OFF THE WALL
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OFF THE WALL |
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Sos Babineaux on 11/8/99 2:04 PM said:
>> they forgot one more. the particle recovery system.
better known as a graffiti recovery. glue the motor in as well
as the nose cone and launch. the ejection charge will blow the rocket to pieces. this is
another crowd pleaser but a sure way to be asked to leave.
>>
Actually, I was trying to cover rocket recovery systems, which means you actually recover the rocket. I wasn't trying to cover all possible 'flight termination systems'.
Sure, the confetti system is available. Cigarette butt simulation system where the rocket streamlines into the ground un-impeded is also quite common. For extra points and arguments, piercing a vehicle while using this method. How about the nose-cone-on-a-chute system? This is especially fun if an expensive altimeter is contained in the light payload section and the winds aloft are high. Don't forget the ever entertaining confetti during boost systsm. That one always gets a cheer from the croud. Or you could do the vanishing rocket trick. This works best when there are broken clouds aloft. The rocket takes off very fast and is never seen again. This is also best done with expensive electronics and motor casings.
One of my favorites was shown at LDRS 18: the dual take-off system. With this system, the motor mount and motor blast right through the rocket while the fins and airframe remain motionless on the pad. It's not easy to make this work right.
While all of these are common 'flight termination systems' they hardly count as recovery systems.
Replies:
I found these descriptions of less than perfect flights rather amusing.
Thanks go to Peter Clay for compiling the list!
"In my efforts to compile a rocketry glossary, I found myself writing the same
definition again and again. All of these terms mean essentially the same thing. (Many were
added by contributors to r.m.r)
So, next time you need a word for it, here it is:
Airframe Shortener [or condenser]
Ballistic Recovery Sequence
Bellowsmaker
Birdpoop impression
Black Rock's Only Native Vegetation
Boomfer
Burrow Raider
Catastrophic Recovery Failure, Non-Deployment
Crab-grass Terminator
Collided with the Home Planet
Conducted an aggressive challenge to the lower boundary of the atmospheric flight
environment
Core Sample (implies nose cone separated, rocket remained stable)
Dirt Payload (ditto)
Down Early
Environmentally aware recycling (Sue, this one's for Mare :-))
Expeditious Packing (a special for those OS visitors)
Express [Descent, Return]
Face Plant
Finned Tentpole, Ashtray, Cupholder, etc.
Fins-Up Landing
Free Gravity Experience
Gopher Getter
Government cover-up.. (they always bury all of their mistakes :-)))
High Deceleration Paint Remover
High Diver
High Tech Fencepost
Homesick Rock
High Deceleration Geologic Survey
Heads Up, Fins Up
Lake Lucerne Survey Marker
Lawn Dart
Lost Arrow
Mole Chaser
Molequest
NC Relocator
Nose Dive
"OH SH*T!!!" Choir Production
Ostrich Wannabe
Ostrich's Worry
Planting a PVC tree
Pointy End Down
Postmature Ejection
Prompt Return
Prospector
Rapid Disassembly
Rapid deceleration trauma
[using] Retrodirt for Re-Entry
[On a] [Interrupted] [Attempted] Shortcut to China
Shovel Recovery
Sodseeker
[gone] Spearfishing for Land Sharks
Stalactite
[Total] Surrender to Gravity
Uncontrolled Oxidization (A CATO!)
Upper Lithospheric Probe
[Near] Vertical Descent
Victory of Gravity over [Intertia, Ingenuity]
Whistle In
Worm Skewer"
"These terms describe a ballistic return to earth caused by complete failure to separate or deploy, usually due in turn to staging or ejection failure; occasionally a stable return of part of the rocket following shock cord failure.
Other events believed to have this many euphemisms are generally slightly embarrassing and widely experienced or encountered. Many are secretly enjoyed. They include such things as se*, intestinal gas, consumption of alcohol by alcoholics, and occasions when Windows stops running."
Peter W. Clay NAR 18619 SR L1
Here's another one for your list.
Re-Kitting Your Rocket (A.K.A. Returning the rocket to kit form)
Mark
Tim Quigg on 11/11/99 6:58 AM said:
>>Hey Peter, here's another one for your list:>>
>>how about "Detectable Seismic Event"?>>
Quite often felt only by the owner of the rocket.
Mark