i built a rocket. the ratcket launched october 29th 2023 in the middle of a bean farm near culpeper virginiA.
IT DOES FEEL KIND OF EMBARRASSING TO HAVE stuff THAT YOU NEVER REALLY LET GO OF FROM CHILDHOOD, BUT I was a space kid and it lingers. THE FIRST BOOK I REMEMBER MY DAD READING TO ME WAS ABOUT BUZZ ALDRIN, WHO I STILL BELIEVE TO BE WAY COOLER THAN NEIL ARMSTRONG ALTHOUGH I DON’T REMEMBER ANY OF THE DETAILS FROM THAT Board BOOK THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY STAND TO BACK THAT UP. I UPGRADED TO BIGGER BOOKS ABOUT COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL AND I WROTE TWO OVERLY MEDITATIVE AND DOOMER-Y ESSAYS (ONE ON CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS AND THE OTHER ON LAGRANGE POINTS) WHICH I SUBMITTED TO THE APJ.
I TOOK ASTRONOMY MY SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL WITH MR. B WHO I STILL THINK OF AS AN INFLUENTIAL FIGURE IN MY LIFE EVEN THOUGH HE DID LITTLE MORE THAN unabashedly love what he taught, AND OFFER TO HELP ME PASS BC CALC ONCE. HE’D SAID I GOT THE HIGHEST CUMULATIVE GRADE IN THAT CLASS THAT YEAR. I TOOK ASTRONOMY AGAIN MY FRESHMAN YEAR OF COLLEGE WITH DR. GOWDY, WHO WROTE THE TEXTBOOK AND LOOKED LIKE SANTA CLAUS WITH A COWBOY HAT. I ASKED THEM ABOUT EACH OTHER AS THEY WERE BOTH surprisingly NOTABLE IN THE FIELD AND GOT EXTREMELY BUMMED OUT THAT TWO PEOPLE WHO WERE SO accomplished IN THEIR discipline STILL ENDED UP TEACHING SHITHEAD KIDS ABOUT GRAVITY or whatever. I GAVE UP ON A SCIENTIFIC CAREER IN ASTRONOMY.
ANYWAY, I JOINED the ROCKETRY team MY JUNIOR YEAR of college BECAUSE MY PARTNER AT THE TIME WAS IN ENGINEERing AND HAD JUST SIGNED UP, I WAS DOING A COMPUTER SCIENCE program AND WANTED TO LEARN HOW TO DO EMBEDDED SOFTWARE STUFF (I NEVER REALLY FIGURED IT OUT). THE SOFTWARE TEAM CONSISTED OF A FURRY WHO TURNED OUT TO BE A VERY NORMAL guy, AND An ECE SAMMY WHO WOULD GO ON TO BE ONE OF MY DEAREST FRIENDS. WE BARELY TALKED TO EACH OTHER THE WHOLE YEAR ASIDE FROM ME ASKING HIM A LOT OF REALLY DUMB QUESTIONS TRYING TO SET UP MY MICROCONTROLLER. WE ENDED UP CARPOOLING TO THAT YEAR’S COMPETITION AT THE END OF THE YEAR JUST THE TWO OF US, AND i was losing my mind whole time BECAUSE THE playlist HE WAS PLAYING in he car COULD’VE COME STRAIGHT FROM MY SPOTIFY. He got his first speeding ticket that day (20 over). WE HARD LAUNCHED THE FRIENDSHIP QUICKLY AFTER.
I AGREED TO BE TREASURER OF ROCKETRY THIS YEAR EVEN THOUGH THERE WASN’T REALLY a SOFTWARE COMPONENT FOR THE COMPETITION WE PICKED, SO I WOULDN’T BE DOING MUCH. I BUILT THIS ROCKET TO GET MY L1 CERTIFICATION WHICH WAS SUPER COOL. it’s got a rat on it and LOOKS KIND OF HALF-BAKED UP CLOSE, I LIKE THINKING OF IT AS A DIY EXPLOSIVE DEVICE BECAUSE IT IS ONE.
PLanning:
Build:
Launch:
I’m wearing the exact same tank top in every photo over the 2 months i was building this. Nice.