2017 RRS Symposium, new date announced (4/22/2017)

It is with great pleasure that the RRS is announcing the new date of their 2017 RRS Symposium to be held on Saturday, April 22th, 2017.  

The symposium will be a one-day event with presentations and exhibitions for the public at the Gardena Recreation Center in Gardena, CA.   This is the same place as our monthly meetings.

As more information comes regarding our featured speakers, I’ll post updates.  We hope to have several experts and aerospace organizations in attendance. We have been in discussions with many groups and companies and hope to announce our agenda soon.  Come to the monthly meetings and stay tuned!

July 2016 meeting

This month’s RRS meeting was brief. We started just after 8pm on July 8, 2016 in our usual location at the Gardena Recreation Center.

Steve Majdali brought samples of his sodium chlorate crystals which have been growing beautifully and very clear.  The sodium chlorate is a precursor to the perchlorates which are excellent oxidizers.  He’s found that chlorate is expensive and difficult to find, but not difficult to make.  Potassium perchlorate is the intended final product.

Richard Garcia brought his breadboard liquid propellant test rig including the tanks and valves.  He’s working on his small liquid rocket engine and showed us views from his 3D model.

The RRS is moving closer to having a new blockhouse.  The design will have a new foundation, reinforced concrete roof with a few protective windows.   Dimensions aren’t settled, but the new blockhouse may be longer to have more table space than the previous blockhouse.  If there are sufficient funds left, the RRS may get the septic tank and foundation slab for an improved restroom facility at the MTA.

I brought back two of the Alpha rockets recovered from the MTA.  The alpha rocket we launched with the graphite throat hasn’t been found yet.

After some discussion about the hazards with searching for rockets in the desert, Richard recommended that the RRS have an emergency response plan to deal with different hazards faced at the MTA.  Since he lives near California City, not far from the MTA, he can research the best locations and options for treating different possible emergencies (snakebite, burns, other injuries).  We’ve also noticed that Verizon cell coverage isn’t great at the MTA.  T-Mobile seems to work better.

The RRS symposium date is still to be determined.  Middle to late October is likely.   Lectures are being planned.

The RRS is building a large batch of alpha rocket parts for upcoming launch events with Hermosa or other schools in fall.

There is no launch event at the MTA planned for our regular 3rd Saturday, July 16th.

Member annual dues notices will be going out in the mail soon. $40 per year.

If there’s more information to post for this month’s meeting, let me know.

Next meeting will be August 12th.