| Projects |
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| Mythbusters! |
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| The Friends of Amateur Rocketry helped the Mythbusters test the ancient myth of the "Ming Dynasty Astronaut" based on a Chinese official named Wan-Hu who tried to launch himself to the moon by attaching 47 black powder rockets to a large wicker chair! |
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| Legend has it, that in the early 16th century Wan-Hu had 47 assistants with flares in hand, rush foward to light the fuses. In a moment, there was a tremendous roar and billowing clouds of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Wan-Hu and the wicker chair were gone. Did he make it into space or just burn up in an explosion and fire? This is what F.A.R. was asked to test! |
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| The bunkers and protective shielding used. |
| F.A.R. and the Mythbusters Hosts. From left to right: Mike Tockstein, Ted Rothaupt, Adam Savage, Mark Holthaus, Jaime Hyneman, Kevin Baxter. |
| Click here for more information on the myth. It has been said that the expression "WAH-HOO!" came from this event! |
| Jaime and Adam getting ready to press the button! Erik Gates of Gates Brothers Rocketry on the far left. |
| Mike Tockstein making final connections to his firing system. |
| F.A.R. standing around "buster" the dummy. From left to right: Mike Tockstein, Kevin Baxter, Mark Holthaus, and Ted Rothaupt. |
| A special thanks to Erik Gates of Gates Brothers Rocketry for choosing the Friends of Amateur Rocketry to be a part of this! |
**** Premieres Sunday, December 5, 2004 on the Discovery Channel**** Click here for the current Mythbusters TV schedual |
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| Mark Holthaus attaching black powder bamboo motor for testing a couple of weeks before the shoot. |
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| Some of the bamboo rocket engines primed and matched ready to go. |
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| F.A.R. constructed 47 black powder rockets using bamboo sticks. After all of our experimenting (which included a couple weeks of help from Bill Colburn developing the ancient chinese formulas), Dave McCue, Mark Holthaus, Mike Tockstein, and Ted Rothaupt manufactured the engines ahead of time at F.A.R.'s desert launch facility. Mark and Dave spent countless hours finishing up the last of the motors. Kevin Baxter prepared all of the special nozzles used for the bamboo rockets. Mike Tockstein provided his digital launch controller and with help from Mike Estaborook wired all the electric matches to reliably initiate all 47 motors simultaneously. Two seperate experiments were conducted for the show. The first was trying to fly the chair using the 47 black powder bamboo rockets (that we constructed in a manner that would have been similar to how it was done in the 16th century), and the second was to try and fly the chair with 47 commercially made composite rocket motors (aerotech I-132's) which were obtained and prepared by Erik Gates of Gates Brothers Rocketry. Erik took the time to cut and deliver all the bamboo tubes used for the motors as well as keep in contact with the production crew in the weeks prior to the filming. Additional help on the film day was provided by Joe Mullin and his son Taylor, John Van Norman, Erik Gates's son David and girlfriend Beth. Tune into the show and find out what happened! |
| All pictures on this page are property of Friends of Amatuer Rocketry, Inc. They may not be reproduced or used for commercial purposes without express permission from F.A.R. For more details email the webmaster. Friends of Amateur Rocketry |
| Test firing of simultaneous ignition of 47 electric matches. Click here to find out how this was done. |
| All 47 composite rocket engines attached to the chair. |
| Buster and the 47 composites all ready for takeoff! |
| Mark Holthaus demonstrating how to prime one of the bamboo engines for the camera. |
| Adam and Jaime after the experiment. |