GregGleason
01-18-2010, 04:49 PM
In case you haven't seen this, I'd thought that I would pass it along:
Rocket Terms Explained
A - M
Adhesive. A class of substances used to permanently attach rocket
components to incorrect locations. (see also Superglue).
Altimeter. An electronic device that would have reported the maximum
altitude achieved by a rocket had it not been destroyed in the crash.
Altitude. The distance above the ground level achieved by a rocket, as
measured by feet, meters, or wishful thinking.
Apogee. The point during the flight of the rocket at which the probability
of the ejection charge firing is zero.
BATF. An organization composed of federal law enforcement officers dedicated
to their mission to capture terrorist bombers, just as soon as they are
finished developing detailed regulations concerning the buying, selling, and
storage of toy propellant devices.
Battery. A device designed to store an electrical charge sufficient to
activate test equipment but not igniters.
Body tube. 1. Thin cylindrical cardboard container for the seething mass of
flaming CATO products. 2. The structural component of the rocket that is
used to separate the fins from the ground after flight.
Boost glider. A type of rocket in which one of the parts separates during
flight and crashes way more spectacularly than it otherwise could.
CATO. Energetic disassembly of motor components, often resulting from the
creative interpretation of motor assembly instructions.
Contest. An event during which a rocketeer tries to make a collection of
bits of paper and cardboard outperform someone else's collection of bits of
paper and cardboard.
Corn. A species of giant domesticated annual grass (Zea mays ssp. mays] of
tropical Mexican origin sowed by the devil himself in close proximity to
rocket ranges.
Delay. A period of time established by a measured length of a pyrotechnic
composition designed to burn at a precisely calibrated rate so as to ensure
that the ejection charge is not ignited before the rocket hits the ground.
Egg. An object produced by the avian species gallus domesticus to
demonstrate the utter ineptitude of the rocketry skills of the mammalian
species homo sapiens.
Egg loft. The use of rockets for the propulsion of eggs to high altitudes,
for the purpose of testing their ability to withstand impact after ballistic
descent.
Ejection charge. Small quantity of black powder placed at the forward end of
the rocket motor for the purpose of toasting parachutes.
Engine. An oil leak surrounded by pistons, valves, and other metal parts in
the front of the vehicle used to transport rockets to the range.
Fence post. The inverted vertical landing position frequently assumed by a
laboriously-constructed rocket, often a scale model, after its first
flight.
Fin. 1. A flat surface at the aft end of the rocket used to ensure axial
stability during supersonic descent from apogee. 2. A flat surface at the
aft end of the rocket designed to vibrate harmonically in order to create
spectacular clouds of smoking bits of balsa.
Ground. The soft, forgiving surface used to hold rocks in place for rockets
to land on.
High Power Rocket. A large collection of $20 bills wrapped into a body tube
and hung in a tree.
Igniter. 1. A device used as a key to free imprisoned Wooshes. 2. A device
designed to fail to perform when the launch queue is longest. (See also
Misfire).
Junk Yard Rocket. A model that is likely to crash and burn, built from parts
of rockets that have already crashed and burned.
Kit Bash. The deliberate rearrangement of parts in a commercially available
rocket kit, so as to ensure that a rocket that has little chance of flying
well has no chance at all of flying well.
Launch. 1. The act of faith in one's abilities symbolized by pressing the
button. 2. An event akin to a religious revival during which multiple
rocketeers make those acts of faith. 3. The most common means by which found
rockets are converted into lost rockets.
Launch controller. A metal box containing switches, lights, relays, and
wires designed to ensure the safe and efficient launching of the wrong
rocket.
Launch lug. The device on the side of the rocket that holds the rocket on
the pad while the motor burns a hole in the blast deflector.
Launch pad. Apparatus designed to hold rockets in an erect position during
misfires.
Launch rod. Apparatus on the launch pad responsible for twanging rockets
into nearly horizontal trajectories.
Lawn Dart. See Fence post.
LCO. The person on the launch range responsible for delaying rocket launches
with interminable periods of inane PA system chatter.
Luck. The only reasonable explanation for the fact that your fellow
rocketeer beat you in a contest in spite of your obviously superior skills.
Masking tape. Adhesive-backed paper product that, when used in conjunction
with rocketry, has magical powers.
Microclips. Devices attached to an igniter used to collect all of the soot
that results from ignition.
Misfire. The common name for the phenomenon that often produces silence at
the end of "5, 4, 3, 2, 1".
Motor. A device for imprisoning a Woosh, which can be set free by means of
an igniter.
Motor retainer. A device for rigidly holding a motor in place as the rocket
plows into the ground.
Continued ...
Rocket Terms Explained
A - M
Adhesive. A class of substances used to permanently attach rocket
components to incorrect locations. (see also Superglue).
Altimeter. An electronic device that would have reported the maximum
altitude achieved by a rocket had it not been destroyed in the crash.
Altitude. The distance above the ground level achieved by a rocket, as
measured by feet, meters, or wishful thinking.
Apogee. The point during the flight of the rocket at which the probability
of the ejection charge firing is zero.
BATF. An organization composed of federal law enforcement officers dedicated
to their mission to capture terrorist bombers, just as soon as they are
finished developing detailed regulations concerning the buying, selling, and
storage of toy propellant devices.
Battery. A device designed to store an electrical charge sufficient to
activate test equipment but not igniters.
Body tube. 1. Thin cylindrical cardboard container for the seething mass of
flaming CATO products. 2. The structural component of the rocket that is
used to separate the fins from the ground after flight.
Boost glider. A type of rocket in which one of the parts separates during
flight and crashes way more spectacularly than it otherwise could.
CATO. Energetic disassembly of motor components, often resulting from the
creative interpretation of motor assembly instructions.
Contest. An event during which a rocketeer tries to make a collection of
bits of paper and cardboard outperform someone else's collection of bits of
paper and cardboard.
Corn. A species of giant domesticated annual grass (Zea mays ssp. mays] of
tropical Mexican origin sowed by the devil himself in close proximity to
rocket ranges.
Delay. A period of time established by a measured length of a pyrotechnic
composition designed to burn at a precisely calibrated rate so as to ensure
that the ejection charge is not ignited before the rocket hits the ground.
Egg. An object produced by the avian species gallus domesticus to
demonstrate the utter ineptitude of the rocketry skills of the mammalian
species homo sapiens.
Egg loft. The use of rockets for the propulsion of eggs to high altitudes,
for the purpose of testing their ability to withstand impact after ballistic
descent.
Ejection charge. Small quantity of black powder placed at the forward end of
the rocket motor for the purpose of toasting parachutes.
Engine. An oil leak surrounded by pistons, valves, and other metal parts in
the front of the vehicle used to transport rockets to the range.
Fence post. The inverted vertical landing position frequently assumed by a
laboriously-constructed rocket, often a scale model, after its first
flight.
Fin. 1. A flat surface at the aft end of the rocket used to ensure axial
stability during supersonic descent from apogee. 2. A flat surface at the
aft end of the rocket designed to vibrate harmonically in order to create
spectacular clouds of smoking bits of balsa.
Ground. The soft, forgiving surface used to hold rocks in place for rockets
to land on.
High Power Rocket. A large collection of $20 bills wrapped into a body tube
and hung in a tree.
Igniter. 1. A device used as a key to free imprisoned Wooshes. 2. A device
designed to fail to perform when the launch queue is longest. (See also
Misfire).
Junk Yard Rocket. A model that is likely to crash and burn, built from parts
of rockets that have already crashed and burned.
Kit Bash. The deliberate rearrangement of parts in a commercially available
rocket kit, so as to ensure that a rocket that has little chance of flying
well has no chance at all of flying well.
Launch. 1. The act of faith in one's abilities symbolized by pressing the
button. 2. An event akin to a religious revival during which multiple
rocketeers make those acts of faith. 3. The most common means by which found
rockets are converted into lost rockets.
Launch controller. A metal box containing switches, lights, relays, and
wires designed to ensure the safe and efficient launching of the wrong
rocket.
Launch lug. The device on the side of the rocket that holds the rocket on
the pad while the motor burns a hole in the blast deflector.
Launch pad. Apparatus designed to hold rockets in an erect position during
misfires.
Launch rod. Apparatus on the launch pad responsible for twanging rockets
into nearly horizontal trajectories.
Lawn Dart. See Fence post.
LCO. The person on the launch range responsible for delaying rocket launches
with interminable periods of inane PA system chatter.
Luck. The only reasonable explanation for the fact that your fellow
rocketeer beat you in a contest in spite of your obviously superior skills.
Masking tape. Adhesive-backed paper product that, when used in conjunction
with rocketry, has magical powers.
Microclips. Devices attached to an igniter used to collect all of the soot
that results from ignition.
Misfire. The common name for the phenomenon that often produces silence at
the end of "5, 4, 3, 2, 1".
Motor. A device for imprisoning a Woosh, which can be set free by means of
an igniter.
Motor retainer. A device for rigidly holding a motor in place as the rocket
plows into the ground.
Continued ...