BlogIt's almost impossible for me to keep this regularly updated, because everything is in ultra-secret stealth mode, but I'll try and report all the progress I can! October 2008My animations were taken to the Milton Keynes Science Festival by collegues from PSSRI at the Open University. Where they were played on the big screen and at the stall!
Thanks to Simeon Barber at the OU for the images. May 2008I've just got back from QinetiQ's Pendine rocket test track where the UK Penetrator Consortium have made its first full scale trial. The test track is 1500m long, and is essentially a rocket powered railway. The penetrator itself was about a foot and a half long, weighed about 10kg, and was painted bright blue for the cameras. It was strapped onto a sled and then fired down the track at 300 meters per second. I watched the whole thing from inside a steel reinforced concrete bomb-proof bunker, from behind inch thick bullet proof glass. Even so, it was incredibly loud! The test that I witnessed was a resounding sucess, but we have two more to go. I expect there will be a proper press release soon, but until then, here's a 3D animation that I made to give you the idea.
March 2008
The consortium is currently getting ready to test its first penetrators in May. The three tests will carry experiments from several institutes, mostly carrying representative electronic or mechanical components to test their durability. I'm going to try and get a 3D movie ready in time for it, but it will be a real race against the clock. Rendering takes for ever! I've also submitted my first ever scientific paper to the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society.
See the website of the penetrator consortium.
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