Rocket motors are categorized with a letter according to their total energy. “Each designation doubles the total energy of the previous one, so that a B is twice as powerful as an A and C twice as powerful as B,” Braibish explains. Most model rockets — the kind you can buy at hobby stores — run from Class A through E. High-power motors start at Class H, and federal regulations require a special certification to purchase them. Members of OregonRocketry regularly launch O-class rockets at Brothers, and though I didn’t witness any of those the day we attended, the handful of M and N class launches I did witness touched off a sickly mingle of awe and terror in my gut.
“We like to treat these things like weapons,” Braibish says. As well they should.
Countdowns were quick and staccato, like drumrolls over the loudspeaker, punctuated by the trumpet screech of launch. Again and again, 200 pairs of eyes followed smoke trails into the sun, just able to catch the puff of gunpowder and flash of parachute that signaled a successful flight before returning to level to witness yet another fiery launch. I couldn’t help but recall the opening lines of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow: “A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now.”
No, nothing in my experience to compare this to, this outrageous exhibition of propulsion and amateur ingenuity in the middle of an otherwise desolate landscape.
Braibish, who was serving as Launch Control Officer (LCO), informed us soon after arrival that there would be a two-hour midmorning break so a National Guard Air Wing unit could perform exercises.
Such interruptions aren’t uncommon here. “Brothers is a nice double-edged sword,” Braibish says. “We have another level of coordination with the Air Wing, but because this is an established training site for them, commercial air traffic isn’t much of an issue.”
Members used this military-enforced intermission to register a dizzying variety of rockets with the Range Safety Officer (RSO), who was the resident subject matter expert on rocket construction and site conditions. Each registration required a conference, and some rocketeers left theirs slump-shouldered and frowning.
“The RSO is able to look at a rocket and ask: Have you connected all the parts? How is the motor built? How did you attach these fins? Is this the first flight? They ask all the questions that are relevant to ensuring a safe flight, which is obviously our highest priority,” Braibish says. “The RSO will also look at a launch and establish certain parameters, like which cell to launch from or whether this rocket requires more attention.”
Steady winds blew from the south both days of Rocketober, and one of the prevailing safety concerns involved weathercocking.