SciITech
7A
Fhursday,
The Battalion
Page 6A • Thursday, November 13,}
‘Space Odyssey > come true
‘Rocket Guy’ plans on being first private citizen to shoot self into spin
w
By Kyle Ross
THE BATTALION
fac
WASH
launched
Seth Freeman • THE BATTALION
As a child, Brian Walker spent hours in his back yard
gazing at the stars and dreaming of becoming an astro
naut. Growing up in the 1960s during Project Mercury,
the United States’ first manned space program, he
would lie in his bed and explore places only found in a
young boy’s imagination. Now, years later. Walker says
his dreams have not faded.
Walker, now a thriving toy inventor, plans to take a
ride some 30 miles upward in a rocket he has built at his
home in Bend. Ore. If successful, he would break the
altitude record for a private citizen.
“I realized at a very young age that 1 would very
likely never get selected for the space program, so if
1 was ever going to venture into space I would have
to hope that the story portrayed in ‘2001: A Space
Odyssey’ came true, or I would have to build my
own rocket,” Walker said.
Walker, referring to himself as “Rocket Guy,"
I said he still gazes at the stars some nights. But it is
I not just a back yard he does his gazing in; it is in a
| complex he has built that he has named “Rocket
I Garden.” The complex consists of a three-story
geodesic vehicle assembly building, a rocket scaf
fold, the rocket itself and a distiller where he puri
fies hydrogen peroxide, his fuel of choice. And
what rocket garden is complete without a cen
trifuge that gives him practice traveling under the
effects of 6 Gs?
gig. All of this, built mostly with his own hands
I and the money he did not need for food, is a far
I cry from NASA and its annual budget. At times,
! it might have seemed like just another dream or
m unreachable goal, but Walker said he feels the only
« way for space travel is his way.
“1 have not been in contact with NASA,
I although I have been contacted by a number of
I NASA and ex-NASA people over the past several
years. As to why I did not go that route, I firmly
believe that the move into space needs to be a private,
corporate effort if it is ever going to be feasible and
actual,” Walker said.
He designed the rocket to be catapulted into the air
by a ground-based launcher. The motor in the rocket
fires at the same time as the launcher shoots the rocket
into the air.
“This lessens the fuel requirements at liftoff and
offers immediate dynamic stability,” Walker said.
“Also the rocket is a mono-propellant type, meaning it
is a single element. 1 chose to use 90 percent pure
hydrogen peroxide.”
The hydrogen peroxide is forced by compressed air
into the engine housing where it passes over a silver cat
alyst pack. The fuel immediately reacts to exposure with
the catalyst, silver, causing it to expand 600 times its
volume as it turns to 1380 degree Fahrenheit steam.
jnscrupul
lefraudin;
sficiaries
Phony
expensive
op of M
agency pa
share grev
trillion in
In mai
□odomar
heir Med
nitted cla
lified $ 16
[ban 20 st
One of
he Los .
ivheelcha
here. Afh
Walker said he feels that using hydrogen peroxides
steam, rather than other fuels that cause flames,a
greatly decrease any chance of explosion.
The premise of Walker’s flight plan is simple:Hi
rocket will tly straight up, burning fuel at
mately 90 pounds per second. Once the fuel is cot
pletely exhausted, the fuel tanks will detach and he »i
slow to a stop somewhere at the top of the Eanl
atmosphere, just this side of the cold vastness of spa:
Once there, he will switch on a small thruster in the!
of the rocket, directing him back to Earth. Parade
will deploy and float him home. The flight is expect! I
to last 15 minutes.
Peter McIntyre, professor of physics at Texas Aill
said he can relate to Walker and his dreams of beci
an astronaut. He said as a child in the late 1950s,he,In
was fascinated with the space race.
“I built and launched a variety of model rocket
McIntyre said. "1 trained lizards as my astronautsli iheroom,
whirling them in a home made centrifuge that IW he prose
from the parts of a house fan that had lost its blades
then launched the lizards that survived their training'
Unfortunately for Walker, he does not have Ik he mote
resources to build multiple rockets and testthein.li yiedicare
the time comes, Walker will be his own lizard, s<
thing that has McIntyre concerned.
“This sort of mission is certainly doable tor asuil
large endeavor w ith open-ended engineering andtecli
cal support, but l believe it is very foolish for anii
vidual to try to do it,” McIntyre said. “There isva;
great risk that he wdll die in the trying, and life is tc
precious for that!"
Walker said he has heard comments
McIntyre's dozens of times, but feels he has taken*
siderable measures to ensure safety. He also
because of these measures, the road to
dreams has not always been an easy one.
“Setbacks have come in all different forms,
making mistakes and having to redo months of woitu
lack of proper funding. There is a very long listofi? jwer IV
that happen when undertaking a project of this
tude. Just trying to maintain my life is soi
impossible.” Walker said. “I did not undertake thfpv
ect with the intent of winning a prize. I wanted ti 1 .'
about it completely under my own schedule
own discretion.”
Doing things on his own is nothing new
but it seems this quest he has embarked on
more than just an endeavor for his own fulfillment. <
all, he was not the only child who dreamed a dream
those quiet, clear nights.
“I used to think about space and dream about :
an astronaut when 1 was little. But those are just tea
You realize you probably won’t be able to do
like that,” said Lance Staudacher, a senior eec -
engineering major at A&M, “Hearing about 11 ^
building his own rocket is great. I hope he accomp
it, for him and for me.”
Realty e
Realty & Investment Company
TEXAS A&M
FREE LOCATOR
SERVICE
260-1200
PRELEASING NOW for Jan, May & August 2004!
Across from campus, next to Taco Bell.
www.united-rico.com
*3 W
For November:
FREE GOLF WITH MEMBERSHIP
Play golf (lie Inexpensive way,
with a Texas A&M Golf Course
Annual Membership and the
monthly draft system. Sign up at
the Pro Shop and get one month
golf course
of golf FREE.
fry lor 12 months get 13th month hee. _
Not milible mth stuilmt feo option. gc m
For more information or tee times: 8451/23 s • ;■ >
“It cei
dedicare,'
;eneral in
Services,
ixpensive
The m
d its po'
larly in t
The numl
east one
from abot
nine mon
Part o
improven
n a sma
laims re
current j
Wheeler 1
“If th<
because i
Steve Azi
So far.
2.5 mil
lemporar
tfosecutc
quickly a
ments. N
have seer
ized whe
Invest:
Californi
potential
New Yo
Columbi;
$
2.00 GUINNESS
OR ANY OTHER PINT
All Day & All Night Every Thursdw
,1. I. l7?k -v ' > ^
PINT NIGHT HAS RETURNED
to $ 2.00
‘2.00 off Appetizers from I l- close
—
—
—
SAN J
new mer
ises to s
cost the
build silic
olar con
ing digits
and port
The rr
smaller 1
material
semicon
It’s a p
Resea
Univers
Abortion is a reflection that we
have not met the needs of women
Women deserve better than abortion
LAI O m HE N
a
www.WomenDeservehBetter.com
Sponsored by the USCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities and the Kr " qh ^, fe 0 f
Women Deserve Better is a registered trademark of Feminists —_