Lonesome Robot Press :: Jack Graham » rocketry http://lonesomerobot.com science fiction, gaming & the occasional rant Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:34:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Indie rocketry on the Black Rock playa http://lonesomerobot.com/2009/08/01/indie-rocketry-on-the-black-rock-playa/ http://lonesomerobot.com/2009/08/01/indie-rocketry-on-the-black-rock-playa/#comments Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:09:36 +0000 Jack Graham http://lonesomerobot.com/?p=42 Rocketry in the Black Rock Desert (photo by Steve Jurvetson of the Photo Synthesis blog)Burning Man? Yeah, sure, it’s nice… but these photos and videos by Steve Jurvetson of the Photo Synthesis blog (whose name is just three letters off from “Jetson”) made me wish my Playa experience involved more rocketry and fewer exploding oil derricks. The post linked to here is full of rocket porn and geeky stats. Jurvetson is associated with a group called Rocket Mavericks, who appear to be the exact opposite of burners — except for the drive to build crazy but impractical stuff and then play with it in the desert. Their photostream is plenty of fun, as well. At one point I was very skeptical about the idea of civilians marshaling the skill and resources to conduct space launches, but the rocket pictured here apparently has six times the thrust of most cruise missiles. These folks are hobbyists, but it shows that the game is changing.

“Happiness is Earth in your rear view mirror.”

Thanks to Aunt Emma for alerting me to this one.

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