End of an era...

July 8th, 2011 is scheduled to be the last flight of the Space Shuttle program, STS 135.

Here's a LINK to the latest on NASA's Spaceflight.com website....

DR

June 19th

We are going to proceed toward a Sunday launch, and hope that we get at least a bit of rain tonight and tomorrow to keep the fire danger in check. We have both Nomex and wool blankets for the HP pads, NO SPARKIES will be launched. 

Normal set-up on Sunday, 10:00 AM, with tear-down around 6 or when we can't stand the heat any more. It's supposed to be 95 or so on Sunday so dress comfortably and bring SUN SCREEN!

We'll have just the newer system for this one so we'll need to keep the LP pads rolling and not let them sit too long.I'm collecting parts for the new launch system right now, and hope to have it ready for our September window. (crops permitting!)

So I hope to see you all out there, keep an eye on the site for last minute updates!

dr

June 4th & 5th makeup launch is Cancelled

Due to dry conditions and per Kip's concerns we are not able to fly this weekend. 

Please look in the discussion areas for more details on flying more this season.  The outlook is grim until fall/winter at this point.

May (June) Update 6/2

So from the comments and from talking with Brad the concensus is coming down to just shooting for our normal June 18th & 19th scheduled launch and hope that the corn isn't up too far in the next 2 weeks. At the rate it's raining that will probably be the case. If you want to review, read the section below:

I think it's the best decision, so as not to rush Kip and jepordize 30,000 dollars or so worth of barley.

DR

From 6/1/2011:

This from Ralph this morning:

Spoke with Kip this morning... The Barley is out and the corn is 8-12 inches tall, however, all the barley stacks are still in the field and if it stays dry all week it will be a fire hazard.  We may have to scrub anyway.  Lets hope he gets some rain this week.

From Brad:

Rain forecast appears to be weak.  Wunderground gives a 20% chance today, 30% tonight, 10% Thursday, and 20%  Friday.  The rain is characterized as “scattered” thunderstorms.

From Doc:

We'll post asap, but it looks iffy. I'm going to call a NOTAM, but don't know if we'll end up using it. I'm out for Saturday (in class next 3 Saturdays), as well as Roy. Ralph will need all the help he can get if we do this on this week end. Please keep up with the site and wish us all luck!

DR

May launch postponed

Finally spoke with Ralph & Kip about an hour ago, and it looks like the first launch window we'll have is the first weekend in June. The barley crop is still in, and he's trying to get it dry enough to harvest, but the rain is playing havoc with it as well as his other fields.One field down toward the river has flodded completely in the last storm.  (What a way to make a living!)

So lets look toward the weekend of the 4th & 5th of June and hope that it works out.

DR

Polynet tubing available

Sandy sent me a note about some Polynet tubing he got that was being discarded. It's the stuff that you see used to protect reload casings from damage. He wants to make it available for a donation to the club. Click the "Read More" link for the whole story.

Click to read more ...

Another anniversary

50 years ago today, May 5th, 1961, the US joined the space race with a shot that basically threw an American, Alan Shepard, up into the void of space for a bit over a quarter of an hour and an apogee of 116 miles.

LIFE magazine was there, with an embedded photographer named Ralph Morse. John Glenn nicknamed him the "eigth astronaut" because he was everywhere they went.

In an extraordinary body of work Morse documented the Mercury program with some stunning photos. LIFE has posted some of these very rare, some never published before, photos HERE.

Happy anniversary...

DR

Bon Voyage

For those that didn't see this Thursday... LINK

the 2 Voyager probes are entering interstellar space after 30+ years of traveling. I don't know which is the more amazing story, the fact that we were able to put them together on a fairly short timeline and get them out there, that they did their jobs so well, or that they still stay in touch after all this time.

I just finished THIS book and recommend it highly if you're interested in the background of the early days at JPL.

DR

Fair thee well, little buddies, fair thee well...

New Videos

Dave Strunk (I think, there's no return address) sent me a bunch of new videos... check 'em out on the ROCC YouTube Channel link!  Thanks Dave!

April 2011 post launch report

Our intrepid and always generous "Dr Watson", Roy Potter has filed his report on the goings-on from Sunday, April 17th. Remember that it was our 1-day launch because of the weather. And speaking of the weather on Saturday we were really lucky in our part of the state. Our neighbors to the east were dealt a much heavier blow. Please, do what you can to help. Click on "Read More" for all the action...

Click to read more ...