Rocketeers in Black Rock have 'Balls'

Approximately 200 rocket enthusiasts were on the Black Rock Desert to blast rockets thousands of feet into the sky for the 15th annual National Research Launch of the Tripoli Rocketry Association – called "Balls." The name says it all.

"If you've got the balls to fly it, this is the place to do it," said Wedge Oldham, designer of one of the most powerful rockets at this year's three-day event.
The association had to acquire wavers from the Federal Aviation Administration for the opportunity to launch experimental rockets as high as 100,000 feet.

On Saturday, the highest-flying rocket soared an estimated 80,000 feet. It was constructed by Gene Nowaczyk of Missouri.

Oldham, Jeff Anesetti, both of Los Angeles, and several friends and family members built a rocket designed to generate 2,850 pounds of thrust force for seven seconds. That’s enough to lift a small car into the air.

Size matters

Rocket power is classified by a letter of the alphabet.

Most model rocket motors bought in hobby stores are A, B or C motors, event officials said. Every rocket motor letter designation doubles the amount of power of the previous letter.

Oldham said high-powered rocketry begins at H motors and the highest certification available, a level three, is for M, N and O motors.

“We’re one of three people that are flying a Q motor (at Saturday’s event),” Oldham said. “It’s a significant event in rocketry history today...We’re not the first, but we’re one of the few people who are doing it on the planet.”

The event provides a venue where rocket professionals can create new motor sizes.

“One of the main learning tools in rocketry is, surprisingly enough, how did your last flight fail,” Oldham said. “If you have a successful flight, you really don’t learn anything.

“On my last project, two of the fins sheered off...as it went through the sound barrier,” he said. “So in this (rocket’s) fins we made beefier fins.”

Blastoff

All projects are reviewed and approved for safety before launch by the Tripoli Rocketry Association. But that doesn’t stop the unexpected from happening.

The rocket created by Team Numb from Portland, Ore., disintegrated in the sky sending a parachute, smoke tracers, and parts of the rocket’s body in separate directions. The team wandered across the dry lake bed picking up debris.

The Tripoli Rocketry Association can boast that some of the most famous names in rocketry are members, including Ky Michaelson of Bloomington, Minn. He was the first amateur to launch a rocket into space in May 2004.

It soared 72 miles at 3,420 mph, Michaelson said. He recovered most of the rocket the next day about 26 miles downrange of the Black Rock launch site because it held a tracking device.

“Our reason for doing it was to open the doors for the private sector to get into space,” Michaelson said. “Now consequently there are a number of people lining up to put rockets into space and because of our efforts they are able to work with Washington, D.C. and do that.”

He said it took two-and half-years to get a permit that previously hadn’t existed from the government, and he didn’t know what he was getting into when he started the $700,000 venture.

But he’s given up his rocketry hobby.

Michaelson said that now that he has accomplished his dream, he’s content to let others to pursue theirs.

MORE:
See Liz Margerum's photo gallery. The above photos are hers.

I'm producing a video of the event as well to be posted some time after Tuesday. So check back.