5, 4, 3, 2, 1, launch! - a photo on Flickriver

We spent the last three days at Balls 29, a big experimental rocket launch event in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada - the same place where Burning Man takes place. A big rocket is launched every few minutes.

The majority of the rockets are experimental, people often mix their own solid propellant. With this about 1/3 of the launches fail, some with a big bada boom. For safety, the bigger the motor, the farther away the launch. This launchpad is 1500 feet away from the rocket camp. Big rockets ascend 100,000 feet or more, which is 3 times higher than the cruising altitude of commercial aircraft. The fastest rockets reach Mach 5 (5 times the speed of sound, 3800 MPH, 6100 km/h), and pull up to 80 g.

The black smoke of this rocket is from a commercial Aerotech K850 "sparky motor”, burning bits of titanium sponge produce the sparks. My rocket buddy Steve Jurvetson has flown Vertical Assault many times, this time to 11'000 feet. He duct taped a camera to the rocket, you can see it on the left side about half way up. We recovered the rocket, it is now in our garage. However, the camera ripped off at high speed of up to Mach 1. We searched for a while but could not find it on the playa.

I processed a balanced and a realistic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.

-- ƒ/6.3, 210 mm, 1/2000 sec, ISO 200, Sony A6000, SEL-55210, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC7514_hdr1bal1rea1g.jpg
-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

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Taken in: United States / Nevada / Trego (show map)

Taken on: September 26, 2021

Tags:

Black Rock Desert

Gerlach

USA

Black Rock

desert

lakebed

playa

mountain

rocket

rocketry

rocket launch

launch

smoke

exhaust

black

black smoke

titanium

titanium sponge

titanium flakes

high power rocket

Tripoli Rocketry Association

Balls

Balls 29

outdoor

sky

Sony

Sony A6000

A6000

SEL-55210

long lens

1xp

RAW

Photomatix

HDR

quality HDR

Quality HDR Photography

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Sets appears in: • 100-199 Faves • HDR Science & Technology more » • HDR Landscapes & Nature • HDR World « less

Groups appears in: • Rocket • HDR more » • Favorites: 150 • Model Rocket • Sony E 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 OSS SEL55210 Tele Lens • Sony a6000, 6300, 6500 • Sony A6000 • Sony Alpha 6000 • Shots from your Sony A6000 • HPR - High Power Rocketry « less

Camera: Sony ILCE-6000, f/6.3, 1/2000 sec, 210mm (=315mm), ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony ILCE-6000
Lens:	Sony E 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 OSS
Aperture:	f/6.3
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/2000)
Focal Length:	210mm (35mm equivalent: 315mm)
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Pixelmator Pro 2.1.4
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