The Reaction Research Society is pleased to announce we will be holding our 80th anniversary space and rocketry symposium on Saturday, April 15, 2023. Invited speakers are from universities, government agencies and local industries. We will have exhibitions and demonstrations throughout this all day event starting at 8AM and ending at 5PM.
Mary Star High School, San Pedro, California
The symposium will be held at the Mary Star High School in San Pedro, California.
More details will be forthcoming including our list of speakers and our fundraising projects.
The society had a successful series of symposiums from 2017 through 2019 until the pandemic forced us to cancel the 2020 Symposium. After three years, we’ve decided to relaunch just in time to celebrate eight decades as an educational and research focused organization. The prior symposium was such a success that we have already begun to confirm speakers including Aerospace Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Ventura Energy Systems, Cal Poly Pomona, CALFIRE and the FAA.
Contact our vice president, Frank Miuccio, for information. We look forward to sharing our past, present and plans for the future at the symposium.
The 2022 RRS Constitution has successfully passed a ratification vote as determined by our election chairman, Drew Cortopassi, on 2/1/2023 and confirmed by the executive council on 2/6/2023. The new Constitution takes effect immediately and fully replaces and supersedes all previous versions. The new Constitution will be placed on the new RRS.ORG website when it is launched at the end of this month.
The changes are largely minor with some removal of outdated portions still remaining from past decades. Changes were also made for consistency and to more accurately reflect and define how we operate today. The last revision to the RRS Constitution was over 30 years ago. The arduous review and overhauling process took nearly 4 years since the council first approved the formation of the three member Constitutional Committee which was formed February 2019 and dissolved in January 2022.
I would like to thank all of those who served on the Constitutional Committee and the prior executive councils for their persistence and dedication to this important governing document of our organization.
The RRS held a firing event at the MTA on Saturday, February 28th, 2023.
The purpose of the event was to provide training for several society members who desired to gain experience in support of applications for Rockets – Class 2 Pyrotechnic Operator’s licenses from CALFIRE. Jim Gross was the PyroOp in charge for the day, with Rushd Julfiker, Michael Rouleau, Leanna Lincoln, and Keith Yoerg receiving training. The winter morning started off cool with Michael, Keith, and Leanna opening up the MTA and preparing the site for the day’s testing.
from left to right, Leanna Lincoln, Michael Rouleau, Rushd Julfiker and Jim Gross
RRS standard alpha rockets that had previously been launched as a part of RRS youth outreach programs were disassembled and cleaned of residue from their previous firings and propellant mixing supplies were prepped. Rushd arrived while Keith prepped and loaded his high power rocket “Flight On!” with an Aerotech H182-Redline motor for a launch later in the day.
Once Jim arrived at the MTA, a safety briefing was held and everyone in attendance provided a brief introduction detailing their background and interest in rocketry. The static test stand was then bolted to the vertical test stand concrete pad using bolt anchors already in place on the pad. The test stand is a modified I-Beam provided by Jim. After a temporary delay from difficulties in getting the gasoline generator up and running, enough zinc and sulfur micrograin powder for 4 firings were added to the mixing bucket and set up on the mixer.
Loading of alpha propellant tubes, Jim Gross overseeing the operations Grilled lunch at the Dosa Building
While the propellants mixed, the group returned to the Dosa building for a lunchtime grill out of brats and pineapple. During lunch, the group watched a video on electric match ignition safety from the early 2000s’s provided by Jim, which had to be stopped early to return to the testing task at hand before daylight ran out. The video was “Basics of Electric Firing” by Scott Cartwright was purchased from the American Fireworks News.
Keith, Rushd, Michael, and Leanna then loaded the well-mixed propellant into the prepared alpha rockets and test fired the motors in that order. A video of the firing compiled by Keith can be found on his YouTube channel here, which was collected using RRS GoPro and quadcopter drone cameras.
Used alpha rocket strapped down to Jim’s I-beam static fire standPlume pointed north, galvanizing the concrete of our testing padAlpha rockets minus their payload tubes and noseconesKeith Yoerg’s Flight On! rocket takes off on the 1010 rail at the RRS MTA.
Following the test firing of the alpha rockets, Keith launched his high power rocket “Flight On!” for the 3rd time, which was successful in both the flight and recovery. The group then cleaned up the site before locking up and leaving. Thanks to all who made this first firing event of 2023 a success, including former RRS President (and current PyroOp) Osavldo Tarditti for assistance with the propellants and current RRS Vice President Frank Muiccio for providing the alpha rockets used for the testing. We look forward to many more successful events at the MTA this year.
