Inventor to Launch Pop Bottle Rocket into Space

DrButts writes "An inventor in British Columbia wants to be the first to launch a pop bottle rocket into space. 'This could be impossible, but the CEO of AntiGravity Research already holds the altitude record for boosting an elongated plastic pop bottle — propelled by a bicycle pump, water and a bit of soap — into the air. Firing the ubiquitous, two-litre plastic container usually consigned to the recycle bin into space might create a whole new definition for space junk, but the dream keeps Schellenberg going.'"

Comments

Just needs...

[lobiusmoop]

a Coke-and-Mentos second-stage booster and he should be set.

I don't know how he expects to reach space

[Melbourne Pete]

He's not using any mentos at all.

Re:Uh.... right.

[Wandering Wombat]

He's from British Columbia... they don't need jet fuel to fly. Hell, they smoke anything out there... I even hear tell they smoke salmon.

Seriously, though, I've met this guy before, and the definition of "space" might be a little loose, but crazy wins over reality, every time.

Re:sounds like a defense contract

[Rob_Ogilvie]

I don't think his Canadian senator has much pull with the Pentagon.

Maybe after Canada becomes the 52nd State (right after Mexico and before Northern California - AKA Lincoln) he could give it a shot.

Extrapolating the data points...

[giminy]

Schellenberg's two-stage model is easily capable of reaching altitudes of well over 200 metres.

Several years ago, one of his "toy" rockets - actually a Kevlar-reinforced, experimental, single-stage missile pressurized with compressed nitrogen and packing high-tech instruments - flew to just under 379 metres.

Based on that research, Schellenberg is now convinced that it will be possible to put a bottle rocket into orbit.

Wow, 379 meters. With just a few more improvements, he could eek out the other 159,621 meters to Low Earth Orbit with no problem!

Reid

Re:Extrapolating the data points...

[jollyreaper]

To actually achieve orbit, not only does it need to reach this altitude, but also move horizontally at probably over 20,000 miles per hours once it gets there. The plan is to loft the rocket into the orbital plane of an intersecting object and perform what is colloquially known as the "bugsplat-windshield assist."

I can hear Nasa now

[Frigga's Ring]

We don't dump our satellites in your recycling bin, please don't shoot your pop bottles into our space.

Re:I can hear Nasa now

[vux984]

We don't dump our satellites in your recycling bin, please don't shoot your pop bottles into our space.

Nah, putting them in the recyling bin would be far too orderly, NASA has the military shoot them down with missiles and lets God sort out where the pieces end up.

Maybe we should combine our desires and use pop bottles to take out your failing satellites. Of course then the military doesn't get to use their toys... so that won't work.

Quote from the man.

[gardyloo]

"I got side tracked off what I should have been doing, which is electrical engineering," said the red-headed, 49-year-old father of five. Yeah, you're letting down slashdotters everywhere by making children.

Re:Volume

[Wandering Wombat]

It might be sine, 'cos it tan't sin...

Re:Volume

[brian0918]

I hate to be a pestiferous virago and contradict your amative mien, but in my opinion the aberrant misspelling of said "word of the day" was not copacetic. It may be ineffectual, but some day I hope to overcome this perdurable ennui...

MythBusters . . .

[arizwebfoot]

He needs to get with the mythbusters team, tie five bottles together and see if they can life Jamie off the ground.

Re:Volume

[JustOK]

I laffed so hard I dropped a log

I don't know...

[biased_estimator]

IMHO once you start reinforcing it with kevlar it ceases to be a pop bottle. At least I've never drank soda out of such a thing before...

His company motto says it all

[damn_registrars]

AntiGravity's motto is: "Ongoing research projects of little or no gravity."
(Straight from TFA...)

Re:Hey, 200 Meters ain't bad for a pop bottle rock

[srussia]

Only 79.8 km (out of 80...) left to go, if you take the lowest recognized definition of outer space. Heck, I've done 200m with a butane canister with the bottom cut out (the seamless top withstands the pressure wave). I punch a hole on top, jam a firecracker inside (mainly just around 10g powdered aluminum--otherwise known as a "five-star") with the fuse sticking out the top and launch it from a pan filled with water. This was at age 10. The best aspects of this technique were virtually silent detonation (just water splashing out of the pan) and extremely homogeneous thrust (the thing went straight up, eventually landing just a few meters beyond launch point).

Re:Ony the facts could stop this intrepid adventur

[MeBot]

You're calculating the speed it would need to start at if all thrust were exerted at ground level and it had to coast up to space (again excluding air resistance). If on the other hand you apply thrust throughout the flight, space can be achieved without ever approaching 25,000 MPH. For instance, Space Ship One never flew 25,000 MPH yet it made it to space.

Also note that I don't believe he'll make it either, and I've always considered 80km to not really be space flight. Just pointing out that the facts you mentioned won't necessarily be the ones that stop the adventure.

Re:Volume

[wall0159]

Gosh mate - if you're gonna be all clever with a dictionary, at lease use an English dictionary!

Don't discount him yet

[EmbeddedJanitor]

He stretches the bottles. This is a very important point that you have missed. So far he has only stretched them slightly but if he stretches them to be 100km long then he's made it.