Glorious 121,000' Amateur Rocket Flight

Photo credit: Gregory L. Mayback

On September 30, Derek Deville’s Qu8k (pronounced “Quake”) rocket blasted off from the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, screaming to an altitude of 121,000 feet. It was returned safely to earth and fully recovered (three miles from the launch site). The video above is the longer 17-minute version of the launch, but there’s a lot of awesome stuff, including some assembly and set-up pics, launch footage, and footage from two on-board cameras. The 7-minute free-fall might be a bit dizzying and dull but you can skip that part. The shorter version is here.

The launch was an attempt at winning the Carmack Prize. So did they win? Unfortunately, no. At least not yet. The Carmack Prize requires GPS data over 100K feet. Derek writes:

Even with 4 separate GPS systems, we were not able to get a high altitude fix. We picked up position on the way down, but by then it was too late. I’m going to write a tech article (another requirement) and submit it anyway to see what happens.

There are lots of awesome build and launch photos on Derek’s Qu8k page.

0 Responses to Glorious 121,000' Amateur Rocket Flight

Stefan Jones on October 10th, 2011 at 4:03 am said:

I LOVE the cloud layers dropping past.

Is that Lake Taho that appears partway through?

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- Paul Campbell on October 10th, 2011 at 5:42 pm said:
  
  No it’s Pyramid Lake (with the Smoke Creek desert next to it)
  
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- Paul Campbell on October 10th, 2011 at 5:42 pm said:
  
  No it’s Pyramid Lake (with the Smoke Creek desert next to it)
  
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James King on October 10th, 2011 at 11:25 am said:

This is why America will always lead the world. No other country would allow private individuals to even try something like this. This is why freedom is so important, and why we cannot ever let it be taken away. Thank you for renewing my faith, I hope you inspire millions with this.

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- Alex on October 10th, 2011 at 8:44 pm said:
  
  WTF?
  
  Australia has many amateur rocket enthusiasts. You can even privately hire the Woomera rocket range, which is the home base for a lot of scramjet and hypersonic flight testing.
  
  I’m sure there are plenty of other countries too! Why would US be the only one?
  
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- Alex on October 10th, 2011 at 8:44 pm said:
  
  WTF?
  
  Australia has many amateur rocket enthusiasts. You can even privately hire the Woomera rocket range, which is the home base for a lot of scramjet and hypersonic flight testing.
  
  I’m sure there are plenty of other countries too! Why would US be the only one?
  
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Anonymous on October 10th, 2011 at 3:30 pm said:

Don’t commercial GPS’s cut off far below 100k feet?

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- Anonymous on October 11th, 2011 at 2:48 am said:
  
  That’s a darn good question (off to go find out…)
  
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  Anonymous on October 11th, 2011 at 3:13 am said:
  
  Hmmmm… without looking too deeply into it, it appears that commercial GPS has a limit of 60K feet. Huh. Wonder what the deal is here?
  
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  Nick on October 11th, 2011 at 3:20 am said:
  
  It’s because of ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) regulations. See http://www.oria.cornell.edu/export/keywords/categoryXV.htm
  
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  Nick on October 11th, 2011 at 3:20 am said:
  
  It’s because of ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) regulations. See http://www.oria.cornell.edu/export/keywords/categoryXV.htm
  
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  Nick on October 11th, 2011 at 3:20 am said:
  
  It’s because of ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) regulations. See http://www.oria.cornell.edu/export/keywords/categoryXV.htm
  
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  Nick on October 11th, 2011 at 3:20 am said:
  
  It’s because of ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) regulations. See http://www.oria.cornell.edu/export/keywords/categoryXV.htm
  
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Dandan Callighan on October 10th, 2011 at 6:51 pm said:

wow! and heres me trying to make a 12″ one from scratch, maybe one day

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q`Tzal on October 11th, 2011 at 7:04 am said:

There must be a way to solve for apogee from the visually recorded curvature of the earth.

The ITAR regulation XV
(International Traffic in Arms Regulations, http://www.oria.cornell.edu/export/keywords/categoryXV.htm )
section C, sub section 2
C: Global Positioning System (GPS) receiving equipment specifically
designed, modified or configured for military use; or GPS receiving
equipment with any of the following characteristics:

2: Designed for producing navigation results above 60,000 feet altitude and at 1,000 knots velocity or greater;

shows that a working GPS that would record such data would be in violation of international law.
I’m not sure if this means that current commercial GPS unit are incapable of doing so just that it is illegal.

Also: the Carmack Prize contest would seem to be a legal trap; to collect the prize you have to provide proof of a crime you have committed.

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- Nick on October 12th, 2011 at 1:06 am said:
  
  results above 60,000 feet altitude *and* at 1,000 knots velocity or greater;
  
  Note the “and”. The device will be moving less then 1,000 knots at apogee.
  
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Chris Zitzman on October 27th, 2011 at 9:54 pm said:

This is fantastic stuff. Friggin’ go GET it guys.

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