Rocketguy, you boast of hundreds of radio and TV appearances, hundreds of newspaper articles, hundreds of personal appearances, and millions of hits on your web site. In each, your toys are always mentioned. In your personal appearances I witnessed, toy demonstrations were a significant part. How much do you estimate the publicity from the 'rocketguy' gimmick has returned to you in toy sales?
You have been advised that your launch will require a space launch license from the FAA AST, yet you continue to maintain that your launch will just require "a simple waiver". The requirements for a license could be found in a web search taking perhaps 10 minutes. Why do you continue to plead ignorance on this subject?
In your lectures in Boise, ID last summer, to one attendee you confessed that your sole contact with the FAA had been a letter received from the FAA requesting to "open a dialog" with you, to which you hadn't responded. Yet a few minutes later, in your lecture, you said that you were "engaged in talks" with the FAA. How do you explain this discrepancy?
In your first lecture in Boise, ID last summer, your attitude control system consisted of H2O2 rockets that fired as required to correct the 'tilt' of your rocket. In between the lectures an attendee suggested that the attitude rockets fire continuously, throttling down as required for control, to reduce start-up latency. In your second lecture, and since that time, you say that your attitude rockets fire continuously. You apparently made a radical change to your control system, in response to a casual suggestion, without analysis of any sort. If nothing else, the fuel requirements of the system would increase by an order of magnitude. Has this 'design', and, for that matter, all of your rocket design, just been hand-waving?
Your 'design' includes three different rocket systems (main, separation, attitude), comprised of about a dozen H2O2 motors. The pressure systems, fuel lines, valves and controls for those systems must be complex. These systems must withstand significant vibration and temperature changes, and any leak would probably be fatal. I see nothing on your web page indicating work on these systems. Have you done any?
How much personal, hands-on experience have you had handling 90% H2O2?
Carmak and others working with H2O2 have had considerable difficulty in getting consistent reliable operation of their motors, requiring significant testing to adjust the catalyst packs and other factors. In particular, I would expect that your attitude control motors absolutely must fire reliably. There is no indication on your web site that you have ever fired any H2O2 motor; no indication of any test plans, and you have never talked about constructing an engine test stand. Without such prior work, the odds of all of your motors and fuel systems working correctly in a first-time flight test (manned or unmanned) are a flat zero. What are your test plans?
You have said that you plan to launch in one of the most isolated spots in the country, but you have also said that you expect possibly "hundreds of thousands" of spectators. Do you really expect that your safety analysis (a requirement of your space launch license, remember) would allow any significant number of spectators in the vicinity?
The license for the recent CSXT (amateur space launch) attempt required that team to undertake a positive effort to clear uninvolved people from a large area, and the launch date was not publicized to avoid attracting spectators. Yet you have planned a media event for your launch. How do you expect to resolve this?
You have said that if you can't launch in the U.S. that you'll "just go somewhere else". Since the U.S. bears the liability of space launch activities of its citizens anywhere in the world, are you prepared to renounce your citizenship to do so? What countries have you talked to? Have those talks been as extensive as those you've had with the FAA?
Your web site has lots of pretty graphic renderings, cool fiberglass shells, a 'gantry' and launcher, but why don't you show the meat? Why don't you show the fuel system, controls, electronics, load-bearing structures, latch-release deployment mechanisms, guidance system, and dozens of other things that a real rocket project would require? Is it all just smoke and fiberglass?
Why would you spend over $200,000 on this project and not take 10 minutes to investigate the basic requirements of a space launch license? How much of that $200K has really been spent on your own entertainment and residential property?
Isn't this whole thing just a gimmick to promote the sales of your toys? Isn't your real plan plan to blame your eventual failure on government regulations? Why else would you continue to ignore those regulations?
He arrives at his design criteria by waving his hands and saying whatever he thinks will impress the yokels.
When I witnessed two of his personal appearances, his attidude control system changed radically during the intermission at the casual suggestion of an attendee. During his second lecture, he spoke of the 'new' system as if had always been that way. I'm quite confident that his entire 'design' has been just as rigorous.
He's just promoting toys to the ignorant folks that he's conned into believing in his 'rocket' project.
But rocketguy has said that it's going to be a media event drawing "hundreds of thousands" of spectators. No longer an 'isolated desert' but a good size city.
The FAA will issue a space launch license only after a thourough risk analysis that is not likely to allow such a population nearby. Plus the BLM will have something to say about a crowd trampling the desert.
His ignorance of these issues (after years of 'work' on this project) tells me that he has no intention of flying a manned rocket. He's just selling toys.
His space launch license (which he hasn't tried to get yet) will require something on the order of a $5-10 million dollar liability policy. When I talked to him last summer (after he had supposedly spent $200K on the project) he had no idea what would be required (even though a simple web search would get him started).
Rocketguy will tell you something like $250,000. But if you look at his website, you'll find that most of that has been spent on his own entertainment ('training'), and on improvements to his property. He's spent a lot on fiberglass, but not much else on the 'rocket'.
What he has spent has been cheap publicity to sell toys.
He hasn't had any problems with them, since he hasn't bothered to talk to them yet. As of last summer, he was still maintaining that all he would need was "a simple waiver", which is absolutely false. *Anyone* can find this out with about 10 minutes of searching.
When questioned, in person, at different times, his story shifted, indicating that he is pretty loose with the truth on this subject.
This is just one more indication that his effort is just a publicity vehicle to sell toys. He'll strech this out a few more years, then blame 'government regulations' for his failure. He'll still be an everyman folk hero ready to start another scam, and the government will be his fall guy.
A launch of the size he is describing will definately require a space launch license. As of last summer, rocketguy hadn't begun to talk to the FAA about it. Since such a license requres several years of coordination and a significant amount of analysis and paperwork, it is clear that Walker has no real intention of making a rocket flight. It is merely a publicity vehicle to sell his toys.
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Rocketguy, you boast of hundreds of radio and TV appearances, hundreds of newspaper articles, hundreds of personal appearances, and millions of hits on your web site. In each, your toys are always mentioned. In your personal appearances I witnessed, toy demonstrations were a significant part. How much do you estimate the publicity from the 'rocketguy' gimmick has returned to you in toy sales?
My questions for 'Rocketguy':
You have been advised that your launch will require a space launch license from the FAA AST, yet you continue to maintain that your launch will just require "a simple waiver". The requirements for a license could be found in a web search taking perhaps 10 minutes. Why do you continue to plead ignorance on this subject?
In your lectures in Boise, ID last summer, to one attendee you confessed that your sole contact with the FAA had been a letter received from the FAA requesting to "open a dialog" with you, to which you hadn't responded. Yet a few minutes later, in your lecture, you said that you were "engaged in talks" with the FAA. How do you explain this discrepancy?
In your first lecture in Boise, ID last summer, your attitude control system consisted of H2O2 rockets that fired as required to correct the 'tilt' of your rocket. In between the lectures an attendee suggested that the attitude rockets fire continuously, throttling down as required for control, to reduce start-up latency. In your second lecture, and since that time, you say that your attitude rockets fire continuously. You apparently made a radical change to your control system, in response to a casual suggestion, without analysis of any sort. If nothing else, the fuel requirements of the system would increase by an order of magnitude. Has this 'design', and, for that matter, all of your rocket design, just been hand-waving?
Your 'design' includes three different rocket systems (main, separation, attitude), comprised of about a dozen H2O2 motors. The pressure systems, fuel lines, valves and controls for those systems must be complex. These systems must withstand significant vibration and temperature changes, and any leak would probably be fatal. I see nothing on your web page indicating work on these systems. Have you done any?
How much personal, hands-on experience have you had handling 90% H2O2?
Carmak and others working with H2O2 have had considerable difficulty in getting consistent reliable operation of their motors, requiring significant testing to adjust the catalyst packs and other factors. In particular, I would expect that your attitude control motors absolutely must fire reliably. There is no indication on your web site that you have ever fired any H2O2 motor; no indication of any test plans, and you have never talked about constructing an engine test stand. Without such prior work, the odds of all of your motors and fuel systems working correctly in a first-time flight test (manned or unmanned) are a flat zero. What are your test plans?
You have said that you plan to launch in one of the most isolated spots in the country, but you have also said that you expect possibly "hundreds of thousands" of spectators. Do you really expect that your safety analysis (a requirement of your space launch license, remember) would allow any significant number of spectators in the vicinity?
The license for the recent CSXT (amateur space launch) attempt required that team to undertake a positive effort to clear uninvolved people from a large area, and the launch date was not publicized to avoid attracting spectators. Yet you have planned a media event for your launch. How do you expect to resolve this?
You have said that if you can't launch in the U.S. that you'll "just go somewhere else". Since the U.S. bears the liability of space launch activities of its citizens anywhere in the world, are you prepared to renounce your citizenship to do so? What countries have you talked to? Have those talks been as extensive as those you've had with the FAA?
Your web site has lots of pretty graphic renderings, cool fiberglass shells, a 'gantry' and launcher, but why don't you show the meat? Why don't you show the fuel system, controls, electronics, load-bearing structures, latch-release deployment mechanisms, guidance system, and dozens of other things that a real rocket project would require? Is it all just smoke and fiberglass?
Why would you spend over $200,000 on this project and not take 10 minutes to investigate the basic requirements of a space launch license? How much of that $200K has really been spent on your own entertainment and residential property?
Isn't this whole thing just a gimmick to promote the sales of your toys? Isn't your real plan plan to blame your eventual failure on government regulations? Why else would you continue to ignore those regulations?
He arrives at his design criteria by waving his hands and saying whatever he thinks will impress the yokels.
When I witnessed two of his personal appearances, his attidude control system changed radically during the intermission at the casual suggestion of an attendee. During his second lecture, he spoke of the 'new' system as if had always been that way. I'm quite confident that his entire 'design' has been just as rigorous.
He's just promoting toys to the ignorant folks that he's conned into believing in his 'rocket' project.
But rocketguy has said that it's going to be a media event drawing "hundreds of thousands" of spectators. No longer an 'isolated desert' but a good size city.
The FAA will issue a space launch license only after a thourough risk analysis that is not likely to allow such a population nearby. Plus the BLM will have something to say about a crowd trampling the desert.
His ignorance of these issues (after years of 'work' on this project) tells me that he has no intention of flying a manned rocket. He's just selling toys.
His space launch license (which he hasn't tried to get yet) will require something on the order of a $5-10 million dollar liability policy. When I talked to him last summer (after he had supposedly spent $200K on the project) he had no idea what would be required (even though a simple web search would get him started).
He's just selling toys, guys.
Rocketguy will tell you something like $250,000. But if you look at his website, you'll find that most of that has been spent on his own entertainment ('training'), and on improvements to his property. He's spent a lot on fiberglass, but not much else on the 'rocket'.
What he has spent has been cheap publicity to sell toys.
He hasn't had any problems with them, since he hasn't bothered to talk to them yet. As of last summer, he was still maintaining that all he would need was "a simple waiver", which is absolutely false. *Anyone* can find this out with about 10 minutes of searching.
When questioned, in person, at different times, his story shifted, indicating that he is pretty loose with the truth on this subject.
This is just one more indication that his effort is just a publicity vehicle to sell toys. He'll strech this out a few more years, then blame 'government regulations' for his failure. He'll still be an everyman folk hero ready to start another scam, and the government will be his fall guy.
A launch of the size he is describing will definately require a space launch license. As of last summer, rocketguy hadn't begun to talk to the FAA about it. Since such a license requres several years of coordination and a significant amount of analysis and paperwork, it is clear that Walker has no real intention of making a rocket flight. It is merely a publicity vehicle to sell his toys.