Needed a change of pace today so I "launched" my secret pet project. Been developing a large rocket with engines propelled by longhorn dung and propane. Controlling the robotic mission from an old desktop computer running Windows 2000. Navigation and communication handled by a used GPS unit and a hacked Trac Fone from Walmart, some wire coat hangers for antennas, and some solar panels from old garden lights for power in outer space. Only bought a 200 airtime minute card so this better work quickly. Fired the rocket at 10AM this morning. Took ages to get FAA clearance for the launch today. All three stages worked precisely as planned. The whole reason for this experiment is to retrieve that tool bag lost by an astronaut during a recent space walk at the International Space Station. My rocket is due to catch up to the orbiting tool bag at 1 AM. If my robotic arm made with a Legos Mindstorm kit works correctly, I should be able to grab it on the first pass. Hope to stow it safely in the capsule and re-enter earth's atmosphere at 5AM tomorrow morning. If the wind is blowing just right, folks out here on Terlingua Ranch might see a huge silver parachute just after sunrise. The capsule and tool bag are due to touch down within 100 ft. of my house at 9:08AM. If all goes according to plan, I will be selling the "lost in space" tool bag next week on Ebay.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Don't believe a word of it...
Needed a change of pace today so I "launched" my secret pet project. Been developing a large rocket with engines propelled by longhorn dung and propane. Controlling the robotic mission from an old desktop computer running Windows 2000. Navigation and communication handled by a used GPS unit and a hacked Trac Fone from Walmart, some wire coat hangers for antennas, and some solar panels from old garden lights for power in outer space. Only bought a 200 airtime minute card so this better work quickly. Fired the rocket at 10AM this morning. Took ages to get FAA clearance for the launch today. All three stages worked precisely as planned. The whole reason for this experiment is to retrieve that tool bag lost by an astronaut during a recent space walk at the International Space Station. My rocket is due to catch up to the orbiting tool bag at 1 AM. If my robotic arm made with a Legos Mindstorm kit works correctly, I should be able to grab it on the first pass. Hope to stow it safely in the capsule and re-enter earth's atmosphere at 5AM tomorrow morning. If the wind is blowing just right, folks out here on Terlingua Ranch might see a huge silver parachute just after sunrise. The capsule and tool bag are due to touch down within 100 ft. of my house at 9:08AM. If all goes according to plan, I will be selling the "lost in space" tool bag next week on Ebay.
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5 comments:
Man! What was in Ara's soup?
jajajaja...I want to eat or drink whatever you had tonight. Cheers!
Belinda Salinas
I wouldn't put this beyond you. Is there a chimp on board or is he manually controlling it....
Dammit, you keep beating me to it! I was halfway through planning the same thing, except I was distilling phosphorous from my urine as a fuel additive, and, well, I guess that fire's just gonna have to burn itself out.
Please update us on your next post.
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