by Larry Hoffing, Educational Outreach Coordinator, Reaction Research Society
The Reaction Research Society (RRS.ORG) is glad to be a part of an upcoming event with Spaceport L.A. The “Rocket Workshop with the RRS” is an excellent opportunity for anyone who wants to get directly acquainted with rocketry. This event is meant for both professionals and non-professionals alike. From younger students to university students of all fields, to adults, this event is meant to give people the experience of assembling and flying your own rocket.
https://www.facebook.com/spaceportla
Spaceport L.A.’s Facebook page has their upcoming events
The event will begin on Saturday, May 4, 2019 with a subsequent launch of the rockets from the RRS Mojave Test Area (MTA) on Saturday, May 18, 2019. At this event, you can learn about the fundamentals and more practical knowledge of rocketry.
The event will be held at the HexLab MakerSpace in Van Nuys. This is laser-cutting service in the Los Angeles area. Check the Spaceport L.A. website for the details and updates.
HexLab MakerSpace is a place for creative people to have the tools they need to make their ideas real
The RRS standard alpha rocket is a very old, but reliable design still used in the society. Although micrograin propellant is not used anywhere else but at the RRS (where it was initially discovered in the 1940’s), it is a simple and powerful propellant combination that makes for an impressive show of raw power. I have attached an earlier description of the RRS standard alpha rocket below.
After the first session, on the second event, you can go out to the RRS’s private Mojave Test Area (MTA) at Koehn Dry Lake, east of Cantil, California in the high desert. The RRS will handle the propellants, you can see the impressive results from the safety of our observation bunker.
alpha launch 03-25-2017RRS director of research, Richard Garcia, with his brick as a camera tripodFirst of ten alphas right at liftoffXavier Marshall and Wilbur Owens; Wilbur gets his first RRS alpha
Amateur rocketry is our passion and purpose and the society is glad to hold this event with Spaceport L.A. and the public.
Spaceport L.A., our sponsor for this Rocket Build Event with the RRS
For questions, look to the Spaceport L.A. official website linked above. For questions about the RRS rocket build event, contact the RRS Educational Outreach Coordinator, Mr. Larry Hoffing.
events@rrs.org
For any questions about the Reaction Research Society, go to our website at RRS.ORG
The Reaction Research Society (RRS) held our first monthly meeting of the new year, Friday, January 11, 2019. We had a good turnout and a couple visitors from Compton High School. We thank Daisy Guevara and Jonathan Martinez for coming out to the RRS.
January 2019 meeting welcomes our guests and new members.
The RRS has student memberships available to those interested in becoming involved in our amateur rocketry society. To join as a student member, under 18, you must have your parent or guardian approval. Joining the RRS is the same as those seeking associate membership. The RRS website has a “Forms” tab where you can download our PDF membership application. Student membership at the RRS is $20/year. Regular membership is $40/year.
On the subject of membership dues, the RRS gives a reminder to all of our membership that you should keep your dues payments current. Like many in the society, I renew my membership at the start of the new year. The “Donate” button on the RRS website leads to PayPal where you can pay your membership dues. Please add “Member Dues” and your name to the notes. Others may make payment to the RRS president.
president@rrs.org
We also took time to welcome our new RRS members, Dmitri Timohovich and Waldo Stakes.
Dmitri Timohovich at the January 2019 RRS meetingWaldo Stakes at the December 2018 meeting
With the customary reading of the treasury report, we began the agenda.
(1) Pyrotechnic Operators in Rocketry
The first topic was about the RRS members that are working on attaining their pyrotechnic operator (pyro-op) license for rocketry. The California Fire Marshall’s office governs the licensing of different classes of pyro-op for theater, movies and amateur rocketry. The RRS has been on a campaign to expand our roster of pyro-op’s to both improve the knowledge of the subject as our membership and number of events annually grows.
Dmitri has a lot of professional experience in pyrotechnics and a lot of practical advice for applicants. Making copies of all your application documentation including your letters of recommendation is very important. He also shared some of his insight in how to best work with the California Fire Marshall’s office.
(2) RRS in Social Media
Our second topic was to talk about the RRS improving our social media presence. The Reaction Research Society has an Instagram account, a Facebook page and our YouTube channel (note that our name is truncated here), but we can always use more content. We need to find ways of expanding our presence in these areas to reach a wider audience.
www.instagram.com/reactionresearchsociety
www.facebook.com/reactionresearchsociety
www.youtube.com/ReactionResearchSoc
As the RRS embarks on more projects, we will have good stories to share. As both of our Media Officers, Bill Janczewski and Alastair Martin were away for the meeting, we’ll return to this topic at the February meeting.
(3) Spaceport L.A.
Larry Hoffing, our events coordinator, spoke about the RRS becoming more involved with Spaceport L. A. He has been in contact with Curtis Iwata and has had some discussions regarding the RRS joining a future Spaceport LA event.
spaceportla.com
Spaceport L.A. is also on Facebook.
Similar to the RRS, Spaceport L. A. is a non-profit group of aerospace professionals volunteering their time to hold events of interest to the public. Spaceport L.A. has attended the RRS symposium in the past. We hope to have Spaceport L.A. be one of our exhibitors at the 2019 RRS symposium on April 27th.
(4) MTA Facility Improvements
We had a good discussion of potential facility improvements at the RRS Mojave Test Area (MTA). The addition of the road sign at the first gate to the RRS MTA gives us a better way to welcome our guests. Our metal arch road sign at the MTA site entrance is also holding up nicely for two decades and still looking great.
Flo Jo Elementary and LAPD CSP pose before the RRS MTA sign
Improvements such as upgrading our restroom facilities and the central blockhouse are under detailed discussion. Osvaldo, our society president, has been leading this effort getting estimates and making a proposal for the society to review. It will be substantial investment in our facilities, but certainly well worth it to not only the society but the many guests we have from the city. Creature comforts are always appreciated.
Other MTA improvements such as replacing a damaged panel on the thrust stand structure. This 3/8-inch thick steel plate panel was permanently deformed by nearly an inch many years ago from a static test explosion. The goal would be to cut out the old panel and weld in a replacement while maintaining the positional accuracy to the overall design as best as possible. We have a waterjet machining provider willing to make a replacement set of plates once we can verify that the hole size and pattern is accurate.
We also discussed a project to run an electrical wiring trench between the observation bunker and the RRS alpha rail launcher will make conducting our school events easier to do. Anything to make set up more convenient in the hot summer months in the Mojave Desert is worthy of serious consideration. The material and equipment rental costs do not look to be prohibitive and the RRS may be able to get the conduit and panel materials donated.
We also talked about how to improve the mounting pad commonly used by our university rocketry groups over the years. The concrete slab has several male anchor bolts that protrude from the concrete causing a serious tripping hazard. They are also not in a regular pattern which other groups could use. This has been a frequent source of annoyance at the RRS and a better more regulated approach to mounting experiments is clearly necessary.
Concrete pad at the RRS MTA frequently used for mounting thrust stands, needs improvement
One solution is to cut away and grind down all male anchor bolts and install custom fitting trench plate with a pre-drilled and tapped bolt pattern on a regular grid pattern. This will be easier in the long run for several groups to bring their thrust stand hardware without having to match machine hole patterns by being present at our site. The regular grid pattern of holes would be described in an RRS interface specification that different user groups can use when designing their thrust stand attach points (remembering to oversize the mounting holes to allow for variation).
(5) 2019 RRS Symposium
Frank, the RRS symposium coordinator and society vice president, talked about the preparations that have begun for the 2019 RRS symposium. Invitations to potential speakers have began to be sent out. We didn’t have a lot of time to get into the specific assignments, but we will be talking a lot more about this subject at the February meeting. Frank has made our first flyer for the 2019 RRS symposium.
Our first flyer for the 2019 RRS symposium on April 27
(6) RRS Constitutional Committee
The topic of forming an RRS Constitutional Committee had to be tabled for the next meeting. This is an important subject that will be addressed in further detail with our membership.
(7) Rocket Talk Radio podcast
Likewise, the RRS participation in the Rocket Talk Radio podcast project had to be tabled for the next meeting. Rocket Talk Radio is a project by Alastair Martin’s company, Production Tribe LLC.
Alastair K. Martin, RRS member and owner of Production Tribe LLC at his studio in Hollywood, California
(8) SuperDosa project quarterly update
Quarterly update for the SuperDosa project was limited. Osvaldo had reported that Jack Oswald’s next ballastic test motor is nearly complete and that his RRS project team will be conducting test series to better characterize his solid propellant mixture. Jack has also made changes to his first prototype motor fired in June 2018.
(9) Next RRS meeting at the EAA 96 hangar
About once a year, the RRS (some years) has its monthly meeting in a new location. In 2019, the RRS has found a new meeting location for the February 8th meeting. RRS members, Xavier Marshall and Wilbur Owens are members of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Chapter 96 of the EAA is located at the Compton Airport. Xavier had offered the RRS the use of the EAA 96 hangar’s offices, so the RRS will hold our February 8, 2019 meeting at the same time, 7:30pm. This is only a temporary change for February only just to allow our membership to visit the EAA organization and tour their facilities.
Xavier will provide more details on how our members can get access at the Compton Airport. I will share these details on this website at about 2 weeks prior to the event.
(X1) Celebrity Coffee
Long-time RRS member, John Mariano, paid us a visit to the January meeting. John has been busy with his new business venture, Celebrity Coffee. His business will be a local coffeeshop featuring music and a warm environment to his customers. We hope to visit his shop soon.
John Mariano, long-time RRS member and owner of Celebrity Coffee
(X2) Next LAPD CSP event
The RRS is getting ready to start another school event through the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) Community Safety Partnership (CSP). With the looming Los Angeles teacher’s strike, the start date could get moved. We plan to hold the final event of this series at the RRS MTA as usual. This launch date would likely be middle to late March. More details to be coming soon.
IN CLOSING
We adjourned well past the Ken Nakaoka Community Center closing time of 9:00PM. Our next meeting will be on Friday, February 8, 2019 at 7:30pm.
Again, please note that this February 2019 meeting will be held at the Compton Airport at the EAA 96 hangar. Please arrive between 7:00pm and 7:30pm as the EAA must let our attendees in through the Compton Airport gates.
Also, please note that this is not a permanent change of location as we will hold our March 8, 2019 meeting back at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena on our regular 2nd Friday of each month.
If there are any questions about the topics covered in the January 2019 meeting or anything you’d like to see on the February agenda, please contact the RRS secretary
The RRS held its 2017 Rocket and Space Exhibition and Symposium today, April 22nd, at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena.
pulling up the banner
2017 RRS symposium
In attendance was Orbital-ATK, Aerospace Corporation, Tyvak, Navy Air Weapons Center at China Lake, the China Lake Museum, Rocketry Organization of California (ROC), University of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California, California State University Long Beach, University of California San Diego, University of California Irvine, Cal Poly Pomona, California Institute of Technology, Oregon State, Mars City Design, Spaceport LA and the Magnolia Science Academy.
Many of the university groups and private companies were exhibitors at the event.
UCSD SEDS group
UCLA Rocket Project
USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory
The Rocketry Organization of California (ROC) had a great exhibit.
Rocketry Organization of California (ROC)
Mars City Design and Spaceport L.A. were both at the exhibition.
thrust chamber on loan from Norton Sales at the RRS symposium exhibition
Rocketdyne Atlas vernier engine
The RRS SuperDosa full-scale mockup was also on display.
The RRS SuperDosa rocket, full-scale mockup
Also a fine piece from Apogee Astronautics, a Viper 3A booster, on loan to the RRS symposium exhibition courtesy of Robert Kleinberger.
Viper 3A booster on loan from Apogee Astronautics
Many current and former members of the RRS were at the symposium.
Larry Hoffing, Niels Anderson, Chip Bassett, George Garboden and John Mariano
Hal Duffy and Osvaldo Tarditti
George Dosa, at the RRS symposium
Richard Garcia, our director of research at the RRS, had his liquid rocket breadboard on display, one of several projects started at the RRS this year.
Richard and his liquid rocket breadboard
RRS liquid rocket vehicle breadboard, work in progress
John Mariano and Larry Hoffing were both on hand at the RRS table all day at the symposium to talk about the society’s rich history and our recent work with local schools including Hermosa, Compton’s Rise Academy and the Girls Academic Leadership Academy of LA USD.
John Mariano at the RRS symposium exhibit
RRS exhibition at the 2017 symposium
The RRS looks forward to doing more events with schools as the importance of STEAM education is increasingly important. To anyone interested in doing rocket build events with the RRS, please contact the RRS at our events email: events@rrs.org
Osvaldo and Frank started off the symposium with the welcoming speech in the exhibition hall.
Frank Miuccio, RRS VP, gives an opening speech
I had the pleasure of giving the first presentation on the RRS’s history, present and future goals.
Dave Nordling, RRS past, present and future
We had presenters running throughout the day. Our presenters gave great speeches. We had a lot of participation from industry, academia and government with a good range of topics.
Warren Frick of Orbital-ATK presents at the RRS symposium speaker series
Matt Walker of NAWC China Lake presents at the RRS symposium
Dr. Jamie Bock of Cal Tech Astronomy Department presents on the CIBER project
Mars City Design has been in partnership with the RRS. Vera Mulyani gave a great presentation on their goals. On behalf of the RRS, Frank donated an alpha to the Mars City Design team for their upcoming “An Evening on Mars” dinner event on May 25th. An Evening on Mars – May 25, 2017 The RRS is glad to be working with Mars City on this ambitious project.
Also, we had a lot of great volunteers who we are indebted for making setup and teardown go swiftly and smoothly.
Dave Nordling, Richard Garcia, Bill Janczewski
The RRS thanks all of our volunteers!
Some of the photos on this post are courtesy of Tony Richards. Thank you for taking those, Tony. If there’s more photos anyone would like to share, please let me know. secretary@rrs.org
Also, the RRS wants to thank Tacos Los 2 Amigos for providing lunch just outside of the community center. Many people appreciated and enjoyed it!
In early April, I put out a group of emails to everyone that is on the RRS mailing list that I have. At the symposium, some of our current and former members have said that they didn’t receive the notice. As it seems our mailing list hasn’t been reaching everyone, please email me at: secretary@rrs.org and I will be sure to make the update.
Also, if any of our membership is having trouble accessing the members content on the RRS.ORG website, also, please let me know. I can talk to our webmaster and get that resolved.
The RRS is looking forward to next year’s symposium and if anyone has any feedback or any suggestions for improvement for next year’s symposium, please contact Frank.
vicepresident@rrs.org
We’ll be having a launch event at the MTA this next Saturday, April 29th, with UCLA doing a static firing and a launch. I hope there will be other launches we can do at this event.
Also, our next RRS meeting will be Friday, May 12th, 7:30pm, in Gardena. Please come out as we’ve got a lot of exciting things planned this summer and fall.
