sandrello8 minutes ago
I read the name and the first logical thought that came to mind was that of a platform to have AI agents iterating on rockets design. How doomed am I?
CarVac2 minutes ago
OpenRocket has a little optimizer built in but of course it neglects structural integrity which it knows nothing of…
CarVac7 minutes ago
I helped out with a user interface redesign of OR many years ago. It was pretty incredibly unintuitive back then, and many hobby rocketeers paid for Rocksim instead.
EvanAnderson2 hours ago
This is pretty cool. I remember having fun simulating my rockets using the BASIC programs from G. Harry Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry" when I was a kid. This looks like a way to recreate some of that fun.
chuckreynoldsan hour ago
Well THAT's cool. I was just talking about getting back into model rocketry... I'm not sure my 6yo daughter will like it as much as I did/do but I want to get back into it and launch a few and see if she's into it. Timing here is great as I need to start looking at starting from scratch with kits etc.
dzink2 hours ago
With the current wars this will only gain more interest.
aliljet2 hours ago
I wonder how crazy the scale here can get. How far can I go? The bps.space guy is heading into space. Can the community hit the moon? Literally.
lovlar17 minutes ago
Space Concordia, a Canadian university space-oriented student group, which is sort of amateur-level given that it’s driven by students and donations, attempted to reach space not that long ago with a liquid fueled single staged rocket. Here is a video of the launch https://www.youtube.com/live/610YciEs8qg?t=4594&is=aAWo8Y7vi...
rigrassman hour ago
Might be worth checking out the "Copenhagen Suborbitals" group (they have a YouTube channel) and see if they're still active! It's been years but I think I recall they were trying to build something capable of getting a person into space (not sure if orbit was a goal).
EvanAnderson2 hours ago
Amateur rocketry achieving orbit would be significant. Reaching the moon would be substantially more difficult.
mitchbob15 hours ago
The miracle of 3D printing. First ghost guns, and now ghost rockets. Will be curious to see what prediction markets will have for these.
altruios2 hours ago
you get some good, you get some bad.
Building a rocket shell is probably just fine: you need to fuel yet - that you can't 3D print. probably fine...
Overall 3d printing is a lot more than ghost guns and ghost rockets. That the conversation dominates this small sub-section reeks of 'think-of-the-children' screeching that hides explicit power grabs in regulation and surveillance with the main intent seemingly to be 'enforce copywrite' (of only the big players that can afford to throw their weight around).
Fear pushes people's buttons.
rmvt2 hours ago
i've recently had youtube randomly suggest me a video where this dude was building his own opensource manpads, with a single rocket costing under $100 in parts (there was no explosive payload so that makes it just a rocket and not a missile, i guess). not long after, someone posted it here on hn but i think it's been removed (by the mods, i imagine) since.
i find these projects both fascinating and terrifying. seeing a single person building what normally involves huge defense corporations and government contracts, these things in their bedroom is amazing. it shows how information wants to be free and how ingenious people can get with whatever motivates them.
embedding-shapean hour ago
> someone posted it here on hn but i think it's been removed (by the mods, i imagine) since.
The submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47425297 "Tech hobbyist makes shoulder-mounted guided missile prototype with $96 in parts" - https://github.com/novatic14/MANPADS-System-Launcher-and-Roc...
Seems to have almost as many comments as points, so guessing it got pushed down the frontpage list because of the "anti-flame-war" thingy HN has.
_trampeltieran hour ago
It was here on HN (441 points)
mandeepjan hour ago
> with a single rocket costing under $100 in parts
Is there a parts list?
nbernardan hour ago
I believe it is the same project that was discussed here a few days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47385935
mandeepjan hour ago
I know; I thought they'd have a handy parts list on their new site. But you are right; I should have looked in their Google Drive docs. There's a section - "Bill of materials and cost breakdown", but details are buried somewhere. Thanks, though.
Onavo2 hours ago
Need itar to be defanged first.
p0w3n3d2 hours ago
I hope this is for students' project and for sending a gopro to the stratosphere?
evanwolf2 hours ago
Is there a similar drone design simulator?
gabrielcsapo2 hours ago
Have you seen https://store.steampowered.com/app/2060160/The_Farmer_Was_Re...? It is not a drone simulator more like a problem solving game using a drone.
swalsh2 hours ago
Oh i've been looking for a project for my 11 year old... he's a very project oriented learner, which schools don't seem to do anymore.
SilentM682 hours ago
Bookmarked :)