Tag Archives: symposium

February 2018 meeting

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The RRS held its monthly meeting Friday, February 9, 2018 at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena. After reading the treasury report, we proceeded with the meeting agenda as listed on the “Forum” earlier this week.

Attendees at the 9-FEB-2018 RRS meeting

The RRS was glad to welcome new student members Jack and Brayden who come from the former Chaminade High School Rocket program. The RRS will be supporting their project to launch a boosted dart ultimately to an altitude of 150,000 feet or more. This work fits nicely into the RRS goals with the SuperDosa project and Jack and Brayden have made a lot of progress already thanks to the help of their sponsors and supporters including the RRS’s own Dave Crisalli. Last year, Jack and his team had a successful motor grain test at the MTA and they are looking to build upon this success for an even larger hot-fire test. RRS as a 501(c)3 educational non-profit group is glad to support our members.

On this Friday, the RRS has started the first of five classes with our third group of students from Florence Joyner Elementary School in Watts in conjunction with the LAPD CSP program. The program will seek to schedule a tour of the California Science Center at some point and the five session program will culminate in a launch event at the RRS Mojave Test Area (MTA) on March 24, 2018. The launch date has not yet been confirmed so please look for updates on the “Forum” portion of this webpage.

On this same subject, Michael has been working with his contacts at Redondo Union High School to find a way to begin an educational program with the RRS. The RRS is glad to work with new and returning schools in our educational programs. For more details, contact the RRS events coordinator, Larry Hoffing. events@rrs.org

On our third agenda topic, we talked about the progress made to date for the 75th anniversary RRS symposium. We have had great responses from our prior exhibitors and speakers as many are returning for this year’s event on Saturday, April 21, 2018. Our event will have speakers and exhibitors from the aerospace industry, government agencies and academia. The speakers slots have filled up fast so we hope to have our final confirmations given to us soon.

Frank has made the first flyer for this event and we encourage everyone to download a copy and share with everyone interested in attending this event covering topics of professional and amateur rocketry.

first flyer for the RRS 75th anniversary symposium

Frank has said that there is still much to do in preparing for the symposium. This event will likely be bigger than last year’s so we will really need our membership to pitch in and help make this year’s 75th anniversary a success. Weekly phone teleconferences will begin in two weeks. Frank will notify people of their assignments and we will discuss progress at these meetings.

Our fourth topic on the agenda discussed the progress I have made with the parachute recovery system I have built for an RRS standard alpha rocket. We launch many of these at our school events at the MTA and even with our membership making their own. I would like to see more of our members and high schools working with making payloads for the alpha. Given the small size of electronics these days, there are many more possibilities for flying instruments and recording data.

parachute and tethered nose cone for RRS standard alpha rocket

My time was very limited as the meeting was running late and I was only able to show the key parts of the parachute system still in build. Chris Lujan showed me some better knots for securing my nose cone and tether line to the internal bulkhead. I also showed the 3D-printed plastic umbilical port that Richard Garcia kindly built for me which will make switching on RRS alpha payload much easier if they use PVC payload tubes. I will compile more details soon and if this subject is still of interest, I can elaborate more at the March meeting.

Modified 555 timer chip with solid state relay replacing a mechanical relay. Umbilical part in the upper left.

I have also been working on a horizontal thrust stand built to test RRS standard alpha rockets. This would allow members to record thrust from the S-type load cell donated to us by Interface Force Inc. of Arizona. All of the structural members have been cut, but the adapter pieces need some changes to make a simpler connection. Thanks to Osvaldo for improving my load cell adapter design.

RRS horizontal thrust stand parts with S-type load cell

For our fifth agenda topic, Frank Miuccio, inspired by the device built by the Space and Missile Systems Heritage Center (SMC) of Los Angeles Air Force Base (LA AFB) in El Segundo, made his own little rocket air launcher. This simple tool takes an air pump to compress the sealed interior space of PVC piping behind a simple sprinkler valve.

Frank’s mini-rocket air launcher using a car-tire pump

Once inflated and everyone is at a safe distance away, the rocket is slipped over the angled launcher tube and is fired by releasing the valve and reservoir of air pressure behind it. Very simple in operation, it is quite fun to play with and we think the kids in our educational programs will think so also.

RRS treasurer, Chris Lujan, holds a 12-inch plastic rocket launched from the pump driven air launcher; Larry and Frank discuss

As the last agenda topic, Richard had mentioned that the modifications to his cryogenic methane dewar were complete and that the vessel was back at the MTA. As we were out of time, Richard can explain the details more at the next meeting in March.

The meeting adjourned but several of us watched Frank and Chris test fire the small rocket air launcher that Frank had built from Home Depot parts and a battery powered car tire pump. Despite the darkness of night, we were able to recover these small 12-inch vehicles aided by the inclusion of a blue LED in the nose. We had more than a little fun popping these little rockets as high as 100 feet.

If there is anything I have missed or misstated, please let me know:
secretary@rrs.org

Our next meeting will be Friday, March 9, 2018 at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena. See you there!

RRS 75th anniversary symposium

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The Reaction Research Society is proud to announce their 75th anniversary symposium on Saturday, April 21, 2018 at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena, California. Our 501(c)3 educational non-profit group is the oldest continuously operating amateur rocketry society in the United States. This is a milestone year and we are very proud to share our legacy, history and commitment to our passion for responsible science and learning.

Ken Nakaoka Community Center
1670 West 162nd Street
Gardena, California 90247

Built on the success of last year’s symposium we expect to have an even bigger event with presenters and exhibitors from the aerospace industry, academia, private groups and government agencies. Speakers at our public event will talk on subjects of professional and amateur rocketry. We have already begun our preparations and have confirmed some of our speakers.

Our 75th anniversary symposium is coming soon!

Our symposium coordinator and society vice-president is Frank Miuccio who is happy to answer any questions about the upcoming symposium. We will have updates and more specifics as we progress towards the symposium date in April. You can follow us right here on RRS.ORG

vicepresident@rrs.org

We encourage all of our membership to help us in preparing for this great event. It is also a good time to consider joining the RRS as we have many great events and projects planned for this milestone year. Hope to see you there!

January 2018 meeting

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The RRS met for its monthly meeting, Friday, January 12, 2018, at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena. We got a late start (8:04pm), but we covered a lot of ground.

Anniversary issue of the Astro-Jet is now available for purchase ($10/copy)

Everyone is reminded that the anniversary issue of the ASTRO-JET newsletter of the RRS is now available for $10 a copy. This special issue will be available in print only and proceeds go to benefit the society and our upcoming symposium event. Bill Janczewski and I have worked hard to bring this milestone issue together and we will have them ready for printing and distribution next week. To order, you can contact me by email (secretary@rrs.org) and send me your mailing address. Payment can be made by check to the “Reaction Research Society” sent to our P.O. Box 90933, in Los Angeles, CA, 90009-0933, found on our website.

Payment to the RRS for the ASTRO-JET newsletters can also be made by clicking our “DONATE” button on the website which directly links to our Paypal site. Please note your are paying for the ASTRO-JET and the number of copies.

Frank brought one of George Dosa’s liquid rocket chambers to the meeting for inspection by the society. This single element coaxial injector has not been fired, but George had this made several decades ago. There was talk about what modifications could be made to get this article into hot fire.

George Dosa’s coaxial injector and chamber

Richard Garcia also brought his own liquid rocket chamber as part of the on-going RRS standard liquid rocket project he has been championing.

Richard Garcia’s pintle injector and chamber design

After the usual reading of the treasury report, we began to discuss the agenda topics. The meeting began with announcing our new members who have recently joined us: Michael Lunny, Bryan Calungcagin, Nancy Squires, Barsoum Kasparian and Jack Oswald. The RRS is glad to welcome our new members.

The discussion had turned to membership cards. Bill Janczewski has worked up a new card design and Frank was working with Bill on a few changes. The RRS does not issue membership cards except on an on-demand basis. RRS member, Alastair Martin who runs a printing business had several ideas for different types of card stocks and discussed them with the RRS.

Larry Hoffing had asked about getting a short run of business cards to support his role as the RRS events coordinator. Frank had said he has the resources to get these made.

Our discussion then turned to the upcoming RRS symposium to be held Saturday, April 14, 2018. We will try a new format of having our speakers present in the ballroom among our exhibitors. The collared white shirts we gave to our membership running the event was a good idea. We discussed getting these again with iron-on or screen-printed RRS logos to help identify those of us who will be running the event. Frank wanted to have posters showing a decade-by-decade look of the RRS over our 75 year history. This is a great idea and we’ll be working hard to collect old photos to have them on display at the symposium. Easels and other supporting equipment were in short supply as the brick walls of the Ken Nakaoka Community Center made wall-mounting very difficult.

For next meeting, we will discuss more of the details of the symposium including working on our list of presenters and exhibitors. Frank and I have already began to approach some of our prior speakers and exhibitors. We have already confirmed several from industry, government and academia including the LAPD CSP program and the Aerospace Corporation. We expect this year’s symposium to be even greater than last year’s event where we hosted over 200 people.

For the next agenda item, Frank and Larry will begin our next educational event with the students of Florence Joyner Elementary school in conjunction with the LAPD CSP program. This 5-week event will begin sometime in February with an expected launch event in late March. Alastair had indicated he’d like to participate, film and document this event. An update on this event will be given at the next month’s meeting.

Michael had indicated his interest in running an RRS educational event with his old high school, Redondo Union High School. Larry and Frank had offered to help him figure out how best to set this up based on the experience the RRS has had thus far. I had sent him the PowerPoint file I had made which can serve as the basis for the program he can give to an older group of students. This would be the first of several events that Michael and Bryan would like to hold on behalf of the RRS.

Our next agenda topic discussed establishing an account with the regional liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier, Clean Energy in Boron, California. Richard Garcia has acquired a methane dewar which will be used for liquid rocketry experiments at the MTA. Richard was able to have one of our contacts at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry (F.A.R.) group modify the dewar such that it is ready for use. Our president, Osvaldo, said he would contact Clean Energy and give them the necessary information for the RRS to begin buying quantities of methane.

The next agenda topic was the quarterly briefing of the SuperDosa project. Osvaldo and I have identified chemical suppliers to produce the RRS standard solid propellant mixture recipe. We will meet offline to discuss prices and what is the best approach to proceed. Richard was going to work out some more simulations of our proposed vehicle to get an idea for sizing. The ballistic evaluation motor (BEM) that I designed is still in work. This is an important piece of hardware to characterize the burn rate of our propellant to help finalize and set the grain design. I hope to complete the assembly before the symposium which would also be the next quarterly reporting date (April 13, 2018).

The last agenda item was to discuss how to formalize the proposal process for RRS projects that we would like to seek funding from outside groups. One of the most important things to getting projects funded is to have a clear plan on what the scope of the project is, what purposes it will serve, what exact materials and quantities will be required and what the expected cost of this project will be using real quotes and defensible estimates. The RRS was in agreement and the executive council will meet later to discuss some of these documented proposals I have assembled. Projects include things like making more alphas and beta rockets, 3D printer for RRS use, spare electric generator for the MTA, getting a new launch rail built as backup, obtaining a liquid oxygen dewar…. etc.

The night ran late and our meeting concluded at 9:10pm.

There’s a lot of preparation that must be done in advance of our 75th anniversary symposium on Saturday, April 14th, so we’ll be putting this recurring item on the agenda for next month’s meeting.

For next month’s meeting, Frank will finish his paper rocket air launcher device that he has been making. This was inspired by the last educational event with Grape Street Elementary where the students visited the Space and Missile Command Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, CA. With luck, we hope to demonstrate it outside the community center and take some video for our YouTube channel.

YouTube – Reaction Research Society

Also, for next month’s meeting, I had promised Frank and Osvaldo that I would bring in my alpha parachute assembly that I have worked into a PVC payload tube. I have resolved some of the issues with my timer circuit, but I am still looking for access to a 3D printer to produce my internal umbilical switch mount.

As always, if there is anything here I have missed or misstated, please let me know. Our next monthly meeting will be held, Friday, February 9, 2018. Hope to see you there.

secretary@rrs.org