Ho Ho Holy cow, we launched a lot on Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great time at our cold ROCC Christmas monthly launch in December. The planning for this launch was less than perfect since the weather forecast was so “iffy” and we knew that we would have a light turnout with Christmas only a week away. Just a very few brave souls showed up on Saturday. A few did fly until the freezing rain started at about 12pm. Sunday’s turnout was a bit better but we still had a much lower turnout than usual. We need to focus on memberships in January. Though not required to attend and fly at the farm, donations provide the funds to maintain the club equipment, TRA and NAR association fees and insurance. A reminder to all who come out to the field that donations are necessary in order to pay expenses. The flight donation jar at the launch table goes to the land owner in appreciation for the use of his land and providing a storage shed for out equipment. We have a lot of good photographers out at the launches and we would like to post your photos, the good, the bad and the ugly on our club web site so contact Doc Russell at DOCR@wireknot.com or wireknot@gmail.com to see how to get your shots posted.

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Cassini-Huygens update 1/26/11

One of Brad's astronomy buddies sent out an invite to an upcoming FREE talk about the status of the Cassini-Huygens mission. It's in Greensboro, at the Natural Science center. 

It's on January 26 at 7:00 at the Natural Science Center of Greensboro. The talk will be given by Trina Ray, a member of  JPL's Cassini-Huygens staff. 

For more info, or if you're interested in going, contact Roger D. Joyner, OmniSphere Curator, The Natural Science Center of Greensboro,  336-288-3769

Website with info is located here.

Make-up launch on 1-1-11

Since the December launch got cut short by the rain, sleet and cold, and since we're not all postal employees having to adhere to that old slogan, we'd like to invite you out for a make-up day on the first of January.

Come ring in the new year with some real fireworks and loud noises from 11:00  till 3:00 at the Williams Farm, Midland, NC and start the new year off right.

See you there!

"Buckyballs" found... in SPACE!

This from NASA's space place:

The infrared spectroscopic signature of "Buckyballs," 60-carbon-atom molecules, have been identified in a planetary nebula.

Huge Space Molecules Found! Although not quite as big as soccer balls, they do resemble them with their spherical shape structured of hexagons and pentagons. They are the largest molecules ever found in space. They are "Buckyballs," found in the infrared spectral signature detected by the Spitzer Space Telescope in a neighboring galaxy. Read the article using Microsoft Word. Read the article using Adobe Reader.

Sunday is looking OK, but check comments

Well, we flew till about Noon, and then the sleet came.... so the field was cleared and reset.

Sunday is looking not too bad though, and Ken is trying to come down, so check back in a bit. We'll try and post as soon as we know what's what.

December 18th & 19th Launch

Weather update... I've been wathcing the emails going back and forth and the weather... Saturday is looking dicey at best, with frozen ground and then a long, slow, cold rain. Keep checking back here as Saturday may well be impossible for flying. Brad will make the call more than likely by Thursday night or Friday morning.

DR

Working toward our December launch...

Our membership drive is in full swing!  Remember, all memberships are up for renewal before January. And after getting the info from Roy on our member accoounts from figuring out the log-ins for the site, we've been kind of slack last year about getting our members to renew (to confess, myself included!) So remember, renew in December!

If you have a contribution for Kip and his family, we usually try and give them a little thank you for working so hard to keep us happy. (It ain't easy!)

So come on out and have a blast!

November 2010 Launch Report

by Louise Ferrell....... I hope everyone had a great time at our ROCC Thanksgiving monthly launch in November. We had an incredible number of fliers on 11/20 and a smaller group on 11/21. Conditions were excellent both days with the winds very calm on Sunday. Temperatures both days were in the 60's with few clouds in the sky. It was great to see everyone after such a long break from flying in Cabarrus County. Thanks for all the help setting and tearing down the launch. Everyone’s efforts were greatly appreciated! Ken Allen was present for both days and a number of fliers took advantage of the shopping opportunity. Ken should be there for the December launch so bring cash and/or cards; remember it is Christmas time!

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Turkey Day treats

First, a big THANK YOU to Sandy Houston, for his 2 Slow Motion video compilations that he's allowed me to post on the ROCC YouTube site... check 'em out.

Second, this from the NASA ISS tracking site, located HERE 

Look for the 2 that have elevations of 72 and 84 degrees. Those will pass almost directly overhead in Charlotte. Happy Turkey Day!

DR

THE FOLLOWING ISS SIGHTINGS ARE POSSIBLE FROM MON NOV 22 TO TUE DEC 07

SATELLITE	LOCAL	DURATION	MAX ELEV	APPROACH	DEPARTURE
	DATE/TIME	(MIN)	(DEG)	(DEG-DIR)	(DEG-DIR)

ISS	Wed Nov 24/06:08 AM	< 1	15	15 above SSE	15 above SSE
ISS	Thu Nov 25/06:32 AM	4	72	17 above SW	15 above NE
ISS	Fri Nov 26/05:24 AM	1	18	16 above SSE	18 above SE
ISS	Sat Nov 27/05:50 AM	4	84	26 above SW	16 above NE
ISS	Sun Nov 28/06:16 AM	3	24	18 above WNW	17 above N

November Launch

Update Sunday night... great flying weekend everyone! Thanks to Kip for getting the last of the crops out for us and thanks to everyone who pitched in and helped make it a great weekend.

Looking towards our launch window on the 20th & 21st, we need to pray for some rain. I'll explain. Kip is trying to get the remaining soy beans out of the fields. It's been so dry for so long that he can only harvest for a short time before the equipment gets so hot it sets fire to the machinery. (This has already happened at least once.)

So what we could really use is some nice rain. Just enough to wet down the crops but not so much that it gets so wet he can't work.

If Kip can get all the crops out, then we need to think about the danger of fire in the field should anything go wrong. The idea has been floated to get the vol. Fire Dept. to come out and hang with us for a day just to make sure. This would need an additional donation from all of the fliers and probably mean a single day launch.

Thursday night update, Ken Allen from Performance Hobbies will be at the launch this weekend. If you need something specific, you can contact him through this LINK.

Word is that he expects to be there both days. 

Team America Rocketry Challenge 2011

Registration ends November 30th

We're right in the middle of the TARC registration process, which started on the 8th of September and runs untill the 30th of November.

Some basic info from the NAR website:

Team America Rocketry Challenge 2011's target flight duration of 40-45 seconds is measured from the moment of rocket liftoff until the egg payload lands. The target flight altitude of 750 feet is measured by an onboard electronic altimeter. The top 100 teams from among all those who have entered will meet in a final fly-off competition on May 14, 2011 at Great Meadow, The Plains, VA. These top 100 teams will be selected based on the duration and altitude scores reported from local qualification flights that they conduct in front of an NAR Senior (adult) member observer at their choice of time up until the flight deadline of April 4, 2011

More information can be found HERE. I know that we have plenty of senior members available (some of us more "senior" than others!) to help and I believe that we've had 2 teams that members have mentored to take first place in the contest. If you're looking for a mentor for a team, or looking for a place to fly your research and qualification flights, use the email link and drop us a line!