Amateur rocketry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amateur rocketry, sometimes known as amateur experimental rocketry or experimental rocketry is a hobby in which participants experiment with fuels and make their own rocket motors, launching a wide variety of types and sizes of rockets. Amateur rocketeers have been responsible for significant research into hybrid rocket motors, and have built and flown a variety of solid, liquid, and hybrid propellant motors.
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[edit] History
Amateur rocketry was an especially popular hobby in the late 1950s following the launch of Sputnik, as described in the novel Rocket Boys. However, amateur rockets can be dangerous because noncommercial rocket motors fail more often than commercial rocket motors. An appalling accident rate led individuals such as G. Harry Stine and Vernon Estes to make model rocketry a safe and widespread hobby by developing and publishing the National Association of Rocketry Model Rocket Safety Code, and by commercially producing safe, professionally-designed and manufactured model rocket motors. Model rocketry by definition then became a separate and distinct activity from amateur rocketry.
The Tripoli Rocketry Association sanctions some amateur activities, which they call "experimental rocketry," provided certain safety guidelines are followed, and provided the motors are of relatively standard design.
[edit] Notable Events
On May 17, 2004 a group called the Civilian Space Exploration Team (CSXT) successfully launched the first amateur high-power rocket into space, achieving an altitude of 72 miles.<ref>CSXT web site: http://www.civilianspace.com/about/default.asp</ref>
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[edit] References
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