MTA work event, 2022-10-20

by Dave Nordling, President, RRS.ORG


The Reaction Research Society has built a new and larger pad to the west of our current launch pads at the Mojave Test Area (MTA). This has been due to the generous donation of lifetime member, Bill Claybaugh, both of his time and resources. This 12-foot square pad is angled to the southwest and is intended for larger launch vehicles soon to be launched from the MTA. This work started a few weeks back with the initial excavation which was delayed due to the extreme heat this summer.

This work event took place over a few days starting Thursday, October 20th and going to Saturday, October 22nd. Bill and the society would like to thank fellow society members, Dimitri Timohovich, Rushd Julfiker and Joe Dominguez for giving their time and sweat to this facility improvement,

Excavation and rebar supports in place.
Add gravel
Spread to an even layer
Adding water is important.
Add concrete
Leveling the pour
Finishing the edges

This is only the first steps to building a useful platform for launching larger rockets from the MTA. The pad must cure over several weeks during these cooler months before temperatures drop below freezing at night, Next steps will be preparing the surface for anchors then adding Bill Claybaugh’s launch rail which is in work right now.

This work will continue to be documented in our work event reports. We are a member driven society and deeply appreciate the hard work it takes to improve and upgrade our site to support our mission as an organization.

Our next monthly meeting is always on the 2nd Friday of the month at the front office of the Compton/Woodley airport at 7:30pm. Come join us on November 11th.




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