who here collects modle rockets

( anyone know any web sites to by them

I used to collect model cars.

I used to launch small rockets as a kid. They went pretty far up there, and the blast to take off was enough that one needed to be a good distance from them and fire using a remote. The parachutes... often failed... I suppose in that sense I built up a bit of a collection.

The camp I work at over the summer buys rockets from <a href=http://www.towerhobbies.com/index.html>Tower Hobbies</a>. They have been very reliable and sell good stuff.

Nice. Oh, as to the nature of parachute failures, it was a wide range. Everything from the plastic they use to make them melting from the heat of ignition to the strings breaking from the strain of the obviously too heavy rocket finally decending to Earth.

That's IF we found the thing and could figure it all out. Thank goodness GPS exists now. Those things tend to travel pretty high, and I had a hard time tracking them in the sky. Also as a kid I couldn't really gauge larger distances very well.

But anyway, sometimes the parachute did work. Nice, unless the wind suddenly picks up right then and sends the thing going a distance that requires a car trip to retrieve.

Here's a topic!

<img src="http://www.badastronomy.com/pix/bablog/katrina_galaxy.jpg">

http://www.slackerastronomy.org/wordpress/index.php/katrina-astronomy-fund/

Just one of the many specifically targetted relief funds out there. If you would prefer your money to go to some other relief cause, go for it. It is nice to know there is a fund for this sort of thing though.

Guess what i got a new job ; its where people give me money and they dont get anything in returne.

(o wait thats hurricane relief)