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Build Your Own Saturn V
Illbay writes "Space.com has a great story about a company in Colorado that has introduced an incredibly detailed scale model of the Saturn V rocket booster that flies a lot like the real thing! Apogee Components has "taken the time to research the actual vehicles and then used that information correctly in creating the kits," with a scientist from the team that designed the Delta 2 rocket on staff. I remember the old Estes model rocket version of the Saturn V back in the 60s, but they were not very detailed and very difficult to get to fly properly. Looks like Apogee might have a winner."
Standing more than 62 inches (1.6 meters) tall and weighing about three pounds (1.4 kilograms) at launch, the most detailed reproduction of a Saturn 5 readily available today is 1/70th the size and 1/2,166,666th the weight of the original.
;-)
"It's just a matter of scale as far as the rockets are concerned. The laws of physics don't change,"
Try telling that to a 2-atom-wide model rocket.
The laws of physics are a tad different on the quantum scale.
I had but a simple dream, to destroy all humans.
This paid my last vacation, it mi
Standing more than 62 inches (1.6 meters) tall and weighing about three pounds (1.4 kilograms) at launch, the most detailed reproduction of a Saturn 5 readily available today is 1/70th the size and 1/2,166,666th the weight of the original.
"It's small step for man, a giant step for Mini Me" -- Dr. Evil
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
And I was getting all hot under the collar thinking about maybe pulling up in my model Vue tomorrow with 24's spinning, music flaring, DVD's behind the sear in a pimperrific three piece fohsachee suit, and you're talking about a rocket.
I thought you meant the car damnit
MoFscker
URGENT NEWS ABOUT MODEL ROCKETRY!
The new Homeland Security Act has many provisions that threaten rocketry in the United States. Both small rockets and high power models are affected. We need your help to make rocketry legal again. Please write your State's Senator now. Click Here for more information.
If the video on that page becomes slashdotted, go heretilTrue.info contechtext.info prettypowerful.info twitter.com/frets fb.com/prosody
The office of home land paranoia is really doing it's best toshut down this kind of hobby. See here for more details.
1) Solid rocket engines. They have made Peroxide+Gasoline rocket engines in small scale. Use one of them. At the very least a pressure fed John Carmack special style engine.
2) One stage. The Saturn V has 3 stages. This one, and all of the injection-molded toys before it, were only 1 stage. Where's the fun in that?
3) Injection molding. Where's the work in that?
Gentoo Sucks
http://shop.lego.com/product.asp?p=7468 :)
http://www.saverocketrynow.org/
Anyway, it's worth the trip to follow the links to the website of the people who make this thing. There are some fantastic MPEG clips of flights of this model that (were, maybe not are) available for download.
Why is it so cool to watch a model fly? Check it out and see. The thing is so big nad heavy it "lifts off" just like a "real" rocket. None of this 3-2-1 disappear in a puff of smoke. You actually get several frames of liftoff before it really picks up speed... very cool.
Now ain't that an unfortunate choice of words!
Standing ~40 inches (1.0 meters) tall and weighing about 10 kilograms (quite chubby) at launch...
If the scale doesnt matter in laws of physics one can expect a useful payload to be ~ 100t/60^3 ~ 460grams ~ 1 pound to be launched to low orbits, and about 100 grams to the geostationary orbit, and about 150 grams to be sent on the lunar mission trajectory.In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. - Yogi Berra
We brought it down to the field at the end of the street. When it launched, it quickly shot up to about twelve(yes 12) feet and begun spinning in circles wildly in place at first then right towards us. Just missed my brother as he dove behind the dirt mound that it slammed into and shattered all my hard work.
Probably my poor construction that caused the misfire. And what a range of emotions in those few quick moments:
Surprise -> Scared Shitless -> Elation -> Sadness
Speaking of the Sadness after the crash, I just thought I'd mention this as I just remembered and it made me laugh again. A few years later my brother got into model airplane building. These things were a Ton of work. He brought his plane down to the elementary school as they had a nice wide open space. About 15 seconds into flight it banks left and smashes into a tree completely wasting it. He builds a second plane, back to school, 15 seconds, smashes into side of school.
See the movie October Sky? We were shooting steel pipes into the sky in those days (pre Estes). You took a keen interest in where those suckers came down. Mostly suger and salt peter fuel (hint don't cook this up in your kitchen unless you think soot from premature combustion is a nice decorative motif) but we had an Explorer post sponsored by IBM with geek IBM engineers as advisors with unlimited buget. Bad idea. Dialog right out of Real Genius. "Oh, don't breath any of that zinc powder. It's microgranulated and highly toxic". "Yeah, your finger will stick instantly to the strain gauge if you touch that new instant glue Kodak just invented. Let's get the razor blade and unstick your finger." "Aieeee...".
Modern hobby rockets (like I and many others fly) do one thing well (and not even that) - they go up. We have wonderfull guidance devices called 'fins' they make things go straight provided they are fast enough and there's still air around - even then you're at the mercy of the wind, the jet stream as you pass thru it (yes we do) etc etc.
In other words hobby rockets don't have the sort of guidance system you would use when you want to hit a target - if the Congress was actually thinking rather than just reacting "people with rockets must be dangerous and could be terrorists we must do something to show that we are doling something" and they wanted to stop actual attacks on real targets they would: shut down the public GPS, ban RC model planes (or ratehr radio gear) and would never have given those 1000s of stingers to binLaden in the first place.
I've been into model rocketry for about two years now with my 12 year old son. It is great fun for both of us. Like most other hobbies, it can be approached from many levels with equal enjoyment. We got the rocket simulation software (Rock Sim) from Apogee last year. It allows you to build model rockets on the software (3D) (using standard parts from hobby stores) and test their flight and return to earth (just as important in models as in real rockets). You can then save and print out the details. There is a demo available on Apogees' site.
Our problem has been in finding good places to launch. We get rained out alot from local rocket club launches and its hard to find places to shoot on our own. We sometimes sneak over to nearby schools with their large playgrounds early on Sunday mornings to launch. Risky in post 9/11 USA.
Going to local rocket club launches is also fun. Not only can you shoot your own rockets off but you can watch the big and experimental rockets launching.
A good source of beginner rockets and hybrid motors for the big boys is Pratt Hobbies. www.pratthobbies.com.
To quote that article..
In years past, rumors have abounded that in the 1970s the White House or Congress had the Saturn 5 plans destroyed "to prevent the technology from falling into the wrong hands".
That seems doubtful -- it would be a formidable terrorist group that decided to build a Saturn 5 to wreak havoc on the world, or build a lunar base..
There is only one such group. Picture Blofelt sitting in a chair stroking a cat. "Ah, Mr Bond, we've been expecting you.."
"You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"