[amsat-bb] MOTHER NATURE FORCES POSTPONEMENT OF AMATEUR ROCKET EFFORT - From ARRL Letter

["Don Woodward" <dbwoodw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

According to http://www.csxtrocket.com/imgs/avionics/PRIMERA_Avionics.JPG it has
a 435MHz telemetry transmitter with 5 watts of power and will be launched from
Black Rock Nevada up to 60 nautical miles at apogee in 2 minutes 40 seconds and
will touchdown at 10 minutes ...


==>MOTHER NATURE FORCES POSTPONEMENT OF AMATEUR ROCKET EFFORT

High winds in late June forced postponement of an attempt by a group of
Amateur Radio operators and amateur rocket enthusiasts to make aerospace
history by putting the first amateur rocket into space. The Civilian Space
Xploration Team (CSXT) had hoped its suborbital vehicle would carry
several Amateur Radio payloads to an altitude of more than 60 nautical
miles.

"We came soooo close to a launch," said Eric Knight, KB1EHE, of
Unionville, Connecticut--one of the hams involved. "The rocket was ready
to go. All we had to do is push the ignition button." Knight says Amateur
Radio is central to the whole flight. Its Automatic Position Reporting
System (APRS), amateur TV and packet telemetry gear will enable the team
to document success, defined as 50 nautical miles above Earth.

"Our team was ready. The rocket was ready. But Mother Nature had other
plans," Knight explained. He said wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour
caused a brutal sandstorm at the Western US desert launch site. The high
winds continued throughout the team's three-day launch window, he said.

"We're currently evaluating our options for a future launch date," Knight
said. "We're dusty--but undaunted--and still very optimistic of a launch
in the not-too-distant future."

Knight said all of the equipment and sections of the rocket remain on the
West Coast as the team works with the FAA to secure a new launch window.

Overseeing the CSXT effort has been Project Director Ky Michaelson of
Minnesota, a semi-retired stuntman and veteran hobby rocket enthusiast who
holds dozens of rocket speed records. Knight credits Michaelson with
conceptualizing what he called "our grand project." Michaelson was a guest
July 12 of radio talker Art Bell, W6OBB, on Bell's nationally syndicated
AM Coast to Coast program.

Other amateurs involved include Rod Lane, N1FNE--whose Southington,
Connecticut, garage and basement workshop have been largely given over to
rocket construction and integration--and Don Skinner, N1HWR, of
Tariffville, Connecticut. Assisting in the project for the past three
years has been high school senior Julia Cohn, KB1IGU, of West Hartford,
Connecticut. Cohn has been involved in constructing and programming some
of the sequencing electronics that will go aboard the vehicle. Her
electronics instructor and mentor at Hall High School is Chet Bacon,
KA1ILH, of Plantsville, Connecticut, and other students in Bacon's
electronics classes also have contributed to the project.

Funding for the project has come from team members' pockets. Knight
estimates the costs to date are approaching $100,000.

More information on the rocket project is on Knight's "Spaceshot
2001/Spaceshot 2002" Web site <http://www.remarkable.com/rocket>.

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