Huntsville Alabama L5 Society (HAL5)

HALO Gallery

HAL5 Gallery

HAL5 Monthly Flyers

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).

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