The Reaction Research Society (RRS.ORG) was happy to celebrate its 75th anniversary as the country’s oldest continuously operating amateur rocketry society on April 21, 2018. At the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena, California, we shared this special occasion with over 300 people from the Los Angeles and San Diego area and welcomed several guests from places further away.
(left to right) Osvaldo Tarditti, Bill Janczewski, Dave Nordling, Jim Gross, Frank Miuccio, Larry Hoffing, Alastair Martin, Richard Garcia, Bill Claybaugh, Drew Cortopassi, Chris Lujan
RRS member, Michael Lunny mans the front desk at the 2018 RRS symposium
RRS members, Jim Gross and John Mariano at the 2018 symposium
Osvaldo Tarditti, George James, George Dosa and Jerry Irvine at the RRS symposium
Bill Claybaugh and RRS founder, George James, at the 2018 RRS symposium
The RRS had a display of some of our society projects past and present. Also, some of our members had their projects on display including Richard Garcia’s liquid rocket and Bill Claybaugh’s massive two-stage rocket.
Richard Garcia discusses his liquid rocket vehicle at the 2018 symposium
An early liquid rocket test motor from George Dosa, furfuryl alcohol and nitric acid
RRS micrograin rockets on display with historical notes
Bill Claybaugh, Osvaldo Tarditti and Bill Janczewski stand before Claybaugh’s two-stage solid rocket on display
Photo montage of micrograin rocket launches
All thirteen RRS mail flights from 1947 – 1990
We had copies of the special 75th anniversary edition of the RRS Astrojet newsletter available for sale at the symposium. Thank you to Bill Janczewski for his hard work in making this high quality newsletter and the bright sign on the column for everyone to see as they came in. The Astrojet can still be purchased through our RRS.ORG website at our PayPal button if you write a note for “Astrojet, (X) copies” and send your mailing address.
Or just simply contact the RRS by email.
secretary@rrs.org
75th anniversary issue of the Astrojet newsletter on sale
We shared our exhibition space with the Los Angeles Air Force Base’s (LA AFB) Space and Missile Command (SMC) as they presented the long history of SMC. Our thanks to Lt. Col. Porter and his team for having a huge display of the Air Force’s contributions to space, national security and improvements to our daily lives. Also, the air-driven rocket launcher demonstration in the courtyard was a big hit.
Karen Austin, Director of SMC History at the 2018 RRS symposium
LA AFB SMC history on display at the 2018 RRS symposium
Lt. Col. Porter speaks at the SMC history exhibit
Also, just outside the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena, was our colleagues at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Community Safety Partnership (CSP). Officers who have supported and participated in the rocket build classes we’ve had with Watts and Compton area schools were on hand to answer questions and show off the fun we’ve had over this last year.
LAPD CSP at the 2018 RRS symposium
We had several universities exhibiting and presenting at the RRS symposium including University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), University of Southern California (USC) and California State University Long Beach (CSULB). All of them had impressive work to show with flights pending in just a few weeks before the semester or quarter ends.
CSU Long Beach exhibits and presents at the 2018 RRS symposium
The Additive Rocket Corporation of San Diego exhibited and presented their unique technology.
The Additive Rocket Corporation of San Diego exhibits and presents at the RRS symposium
Other exhibitors at the RRS symposium was our fellow amateur rocketry group, Rocketry Organization of California (ROC).
Rocketry Organization of California
ROC on display at the 2018 RRS symposium
The Notre Dame Academy was also present at our symposium.
Notre Dame Academy – WIkipedia
Notre Dame Academy at the 2018 RRS symposium
Our friends at the China Lake Museum also had a display to show the Navy’s contributions to rocketry and the national defense.
China Lake Museum
China Lake Museum on display at 2018 RRS symposium
U.S. Rockets was also exhibiting at the RRS symposium.
U.S. Rockets – Jerry Irvine
U.S. Rockets exhibiting at the RRS symposium
We had several speakers presenting on current and historical topics of professional and amateur rocketry including Jacky Calvignac of Northrop Grumman, our founder George James of his organization, The Rocket Research Institute (RRI), John Steinmeyer of Orbital-ATK and David Krause of NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center’s Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia who called in by Skype.
George James, founder of the RRS, presents on behalf of the RRI
Jacky Calvignac shows the propulsion programs at Northrop Grumman
High School Rocket Propulsion Lab and new RRS members present their test firings from the RRS MTA
Aerospace Corporation’s presentation on additive manufactured propellant grains
We thank all of our attendees, presenters, exhibitors and just everyone who stopped in and had a good time with us. The RRS would like to especially thank Tony Richards for his photography taken at the RRS symposium.
The RRS will discuss at our next monthly meeting on May 11th if we’ll have another symposium next year in 2019. Based on the overwhelming response, this is very likely.