Kyle
Armchair Astronaut
Well, the title says the Main Idea. Now, I got the Estes Hydrogen Rocket set,
but only to find that it launches by building up pressure, not with the classic Flame (which is still fun of course). So, I found a light weight bar, that was hollow, and I pretty much made my own rocket, with the Nose cone, an Estes Parachute, (Large) and a Nossle to hold my fuel.
Now, you may remember that Hydrogen is flammable, and so did I, I wasn't in the mood to take risks. I took the powder that is the Hydrogen into my Rocket, and added H20 to my rocket. Now, I wanted to make the fuel similar to that used on the Space Shuttle (remember, the Space Shuttle uses Hydrogen and Liquid O2) Most folks don't have Liquid O2 in there backyards, so I thought "Hey, theres O2 in Water, and the water is in liquid form, lets try it"
Now, you may also be wondering "How did you hold the rocket fuel in place without it leaking?" I came up with a very interesting idea, I placed a smaller tube inside the rocket, and slowly pored in the rocket fuel of sorts, then I used Super glue to place a top onto the tube, and waited a few before ready. But how did I manage to get the Conductor thing that you place on the end of the Launch Igniter? Well, At the bottom of the tube, I place a hole, and put in the conductor, and place some duck tape on the end of it.
I placed the rocket into position on my proclaimed "LC-39A" and I got that same anxiety feeling when you get when your about to launch your Model rocket, I clicked the button, and Off she went, I could hear the engine roar to life as soon as I clicked the button, I could see the flame, the smoke was very interesting, thick like a cloud. And, then the parachute deployed, and I could still see the rocket, gleaming in sunlight!
I found the rocket in the near by field, it was looking pretty intact, so, I did the same thing again, and again placed her on my LC-39A, I got the anxiety feeling again, and I clicked the button, I was hoping to see a very cool launch, But, then "BOOM!" The rocket exploded! My LC-39A was pretty much destroyed, the rocket vanished into a challenger explosion like smoke.
I Figured out later, that the rocket when I recovered it, had a near blow through, similar to STS-51C's Discovery Flight. When I launched it again, apparently the tube inside my rocket couldnt hold the fuel, and It leaked through, but unlike Challenger, there was no aluminum to stop it, it burned through the metal, and as soon as it ignited, it exploded.
but only to find that it launches by building up pressure, not with the classic Flame (which is still fun of course). So, I found a light weight bar, that was hollow, and I pretty much made my own rocket, with the Nose cone, an Estes Parachute, (Large) and a Nossle to hold my fuel.
Now, you may remember that Hydrogen is flammable, and so did I, I wasn't in the mood to take risks. I took the powder that is the Hydrogen into my Rocket, and added H20 to my rocket. Now, I wanted to make the fuel similar to that used on the Space Shuttle (remember, the Space Shuttle uses Hydrogen and Liquid O2) Most folks don't have Liquid O2 in there backyards, so I thought "Hey, theres O2 in Water, and the water is in liquid form, lets try it"
Now, you may also be wondering "How did you hold the rocket fuel in place without it leaking?" I came up with a very interesting idea, I placed a smaller tube inside the rocket, and slowly pored in the rocket fuel of sorts, then I used Super glue to place a top onto the tube, and waited a few before ready. But how did I manage to get the Conductor thing that you place on the end of the Launch Igniter? Well, At the bottom of the tube, I place a hole, and put in the conductor, and place some duck tape on the end of it.
I placed the rocket into position on my proclaimed "LC-39A" and I got that same anxiety feeling when you get when your about to launch your Model rocket, I clicked the button, and Off she went, I could hear the engine roar to life as soon as I clicked the button, I could see the flame, the smoke was very interesting, thick like a cloud. And, then the parachute deployed, and I could still see the rocket, gleaming in sunlight!
I found the rocket in the near by field, it was looking pretty intact, so, I did the same thing again, and again placed her on my LC-39A, I got the anxiety feeling again, and I clicked the button, I was hoping to see a very cool launch, But, then "BOOM!" The rocket exploded! My LC-39A was pretty much destroyed, the rocket vanished into a challenger explosion like smoke.
I Figured out later, that the rocket when I recovered it, had a near blow through, similar to STS-51C's Discovery Flight. When I launched it again, apparently the tube inside my rocket couldnt hold the fuel, and It leaked through, but unlike Challenger, there was no aluminum to stop it, it burned through the metal, and as soon as it ignited, it exploded.
Are you sure that the water is actually doing anything like Liquid O2? I would think it might just create a diluted liquid hydrogen fuel instead of actually acting as a seperate part of the fuel.
