Single Person Danish Rocket Launches, Misses Goal Altitude

A group of Danish space enthusiasts has launched a new rocket that is large enough to hoist one person high into the atmosphere and perhaps eventually in to low orbit. The rocket was launched at sea and had a test with a dummy inside the rocket to simulate a person being lifted into the sky. The test launch was conducted from a platform at sea and was launched last Friday. This was the second launch attempt; the first attempt was last year and failed.

The failed launch was blamed on a hairdryer that was used inside the rocket engine as a heater. Yes, you read that right the rocket used a hair dryer as a heater. The rocket was able to lift off this time around and the team had a goal of about 15km. The rocket voyage was halted early at about 2km into the air. The flight was stopped after the rocket started to veer off course and one of the team turned the engine off via remote control.

The team feared the rocket would stay outside the area allotted for the test flight. At this point, the team is still analyzing the data in an attempt to determine what caused the rocket to go off course. A video of the test flight is posted online and you can clearly see that the parachute meant to allow for the recovery of the rocket failed to fully open to slow the descent of the rocket.

[via New Scientist]