Going Boldly
The rocket you see above is 25 feet tall. Upon launch near Pueblo on Saturday morning, it reached an altitude of 9,000 feet — a ceiling imposed by the FAA. It carried 18 scientific payloads, 17 deployable. It accelerated from zero to 300 miles per hour in just five seconds. The second stage reached nearly 350 miles per hour, and ended up so far downrange you needed binoculars to see it. The N-class solid-fuel engines powering it produce 24,000 times more thrust than an A-class engine you might buy at your local hobby shop.
I was there. It was inspiring.
It’s called the “FUTURE,” and it was built entirely by students and United Launch Alliance interns.
So when somebody tells you American kids can’t do science, you show them how the private sector can teach our kids.
I got all goosebumpy.
Looks like the U.S. will have to depend upon the private sector for future aerospace advancement and for teaching kids science because the government (Federal and state) sure as heck isn’t doing it. What passes for “science instruction” in school today is “green” alarmist indoctrination. If Obama is re-elected, look for Federal government agencies to shut down any private aerospace R & D due to “security” issues (“Can’t have those right-wing Tea-bagger nut-jobs developing their own cruise missiles or intermediate-range ballistic missiles!”).
I’m curious how fast and high they’d have made it fly without FAA restrictions.
(Not really making a political point here, I’m actually wondering.)
Me, too. Next year I’ll try to remember to ask one of the kids just that.
My guess is much, much higher.
That’s what we do.
How are we supposed to get anyone to do STEM work in this country if potential practitioners know that being in those fields in this country means facing grey-suited, pencil-pushing brick walls their whole career? They’ll all either offshore themselves or join another field, which creates a negative feedback loop that puts America ever further behind.
It’s a nice achievement. The big trick is keeping government out of the way. The ATF attempted to ban rocket motors as an explosive, and the rocket hobbyists had to fight a years long legal suit to overturn the regulation. (The problem, the regulation had no basis other than some bureaucrat thinking it looked explosive)