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> "Starsailor has already set a world record for being the first rocket engine developed and fired by civilians, when it was initially tested in 2021." Say wha

> "Starsailor has already set a world record for being the first rocket engine developed and fired by civilians, when it was initially tested in 2021." Say what? Obviously something got garbled between the students and the Media Relations office. > "The team’s current goal is to make history by launching the first student-built, liquid-fuelled rocket to cross the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and into outer space, known as the Kármán line." That didn't sound likely, either. And no; USC would like a word with them (2019). [1] [Edit: Ah, cute. USC had a solid rocket engine.] Further edit: Not to belittle the team's chops. A liquid-fueled engine is a lot more difficult that a solid motor. And, the team has showed a lot of perserverence in their journey. [1] https://www.wired.com/story/a-rocket-built-by-students-reached-space-for-the-first-time/ https://www.wired.com/story/a-rocket-built-by-students-reach...

mcarmichael 4y ago
Indeed. This marketing copy is spectacularly over-reaching. Canada has a proud history in sounding rockets; I wonder if comparisons to that military research work were the stepping-off point here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Brant_(rocket) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Brant_(rocket) Canada also has prior non-military liquid-fueled rocket engine development worthy of note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Arrow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Arrow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD0ChIZnPLY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD0ChIZnPLY That project also originated in a prize competition context; it's great to see Space Concordia persevering with their effort on its own merits. Addendum: A much more reality-tethered description of the group's achievements as of a couple of years ago: https://www.pccomposites.com/space-concordia-fires-most-powerful-student-rocket-engine-in-the-world/ https://www.pccomposites.com/space-concordia-fires-most-powe...
- MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
  >marketing copy is spectacularly over-reaching Like all those medical studies that need "in mice" appended to the title, you need to add a "in Canada" for many institutions here. There's no shortage of breathless coverage to go around.
  - honkler 4y ago
    canadians on downvote rampage
    - MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
      It's like a paradox: Nearly every Canadian can recite a laundry list of grievances they have with Canadian news media but if you actually make any of those accusations, welp, you're not being super-chipper-patriotic enough and get hit with the DVs.
- 908B64B197 4y ago
  > Canada also has prior non-military liquid-fueled rocket engine development worthy of note: Non-military... for Canada only, not necessarily for it's allies and partners like China. The Canadian government is known to close it's eyes to dual intent technology transfers to China[0]. Good thing here in America there's ITAR[1] keeping these technologies from the hands of such bad actors. Canadian universities are also known to host and subsidize degrees for a significant number of Iranian nationals studying aerospace and nuclear engineering, for peaceful purposes I suppose. The Iranian drones currently used in Ukraine by the Russians seem to point toward technology transfers from Canada[2]. > Indeed. This marketing copy is spectacularly over-reaching. From the tittle and skimming the article I assumed they were claiming to be the first student-led group to reach the Karman Line, completely ignoring USC's record in 2019. Then, I realized they meant with a liquid fuel engine, thus making it a real first (albeit on a technicality). Then actually reading the article I realized the rocket doesn't actually exist and the funding for is hasn't even been secured. They did perform a static test for the engine, but that's not the same as a real flight by any stretch. Then the article gets really weird, with statements like: "With the ability to deliver 65 kilograms of scientific payload to over 135 kilometres in space, Starsailor is in the same class as United States suborbital launch companies' rocket-powered vehicles." Which sounds true except some of these rockets are actually flying. I guess if Starsailor does liftoff and performs to spec it'll be of the same class. Also why aren't they naming any of the companies? Fear of lawsuits? And then there's the name dropping at the end "The student-led team has scored an impressive number of wins since its inception in 2014, beating other universities such as Stanford, MIT, Caltech and McGill." I wonder why they went with that list of Universities (to get the right keyword in the article?). I mean, I don't think MIT or Caltech talks about Concordia in it's press releases... And no mention of USC who accomplished a similar goal? [0] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-chinese-military-scientists-canadian-universities/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-chinese-mil... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Traffic_in_Arms_Regulations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Traffic_in_Arms_... [2] https://montrealgazette.com/news/canada/iranian-drones-canadian-company https://montrealgazette.com/news/canada/iranian-drones-canad...
angry_moose 4y ago
Based on the gofundme, I think an editor replaced "largest" with "first" > Starsailor's engine was first successfully tested in the summer of 2021. The test became a world-record-setting event: the largest rocket engine developed and fired by civilians. The wording of the last clause is identical other than that word. Even then its a bit of a stretch, I assume by "civilian" they mean something like "non-commercial hobbyist". https://www.gofundme.com/f/starsailor https://www.gofundme.com/f/starsailor
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
marmetio 4y ago
They should have defined the terminology. A rocket _engine_ is turbomachinery. A rocket _motor_ is a lump of solid propellant in a pressure vessel.

mcarmichael 4y ago

Indeed. This marketing copy is spectacularly over-reaching. Canada has a proud history in sounding rockets; I wonder if comparisons to that military research work were the stepping-off point here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Brant_(rocket) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Brant_(rocket) Canada also has prior non-military liquid-fueled rocket engine development worthy of note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Arrow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Arrow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD0ChIZnPLY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD0ChIZnPLY That project also originated in a prize competition context; it's great to see Space Concordia persevering with their effort on its own merits. Addendum: A much more reality-tethered description of the group's achievements as of a couple of years ago: https://www.pccomposites.com/space-concordia-fires-most-powerful-student-rocket-engine-in-the-world/ https://www.pccomposites.com/space-concordia-fires-most-powe...

MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
>marketing copy is spectacularly over-reaching Like all those medical studies that need "in mice" appended to the title, you need to add a "in Canada" for many institutions here. There's no shortage of breathless coverage to go around.
- honkler 4y ago
  canadians on downvote rampage
  - MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
    It's like a paradox: Nearly every Canadian can recite a laundry list of grievances they have with Canadian news media but if you actually make any of those accusations, welp, you're not being super-chipper-patriotic enough and get hit with the DVs.
908B64B197 4y ago
> Canada also has prior non-military liquid-fueled rocket engine development worthy of note: Non-military... for Canada only, not necessarily for it's allies and partners like China. The Canadian government is known to close it's eyes to dual intent technology transfers to China[0]. Good thing here in America there's ITAR[1] keeping these technologies from the hands of such bad actors. Canadian universities are also known to host and subsidize degrees for a significant number of Iranian nationals studying aerospace and nuclear engineering, for peaceful purposes I suppose. The Iranian drones currently used in Ukraine by the Russians seem to point toward technology transfers from Canada[2]. > Indeed. This marketing copy is spectacularly over-reaching. From the tittle and skimming the article I assumed they were claiming to be the first student-led group to reach the Karman Line, completely ignoring USC's record in 2019. Then, I realized they meant with a liquid fuel engine, thus making it a real first (albeit on a technicality). Then actually reading the article I realized the rocket doesn't actually exist and the funding for is hasn't even been secured. They did perform a static test for the engine, but that's not the same as a real flight by any stretch. Then the article gets really weird, with statements like: "With the ability to deliver 65 kilograms of scientific payload to over 135 kilometres in space, Starsailor is in the same class as United States suborbital launch companies' rocket-powered vehicles." Which sounds true except some of these rockets are actually flying. I guess if Starsailor does liftoff and performs to spec it'll be of the same class. Also why aren't they naming any of the companies? Fear of lawsuits? And then there's the name dropping at the end "The student-led team has scored an impressive number of wins since its inception in 2014, beating other universities such as Stanford, MIT, Caltech and McGill." I wonder why they went with that list of Universities (to get the right keyword in the article?). I mean, I don't think MIT or Caltech talks about Concordia in it's press releases... And no mention of USC who accomplished a similar goal? [0] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-chinese-military-scientists-canadian-universities/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-chinese-mil... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Traffic_in_Arms_Regulations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Traffic_in_Arms_... [2] https://montrealgazette.com/news/canada/iranian-drones-canadian-company https://montrealgazette.com/news/canada/iranian-drones-canad...

angry_moose 4y ago

Based on the gofundme, I think an editor replaced "largest" with "first" > Starsailor's engine was first successfully tested in the summer of 2021. The test became a world-record-setting event: the largest rocket engine developed and fired by civilians. The wording of the last clause is identical other than that word. Even then its a bit of a stretch, I assume by "civilian" they mean something like "non-commercial hobbyist". https://www.gofundme.com/f/starsailor https://www.gofundme.com/f/starsailor

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

marmetio 4y ago

They should have defined the terminology. A rocket _engine_ is turbomachinery. A rocket _motor_ is a lump of solid propellant in a pressure vessel.