My Rocket

The rocket is on the pad. Have I done everything right? The three sided rocket is my design. It is made of foam board. Will it take the strain of this big of a rocket motor? Or will it be crushed in front of my eyes and flip about dangerously in front of me? Is the rocket motor one of the bad ones that will Cato and hurl pieces about? Or will my rocket be shot high in the sky? At apogee will the delayed charge open the rocket and spill the parachute into the sky? Was there enough chute wading to protect the plastic envelop of the chute so it will open to gently float the four foot rocket to Earth? When I go to recover it will I find it or will it vanish into the landscape unseen?

I turn the key on the launch remote I made and all indicators are go. There is power, the igniter is connected. The fire light in the big red button is lit. Five, four, three, two, one, launch and I press the button.

Whoosh and it is in the air. I follow the smoke trail high in the sky. I think open, open, open, but it does not. It falls. Suddenly the nose cone explodes out of the rocket spewing the parachute out. The elastic shock cord joins the body, nose cone, and parachute as one long structure falling in the air. The parachute slowly unwinds, too slowly. It falls and just before I lose sight of it the chute opens.

Now will I find it or will it stay hidden from my sight. As I walk around a desert tree the cat like thorns claws me and scratches me. Three bloody streaks appear on my arm. I push on and walk up the side of a wash. I see it spread out over a paddle cactus. The two inch spines holding the chute in place. Carefully I pull it free and walk back to the launcher. When can I do it again?