This is similar to a project I've been a part of called Operation Space, the difference being we are students not backed by one single university or organization. We've been monitoring USC's progress for months and they have been a great source of motivation, especially being that they held the previous altitude record at 144,000 ft.<p>We are actually launching out of the same site in New Mexico in about a week and looking to break the Karman Line and hopefully this new milestone.
Link for anyone interested: <a href="https://operationspace.org/" rel="nofollow">https://operationspace.org/</a>
This is incorrect. The first student rocket to reach space was by the United States Air Force Academy<p><a href="https://archive.is/20121212202343/http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123176320" rel="nofollow">https://archive.is/20121212202343/http://www.af.mil/news/sto...</a><p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwuvfKuNqZxQQ2xudkwtQXB4V0k/view" rel="nofollow">https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwuvfKuNqZxQQ2xudkwtQXB4V0k...</a><p>From here:<p><a href="https://twitter.com/skulumani/status/1131351960622391297?s=20" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/skulumani/status/1131351960622391297?s=2...</a>
The rocket reached 103.57km (100km is considered the edge of space) in altitude to spare anyone from reading this extremely annoying article. The solid fuel based rocket weighed 136kg and at just under 4m in height is impressively small for reaching this altitude. It’s parachutes deployed an it was recovered safely. There.
A <i></i>wonderfull<i></i> achievement, these students made.<p>The fact that it has taken the university _years_ to reach the goal combined with the solid fuel systems, which is less complex (but _not_ simple), shows the <i></i>determination<i></i> to have another group of non-pro's to reach that coveted altitude.
The article mixes all sorts of units but doesn't say exactly where the Kármán line is supposed to be in any single unit. The closest it gets is 50 miles plus 60,000 feet, which is a rather confusing way to say 98.75 kilometers.<p>The actual Kármán line is at 100 kilometers.<p>This rocket reached an altitude of 339,800 feet, or 103.57 kilometers. Its maximum speed of 3,386 mph (assuming "normal" miles, not nautical miles) is equivalent to 1.513 kilometers per second [fixed]. It's well below orbital velocity, but good enough for poking into space and coming back down.
There's a guy in the high power rocketry hobby that is aiming for space this August at the BALLS event in Nevada. He won't say it, but given what he's done in the past, and the pictures of what he's building there's no other reasonable explanation.<p>A guy last year hit 244k feet ( 2/3 the way to the Karman line) on OTC solid rocket motors available to NAR or Tripoli L3 certified amateurs. Granted, it was a very exceptional rocket, but access to space by amateurs is getting closer every day.<p>That rocket
<a href="https://mach5lowdown.com/2018/11/07/phx4-rocket-launch-to-200000ft/" rel="nofollow">https://mach5lowdown.com/2018/11/07/phx4-rocket-launch-to-20...</a><p>BALLS
<a href="http://www.tripoli.org/Balls" rel="nofollow">http://www.tripoli.org/Balls</a>
I have no experience in rocket science, but can anyone here explain why it's so difficult to reach the Kármán line?<p>What else besides power/weight ratio is required to achieve something like this?
Surprised to see the photo of the rocket back on the ground, with the nose cone still attached by some sort of rope.<p>It would appear that the biggest difference between this thing and an Estes rocket is the size?
So that's where that crazy tuition goes....<p>Also, wonder why not <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospike_engine" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospike_engine</a> ?