The RRS held our monthly meeting as scheduled, February 12, 2016.  Osvaldo called the meeting to order just before 8:00 pm.

On January 23rd, USC had three static fire tests at the RRS MTA with a 4″ x 18″ motor size. Thrust levels of 150 lbf for a duration of around 6 seconds with chamber pressures of 700 psig were measured.  Retaining ring failed on the second test.

Next launch at the MTA will be on February 27th with 10 students from Hermosa Valley Middle School launching Alphas. We hope to have an event like this once per trimester. Osvaldo built a really nice wooden carrying case for up to five alpha tubes which Larry was using to great convenience.

Questions about the purity of the zinc and sulfur in the RRS stock has come into question as the micrograin performance has been decreasing.  Chris found a process to purify the sulfur oxidizer. He is going to try the process on a small batch at the MTA.

Discussion of micrograin loading methods besides the typical “load a little, then gently bounce the casing” method were discussed.  Tamping the mixture from the top down historically has proven to be unreliable.  Casting the zinc-sulfur mixture using isopropyl alcohol was suggested but the drying process is very slow.  Frank had suggested using something neutral like flour to test the effectiveness of different loading methods by measuring the mass of the loaded powder in a standard sized case (known volume).

George Dosa who had a folder of many different publications of his from the RRS. He had pamphlets on practical topics in rocket building such as parachutes, nose cones, fin-and-bracket assemblies and flight tracking techniques. Some of these are already scanned in our RRS library.

George suggested having a symposium in the large hall in the Gardena Community Center as had been done in the past.   Participants such as experts from universities such USC, UCSD, UCLA and CSULB, organizations like the Calif. Science Center, and possibly people from industry (SpaceX, Aerojet-Rocketdyne,JPL) would give talks to the public on rocketry.

Frank showed a video about the Challenger disaster that happened 30 years ago on January 28th.  “Major Malfunction: Revisiting Challenger”.  Lots of good facts on the aspects of the launch and the decisions made prior to launch.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:29pm.  Osvaldo had promised a “show and tell” presentation for a rocket fin welding technique which can be brought up at the next meeting in March.   Next meeting will be Friday, March 11th.

We held our RRS meeting at our usual location at the Gardena Community Center in Gardena, CA, January 8, 2016.

We started at our usual time, 7:30pm.
Osvaldo brought the meeting to order just a little before 8PM.

At this first meeting of the new year (2016), we were visited by George Dosa, one of the earliest members of the RRS. He talked about the old days of the RRS, firing rockets near what is now LAX, and his time at NCR.

John Mariano mentioned the time the RRS was on TV and his last-minute handkerchief-based advertisement for the RRS that he created then popped up for the camera.

The other hot topic of conversation was the recent (Dec. 21, 2015) first-stage recovery of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 just before the end of the year. Frank showed the video footage at the meeting. It is another amazing milestone achieved in the pursuit of reusable spaceflight vehicles.
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Frank also showed some of the great 3-D video footage from USC’s successful rocket flight at the MTA in November.

USC’s Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (USC-RPL) website has more to see, including previous launches.
USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory

Larry (who was absent) had mentioned to Osvaldo that the Hermosa High School launch event at the RRS’ Mojave Test Area (MTA) last year (October 2015) was so successful that more kids and their parents have expressed interest in doing another launch event. Last year’s event had ten (10) participants build and launch their own RRS Alphas and was a strong success. The society is in discussions about how and when this might take place.

The discussion proceeded to upgrading the personnel facilities at MTA site including rebuilding the blockhouse and adding a better toilet on the site. It was felt that the society ought to pursue the rebuilding of the blockhouse first.
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Some discussion was made about different toilet systems used at remote sites that the society could acquire. There was a strong interest in making even some small improvements to our restroom facilities to be less rustic and more welcome for more visitors from the city.

Dave mentioned the need to have an appropriate first aid kit at the MTA. The fracking industry has kits available that are designed for similar hazards that may be faced at the MTA with rocket firings (eye injuries, mild and severe burns, sunburn, lacerations and possibly spider-bites or snake-bites). Osvaldo thought he may have an industrial first aid kit that could be specialized for our needs at the site.

Everybody comes out to the MTA prepared for sunburn and keeps hydrated. For the safety of our launches, we’re always weather-conscious.  The RRS has had a good safety record, but being prepared to mitigate an emergency after an accident is always a good thing.
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No one had indicated an interest in conducting any testing, firings or launches at the MTA at this month’s usual date (3rd Saturday of the month) January 16, 2016.

Our next RRS meeting will be Friday, February 12, 2016. Same place, same time.

The meeting adjourned just after 9:45PM.
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