Launch Tonight!

Well, things did go well in VA for John and he was able to return home briefly.  He arrived home last night at 9PM and was gone again this morning by 5:30.  Most of the kids were sleeping the whole time he was here and didn't even get to see him.  He and I did spend a few minutes talking and eating the penuche that he brought home before he left again.  It was quite yummy!


Below is a post that John wrote on the Clayton Family Website and I wanted to add it here.  It explains a bit of what he has been working on in White sands over the past month.  Enjoy.

Hi everyone, I wanted to post an update on my recent exciting work at White Sands Missile Range.   I was asked to participate directly in a specific rocket launch campaign for the first time in my career, WOO HOO!   Some of my recent work is a hardware device and associated compiled MATLAB code which provides a display of the "Flight Termination" telemetry for some small research rockets.   In other words, my stuff is part of what the range operators use to blow up the rocket if it veers off course for any reason whatsoever.   Let's hope they don't have to use it! To be clear, the part I personally built is strictly the telemetry "decommutator" and display software, the part which stays on the ground.   The display is showing information gleaned from a radio signal that the rocket sends out to the ground station during its first 60 seconds of flight. The other part, which flies in the vehicle, I did not build.   It is something that my group already has tested and flight qualified.   Also, after T+60 seconds, the motors are all burned out, and the second stage motor, along with the vehicle flight termination stuff separates from the payload, and becomes irrelevant to the rest of the mission. Want to play "the acronym game" for a bit? On the vehicle there are two command destruct radio receivers (CDRs), and two "flight termination logic units" (FTLUs) coupled to a single "Conical Shaped Charge" (CSC) via some awesome "flexibly confined detonating cord" (FCDC).   The CSC contains about one pound of C-4 explosive material which, when detonated, punches a giant hole in the top end of the second stage solid fueled rocket motor.   Once that happens, the rocket disintegrates, and the pieces fall pretty quickly from the sky.   This is a rare example of using C-4 explosives to ENHANCE SAFETY, since it represents insurance against possible damage to people and property from the occasional rocket that may wander into forbidden trajectories. ....Actually, the conical shaped charge focuses a stream of plasma in one direction powerful enough to punch a pinky sized hole directly through eight one inch thick steel plates stacked together...   So it's pretty powerful, and it's what we use on some much larger rockets.   If detonated on this research rocket, it may end up punching holes through both ends of this little rocket motor.   That's just a conjecture; we haven't tried it. For the first few launches I'm being asked to support the launch directly as the "qualified console operator."   That's me!   When it comes to "qualified console operators", I'm the best!   (And the humblest.)   Just kidding, actually I sit there and click a mouse a few times, and pretty much watch some numbers.   It's just that simple.   The range operators have their twitchy fingers on the destruct button, not me. Anyway, the rocket is 57 feet long, weighs about 3 tons, and is composed of machined aluminum body sections mostly 18" outer diameter.   Our "flight termination" body section is about 16" long, so it is just a small segment of the overall length.   Also, the payload will be recovered via parachute deployment, while our section remains with the solid-fuel motors, and will be smashed to leetle tiny bits after re-entry into the atmosphere. The payload is an experimental telescope from Boston University.   It has a star-tracker and a one million dollar deformable mirror.   Once in space, the telescope is supposed to orient itself using puffs of compressed nitrogen gas through tiny directed nozzles, then point toward a particular star, and start taking pictures.   It is supposed to be able to block out the light from the star, and image items orbiting the star, such as "exoplanets." All of this must be done before the rocket plunges back to earth.   It is "sub-orbital."   This means that while it does go into space, it falls right back out of space in about 8 minutes time because it is not moving sideways very fast.   The apogee for this one is approximately 125 miles. For any interested rocket fans, the first stage is a Terrier MK70, which burns for ~6 sec. and the second stage "sustainer" is a Black Brant which burns for ~42 sec.   The vehicle coasts for ~6 sec. between first stage burnout and second stage ignition. Well, wish me luck.   I'm going back to White Sands Missile range on Friday to help launch it. Tammy - you deserve special praise through all of this.   You are truly wonderful.   I'm planning to be home tomorrow night, and I'm bringing a few special gifts with me.   Can't wait to see you and the children!

We hope that all goes well with the launch tonight.  We are looking forward to having John home for a bit longer this time!