Forrest's Rocket Pages Estes AstrocamŽ RTF October 23, 1998

	Specifications
	Length: 18.38" (46.7 cm) Diameter: 1.34" (34.0 mm) Weight: 2.7 oz (76 g) Recovery: 12" (30 cm) assembled parachute Fins: Plastic molded Maximum Altitude: 500 ft (152 m) Recommended Engine: C6-7 only

The Estes AstrocamŽ RTF Starter Set was my first rocket. Every Starter Set contains:

• A high flying rocket
• The highly reliable Electron BeamŽ launch controller
• The versatile Porta-PadŽ II launch pad
• Engines and flight supplies for your first launch missions
• Model rocketeer's guide booklet
• Model rocketry safety code and full one year warranty

My AstrocamŽ came with three C6-7 engines which I used for its first flights. After purchasing and installing a 110 (200 ASA) film cartridge in the nose cone camera, I launched the rocket three times in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. All three launches were successful, but the parachute did not properly deploy on the third mission resulting in a hard landing which caused the film door to pop off. Of these three flights, only the second produced a photograph (shown below).

Click on the photo to see a high resolution image

First successful photo from the AstrocamŽ RTF rocket. Photo taken in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The rocket was flown six more times in Gulfport, Mississippi, between October 15 and 19, 1998, before its unfortunate demise. Four of these flights resulted in photographs, but none of them was as clear as the first photo. See the More AstrocamŽ Photos page.

On its ninth mission on October 19, 1998, the ejection charge failed to ignite so the AstrocamŽ returned to earth at high speed. The rocket crashed just inside a wooded area. The nose cone camera was half-buried in the dirt, the mirror was shattered, the tail fins broke off, the engine mount was broken, and the mirror mount was not recovered. It may be possible to reconstruct the rocket, but the camera no longer functions.