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OT - Kinda reminiscing tonight...

Botch
Botch Posts: 16,200
edited May 2014 in Off Topic
Today I rode with the Hill Riders Association out to Golden Spike State Park (where the east and west-built transcontinental railroad lines were finally joined) and then on to Thiokol Rocket Park, a few miles away.  I have little interest in Golden Spike (been there, done that, not a choo-choo guy) but it was really cool to visit Thiokol again (now ATK, and as of 4 days ago now ATK-Orbital).  I worked there from '97 to '99 as a Reliability/Safety engineer (yes, I really was a rocket scientist!  :geek: ) on the RSRM (Reusable Solid Rocket Motor, the white boosters on the Space Shuttle) and for a bit on the Minuteman III (when they realized I could do Fault Tree Analyses correctly).  I hadn't been back to the site since I left, 75 minutes away but [i]fifteen years ago!![/i]
 
image
 
The largest, horizontal motor is the RSRM, while the tallest upright rocket is the Minuteman III (EDIT, whups, no, that's either the Minuteman I or II).  
 
This is an example of how the propellant looks at the end of a typical rocket (its fake propellant, thankfully since there were a few cigarette butts in there  ).  The diameter of the central "burn hole" and the size, shape, and depth of the "burn fins" is very precisely calculated, as the surface area determines how much thrust is being generated.  As the propellant burns, the fins gradually disappear and the burn hole becomes more round, reducing the thrust (as you'd normally want during a missile trajectory, high thrust at the beginning and lower towards the end).  
  
image
 
Pig has never been here before, She enjoyed it.  The building behind Her was where I worked, the manufacturing areas were higher up on the hill behind.   

image
 
Kinda reminiscing tonight, but I sure don't miss that 75-minute commute, each way!   

___________

"When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set."

- Lin Yutang


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Comments

  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    Nice ride, envy you can ride all year, fired mine up last week - woke her up from the winter slumber, will hit the road next week. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 16,200
    What do you ride, Skiddy?  (and I didn't ride in Jan or most of Feb, I can go down to 26F but below that my faceshield frosts up...)
    ___________

    "When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set."

    - Lin Yutang


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  • Griff2w2
    Griff2w2 Posts: 53
    Very cool! I have a small familiarity with Minuteman through work.  Was nice to see how the other parts work.
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  • Gator_Man
    Gator_Man Posts: 138
    Very cool stuff! thanks

    I'm from North Carolina summer and Okeechobee Florida winter.

    I'm only hungry when I'm awake!

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  • TexanOfTheNorth
    TexanOfTheNorth Posts: 3,951
    So, when you say it's "not rocket science" you actually know what you're talking about!  :-bd
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Well, "spa-Peggy" is kind of like spaghetti. I'm not sure what Peggy does different, if anything. But it's the one dish she's kind of made her own.
    ____________________
    Aurora, Ontario, Canada
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