| Name: | Theremin I |
|---|---|
| Designation: | THM001 |
| Type: | Prototype |
| Recovery System: | Parachute |
| Builder: | William and Adam Boersma |
| Project: | Project Theremin |
| Maiden Flight: | 21 May 2022 |
| Status: | Active |
| Name: | Theremin I |
|---|---|
| Designation: | THM001 |
| Type: | Prototype |
| Recovery System: | Parachute |
| Builder: | William and Adam Boersma |
| Project: | Project Theremin |
| Maiden Flight: | 21 May 2022 |
| Status: | Active |
"The Franken-rocket"
Theremin I (THM001) is the first rocket built under Project Theremin, although it does not resemble the final design. It was originally called the Engineering Test Module or (ETM). In fact, I am literally building it out of spare parts. The body tube is very thick and heavy that I got from my brother Adam, who was going to make a booster stage for his rocket Miracle with it. I told him it was too heavy and not to do it, so he let me have it. Now I ended up making it into a separate rocket made out of other "random" parts, such as the nose-cone being the top of a plastic toy lightsaber and the engine retainer being the top and cap of a 2-liter soda bottle. The fins are made from the scrap of my other kit rocket's fins, and the launch lug is a glowstick braclet adapter.
Construction started on April 26th, 2022. Me and Adam are working together on this rocket, since I feel kind of bad for disuading him from his own project using it. I sanded the fins and glued them on during nights we watched Stargate SG-1 episodes as a family, as I have done with many rockets. On the morning of May 17th I hung it in a tree using my special hanging mechanism and put a coat of primer on it, only to realize that I had forgot to attach the launch lug. I attached it before I put the second coat of primer on. Then I did three light coats of grey spray paint, and used silver sharpies and print out decals to finish off the look. Adam later attached a Golden Honey Bee Productions (G.H.B.P.) logo to it aswell.
It's maiden flight was on May 21st, 2022. At first, I clipped the paper instead of the wire directly with the launch controller wires. Even though the wires were inside them, the paper may have been thicker and caused poor contact. The igniter also seemed to be broken somehow. I had to take it down and put a new igniter in and launch in the next round. When it finally did launch it was a partial failure because of how far off to the side it went. Parachute ejection was about 5 feet above the ground. I think this was an error on my part for leaning the launch lug into the wind so much. Apparently the low TWR caused it to pull over alot more and it went extremly horizontal.
Theremin I was unharmed, however. I did remove the light assembly for this flight as it was day time and you wouldn't have been able to see it and I didn't want it to fall out.
"SRA-CLS" stand for the Spaceport Rocketry Association's Compound Launch Site.
| F# | Specifics | Notes | ||||||||||
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| F1 |
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Partial-success. I clipped the paper instead of the wire directly with the launch controller wires. Even though the wires were inside them, the paper may have been thicker and caused poor contact. The igniter also seemed to be broken somehow. I had to take it down and put a new igniter in and launch in the next round. I angled the launch rod to the north (into the wind), but apparently the low TWR caused it to pull over alot more and it went extremly horizontal. Parachute ejection happened just before touchdown, if you can call it that. |
Hover over images to read the "tool tip" info about them, and click to open it full size in another tab.
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Updated 5/21/2022 by William Boersma