The RRS held their monthly meeting on July 12, 2019, at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena. We had a very large turnout with over 26 people coming in to see the three different presentations we had and catch up on the latest news.
After our reading of the treasury report, we had a special announcement of the induction of five new administrative members to the RRS. Our society is growing and this is in large part to the great participation we’ve been having and the dedication of the many talented people at the RRS.
Larry Hoffing gave us a short summary of the UCLA Rockets project he supervised at the RRS MTA. This Wednesday, July 10th, event was the first since the pair of earthquakes that rattled the nearby town of Ridgecrest in the Mojave. The RRS is happy to report none of our structures had any significant damage and the MTA is very much ready to operate.
We next discussed the upcoming launch event at the MTA tomorrow with Operation Progress in Watts with the LAPD CSP. We’ll have several alphas and a beta launch. We also plan to have an alpha with a parachute recovery system put together by new member, Kent Schwitkis and his friend Brian.
RRS vice president, Frank Miuccio, has started a new educational program this week with the students of Boyle Heights. There will be 10 teams launching their rockets from the MTA in September.
RRS alpha outfitted with a 36-inch parachuteTwo alpha payload tubes with the nose cone and couplers installed. Reused parts from recovered alpha rockets.
Our first presenter was Kent Schwitkis who brought several of his students from Compton College to our Friday night meeting. Kent is a member of the Sierra Club and Ski Patrol and has many years of experience with wilderness survival and first aid. His presentation outlined the important of planning for many kinds of potential emergencies. One of the important results from this discussion was the need for the RRS to form a safety committee to begin preparing emergency plans and establish contact with the regional authorities in preparing to handle serious emergencies if the need would ever arise.
Kent Schwitkis and Waldo Stakes before the July 2019 meeting
The second presenter we had at the meeting was Sam Austin, a senior at MIT. Sam presented his two-stage solid rocket design to reach the von Karman line.
Sam Austin (right) presents his booster and second stage design for his solid rocket
Sam also detailed the kerosene-LOX liquid rocket design that was test-fired at FAR in January 2019. Although the test was short (3 seconds), his results were impressive and his injector survived intact..
Sam’s liquid rocket injector which was modified for 1500 lbf of thrust
The last presentation was by RRS members, Jack Oswald and Cooper Eastwood. They have been steadily improving their solid motor design and have fabricated their improved motor based on prior tests. Their goal is to reach the 50,000 foot altitude limit at the RRS MTA on July 20th. His “50 for 50” rocket is 12 feet tall and 5-inches in diameter built entirely from scratch. The launch is to be timed with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Jack and Cooper detail the progress they’ve made and their solid motor ready for flight from the RRS MTA on July 20th.
The solid rocket holds 30 lbm of APCP propellant with an estimated burn time of 3 to 4 seconds generating an impulse of 7000 lbf-sec. The rocket fully loaded is 84 lbm and should reach a peak acceleration of 30 G’s and a burnout velocity of Mach 2.5 as it reaches 50,000 feet.
A 100-foot drogue streamer will deploy from the recovery system followed by a 9-foot Apollo 11 replica parachute at 2000 feet. The flight events are driven by an upgraded classic flight computer from Eggtimer and an RRC3 dual deployment system from MissileWorks. The von Karman nosecone is 3D printed and the aluminum fin can was rolled onto the aluminum body to be painted in polished black and white pattern of the Apollo 11 vehicle.
The RRS looks forward to the successful flights of Sam and Jack’s rocket from FAR and the RRS MTA, respectively. Both will be on the 50th anniversary of mankind’s greatest achievement on July 20th.
If there are any questions or corrections, please contact the RRS secretary. The next meeting of the RRS will be August 9, 2019.
The RRS met for our monthly meeting on Friday, May 10, 2019, at 7:30pm at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena, CA. We were not as well attended this month, but we did have three new people join us at the meeting. With Mother’s Day weekend and graduation ceremonies happening at this time of year, many had other commitments.
The RRS welcomed David Minar and John Krell to the May 2019 meeting.
I must admit my error this week. I did realize too late that my monthly email to announce the meeting was not sent this week. Typically, I do send an email reminder to our active membership list (or anyone else who wants to know) on the Monday before meeting which also contains a copy of the agenda. Next month, I will not forget as this unintended experiment has shown that our reminder emails can be valuable to our membership.
The RRS has our monthly meetings always at 7:30pm on the 2nd Friday of each month. I usually mark my whole calendar each year with all of the 2nd Fridays to avoid schedule conflicts, but this is only a suggestion. Our meeting location is at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena, unless otherwise announced in advance.
Also, in about the week prior to the meeting around the first of the month, I will gather up the agenda topics expected for the next month and post . All members are welcome to send their suggestions and ideas for agenda topics. We especially want short topics (5 minutes) on things related to rocketry, chemistry, payloads or just any kind of project you’re working on. The society is about sharing knowledge. Send an email to the RRS secretary or any of the executive council and we can put it on the agenda. Some of our members who aren’t in town have submitted things to be presented at meetings in the past which is also something the society can share in our meeting if the materials are clear enough and sent well in advance.
After calling the meeting to order and the reading of the treasury report, we began our agenda for May and covered most of the topics leaving some for June 14, 2019.
Waldo Stakes (left reclining) and new RRS member, Kent Schwitkis, a professor at Compton College. Kent joined us at the 2019 RRS symposium and we bid him welcome at the May 2019 meeting.
(1) Discussion of the 2019 RRS Symposium
The 2019 RRS Space & Rocketry Symposium held on Saturday, April 27th, was a success. We had a few different presenters this year in our lineup, welcomed a few new exhibitors and were very well attended over most of the day. According to Frank, we broke last year’s attendance by a small margin. RRS president, Osvaldo Tarditti, was very pleased with the amount of support we got from our membership in the night before and early morning of the symposium. Also, the RRS was very glad to have support we did at the end of the symposium in tearing down and cleaning up at the close of the day. These often overlooked simple details make running the symposium a real pleasure even at the end of a long day.
Frank Miuccio, RRS Vice President and Symposium Coordinator. The RRS thanks to Frank for all of his hard work in bringing together many people and many things to make this 2019 symposium another success.
We had our first opportunity to discuss the positive things at the symposium at the May meeting and this took up most of our meeting time. We were very happy to see so many groups come out including Spaceport LA, ROC and two organizations within the US Air Force (SMC at LA AFB and AFRL from Edwards AFB). The food truck vendor was also a great success. Many people enjoyed the pleasant weather and good food we had on site at lunch time. The outdoor exhibits were also a big hit. We are also thankful to LAPD CSP and the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department. The society will take notes to help with improving and expanding our next symposium still in planning for April 2021.
Some things that could have been better was sound quality. It was generally agreed that better speaker placement and the cloth barriers behind our audience rows was not sufficient to dampen out the noise from several running exhibits and the general foot traffic. It was my suggestion that we return to the 2017 format of having our presentations in the separate meeting room in the back and keep our exhibitors in the ballroom and at the main entrance.
We have also discovered that our exhibition seems to do well starting first thing in the morning and lasting until mid-afternoon. However, our audience attendance for our speakers tended to be better starting in the late morning and lasting all the way to the end of the day. The RRS is considering having fewer presenters but keeping the duration and range of content the same. Our audience seems to enjoy the topics that our speakers have been offering, so we will continue in this direction. The RRS will likely discuss more of our member and attendee impressions of the symposium at the next meeting on June 14, 2019.
(2) Terry Price’s presentation on composite materials used in rocketry – delayed to next month
Terry was unable to attend the May meeting, however, he did say that he could join us next month. Terry gave a great hour and a half presentation of composite materials at the EAA 96 monthly meeting in April. I hope he can bring some of the same excitement that he generated at the Compton Airport to our June 14 meeting in Gardena.
Terry Price, retired, formerly at Cerritos College and a nationally recognized expert in aerospace composite materials
(3) Upcoming events at the RRS Mojave Test Area
The rocket build event with Spaceport LA planned for early May was cancelled. We hope to reschedule a similar event with them very soon. The RRS is always interested in supporting these rocket build events with public and private groups if there is sufficient interest. Larry Hoffing is our events coordinator and the point of contact for setting up these kinds of events.
events@rrs.org – Larry Hoffing
UCLA will be having their rocket launch event at the end of the Spring Quarter 2019 on Saturday, June 1st. Several model rocket motors will be fired as part of Dr. Mitchell Spearrin’s undergraduate class. We have been glad to support UCLA for three years running in hosting this event. The RRS has also been glad to support their liquid and solid rocket motor teams over recent years.
At this same June 1st launch event, Osvaldo and I talked about securing the alpha thrust stand and having a series of static hot fires to generate more thrust curves for our micrograin alphas. From the one and only thrust curve we made, it appears that the RRS standard alpha qualifies as an “I” sized motor. We had a setback last year when the concrete slab to which the rocket and thrust stand was secured proved to be an insufficient foundation to react the swift impulse loading of an alpha. We have this footage of this defective hot-fire test on our Instagram account. It’s almost comical, but we must do better for the sake of safety and good science. Further, we need more data. The RRS does not intend to commercialize the standard alpha, but for the sake of future projects using this vehicle as a test bed, it would be good to have more recent motor performance measurements.
First of ten alphas right at liftoff
Some of our membership had indicated interest in building payloads to fly inside of the RRS standard alpha rockets we fly at each of these school events. Nearly all of these payload tubes are empty and are available to members able to build and supply their payloads before the event. Contact the RRS president for more details on alpha rocket payload tube specifications.
president@rrs.org
Frank has confirmed another rocket build event starting this summer in June through the LAPD CSP program. LAPD has been an ardent supporter and our rocket build programs are a big hit with the kids. The final part of the project is the launch event at the RRS Mojave Test Area (MTA). This will likely take place on Saturday, July 13th. We often have at least six alphas and sometimes as many as a dozen rockets at these events.
(X1) A brief word to potential users of the RRS MTA
Our membership is welcome to bring more tests and flights to the manifest. The only requirements the RRS has is that all participants download and submit a Standard Record Form available from the RRS.ORG forms library. This document provides a basic description of the project that members or other authorized attendees intend to execute at the RRS MTA. Supporting illustrations and documents are encouraged to help explain the task and operations for the supervising pyrotechnic operator. Approval of all activities at the RRS MTA are at the discretion of the supervising pyrotechnic operator and the RRS.
For those outside of our membership wishing to use the RRS MTA, the society requires submission of Standard Record Forms for all proposed activities. These must be submitted to the RRS president at least 14 calendar days in advance of the planned MTA event. Details of these tests can be held confidentially, but the RRS must have the opportunity to review, understand and approve all activities at the RRS MTA well in advance of the event. The RRS would prefer to have at least a month’s notice if not more. The RRS has been glad to assist more and more groups particularly with universities, however, we can not always support events particularly when we get little or no advance notice.
In the professional aerospace industry, it is a common practice to schedule a date with the testing site many months in advance and use this calendar deadline to help motivate the team to achieving meaningful results in time for the pre-set date. Scheduling a test date as an after-thought in executing a project often leads to disappointing results. Also, the society strongly recommends that users consider using times of the year other than at the end of semesters or quarters. If an event is planned well in advance, we will keep it on our calendar and can more easily have the personnel and resources ready.
The RRS must coordinate our activities with several parties and the better informed we are and the more notice we have will result in the RRS being better able to serve our prospective membership and clients. For any questions about RRS policy or practices, please contact the RRS president. The RRS is a volunteer organization and will always make our best effort to support rocket programs and projects.
(4) Pyrotechnic Operators for Rocketry in California
The RRS has been on a campaign to get more of our membership to apply and attain their pyrotechnic operators license. We’ve enjoyed a lot of support from many of our licensed membership in getting the necessary letters of recommendation for the application process. The RRS has also been glad to have the advice and assistance of the California Fire Marshal’s office. Osvaldo Tarditti, Larry Hoffing, Drew Cortopassi, Chris Lujan and myself have been in the application process for the rocketry pyrotechnic operators license. At the May 2019 meeting, Alastair Martin indicated his interest in becoming a pyrotechnic operator also. With more pyrotechnic operators on the state roster, there is more opportunity for more groups to conduct events throughout California. The RRS plans to remain active in our support to the public.
It’s with pleasure that I announce that I have attained my 3rd class rockets pyrotechnic operator’s license from CALFIRE this month. This annually renewable license allows me to buy high powered solid motors and supervise launch events within this class of solid motors. I hope to soon announce more pyrotechnic operators at the RRS very soon. The RRS is also very glad for the support of the licensed pyro-operators in our society and outside of our society at Friends of Amateur Rocketry (FAR). It is through the mutual support of all rocketry organizations that we expand our voice in the state and maintain a high standard for safety and the bold tradition of experimentation made possible in the Golden State.
RRS’s newest pyrotechnic operator, Dave Nordling
It’s my intention to upgrade my license to rockets 2nd class to be able to supervise and manage the unlimited category of solid rocket motors. The RRS is an organization that regularly conducts flights and testing in the unlimited class of solid motors. Our proud tradition of responsible experimentation in solid rocket technologies has one of our perrennial activities for over seven decades from micrograin to composite motors.
For more information on the licensing process for pyrotechnic operators as it pertains to rocketry, please contact CALFIRE directly.
(5) RRS Constitutional Committee
Now that the 2019 RRS symposium is complete, the RRS Constitutional Committee will begin their task of systematically revising and updating the RRS constitution. This task was approved by the society earlier this year and the committee comprised of two regular members (Larry Hoffing and Bill Janczewski) and one executive council member (Frank Miuccio) were appointed to begin this task over the summer.
The RRS Constitution has been updated periodically through amendments and notices over the years. The society has decided that a full review and incorporation of all changes be made in an update to the constitution to be voted and approved by our active voting membership near this year’s end. The main intent of the committee is to examine the constitution and recommend changes to better reflect how the society operates today. RRS president, Osvaldo Tarditti, did offer a word of caution that the Constitution should not be too specifically worded to over-regulate our operations. He has recommended that the committee take a minimalist approach and the committee will take this under advisement. Frank already has copies of the last edition of the RRS Constitution and amendments. These materials are available to all society members and some may already be on the RRS website.
This new revision will be known as the 2020 Constitution. It is a big effort and the society looks forward to the committee’s draft to be presented at the September 13, 2019, monthly meeting where suggestions and discussions will first commence.
(6) RRS Social Media Improvements – Recurring Topic
Alastair Martin was able to talk a little bit about RRS social media improvements and advertising of RRS events in general. One of his suggestions was that the society examine the use of EDDM (Every Door, Direct Mailers). These are the large postcard advertisements that organizations use to go into the mailboxes of targetted audiences throughout a region. Alastair has used these in the past with some of his events and had great success. The cost is substantial, but the results could be many more people getting notice to come to future symposiums and other large events with the RRS.
RRS media officer, Alastair Martin, discusses his ideas for marketing future RRS events at the May 2019 meeting
I had offered a suggestion that the RRS consider the use of more forms of electronic payment to help our ability to sell items at events or take membership dues and application fees. Venmo is a smartphone application that can be convenient for some to make direct payments to the RRS. The society seemed open to the idea, but it seemed to require further discussion and a vote to implement the change. There may be other means of electronic payment to consider however we must be cognizant of the fees involved and how practical each means would be for the society. We can bring this subject up again at the next meeting on June 14, 2019.
Currently, the RRS only has a PayPal account which is connected to our “DONATE” button on the RRS.ORG website. We encourage new applicants to use the “DONATE” button to tender their application fee ($40) if they desire associate membership at the RRS. Also, for our current membership, annual dues payments are much easier if made through PayPal or using our “DONATE” button. The only we ask for online donors is that they make a note of what the contribution is for and who we have to thank.
The RRS still accepts payments by direct mail to our post office box shown in our RRS.ORG website. The mailbox is not very frequently examined so it is strongly advised that all persons making payments to the RRS by direct mail contact the RRS president or RRS treasurer by email in advance to let them know to inspect the mailbox soon after the mail arrives. It is not uncommon for our direct mail to sit for a week or more.
Lastly, Alastair made mention of the next Rocket Talk Radio podcast which Richard Garcia and I will be a part of on Saturday, May 25th. The subject of this hour-long program will be Robert Truax. Truax was a key figure in 20th century rocketry and an important pioneer in the decades before the so-called “NewSpace” movement.
(7) RRS Participation with the CALFIRE committee on rocketry
The RRS was invited to attend CALFIRE’s review of the state’s regulations and laws on rocketry. Both the RRS and FAR have been reviewing regulations and preparing suggestions for improvements and clarifications to CALFIRE legislation governing the practice of amateur rocketry in California. The state has been very open to hearing from the amateur rocketry community about ideas and common sense changes that would make regulation better for all participants. Osvaldo has been involved with this activity and will soon schedule a separate meeting for RRS pyro-op’s to share and review our ideas. The CALFIRE committee will meet again in November 2019 and the RRS will offer our views on how the law can best serve the public.
(8) Topics for next meeting
Time ran out in the May meeting. Next month’s agenda will include further discussion about the RRS involvement with the base11 organization and the liquid rocket project (LR101) at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum (TAM).
Richard Garcia has indicated his interest in getting the first prototype of the RRS standard liquid rocket motor built and tested.
RRS members have been helping different university groups on their liquid rocket projects and we expect to greatly expand our activities in this area as this year unfolds.
Lastly, the quarterly update for the SuperDosa project will have be made at the July 12, 2019, meeting.
Our next meeting of the RRS will be Friday, June 14, 2019. We will likely have something to share from the MTA launch event with UCLA by then. If there are any corrections or additions to be made to this monthly meeting report, please notify the RRS secretary.
For the third year in a row, the RRS held its annual space and rocketry symposium at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena on Saturday, April 27, 2019. We had over 200 people come to share the event with us. This was slightly larger from last year’s 75th anniversary celebration which marked this event as a big success. We’re glad to bring our public audience new things to see at each of these events.
The RRS logo proudly displayed at the 2019 Space and Rocketry SymposiumThe power of teamwork. Folding RRS brochures on the night before the 2019 Space and Rocketry Symposium.
Our membership really delivered on setting up the ballroom for the event in record time. The RRS thanks our volunteer organization for donating their time in the night before and in the long day ahead.
The weather was cool in the night before. We set up in record time thanks to our membership.After the audio and video checks in the ballroom, the RRS test fired our paper rocket launcher. Everything was ready.The RRS symposium banner stands ready at the entrance of the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena, California
The RRS was glad to welcome many of our returning presenters and exhibitors such as the Rocketry Organization of California (ROC), US Rockets, Aerospace Corporation of El Segundo, Northrop Grumman of Redondo Beach, USAF SMC Heritage Center, UCLA, USC RPL, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, Additive Rocket Corporation (ARC) and Bill Claybaugh’s Space Transportation Institute.
We had many new presenters join us for the first time such as AFRL Edwards AFB, Leo Aerospace and CSU Fullerton. We were also glad to have Spaceport LA, Columbia Memorial Space Center and Outside the Lines Arts Education join us in the exhibitors hall.
Peace, Love and Rockets: my pick for best T-shirt at the 2019 RRS symposium. Many thanks to Rocketry Organization of California (ROC) for having one of the biggest displays for three years running.Rocketry Organization of California (ROC) is set up for the event to begin shortly.Rocketry Organization of California at the 2019 RRS symposiumJerry Irvine of US Rockets at the 2019 RRS symposium; manufacturer of high power solid motors
The RRS was glad to welcome several presenters from the local aerospace industry. Aerospace Corporation, a federally-funded research and development center (FFRDC), based in El Segundo and supporting mission assurance and research for the United State Air Force was a return visitor to our humble forum. We thank Dr. Christopher Zeineh for bringing another exciting current topic (MarsHop) in Aerospace’s research, this time with NASA and their Mars Exploration program.
Dr. Chris Zeineh of Aerospace Corporation presents at the 2019 RRS symposium on a project to increase the quantity of Mars soil samples in upcoming missions including Mars 2020.
Also, the RRS would like to thank Jacky Calvignac of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems (NGIS) from their Redondo Beach office giving an excellent presentation on spacecraft refueling systems. Northrop Grumman (formerly TRW many years ago) has been a big supporter of Los Angeles community events and we are blessed to have them share their work with our public audience.
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Edwards AFB, CA, was another one of our featured presenters at the RRS symposium. The RRS thanks Nils Sedano and Phuoc Hai Tran for making the long journey from the high desert of Mojave to be with us and share the exciting research done at AFRL Edwards AFB.
Leo Aerospace, a Gardena-based start-up company, was another one of the RRS’s presenters at the symposium. Leo Aerospace founders, Abishek Murali and Dane Rudy, gave our audience an exciting description of their low-cost concept to sending cubesats to low-earth orbit. Their unconventional hybrid approach uses a hot air balloon to lift a small launch vehicle above most of the atmosphere then using a small rocket to reach space. The launcher concept is sometimes referred to as a “rockoon”.
Additive Rocket Corporation (ARC) of San Diego, California, made an excellent presentation of their patented approach to advanced rocket engine design through the amazing possibilities of 3D metal printing.
Additive Rocket Corporation (ARC) of San Diego discuss their advanced technology at their exhibitAdditive Rocket Corporation at the 2019 RRS symposium
RRS member, Alastair Martin, was exhibiting his company, Production Tribe LLC, and WatchHollywood.TV. He was filming many of the presentations during the symposium. His latest project, Rocket Talk Radio, is a podcast program discussing current topics in rocketry and space exploration.
Alastair Martin and his exhibit at the 2019 RRS symposiumAlastair Martin films a presentation at the 2019 RRS symposium
The Los Angeles Police Department’s Community Safety Partnership (LAPD CSP) were our honored guests and exhibitors in the main lobby. LAPD CSP helped the RRS in welcoming our visitors and showcasing the fun we’ve all shared. For almost two years, the RRS has conducted educational programs with local schools in Watts, Compton and others across Los Angeles. The “Rockets in the Projects” program continues to go strong with another program planned for this summer, and possibly again in the fall.
LAPD officers at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena supporting the 2019 RRS symposium
We also were glad to welcome Mad Mike Hughes and new member, Waldo Stakes, to the symposium for the first time. Mad Mike brought his latest manned suborbital steam rocket vehicle for display in the north parking lot of the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena.
Mad Mike Hughes (left) and Waldo Stakes (right) stand in front of “Juan Pollo” the manned steam rocket being tested and flown.
The Titan rover team of CSU Fullerton had their rover on display with frequent demonstrations of its agility and ability to test technologies for future Mars and Moon exploration.
The Titan Rover team of CSU Fullerton was a big hit at the 2019 RRS symposium. Their engineers gave demonstrations out front of the community center for most of the day.CSU Fullerton presents their Titan Rover project at the 2019 RRS symposium
The RRS was glad to welcome back the Columbia Memorial Space Center of Downey, California. Similar to the RRS, they are an educational non-profit group working with local schools throughout the Los Angeles area.
Columbia Memorial Space Center of Downey, California, at the 2019 RRS symposium
One of our special guests at the RRS symposium was Deputy Fire Marshal, Ramiro Rodriguez of the California Fire Marshal’s (CALFIRE) office in Hollywood. Ramiro gave a great presentation to our amateur and professional rocketry audience on the subject of state regulations as they apply to our hobby and the licensing of pyrotechnic operators in the state of California. Ramiro has been very helpful with the RRS and is an advocate of rocketry in California. Ramiro was available to discuss licensing and permitting processes with our public audience throughout the day in the exhibition hall.
Ramiro Rodriguez of CALFIRE presents at the 2019 RRS Space and Rocketry Symposium
We had many university teams willing to share their latest success and challenges with their solid and liquid rocket projects.
University of California at Irvine showed up in force to support the 2019 RRS symposium
The UCLA Rocket Project is growing strong thanks to RRS member, Dave Crisalli. UCLA had a lot of new liquid rocket hardware on display at the exhibition.
UCLA Rocket Project on display at the 2019 RRS symposiumUSC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (RPL) shows the latest static hot-fire results from their Traveller IV vehicle; The RRS MTA was glad to support USCUniversity of California San Diego presents their Collossus portable and modular thrust stand for small liquid rocket testing
The United States Air Force was one of featured guests at the exhibition. Lt. Col. Porter of Los Angeles AFB was giving demonstrations all day to our public audience.
Lt Col. Porter of the USAF Space and Missile Command at LA AFB gives a demonstration at the 2019 RRS symposium
Next to Lt. Col. Porter was Karen Austin of the USAF Space and Missile Center’s (SMC) Heritage Center dedicated to showcasing the long history of the US Air Force and our national defense in space. Her presentation at the symposium on the US Air Force in Space was very well received. The RRS is very grateful to the USAF SMC at LA AFB for supporting our event.
Karen Austin of the SMC Heritage Center at Los Angeles AFB at her exhibit in the 2019 RRS symposium
The events at the 2019 RRS symposium were not limited to the exhibition hall, ballroom and lobby. We had several outdoor demonstrations of a pneumatic paper rocket launcher. This is always a big hit. The popularity was so great that the RRS had to build one of our own!
Lunch time break at the symposium brought most people outside to enjoy the cool weather in late April 2019
I have several more photos from other people who were kind enough to document the event. I would like to thank all who came to the event and hope we’ll see everyone back at our next symposium. The RRS was glad to welcome new members and returning members throughout the day. Some of our members traveled far to be with us for this special annual event. We were also glad to receive a few membership applications at the event. The RRS is glad to welcome new members anytime.
RRS president, Osvaldo Tarditti (left) and new member, Joseph Maydell, joining us from Tampa, FloridaJames Cox stands before his small copper thrust chamber at the RRS welcoming table at the 2019 symposiumRRS Treasurer, Chris Lujan, manages the audio, video and projection for the presentations.
The RRS membership voted last year that we would not hold our symposium in 2020. We will be focusing on our current projects and saving our resources for an even larger symposium event in 2021. The RRS is glad to have had three solid years of the symposium and great support from our participants.
The RRS front table welcomes our guests as the 2019 RRS symposium beginsThe Reaction Research Society exhibit in the main lobby of the Ken Nakaoka Community Center
Our next monthly meeting of the RRS will be May 10th at 7:30pm, following our standard 2nd Friday convention. We meet at the same place, the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena. Please stop by if you’re interested in learning more. We’ll be discussing the symposium and the many projects we have in store for this summer.
The RRS flag flies above the door into the exhibition hall at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center at the 2019 Space and Rocketry Symposium
