The Monophobic Response by American Artist is an art installation and film-based project displayed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) from November 1–4, 2024 ( LACMA ticket(s) link). Note: Check times if you are planning to go since LACMA is closing early on Saturday.
This artwork, created through LACMA’s Art + Technology Lab, reimagines a historic 1936 rocket engine test central to early American space exploration. The installation takes inspiration from Octavia E. Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower, which explores a dystopian future set in 2024, drawing parallels between Butler’s fictional narrative and present-day sociopolitical issues.
Central to the installation is a live performance and filmed re-creation conducted by American Artist in the Mojave Desert at the Reaction Research Society’s Mojave Test Area (MTA), where the test is portrayed within a barren, haunting landscape. The project examines societal ideals of “destiny” and human survival amid technological upheaval, as echoed in Butler’s narrative of Earthseed, a fictional religious community aspiring for interstellar migration as a means of survival.
The installation features artifacts from the rocket test, including a replica of the original engine. Founded in 1943, the Reaction Research Society (RRS) is the oldest continuously operating amateur rocketry group in the world conducting its events and outreach around the Los Angeles area and at their private testing site, the Mojave Test Area. Based on archival drawings provided by JPL, RRS members were able to faithfully reproduce a full-scale, fully firing prototype of the 1936 Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT) liquid methanol/gaseous oxygen bi-propellant engine and static fire thrust stand designed by pioneers Jack Parsons and Frank Malina representing one of the very first liquid rocket engines made in the United States.
The Reaction Research Society held a launch and firing event to honor the memory of Richard Garcia. His wife, Jeannie Riddles, his brother, Russell, and his aunt and cousin were present to witness the events of that day at our Mojave Test Area. I served as the pyrotechnic operator in charge with Dimitri Timohovich and Leanna Lincoln serving as my apprentices for the several operations we conducted that day with our membership and invited guests. RRS president, Frank Miuccio, was also present for this important event.
The safety briefing was given to all in attendance at 11AM with special recognition given to our honored guests. The weather was very hot (105F) which is typical for early September, but under low winds and a few high clouds.
We had several very different projects that day with many of our members coming to demonstrate their current projects and some bringing new builds. RRS member Jerry Fuller and his daughter Charlotte were also present that day.
Dimitri and Leanna mixed a batch of micrograin from the new zinc stock and our existing sulfur supplies. Chase Lang had a standard alpha and Bill Nelson a standard beta for launch. Both conducted safe loading operations in the RRS loading area.
With everyone under cover and passing air and road checks, the launch of the alpha still showed some of the initial low thurst stalling during firing before exiting the launch rail and being recovered downrange. The beta fired but showed an even lesser performance not managing to generate enough thrust to even leave the launch rail. Both rockets were returned for examination. Most likely cause is excessive moisture absorption into the sulfur, but that is under debate. Clumpiness of the powdered oxidizer was noticed during the mixing operation but a propellant sample burn beforehand showed no problems. it was thought that the tumbling process would be sufficient to homogenize and dry it out. Sulfur is not expensive and the society may consider buying fresh stock and improving the storage conditions.
Fourth year UCLA graduate student, Nick Kuenning, and his advisor, Prof. Mitch Spearrin, were present with a few UCLA Rocket Project members to static fire their new portable rig at the MTA. The main objective was to demonstrate the new oxidizer tank they added and run a prior engine design to check out the whole system. The test also served to show just how far UCLA has come in the many years since the liquid rocket program began at UCLA. Richard Garcia was one of the first RRS members to help UCLA in their early days of the Rocket Project. I attended UCLA PDR’s and CDR’s with him. Nick was just a freshman at the time. It was very generous of the UCLA team to conduct this firing in Richard’s honor during the last of the summer quarter when few students were back from vacation. The crew of four ran a clean and steady full-duration burn of their ablative lined engine on an impinging ethanol and LOX injector used with prior success. The burn went a full duration of 20 seconds with clean startup and shutdown. It is a very nice static fire rig and will give the team many opportunities to continue developing better engines. Nick is planning to speak at the RRS monthly meeting to share their results.
Mike Kramer and John Tsohas came to the RRS MTA as guests. Mike and John fired a few hybrid rockets that day and later joined as members. John had fired with the RRS several years ago and it was good to welcome him back. They had several successful launches and recoveries with the nitrous oxide loading and firing rig they brought.
Bill Inman brought the latest version of the Solar Cat which he and RRS member Dale Talcott built. The Solar Cat is a steam rocket mobile launcher that uses a parabolic reflector type of solar furnace for heating. It is an impressive piece of engineering with the ability to track the sun’s position in the sky and reach steam pressures up to 465 psig before moving the rocket tube into a vertical firing position. It is operated remotely and uses common off the shelf hardware.
After some considerable setup period the day prior in the northern expanse of the MTA, sun conditions that day were inconsistent however after 3:30pm a break in the clouds allowed a one hour period of insolation sufficient to reach adequate steam pressure for launch. Launch ended up not occurring as there was a mechanical snagging problem with one of the harnesses impeding the movement of the release mechanism.
Bill made the decision to abort the launch and remotely opened the vent to relieve the system dumping the load in a safe direction. Minor improvements will be made to the design to prevent similar issues and help avoid problems in deployment and stowing on the trailer. The Solar Cat design has advanced much and has had a few successful firings in Nevada. With Dale and Bill’s continued perserverence, the Solar Cat will one day fire from the MTA. It is a very long drive from Carson City, but Bill’s dedication to that test is a true honor to Richard Garcia and the passion he had for amateur and professional rocketry.
The RRS would like to thank our guests, our visitors and especially our membership for making this event possible.
The launch events will be discussed at the monthly meeting on Friday, September 13th, at 7:30pm at the front office of the Compton/Woodley Airport. RRS meetings are always on the 2nd Friday of each month. Contact the RRS secretary for details.
It is with great shock and sadness, the society announces the untimely passing of society member and our prior director of research, Richard Garcia, on July 5, 2024.
Richard Joseph Garcia was born November 12, 1984, in Visalia, California to Stanley and Michelle Garcia. He graduated with an associate of arts degree from College of the Sequoias and later from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona in 2007 with his bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical/Space Engineering. As a professional, he worked for Firefly Space Systems, Masten Space Systems, Aero Systems Engineering, Minnetronix and was an IPT Team Leader at Teledyne-Brown Engineering in Huntsville, Alabama.
Judging from website entries, Richard became active in the RRS before 2013. I came to know him in 2015 and the years following. During his working years in California, Richard commuted to each of the monthly meetings in Gardena from California City over 100 miles in distance one-way, fighting LA traffic on Friday nights. Richard was a major part of the 2017 RRS symposium, the first in over 20 years which led to the recurring symposium events we now hold in most years. Richard was responsible for discovering and bringing back the donated LNG horizontal cylinder at the RRS which is soon to become a viable and useful asset at the MTA in this year. Richard’s residence in California City made him a convenient aid to our Mojave Test Area on many occasions and his machining skills were valuable to other members in their projects.
Through his relentless work ethic and years of reliable support to the society, Richard was appointed as the second director of research at the society, a role only held once prior decades earlier by George Dosa. He retained the role for several years even after leaving California attending meetings remotely during the pandemic and serving the society from two or three timezones away. He was serving as a committee reviewer on the RRS Regen Engine Competition that started July 1, 2024.
Few could match Richard’s spirit, kindness, intellect, passion and genuine and prolific desire to share and expand knowledge. Richard assisted with and performed numerous projects at the MTA and authored several technical articles on RRS.ORG for the society sharing good practices and helping to make the practice of rocketry safer and more accessible. He loved the Mojave desert and was a major driving force in the society’s growth in the decade of 2010.
More locally in Huntsville, Alabama, Richard was active in two hacker spaces and was involved with many projects inside and outside of work. Richard built his own telescope in preparation for the 2024 eclipse earlier this year.
Richard is survived by his wife, Jeannie Riddles, his mother Michelle, his brother Russel, and sister Darleen, nieces Kadence, Kylie, Katelynn and Laura, and a nephew, Leo. He was preceded in death by his father, Stanley.
No services are planned. After consulting with his wife, in lieu of flowers, she said that rocketry was Richard’s largest passion and that donations to the RRS could be made in his honor. Please contact the RRS vice president or any of the executive council if anyone wishes to honor Richard. The Reaction Research Society Inc., of Los Angeles, California, is a 501(c)3 educational non-profit organization dedicated to amateur rocketry.
vicepresident@rrs.org
president@rrs.org
secretary@rrs.org
treasurer@rrs.org
research@rrs.org
The RRS publicly announced the news to the attending membership of the society at the July 12th monthly meeting at the Compton/Woodley Airport. The society will email our full membership roster soon.
A memorial launch event for Richard Garcia at the RRS MTA is being planned for September 7, 2024. Contact the RRS president for details. I will be the pyrotechnic operator in charge. Updates to this article will tell more as it develops.
