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HAL5 Project HALO Photo Galleries

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GL-1 SL-1 SL-2 TL-1 Test 1 TL-1 Test 2 TL-1 Test 3&4

HALO Ground Launch 1 (GL-1)
April 13, 1996

No, this is NOT an Afgan rebel... it's our first flight test of our hybrid motor rocket. Greg Allison pictured.
Ground based flight test. Nitrous oxide oxidizer and asphalt fuel grain. 'Paving the road to space and launghing all the way.'
Rocket's nosecone with Project HALO logo prominently display along with a reward if found sticker.
Tim and Al in protective gear to setup the rocket for flight.
Launch of HALO rocket at the "Large and Dangerous Rocket Society gathering" in Manchester, Tennessee. 30,000 feet max altitude.

HALO Sky Launch 1 (SL-1)
May 11, 1997. Hampstead, NC

HALO team members Clay and Tim standing next to the SL-1 hybrid rocket. Final configuration of SL-1 rocket, 92 pounds.
SL-1 Hybrid rocket's nozzle.
Nosecone payload. Home built avionics system with GPS. 1255 MHz FM ATV. Live camera. Telemetry on 2m packet. Gondola cam on 434 MHz ATV.
Rocket's parachute container and release mechanism (pyro).
Night before the historical launch. HALO team members and SL-1 rocket.
Launch day. Loading the rocket into the balloon gondola in the wee hours of the morning.
Our data downlink receiver antenna.
12 tanks of helium later. Unrolling the ballon.
Another picture of folks unrolling the ballon and filling it with helium.
Kjome launcher makes inflation a breeze while local press looks on.
HALO team members holding up the ballon gondola (with rocket inside) for launch.
The ballon is starting to rise.
Lift off! Rocket ignited at 60k ft when 120 miles off the coast of NC. At 36 nmi, it made the Guinness Book of Records for the highest amateur rocket flight.
There she goes. View of the SL-1 balloon gondola.
Project HALO Sky Launch 1 Mission Profile. We almost made it to #4.
Project HALO Sky Launch 1 launch site: Hampstead, North Carolina.

HALO Sky Launch 2 (SL-2)
June 28, 1998. Golf of Mexico.

Steve and Al setting up the rocket on a last minute made launch tower per the owner of the barge.
Another view of the launch tower/rod
Balloon inflated and ready for launch
Aftermath of the rocket after it snag on the launch rod. It was a scarry sight, but the rocket sffered only minor damage. The oxidzer tank held.

HALO Tube Launch 1 Static Motor Test #1
November 12, 2005

Mobile static test stand before test motor installation. Test conducted at a private airfield outside of Huntsville Alabama. Nov. 12, 2005.
Test motor, nitrous lines, valves transducer, and sensors hooked up to the test stand. Awaiting system check.
Looking into the motor from the nozzle and the igniter. The wires you see (light blue and white, out of focus) are for firing the electric matches that will ignite the igniter (Estes model rocket motor)
Another view of the test stand and the motor at dusk. The test stand is strapped to concrete anchor.
View from aft (nozzle) end of the test motor. Awaiting N2O tank fill (right silver tanks).
Huntsville, we have a problem. Steve took this picture (good timing) showing the rupture of the case just after ignition.
Post failure picture of the motor segment. The left handside was where the injector bulkhead (attached to the oxidizer tank) used to be. The explosion threw the motor few yards away from the test stand.
Forward end of the fuel grain. This is where the injector bulkhead used to be. Because of the hybrid design (fuel/oxidizer are separate), once the nitrous flow is cut, the combustion stopped. Most of the fuel grain is still good.
Aft end of the motor (Nozzle). You are looking at the carbon phenolic nozzle. The nozzle is in good shape (after we clean it up) that we are reusing it for the next TL-1 test motor #2.
Simulated oxidizer tank, nitrous feedline and pressure transducer. The blast broke off the nitrous feedline and threw this segment several yards away. The transducer is still good (box shaped device).

HALO Tube Launch 1 Static Motor Test #2
September 30, 2006

Newly refurbished mobile static test stand. Our thanks to Orion Propulsion of Huntsville for their continuing support and the use of their test facility. Fellow HALO team members (Clay and Aaron) checking out the test stand before starting test preparation work. September 30, 2006.
Hooking up the various plumbing and electrical wiring. Steve is checking over the calibration readings on the strain gauges and load cells.
Prepping the motors took several hours. Including hooking up various nitrous and CO2 lines, and running electrical cables to the trailer and setting up test equipments. Here you see Steve and Al preparing the motor for pressurization test.
After successful pressurization test, Steve is hooking up the igniters and put in flight nozzle. This is actually an flight motor. We used commerical grade aluminum tube case and flight nozzle.
Looking at the nozzle. The red and black wires are the 14 volts DC power used to ignite the electric matches. Cork is used to add additional thermal protection of the nozzle from the exhaust heat.
After half a day of prep work, we are ready for the firing. Even though the motor only has 350 lb of thrust, the test stand is securly tied down.
HALO Chief Engineer Steve sitting in Orion Propulsion converted semi-trailer, complete with TV monitors and computer monitoring equipment that is used to activate gas valves and collect data from the test stand.
View of the test facility from about 100 feet away. For safety reason, the motor is "behind" the Hyundai cargo container. The shinny red trailer is the control center. This picture show the motor flame abruptly stopped, and then coughed a small cloud of smoke. The test terminated about a second and a half.
Video still of the motor firing (right after ignition). The load cells indicated the motor is producing about 300 lbs of force right about now.
Oops! About a second into the firing, we had a case rupture. You can make it out in the center of the picture. Months of work (few hours a week) gone. But at least the motor is secured.
Just immediate after the case rupture, the nitrous are pouring out of the rupture and down the nozzle. The nitrous gas are actually extinguishing any fire that is still burning. We then terminate the N2O flow and purge the motor with CO2.
Case rupture near the injector bulkhead. The black 'ring' on the right is the carbon fiber that we wrapped around the injector bulkhead swage. The explosion pushed the fuel grain (black rubber) and case outward. The brownish fractured pieces are the charred white PVC pipe that we used to hold the HTPB rubber. The two light orange "patches" with tapes are the strain gauges.
Video of the firing. Oops. We have a problem...
Another view of the rupture area.

HALO Tube Launch 1 Static Motor Test #3 and 4
October 20, 2007 and March 22, 2008

Oct. 20, 2007. Looking from the front of the motor and the mobile test stand. Average thrust of the motor approx 350 lbf.
Oct. 20, 2007. Side view of the motor, clamped down ready for the test.
Due to video compression, the sound of the rocket is a bit off in the video.
Another view of the motor and mobile test stand.
Sunset at the test area on October 20, 2007.

Ad Astra per Ardua --- “ To the Stars by Our Own Hands” is the motto of HAL5.
“Ad Astra” is the motto of the National Space Society, which is Latin for “To the Stars”

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