Amateurs Go Where NASA Does Not Tread
Amateur Rocket Engineers Build Prototype Reusable Spacecraft
by Sam Coniglio
Kevin Bollinger is on a mission. He wants to fly into space. And he is doing it step by step with the San Jose based Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society, known affectionately as ERPS. If ERPS succeeds, you and I could one day buy a ticket on a low cost and safe reusable spaceship.
ERPS was formed in 1993 by a group of space enthusiasts who were tired of waiting for NASA
to get them into space. Based in Silicon Valley, the group consists of engineers, programmers, and visionaries who take time from their day jobs to build a shared dream – a spaceship for the rest of us.
Most rockets today are not really spaceships: they go up and never come back, except in lots of tiny pieces. Mr. Bollinger’s project is unusual because he wants to land the vehicle safely (and in one piece) back where it took off from the California desert. Only NASA’s Space Shuttle currently does that, with help from thousands of engineers and some super hero astronauts. Can Mr. Bollinger’s small band of rocket enthusiasts do what the big boys at NASA do?
Mr. Bollinger’s vehicle bears little resemblance to the model rockets you used to play with as a kid. Shaped like an elongated pyramid, the first of three prototypes is called POGO
1. Its aluminum frame resembles a piece of post-modern furniture. Except this piece of furniture will fly up a few hundred feet into the air, and actually land back on the ground safely.
The POGO 1’s four engines will have a total of 240 pounds of thrust, which is enough power lift it several hundred feet. After many test flights, the POGOs will be replaced by the Re-SOAR. With an estimated 2000 pounds of thrust, the Re-SOAR engines will have the capability of lifting something the weight of a VCR the edge of space.
How far is the edge of space from your house? Imagine driving from San Jose to San Francisco, about 62 miles. It takes about an hour to get there, depending on traffic. Bollinger’s vehicle will travel twice the distance in five minutes. Except it will be going straight up. There is no traffic on the way up there, and there is no speed limit.
What does this mean to mere mortals? Like the Silicon Valley legends of yore, where the computer revolution took place in somebody’s garage, the rocket revolution is happening at somebody’s remote desert test stand. Like the computer revolution, where low priced PCs replaced room-sized mainframes, the rocket revolution will develop low priced spaceships to replace NASA’s aging space shuttle and modified missiles. You will have a new option when you go to the airline ticket counter: domestic flights on airplanes, international flights on spacecraft. Not to mention the orbital flights to the space hotel.
Can these San Jose amateurs lead a revolution in rocketry? I’ve got my checkbook ready for the trip to that space hotel.
The Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society's Home Page:
http://www.erps.org/
ERPS was formed in 1993 by a group of space enthusiasts who were tired of waiting for NASA
to get them into space. Based in Silicon Valley, the group consists of engineers, programmers, and visionaries who take time from their day jobs to build a shared dream – a spaceship for the rest of us. Most rockets today are not really spaceships: they go up and never come back, except in lots of tiny pieces. Mr. Bollinger’s project is unusual because he wants to land the vehicle safely (and in one piece) back where it took off from the California desert. Only NASA
’s Space Shuttle currently does that, with help from thousands of engineers and some super hero astronauts. Can Mr. Bollinger’s small band of rocket enthusiasts do what the big boys at NASA do? Mr. Bollinger’s vehicle bears little resemblance to the model rockets you used to play with as a kid. Shaped like an elongated pyramid, the first of three prototypes is called POGO
1. Its aluminum frame resembles a piece of post-modern furniture. Except this piece of furniture will fly up a few hundred feet into the air, and actually land back on the ground safely. The POGO
1’s four engines will have a total of 240 pounds of thrust, which is enough power lift it several hundred feet. After many test flights, the POGOs will be replaced by the Re-SOAR. With an estimated 2000 pounds of thrust, the Re-SOAR engines will have the capability of lifting something the weight of a VCR the edge of space. How far is the edge of space from your house? Imagine driving from San Jose to San Francisco, about 62 miles. It takes about an hour to get there, depending on traffic. Bollinger’s vehicle will travel twice the distance in five minutes. Except it will be going straight up. There is no traffic on the way up there, and there is no speed limit.
What does this mean to mere mortals? Like the Silicon Valley legends of yore, where the computer revolution took place in somebody’s garage, the rocket revolution is happening at somebody’s remote desert test stand. Like the computer revolution, where low priced PCs replaced room-sized mainframes, the rocket revolution will develop low priced spaceships to replace NASA
’s aging space shuttle and modified missiles. You will have a new option when you go to the airline ticket counter: domestic flights on airplanes, international flights on spacecraft. Not to mention the orbital flights to the space hotel. Can these San Jose amateurs lead a revolution in rocketry? I’ve got my checkbook ready for the trip to that space hotel.
The Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society's Home Page:
http://www.erps.org/
