GERLACH, Nevada USA — At 2:00pm PST on November 23, 1996, the Reaction Research Society (RRS) launched an amateur rocket from the Black Rock Desert with live amateur television (ATV) cameras aboard. These ATV transmissions were recorded and are now available in .AVI format. The first AVI file is 5Mb and is 55 seconds in length.

It contains clips spliced together from before, during, and after liftoff. It was transmitted back to earth via ATV aboard the rocket from a payload built by Mike Henkoski (KC6CCC) who owns Microtek Electronics. The second video is from a camera positioned on the ground of the liftoff. It is 1Mb and is 5 seconds in length.

Description of the launch vehicle and details at the time of the launch are below:

George Garboden and members of the Reaction Research Society built this 475lb rocket that launched a payload to above an estimated 80km (50mi) on Nov. 23, 1996. According to RRS member Bill Claybaugh, "this altitude was estimated from a image of the entire Black Rock Desert taken near peak using known distances between geographic features". They estimate the maximum altitude at 52.15 miles with a 50% confidence level, 50.5mi at 95% confidence level.

Rocket booster height was 13 ft. tall and 10" in diameter and a weight of 475 pounds including solid fuel. Thrust was 14,000 pounds with a chamber pressure of 1000 PSI, 5 sec. burn.

Dart payload was 5ft long and 3.25" in diameter made of stainless steel with a total weight of 65 pounds.

Rocket was tracked with multi channel Doppler radar with the following results: Maximum speed was 4660 Feet per second or around Mach 4.5 with booster landing 1.81 miles down range. Peak altitude of booster was 90,000 ft. Calculated force of acceleration was 35G's peak. Launch angle was 85 degrees elevation due north. Dart payload reached a height of about 280,000 ft. and was recovered 7.86 miles down range, still transmitting video.

Total time from lift-off to ground contact was approx. 7 Min. Height was optically verified using distinguishing ground features compared to a detailed map database containing surface contours as well as highways and train tracks.

Transmitter : Microtek Electronics Part 90 FM transmitter with 1 Watt amplifier, tuned to 2418 mHz.

Camera: Sony XC-777 color CCD with 470 line res., 5600 deg. K white balance, 1/4000th shutter speed, 6mm lens, 50 degree field of view. Calibration was performed on camera optics after flight, the following relationship was measured: object at 9 ft. distance gave field of view of 8.5 ft.

Payload antenna: RHCP patch antenna on 1.7" round 1/16" teflon substrate. 4.85 dBd.

Power supply: 12 volt 1.2 Ah NiCad pack.

Current draw: 720 mA.

Receiver: Microtek Electronics Part 90 receiver, tuned to 2418 mHz. -82dBm sensitivity for 52 dB Video S/N.

Receiver Antenna: 34" solid dish illuminated with RHCP patch feed. 22dBd.

(5.5Mb/55 sec.) ATV Rocket AVI File

(1.0Mb/05 sec.) Ground Camera Rocket AVI File