High Power Rocketry: N - Prize

High Power Rocketry: N - Prize

Okay, so in recent posts I talked about ancient and contemporary homebrew rocket efforts. There is an X-Prize (called N-Prize) effort out there to help organize and encourage this mess.

Above link discusses a hybrid approach to an orbital payload using rockets and balloons.

Ham radio folks and the homebrew microprocessor sets have been working in the high altitude balloon area for a while now.

Let's see where this goes !

Scale Saturn V

Baltimore City Paper - News Features: Rocket Men

If you haven't heard by now, Steve Eves just set a 'model' rocket record with a 1700 lb. Saturn V. Check out the above link. This project reminds me of the old BIS Lunar mission that I talked about earlier in the year.

The homebrewers are starting to catch up with the NASAs of the world.

Home-Grown Simulators

Quite a while back in Air & Space Smithsonian, there was an article about folks who built some pretty sophisticated mock-ups so they could better enjoy MS-Flight Simulator and similar products. I was glad to see the article put on the Internet archive.

Some of the folks did jumbo jet bridges with multiple computer monitors.
Note Daren Knightsbridge's simulator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8wN50X3Y8s

Others did fighter cockpits that required surrounding themselves with controls.

Additional link: http://www.avsim.com/partners/Home_Cockpits/