#erisrocket — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #erisrocket, aggregated by home.social.
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Dusting the rocket garden in my third bedroom/home office/maker space I am reminded that the white one on the left there is yet to fly.
I actually made this semi-scale flying model of the Gilmour Space Eris rocket way back in December 2022 but I killed the camera during assembly, then it took ages to source a replacement (they were discontinued), and by the time I got the replacement all momentum had been lost and I never got around to installing it and flying the rocket.
I really should make time to actually launch it. I will, of course, regard any flight of at least 14 seconds duration a huge success.
#Space #Spaceflight #3DPrinting #ModelRocket #GilmourSpace #ErisRocket #TinyEris
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I just noticed that, for added Australian-ness, there is a spider on the Vegemite.
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It's OK, they found the Vegemite.
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Scott Manley's take on Eris TestFlight1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98haEggTw4A
He adds some interesting details about the design of the rocket, e.g. the use of fixed main engine nozzles with reaction control thrusters.
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Gilmour Space have posted a couple of good photos of the brief flight of Eris TestFlight 1 on their Facebook page, along with a very positive take on events.
In the second photo, a closeup of the flamey end of the rocket very soon after liftoff, it looks like the hybrid rocket motor furthest from the camera was already failing.
Something else I noticed in the livestream video, when the rocket crashed it did not result in a powerful explosion and huge fireball. Instead there were clouds of white vapour, followed later by darker smoke from a smallish fire. This is because the first two stages of the Eris rocket use hybrid rocket motors, which because of the combination of solid fuel and liquid oxidiser don't explode in the way a liquid fuelled rocket would. The white clouds would have been the oxidiser (hydrogen peroxide?) escaping, and the subsequent fire would have been the result of the liquid fuelled 3rd stage breaking up, plus the solid fuel from the 1st and 2nd stage burning slowly in the open air.
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Gilmour Space got going early this morning and did launch their Eris rocket for the first time, but unfortunately it was a very brief flight.
The rocket did clear the tower and remained pointy end up, flamey end down throughout, but only managed to achieve a maximum altitude of about 50 metres before descending again, and broke up when it hit the ground.
Here's the section of the unofficial Aussienaut livestream that covers the launch and flight: https://www.youtube.com/live/3-4xv0UxIhY?t=5554
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*sigh*
The launch is scrubbed.
That Vegemite remains earthbound for at least one more day.
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Winds at altitude are the problem. Apparently they are going for one last try for today at 3:23 pm.
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Unofficial livestream from 12 km away by Josh Keegan (Aussienaut) here: https://www.youtube.com/live/mgXkXSFX0Dg (H/T @SuperMoosie)
Rumour is that launch will be at 3pm. Supposedly Adam Gilmour posted on LinkedIn about it.
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Gilmour Space *might* be launching their Eris rocket (and its Vegemite payload) right now. 🚀
The launch window is open, but there's no official livestream or other live updates. We just have to wait a few hours for an announcement about whether they launched, and if they went to space today.
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If this first launch attempt of the real Erirs goes well Australia may be able to lay claim to putting the first yeast extract in space:
"A perfect flight for the Eris rocket would see it reach an orbit around 120 miles (200 kilometers) high at an inclination of 33 degrees to the equator, according to Gilmour. Just in case, the company has placed a jar of Vegemite, a popular food spread in Australia, on Eris' third stage in a tongue-in-cheek nod to Aussie culture."
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The display model that lives in our offices is a variant on a flying model rocket I also designed and 3D printed around the same time.
Like the real thing it has still not flown yet. I accidentally killed the camera during assembly and the camera model had been discontinued so it took me a while to find a replacement, and then I never got around to installing it and flying. I really should.
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No launch attempt for Gilmour Space's Australian-built Eris rocket today, but they might go for it tomorrow: https://www.gspace.com/missions
I designed and 3D printed this model of it almost 2 1/2 years ago now, when we (AAO) were building a payload for their satellite division.