Steve Eves' Saturn V Launch, Biggest Highest Amateur Rocket Launch To Date Options

[HughFromAlice]

I know that this rocket hasn't quite got into space but I think that what has been achieved with little money and lots of determination will resonate with many of us amateurs at UMSF - the word is derived from the French..... something like 'lover of' - and an amateur can be as good as a professional! If you don't think this is ok for UMSF Doug then no probs if you remove it.

Go here for an article on the launch, flight and return to earth of the separated segments by parachutes of the 1:10 size scale replica of the Saturn VB on its 4500ft approx flight. http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journ...103.html?page=1 - The rocket packed a lot of punch and certainly wasn't a toy. Next orbit, then the moon at 1:10 scale????

Also a great vid on YouTube. Copy and paste - Steve Eves' Saturn V Launch - into the Search bar and enjoy!!

It's a great story and inspiring.

[helvick]

My back of the envelope calculations say that a his Saturn-V was good for about 240m/sec delta-V. I've taken that the propellant mass numbers for his combination of Estes motors was around 120kg, that the launch mass was around 750kg and the motors had an Isp of around 134sec.

That would be just about enough to launch form Enceladus - by my reckoning it has an escape velocity of 239m/sec.

[ddeerrff]

Estes motors was around 120kg, that the launch mass was around 750kg and the motors had an Isp of around 134sec.

Not Estes motors (Estes makes only black powder motors) but rather theses APCP motors were provided by Loki Research http://www.lokiresearch.com/

[helvick]

Not Estes motors (Estes makes only black powder motors) but rather theses APCP motors were provided by Loki Research http://www.lokiresearch.com/

Ah my mistake. In any case I found a direct quote on the propellant mass from an earlier article which put it at 210 pounds which drops the numbers a bit, The maximum delta-V possible would be 180m/sec.

If those numbers are reasonably accurate then a quick look around indicates that Juno would be just about viable (escape velocity 175-180m/sec), Pallas would be well out of reach at 320m/sec.

Hyperion would be guaranteed given that its escape velocity is in the range of 45-99m/sec depending on where you decided to launch from. The largest moon I can find that it could escape from is Mimas (escape velocity 159m/sec).