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Selected Articles from the
September 1999 Odyssey

Editor: Craig E. Ward

Amateur Space
The Last Community Night at Boeing

Amateur Space: Getting there
a pound at a time

By Steve Bartlett

Within the next few years, several amateur-built rockets will loft payloads into near-Earth space, according to Mark Holthaus of the Reaction Research Society. Holthaus described the efforts of groups across the country to design, build, and fly small launchers at the Agamemcon convention on June 12.

Individuals and groups in California, Minnesota, Alabama, and elsewhere are striving to achieve what only sovereign governments and huge corporations have done to date: place their own equipment in space. Inspired by a cash prize to launch scratch-built rockets on 100 and 200-kilometer suborbital flights and their own desire to Just Do It, these subscale space programs are making great strides forward.

"Advanced composites, improved metal alloys, and lightweight electronics" said Holthaus, "have made it relatively easy to do what used to take a standing army of government engineers and scientists." He described successful efforts to build and fly rockets with solid, liquid, and hybrid solid/liquid propellants by groups such as JP Aerospace, Project HALO run by the Huntsville chapter of NSS, a few one-man machine shops, and the Reaction Research Society. "There's a lot going on these days and we're really excited," Holthaus exclaimed.

With several large aerospace companies in the area, as well as a large industrial base, the Southern California region is particularly active in the amateur space arena. "Amateurs in this area have ready access to materials, propellants, electronics, high quality machine shops, and a great deal of technical expertise," said Holthaus, who works professionally as an aerospace engineer.

"In my regular job, I'm a safety engineer," he remarked, "and I can't emphasize enough how careful people have to be when pursuing amateur rocketry as a hobby." He told the attending audience of the hazards associated with potentially explosive propellants, the risks to personnel and property, and the legal restrictions associated with the activity. "In the State of California, you have to obtain a special license from the State Fire Marshal to test fire and launch rockets," he stated. "You have to demonstrate to both the state and to other experienced rocket builders that you know and understand what it takes to handle these materials safely."

There are a relatively small number of places in the United States where amateur space efforts can get off the ground, owing to airspace restrictions, proximity to metropolitan areas, and accessibility. The sites most commonly used by amateurs include the Black Rock desert in northern Nevada, the Delamar launch site near Las Vegas, and the Reaction Research Society's Mojave Test Area just north of Edwards Air Force Base. "Better known launch sites, such as Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg, White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, and Wallops Island Virginia, are run by government personnel and using them generally requires a lot more paperwork than most amateurs want to do," said Holthaus.

Editors Note: Mark Holthaus is a former chapter president and former member of the NSS Board of Directors. He currently serves on the NSS Policy Committee.

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The Last Community Night at Boeing

By Kristine L. Cerone

August 20, 1999, was the last and final Community Night at Boeing's Reusable Space Systems plant in Downey. Tom Kennedy, Director of the Data Services Center gave a presentation on the Space Shuttle and the history of the Downey plant.

In 1929, the site, a ranch filled with orange trees, was developed into an airport and a manufacturing facility. In the ensuing 60+ years aircraft, missile and spacecraft technology was developed at the site. Mr. Kennedy talked about the many VIP visitors to the facility including Queen Elizabeth and President Ronald Regan. A slide presentation covered the Apollo lunar program and the development of the Space Shuttle orbiters.

The monthly Community Night event had been held in the DEI room (Design, Evaluation, and Integration) at the Downey facility for more than 20 years. OASIS had an official table at the event from 1988 to 1992 and over the years OASIS events have taken place there. OASIS members in attendance on the last night were Dennis Whipple and Seth Potter. Larry Evans and other members of the Orange County Space Society were also present.

I brought my seven-year-old granddaughter Ashley. The evening was significant for us. I raised my children a few blocks from the Downey facility during the time the plant was known as Rockwell International. The event was then called Family Night and it was probably the most important night of the month for my oldest son, Rick, who wanted to grow up to be an Astronaut. Rick, an OASIS member died in 1997. I wanted Ashley to get a glimpse of her Uncle Rick's passion, the space program, and she got more than a glimpse. She thoroughly enjoyed Tom Kennedy's talk, the California Space and Science Center's display, and the "moon car" as she called it. The most exciting and memorable moment of the evening came when Ashley went into the full scale mockup of the space shuttle (housed in the DEI room) and climbed up to the controls and imagined herself flying the space shuttle. When the evening was over and we were settled in the car for the trip home Ashley turned to me and said, "Grandma, it is too bad this is the last time that place will be open, I know a lot of kids that would like to see it."

There is talk of converting the historic DEI room into a space museum after the Boeing facility closes later in 1999. The Downey City fathers are not in favor of the idea, however, and plan to turn the site into an industrial park. I hope they have a change of heart.

Drawing of the Apollo CM and Lunar Lander in launch configuration from the NASA History Office.