Saturday, April 27, 2013
Mojave Test Area, CA

'Texas Two Step' was an experimental minimum diameter, carbon fiber, two stage vehicle consisting of an 8-inch-diameter booster and a 6-inch-diameter sustainer. It was an especially complicated vehicle by RPL standards, featuring essentially two of everything, including dual-deployment recovery and avionics systems in each stage. Named by former RPL leader and lifelong Texan, Alec Leverette, 'Two Step' was the first vehicle to launch from our 20' launch tower, a structure principally designed and built by Mr. Leverette himself. The rocket was designed to come apart at about 10,000 feet, then light the sustainer and cruise to 70,000 feet at a maximum speed of Mach 4.

Upon exiting the tower TTS quickly banked into the strong wind, and the safety guidelines in the avionics didn't permit the sustainer to ignite at such a non-vertical flight path. The sustainer crashed into the desert and was located and recovered using the onboard avionics. The booster has not yet been located.

For more information:
www.uscrpl.blogspot.com
https://picasaweb.google.com/10974190...