Backyard space pioneers will be aiming for orbit

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH ^ | 04/29/08 | Phillip O'Connor

[KevinDavis]

BELLEVILLE — It's easy to be skeptical of Gary Streeter's plan to put a satellite into space.

After all, he has bought many of his rocket parts at Home Depot. His engine testing ground is the weed-choked yard of a 145-year-old brick home on the edge of downtown. And mission control sits in the backyard, inside a lemon-yellow building the size of a one-car garage with windows covered by colorful curtains of rockets, stars and planets. It's there, in his spare time, where Streeter — amid piles of boxes, furniture and books — tinkers with his plans to launch a satellite on the 40th anniversary next year of the first moon landing.

[KevinDavis]

[festus]

Other than the FAA I see no reason this isn’t within the realm of possibility.

Question though. As a model rocketer egg lofting and/or hamster lofting was all the rage. Will we be allowed to launch small rodents into orbit if this works ?

[wastedyears]

[Telepathic Intruder]

PETA would go ballistic. Getting the hampster back alive would be near impossible, considering the added complications of life support, deorbiting, reentry, and landing, not to mention navigation.

[Eaker]

not to mention navigation.

Give the hamster some credit.

Humblegunner's has been the designated driver for years!

[SunkenCiv]

My old pen pal retired in his fifties and began to pursue high power amateur rocketry. He built and tested at least a couple of engines burning kerosene and hydrogen peroxide, and was gearing up for another test. While distilling his own H2O2, it ignited, and he died of his burns. Rest in peace, friend.

Robert Wayne Compton

But, be sure to see Robert's Static Test of Hydrogen Peroxide Kerosene Motor and Test of the Large Motor.

[anymouse]

Distilling and handling high concentration H2O2 is dangerous business. Even cautious pros can get surprised in a bad way, just as Burt Rutan.

Glad serious amateur rocketeers aren’t knuckling under to the authorities and are still pushing back the frontiers of cheap space access.

[SunkenCiv]

Robert wrote that "The performance of the H2O2/kerosene motors is not trivial producing the highest density impulse of any usable oxidizer/fuel combination." I've seen that elsewhere, and have posted that on FR before. It is too bad about those drawbacks. :') But commercial (and expensive) sources are available, and I'm sure someone is working on something like Bob's design.

Google

[SunkenCiv]

Build your own Liquid Fuel Rocket Engine
http://home.total.net/~launch/

[snip] The SS67B-1 uses 50% Hydrogen Peroxide as the oxidizer. It is a little known solution that was first used in a more concentrated form in Germany’s WWII V2 rockets. In a diluted form, it is still powerful enough and performs admirably as an oxidizer in the SS67B-1. In addition, it is safe to handle, has a relatively low cost (the B-1 needs about $6 worth per launch), is accessible to the general consumer, and has an oxygen content that is comparable with solid oxidizers. [end]

“...can food grade 35% H2O2 be used in a rocket engine setup?”
http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=160711&page=1

Hydrogen Peroxide Distillation Machine
http://www.tecaeromex.com/ingles/destilai.html

Hydrogen Peroxide as Fuel
From PESWiki
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Hydrogen_Peroxide_as_Fuel

H2O2/Kerosene
http://www.astronautix.com/props/h2oosene.htm

Damien Teney’s rocketry pages: H2O2 propulsion
http://www.student.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/~teney/h2o2propulsion.htm

General Kinetics Rocket Engine Catalog
Hydrogen Peroxide Rocket Engines
http://www.gkllc.com/hydrogen_peroxide_rocket.html

[JDoutrider]

Rocket fuel BUMP!

[SunkenCiv]

Inventor building rocket in back yard (Mine: Pursuit of happiness; will license be granted?)
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a395984be729f.htm

[Straight Vermonter]

PETA would go ballistic.

Actually just the hamster would go ballistic.