 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
|
|
 Previous: ARRL Supports FCC's Cognitive Radio Technology Proposals with Reservations |  Next: Longtime ARRL Staffer, SSB Pioneer By Goodman, W1DX, SK |
 (L-R) CSXT avionics crew members Don Skinner, N1HWR, Eric Knight, KB1EHE, and Rod Lane, N1FNE, work on the rocket's telemetry system in a basement workshop. |
NEWINGTON, CT, May 12, 2004--An amateur rocket team this month will attempt to send a 21-foot-tall rocket carrying a ham radio avionics package into the fringes of space. The launch by the Civilian Space Xploration Team (CSXT) could occur--Mother Nature and the technology willing--as early as Monday, May 17, from Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Some 20 months ago, the last CSXT try to reach space ended some three seconds after launch when the rocket's engine exploded. Avionics Team Leader Eric Knight, KB1EHE, says CSXT has since rebounded from that devastating blow with a newer, bigger vehicle.
"We are very
pumped," the Connecticut amateur told ARRL. "Our confidence level grows with each
launch. All the ingredients are there for success." Knight's avionics team
includes eight Amateur Radio licensees, most of whom also were involved in the
2002 launch attempt. The entire CSXT team, headed by CSXT founder and Program
Director--and former Hollywood stunt man--Ky Michaelson of Minnesota, has 18
members. The rocket, which CSXT claims is the most powerful amateur rocket ever--will
bear the name GoFast in recognition
of corporate sponsor Go Fast Sports and
Beverage of Colorado. The Connecticut marketing firm Fuscient LLC has signed on as a lead
sponsor for the 2004 launch and will provide much-needed capital and Web site development.
 Eric Knight, KB1EHE, and Chet Bacon, KA1ILH, work on the patch antennas for the avionics bay telemetry. |
In terms of Amateur Radio, the GoFast rocket will transmit telemetry on the 33-cm amateur band and Amateur TV at 2.4 GHz using a high-quality color camera. The avionics also incorporate multiple global positioning system (GPS) units to record the vehicle's precise location and flight path, redundant data acquisition and storage systems, and a variety of data sensors.
"We're confident the technology will be ready," Knight said. "It's all based on ham radio technology."
Once the rocket goes up, appropriately equipped amateurs may be able to receive signals from the approximately 2 W transmitters onboard, even at some distance from the launch site, Knight says. Specific frequencies have not yet been selected, however. In addition, the team may set up an HF station at the launch site.
The avionics crew even managed to salvage a few electronic
components for the 2004 launch from the avionics package that went up--and
abruptly came back to Earth--on the 2002 attempt. The earlier package continued
to function flawlessly until that mission's 17-foot rocket crashed into the
desert, and Knight says, some parts were recoverable.
 The avionics team: (L-R) Don Skinner, N1HWR; Julia Cohn, KB1IGU; Steve McMacken, KD7SQX; Eric Knight, KB1EHE; Chet Bacon, KB1ILH; Elsie Mathews, KB1IFZ, and Rod Lane, N1FNE, just before the ill-fated 2002 launch. (Not pictured: Sam Guccione, K3BY.) |
"I guess that's the nature of ham radio operators," Knight said. "We like to recycle and reuse, so in keeping with that same spirit we were definitely able to reuse some of the components. That kind of makes it extra-special to refly some gear that was flown on the last mission."
Plans call for the solid-fuel rocket to zip upward from the desert floor and reach a speed of more than 4000 MPH in about 9 seconds. Assuming all goes well, the suborbital vehicle will, on its own momentum, attain an altitude of 100 km or 62 statute miles--high enough to be considered "space"--linger there for a couple of minutes then arc back to Earth some 26 miles down range. The whole thing will take somewhat less than a half-hour, Knight says. If successful it would mark the first amateur rocket launch into space. The venture requires Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approvals, and FAA representatives will be on site for the launch.
The 10-inch diameter rocket tapers to a fine-pointed steel nose cone. The body of the rocket is aluminum. The avionics package for this launch, Knight said, will be farther down in the vehicle rather than compressed into the nose cone area, as it was in 2002.
This latest effort comes at no mean expense in terms of the team's personal time and money. Knight estimates "many tens of thousands of dollars" have gone into the current effort--some of it from team members' own pockets--and "incalculable hours of volunteer time" to assemble the electronics and the vehicle itself.
Knight is optimistic that the team has gained valuable
knowledge from its past failures. "We've learned a lot that you can't get from
a textbook," he said. "We feel we have a chance to make history."
| Previous: ARRL Supports FCC's Cognitive Radio Technology Proposals with Reservations | Next: Longtime ARRL Staffer, SSB Pioneer By Goodman, W1DX, SK |
