Alrighty... As promised, the recap of the Proton flight...
After spending much of Friday and Saturday of Plaster Blaster prepping the rocket, we finally got it loaded on the pad and ready to launch late saturday afternoon. The weather was perfect. Very light breeze blowing away from the flight line would prevent a repeat of the Fatboy landing...
We followed a very tight safety regimen. Minimal launch crew at the pad, no batteries in the electronics, shunted igniters, no radios or cell phones near the rocket while we assembled the electronics harnesses. Jim DeVeau, Paul Snow and Mike Jerauld handled the majority of the prep at the pad under the watchful eyes of both RSO Ken Sparks and TRA TAP Dok Hansen.
Once the pad was raised, the batteries were inserted, the electronics armed and the on board cameras were started. Val Derkach inserted the booster igniters and hooked up the ignition leads as the rest of the crew backed off to the flight line. Dok and I pulled back to a safe distance and acted as spotters since there is a lot of off road vehicle traffic around the launch site so we could stop the launch if need be.
After a short explanation of the expected flight profile to the crowd, Mike Jerauld started the countdown.
All six booster motors roared to life and the Proton leapt off the pad! It soared into the sky like it was on a rail! What a beautiful boost on the CTI K570 Classic Pro 54 motors!
The motors burnt out at 900 feet and the stage separation charge fired... And that's where we started the beginning of the end for the huge rocket...
The stage separation charge which had been carefully tested on the ground for some reason was not enough to completely eject the booster. The sustainer base got stuck in the booster at a slight angle, preventing one of the four pop-out fins from actuating. The second stage motor came up to pressure, and blasted free of the booster. The Cessaroni L1115 scorched through the insulation pad, the nomex blanket, the recover harness and the parachute in the split second it took to come free thus dooming the booster to a 900 foot free fall into the desert hard pack.
The sustainer lurched off at an odd angle, with only 3 fins locked and the fourth flapping visibly. The final fin finally popped into place and the locking pin engaged and the flight stabilized in a downward ballistic arc. Motor burnout seemed to take a lifetime as we watched in shock!
A plit second before impact, the altimeters ejected the payload and the chutes... Shot gunning them into the desert floor from an altitude of no more than 20-30 feet. The airframe crushed in directly behind the payload. The satellite was obliterated, the upped half of the airframe was smashed, the nose cone cracked beyond repair, the booster tanks were crushed.
Amazingly, there was some good news. All seven motor casings survived. All of the electronics survived, including the cameras and we got good clear footage!
The greatest mystery of the flight is that for some reason, the MAD unit didn't fire when the rocket pitched over. This flight profile was our worst case scenario and exactly why we had opted to include a MAD in the electronics package. It had been properly tested, powered up and armed but it failed to deploy the 'chutes that would have saved the sustainer...
Pics of the prep, flight and demise of the Proton will follow. As soon as we have the video edited I'll get it posted to YouTube and post a link here.
Thanks to the entire Proton crew and those who helped make it a reality! Paul Snow, Jim DeVeau, Jim McKinley, Larry Greenan, Mike Jerauld, Val Derkach, John Bowman, Andy Peart, Howard Smart, Rick Frelke and Ron Rickwald all had a hand in the construction. Mike Worthen for guidance and the use of his parachutes. Jack Garibaldi for brokering our sponsorship with Cessaroni. Last and far from least, our families and friends both near and far who supported our dream and who showed an interest in the project.
