 | |
| Company type | non-profit organization |
|---|---|
| Industry | High Power Amateur Rocketry |
| Predecessors | Tripoli Rocket Club |
| Founded | April 13, 1985, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA |
| Website | www |
The Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) is an international organization and one of the two major organizing bodies for high power rocketry in the United States.
Tripoli Rocketry Association was founded in 1964 in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, region as a high school science club, integrating both rocketry and space science. The name "Tripoli" was chosen because the founding members came from three different towns, and one of them helped fund the club's early projects using gold coins that his father had brought back from Tripoli (whose name approximately means "three towns") Lebanon after World War II. [1] By the late-1980s, it transitioned from a regional club into formal, incorporated, USA-national organization, with a focus on self-regulating advanced, High-Power Rocketry (HPR). The deregulation of the aviation industry by the Reagan Administration also facilitated the growth of HPR activities.
The founder was Francis G. Graham. Early members who helped expand the club were Curtis W. Hughes, Kenneth J. Good, and Arthur R. Bower, with Thomas J. (Tom) Blazanin leading its formalization as an incorporated national organization in 1987 with the assistance of Alaska lawyer Darrel J. Gardner.
Tripoli organizes many rocket launches, both regional events hosted by local prefectures and larger international launches like LDRS ("Large Dangerous Rocket Ships") [2] and BALLS. They also provide insurance for organized launches, administer a member certification program for flying high power rockets, and perform testing and certification of commercial hobby rocket motors.
Tripoli has expanded internationally over the years, and currently has clubs in many different countries including Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Additionally, it formerly was active in Israel.
Tripoli was involved as a plaintiff in a nine-year lawsuit (in conjunction with the National Association of Rocketry as a co-plaintiff) against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as the defendant, regarding its claims of jurisdiction over and legal classifications regarding permitting, storage, and use of ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) in rocket motors. On March 16, 2009, the United States district court for the District of Columbia found in favor of TRA/NAR, and ordered the ATF to vacate APCP from its list of regulated explosives. [3]
A rocket is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely from propellant carried within the vehicle; therefore a rocket can fly in the vacuum of space. Rockets work more efficiently in a vacuum and incur a loss of thrust due to the opposing pressure of the atmosphere.
A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; The inception of gunpowder rockets in warfare can be credited to the ancient Chinese, and in the 13th century, the Mongols played a pivotal role in facilitating their westward adoption.
A hybrid-propellant rocket is a rocket with a rocket motor that uses rocket propellants in two different phases: one solid and the other either gas or liquid. The hybrid rocket concept can be traced back to the early 1930s.
A model rocket is a small rocket designed to reach low altitudes and be recovered by a variety of means.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention of federal offenses involving the unlawful use, manufacture, and possession of firearms and explosives; acts of arson and bombings; and illegal trafficking and tax evasion of alcohol and tobacco products. The ATF also regulates via licensing the sale, possession, and transportation of firearms, ammunition, and explosives in interstate commerce. Many of the ATF's activities are carried out in conjunction with task forces made up of state and local law enforcement officers, such as Project Safe Neighborhoods. The ATF operates a unique fire research laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, where full-scale mock-ups of criminal arson can be reconstructed. The ATF had 5,285 employees and an annual budget of almost $1.5 billion in 2021. The ATF has received criticism over its handling of the Ruby Ridge siege, the Waco siege and other incidents.
The National Association of Rocketry (NAR) is a non-profit tax-exempt scientific organization dedicated to consumer safety, youth education, and the advancement of technology in the hobby of sport rocketry in the United States. Founded in 1957, the NAR is the oldest and largest spacemodeling organization in the world with over 8,000 members and 200 affiliated clubs across the U.S. It was established in 1957 by Orville Carlisle and G. Harry Stine. It supports all aspects of safe consumer sport rocket flying, from small model rockets with youth groups to very large high-power rockets flown by adult hobbyists.
High-power rocketry is a hobby similar to model rocketry. The major difference is that higher impulse range motors are used. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) definition of a high-power rocket is one that has a total weight of more than 1,500 grams (3.3 lb) and contains a motor or motors containing more than 125 grams (4.4 oz) of propellant and/or rated at more than 160 Newton-seconds of total impulse, or that uses a motor with an average thrust of 80 newtons (18 lbf) or more.
Motors for model rockets and high-powered rockets are classified by total impulse into a set of letter-designated ranges, from ⅛A up to O. The total impulse is the integral of the thrust over burn time.
George Harry Stine was one of the founding figures of model rocketry, a science and technology writer, and a science fiction author.
Amateur rocketry, sometimes known as experimental rocketry or amateur experimental rocketry, is a hobby in which participants experiment with fuels and make their own rocket motors, launching a wide variety of types and sizes of rockets. Amateur rocketeers have been responsible for significant research into hybrid rocket motors, and have built and flown a variety of solid, liquid, and hybrid propellant motors.
Rocket candy, or R-Candy, is a type of rocket propellant for model rockets made with a form of sugar as a fuel, and containing an oxidizer. The propellant can be divided into three groups of components: the fuel, the oxidizer, and the (optional) additive(s). In the past, sucrose was most commonly used as fuel. Modern formulations most commonly use sorbitol for its ease of production. The most common oxidizer is potassium nitrate (KNO3). Potassium nitrate is most commonly found in tree stump remover. Additives can be many different substances, and either act as catalysts or enhance the aesthetics of the liftoff or flight. A traditional sugar propellant formulation is typically prepared in a 65:35 (13:7) oxidizer to fuel ratio. This ratio can vary from fuel to fuel based on the rate of burn, timing and use.
North Coast Rocketry was a model rocket company founded in 1983 in Cleveland, Ohio by Chris Pearson and Matt Steele. Dan Kafun added as a partner in 1989.
Ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) is a solid rocket propellant. It differs from many traditional solid rocket propellants such as black powder or zinc-sulfur, not only in chemical composition and overall performance but also by being cast into shape, as opposed to powder pressing as with black powder. This provides manufacturing regularity and repeatability, which are necessary requirements for use in the aerospace industry.
The Canadian Association of Rocketry - L'Association Canadienne De Fuséologie (CAR-ACF) is a Canadian federal not for profit self-supporting association and governing body representing amateur/model rocketeers across Canada. The history of amateur/ model rocketry in Canada goes back to 1965 with its approval by the Canadian Federal government with the assistance of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (CASI), the Royal Canadian Flying Clubs (RCFCA), the new Canadian Association of Rocketry (CAR), and then with the help of the Youth Aeronautic and Aerospace of Canada (YAAC). CAR-ACF was incorporated in 2009 from the then existing Canadian Association of Rocketry - CAR.
Title II weapons, or NFA firearms, are designations of certain weapons under the United States National Firearms Act (NFA).
The United Kingdom Rocketry Association (UKRA) is an enabling body set up to promote and represent high power, medium power and model rocketry in the United Kingdom for educational, recreational and amateur research purposes. UKRA is also the specialist body to the BMFA with responsibilities for High Power Rocketry, and is the United Kingdom body recognized by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Friends of Amateur Rocketry, better known simply as FAR, is an educational 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation providing infrastructure for static test firing and launching; small, medium, and large; solid, hybrid, and liquid; commercial and experimental rockets. Their static test firing and launch facility known as FAR Site is located North of Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert. FAR was begun in 2003 by several friends and rocketry buffs as a spin-off from RRS. The FAR Site has been used by multiple groups, including Unreasonable Rocket, CSULB, Garvey Spacecraft Corporation, UCSD, MythBusters and an episode of How Hard Can It Be? on the National Geographic Channel. FAR utilizes California State Fire Marshal licensed Pyrotechnic Operators-Class 1, 2, and 3 Rockets. FAR does not require an individual to have a National Association of Rocketry (NAR) or Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) certification to launch their rockets.
Rocketry Organization of California (ROC) is one of the world's oldest and biggest amateur high power rocket clubs. Monthly one day launches are held the second Saturday of each month. Anyone interested in hobby rocketry is welcome, and spectators are always free.
Pars Rocketry Group or Pars Rocketry Team is a high power rocketry organization founded in June 2012.
Rocketry SA is the official voice and controlling body for all aspects of non-commercial and non-governmental rocketry in South Africa. The organization is registered as a non profit organization in South Africa. Rocketry SA promotes model rocketry, high-power rocketry, amateur rocketry, and aerospace modelling.