Theres amateur rocketry and then theres THIS

[rolly]

So, these guys in Denmark are building a rocket in their spare time. A real rocket, to go into space. With a person inside. An amateur manned spacecraft.

Here's their test rocket on it's floating launchpad, getting ready to be towed out to the launch area at sea by their home built submarine. If all goes well, this rocket launches in a week. This time it will be crewed by a dummy. This time.




They built a submarine for fun. The sub is the real thing, not some theme park ride. It goes on the ocean, and deep below. And tows rocket launch platforms. So now they're building a rocket. Why not?

One of the team members has designed lunar rovers for NASA, another is "a simple metal worker with no formal education", and the latter is the would be astronaut.

They've been posting their progress on SomethingAwful.com. That's right, they're Goons. Goons in Spaaace! Here is the 17 page and growing thread on the SomethingAwful forum.
Cliff notes version: Overview on Wikipedia
And the project's actual web page: http://www.copenhagensuborbitals.com/

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I wish them well.

[rolly]

And also:

It is, of course, insanely dangerous - compared to the NASA odds of 1 in 50, that's 4% of everyone that's launched into space - dead. On the other hand, it is an incredible experience - to actually do something like this.

If NASA, with the full blessing of the world, can make a makeshift spaceship of tin foil and launch themselves toward the moon in it, why are we being reckless? When our odds are the same?

And what's the alternative?

You're not going to reach the end of this blog alive, if your heartvalves fail within the next few seconds. They are these pieces of thin tissue, almost like torn pieces of skin, and if they should fail you die in seconds. They are whipping about in the blood stream. Thump... thump... thump... and if they fail you die.
Close to half of all danes die of heart failiure, the other half of cancer. Then there are other diseases and traffic. Wether you get on the rocket or not, you're a dead man in a few minutes, months, maybe years. Yeah sure, you might get laid, you might develope impotency, you might have kids, they might hate you, you deteriorate - and you might have some good times reading a book sitting in your rocking chair with your cat... But if you launch into space, you still have a 96% chance of having all that.

Personally, when I consider everything - I have no doubts. I'm pressing the button and I accept the consequences. Don't think that I'm not afraid. I think about it every time I dive with the Nautilus - or even when I'm falling asleep. But besides the fear, I also have this tingling sensation in my body, and I can almost hear Kennedy giving his speech about the rocket they are going to build with alloys they haven't even invented yet, or Churchill talking about "our greatest hour" - and I know it's a good feeling.

I think we can do it - and make it out alive and it will probably be the greatest thing since things were invented.

My life has given me so much, that I can hit the earth at Mach 3,5 and still be happy with it - instead of spending my last moments in a nursing home smelling of pee because the nurse is too busy to change my diaper. No, then I'd rather aim for the sky, right NOW.

[DerGolgo]

So, Denmark is going to launch a man into space before India...Who's the up-and-coming superpower now, ey?!
In Britain, some old codger looks a the old Blue Streak and Black Arrow specs and curses the darn government and their lack of foresight. The French will be boiling with rage. It will take no more than ten minutes for the conservatives over here to announce that Germany is not considering manned spaceflight, while the market liberals will, at a separate press conference, announce that they'll look into providing incentives for private enterprise to shoot a German into space. The tabloids will go absolutely nuts.

I mean, seriously.

14 guys. One of the project leaders is a metal worker. A sea-launch with submarine support. DENMARK.

This is, by far, the coolest thing EVER.

As long as they don't blow up during launch, this'll totally start a craze.

Doesn't really look like they have managed stable chamber pressure yet.

In any case, I'm considering moving to Denmark. Any government that gives permissions for this can't be all bad!

[Bigshankhank]

I, for one, welcome our new Danish overlords...

[piccini9]

This is just fucking amazing. Sadly, it reminds me of the time I told my Mom about this guy Goran Kropp.

From the Wiki:

For his famous 1996 ascent, Kropp left Jönköping on October 16, 1995, on a specially-designed bicycle with 108 kg (240 lb) of gear and food. He traveled 8,000 miles on the bicycle and arrived at Everest Base Camp in April 1996. Following a meeting of all of the Everest expeditions currently on the mountain, it was agreed that Kropp would attempt to summit first. On May 3, Kropp blazed a trail through thigh-deep snow and reached a point 300 feet from the summit. However, Kropp decided to turn around, believing that he would be too tired to descend safely if he went up further. While Kropp recovered from the ordeal at base camp, the 1996 Everest Disaster unfolded. Kropp helped bring medicine up the mountain. Three weeks later, on May 23, Kropp again tackled the mountain, this time successfully summitting (without extra oxygen support). He then cycled home.[1] He returned to Everest in 1999 with girlfriend Renata Chlumska to undertake a cleanup, during which they removed 25 discarded canisters from the mountain. They also made a successful summit attempt together.

After telling her this story, her only response was, "How did he get all that time off from work?"

I never had a chance, did I?

[Ban Guzzi]

This is just fucking amazing. Sadly, it reminds me of the time I told my Mom about this guy Goran Kropp.

From the Wiki:

For his famous 1996 ascent, Kropp left Jönköping on October 16, 1995, on a specially-designed bicycle with 108 kg (240 lb) of gear and food. He traveled 8,000 miles on the bicycle and arrived at Everest Base Camp in April 1996. Following a meeting of all of the Everest expeditions currently on the mountain, it was agreed that Kropp would attempt to summit first. On May 3, Kropp blazed a trail through thigh-deep snow and reached a point 300 feet from the summit. However, Kropp decided to turn around, believing that he would be too tired to descend safely if he went up further. While Kropp recovered from the ordeal at base camp, the 1996 Everest Disaster unfolded. Kropp helped bring medicine up the mountain. Three weeks later, on May 23, Kropp again tackled the mountain, this time successfully summitting (without extra oxygen support). He then cycled home.[1] He returned to Everest in 1999 with girlfriend Renata Chlumska to undertake a cleanup, during which they removed 25 discarded canisters from the mountain. They also made a successful summit attempt together.

After telling her this story, her only response was, "How did he get all that time off from work?"

I never had a chance, did I?

yer mom and mine must be related.

[Shhted]

I, for one, welcome our new Danish overlords...

As my Norwegian friend Steinar says "Why would anyone want to go to Copenhagen? There are so many Danes!"

[SidVicious]

you might have some good times reading a book sitting in your rocking chair with your cat.

Somebody's been looking through my windows.

what the fuck...

[Sisyphus]

Doesn't really look like they have managed stable chamber pressure yet.

Isn't that a pulse jet? You Germans are familiar with that technology, aren't you?

[DerGolgo]

Doesn't really look like they have managed stable chamber pressure yet.

Isn't that a pulse jet? You Germans are familiar with that technology, aren't you?

From what I gather it's supposed to be a hybrid rocket engine using liquid oxygen as the oxidizing agent and epoxy resin as the fuel.
It should give of a somewhat stable exhaust jet.
A pulse jet is an air breather and thus quite unsuitable for a spacecraft. Also, a reed valve, essentially a piece of metal being bent out of shape to open and then bent closed again (within the elastic limits, yeah yeah) doesn't strike me as something anyone sane would consider for a mission-critical application even in an unmanned machine.

If I were building a budget rocket, I'd go with the OTRAG concept. The nitric acid based oxidized might be quite nasty, but liquid oxygen isn't that easy to handle, either.

[rolly]

Bump. Launch window starts Monday, Aug 30 - Sep 17, 2010. Possibly flying this Tuesday. A Danish television crew will be on site so there should be some video afterward.



Regarding DerGolgo's comments on the static rocket test, yeah it's a bad thing.

The word from BOOSTER is that we are convinced that the oscillation problem seen in that video has been solved with an adjustment to the oxidizer flow and some baffles added to the combustion chamber.

They think they've got it under control, but it hasn't been tested! I can only assume because of their shoestring budget and time constraints -the Baltic sea in winter is no place to launch a rocket. And I love the nicknames. BOOSTER is Peter Madsen, metalworker, submarinewright, rocket builder, astronaut?

Decent writeup on Space.com: Private Danish rocket to launch mock astronaut Tuesday

Quote of the day, machine translated from Politiken:

There can roughly be three things: We can get a crash, we can fly supersonic or we can not shoot because of weather. If it becomes a crash, we hope it becomes a spectacular crash.

That's the attitude!

http://www.copenhagensuborbitals.com/

[rolly]

Postponed due to weather to Saturday.
Here's a video of the rocket arriving in Bornholm. http://nyhedsvideo.dk/100901raket/
Not as exciting as a launch, but hey, submarine pushing a rocket!

[rolly]

Anticlimactic update: Liquid oxygen valve froze, launch aborted.
Rumour has it the part that failed wasn't the valve itself, but the heater that was intended to keep it from freezing, which is a $10 hairdryer.

Next attempt June 2011

[DerGolgo]

Ah FUCK!

[Gahread]

which is a $10 hairdryer.

The whole rocket cost a hair over $60,000 from what I've heard. You realize that no matter HOW many setbacks they have, if they eventually get it past the Karman line into space at 100 km up, they're going to have the most insanely cheap sub-orbital program ever.

If that happens, it's time to give these guys two million bucks and tell them their goal is to get one metric ton into LEO. Anybody who mentions to them that this is impossible with current technology will be shot.

[rolly]

Our local bar, Rocket to Venus, which I know Rolly is familiar with, gets its name from a similar amateur space flight attempt.

Those guys and those guys should get together.

[DerGolgo]

They gone done it! Succesfull blast off!
Okay, the recovery chute didn't work right, but they got of the ground!!

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YeeHAW!

Den hævet har sin Stemme
For Videnskab og Kunst!!