course)
you suck
These guys were mentioned on /. several months ago. They have been doing launches with video cameras for a while. The videos are very impressive.
"A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing" - Alan Perlis
President Bush said today that this weapon of mass destruction that these 'amateur rocketeers' developed will not be tolerated, and force will be used if neccessary.
Excuse me, I don't mean to impose, but I am the ocean
Project Dauphin website is here.
Sounds like an invitation for NORAD to fire on Canada.
Seriously, just how big and how high do these missiles have be, before they attract military attention of an undesired nature.
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
Bob to Doug: "Hey eh, like, quit humping the rocket you fleshy-headed mutant!"
And this is exciting because...
To quote Tom Hanks in Big: I don't get it.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
finally the inuit space program is getting the attention it deserves
Know what I like about atheists? I've yet to meet one that believes God is on their side.
It'll be in his next movie, that Michael Moore was able to purchase one of these, with out registration, at a Tim Hortons.
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
Wow, 5500 whole feet ?
I reached about that in 1988 with a 4-stage model rocket using Estes "D" engines.
Good to see the Canadians finally catching up to us in hobbyist technology.
As far as reaching LEO, they're about 2% of the way there. This sure is front page news!
Hmmm.... so the Maple Leaf State has a rocket program, eh?
Not too impressed with the performance though. Robert Goddard hit 1.7 miles in 1937 with his amateur rocket.
this is a rather sad acheavment, is canada truely this far behind the rest of the modern world... at this rate they wont get to the moon untill 2043.
This is actually cool stuff... Now if I had more $$$ I would build my own rocket and launch it... I kinda had the feeling of the FAA stopping me but after reading the requirements to launch a rocket in the US, I figured I could probably do it... WOW they even stuck a 'L' engine in there huh? I think I'm gonna slap a 'Z' engine in there and see how high it goes... ;)
In other news...
Djibouti constructed its largest steam powered tractor. Its expected to till 40 tons of soil a year.
So somebody's modded an existing rocket, and made it go a bit higher.
Am I supposed to be impressed?
Is it Werner von Braun?
Have the Canadians discovered a new vein of ex-Nazi scientists to propel their rocket programme into the 20th century?
Sorry, guys - I'm not impressed.
oh brave new world, that has such people in it!
About 5 seconds before I hit slashdot I wrote an email to my old high school physics teacher about a project I'm thinking of to use a model rocket to measure wind currents as the rocket decends.
It's been a -long- time since I launched a model rocket, but I was assuming that 2,000 feet would be -easy- and that 10,000 feet possible. Apparently not.
Heck, I should make an 'Ask Slashdot' about this one. Shoot rocket to insane heights (apparently) and measure what the wind is doing every 50-100 feet on the way down to make a nice graph of the airs for parachuting. Any takers? Lets assume I'd spend 600 dollars on equipment.
...until it can run Linux and save Ogg files... ..sorry, I'll go away now.
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
Too bad you can't do this sort of thing in America anymore. Thank you Patriot act!
Make me a friend and I'll mod you up
Ever since the model rocket hobby was attacked by the 'homeland security department', things like this are no longer possible 'down here'.
Bah.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
my throy tha the alledged country 'Canada' is actually a place where world power conduct rogue sciencintific experments.
All for the sole purpose of:
CATCHING FAIRY GODPARENTS!!
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
and not from Canada.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
We cannot entertain the threat that Canada's new missile technology poses. Canada, you must immediately relent to weapons inspections. Your aggression will not be tolerated.
I am a viral sig. Please copy me and help me spread. Thank you.
I think I can get something to help you do that... let me check my deleted mail folder. I am sure I saw something about that somewhere...
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
"16.5 feet ... 21 inches in diameter ... 2400lbs of thrust"
I just got this same spam last week in my inbox.
I can count to 1023 on my hands. Ask me about #132.
Ooh, too far, dial it back!
Wah!
I attended a lecture by a bay area ameteur rocketry group. In their presentation they said HLS act might kill the hobby. Maybe Canada can continue. I am not against such laws per se, since we are dealing with extremely powerful machines that can wreak havoc if used with wrong intentions, but I wonder the future of amateur rocketry in present circumstances.
Pardon me if I'm wrong, but I'm noticing a fair amount of "woohoo, I reached 5500 feet with [insert hobby rocket engine here]". However, if you read the article, or think about the Slashdot article, you'll notice that it's not the height that's important, it's the thrust. Most powerful, not highest flying.
I recognize people by their sigs. Is that a bad thing?
for any rocket.
...the California dessert.
Projects like this are not that unusual.
See http://rocstock.org/
I have the largest rocket in my bedroom.
paintball
US set Canada up the bomb.
Gee, that article makes it sound like an american invented this (multi-injection orbital gun)... not Gerald Bull.
So howcome it's a "weapon of mass destruction" when Iraq tries to build it, and "space exploration" when an american tries to build it?
Nice... but are we stuck with solids? Not that I don't recognize the advantages, but what resources are available for an (educated) amateur liquid rig?
Actually, their website says the rocket "featuring a central Cesaroni Pro150 O impulse rocket motor." Also explains why they picked up such a name, Team "O" :-)
Also, Joe Bob Billy from Texas consumed all 40 tons in one sitting, increasing the national average weight by a pound and a half.
You know, I initially misread that as "A group of Chinese 'amateur' rocketeers successfully launched...". Signs of the times I guess.
I wonder what these guys would do with all that thrust?n dvids.htm
http://www.p.nutt.btinternet.co.uk/picsa
Glad to see Canada is gearing up to join the new space race!
foot? pounds?? inches??? lbs???? Okay so these probably are some weird Yankee measurement units. What I can't figure out however, is what kind of unit 'parachutes' is...
...this rocket: http://www.iwantarocket.com/x-prize.htm
And guys wish they had something like that to show them...
Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
I reached 12,500' in a lousy little 150hp Piper PA28-151 Warrior
Your not part of the solution are ya? Return to your house, pull the shades, assume the fetal position and tremble in fear over the potential of possibilities. A real American you are. As if the essence of you isn't disgusting enough, in a few days you'll be standing on the corner wrapped in the flag, waving you little kid safe, eunuch approved sparkler. Heh! America, home of the brave, land of the free. Ever heard of it?