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Awesome Rockets

Making a Turbine Engine Skateboard

Making a Turbine Engine Skateboard

We’ve seen a skateboard powered by a pulsejet; now, here’s one that uses a turbine. After explaining how turbine engines work, Integza created a replica of the turbine used by the infamous V-2 rocket. He had the main part fabricated by JLC3DP and then made a set of reduction gears to increase torque. The turbine spins when exposed to high-pressure gas.

Rocket-powered Skateboard

Rocket-powered Skateboard

We’ve seen some of Bob “Rocketman” Maddox’s insane rides before. This vehicle is an improved version of his jet-propelled skateboard that he can stand on while riding. This pulsejet-powered board has handlebars to hang onto, though the helmet-less Robert uses one hand to hold onto his selfie stick. The lack of steering and brakes makes it even more sketchy.

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Throwing a Rocket-Powered Football

Throwing a Rocket-Powered Football

The furthest an NFL quarterback can throw a football is around 75 yards. Leave it to the guys from Dude Perfect to blow away that number by adding a little rocket power. With a bit of help from black powder, they can easily throw a ball from end zone to end zone and beyond. After that, they wrapped up their football episode with a series of tricky obstacles.

Air-Powered Vertical Ornithopter

Air-Powered Vertical Ornithopter

Inspired by how hummingbirds hover in flight, Works by Design wanted to see if he could build a flying machine that lifts off vertically and stays aloft by flapping its wings. It uses compressed gas for propulsion and a custom-built air motor to move its wings. It’s not an efficient method of flight, but it was cool to observe the engineering process.

Making a Glass Rocket Engine

Making a Glass Rocket Engine

After showing off a simple rocket built from a soda bottle, Integza was inspired to make a more powerful see-through rocket. He built its combustion chamber from a glass cylinder with a custom-made metal swirl injector. Along the way, you’ll learn how fuels and oxidizers work and a little about turbochargers and top-fuel dragsters.

Mini Falcon 9 Rocket Lands After Take-off

Mini Falcon 9 Rocket Lands After Take-off

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket can land back on Earth after lifting payloads into space. Project Horizon has now replicated this impressive engineering feat on a much smaller scale. It’s hard enough to keep a model rocket balanced as it launches, let alone being capable of a controlled descent like this. It took 32 test flights to get it right. Onboard footage here.

Moon Walk Eraser Set

Moon Walk Eraser Set
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Blast off every time you sit down to doodle with this astronaut and rocket eraser set from Suck UK. The package includes a monochrome astronaut holding onto a silver pencil while on a spacewalk from their bright red rocketship — a great little gift for anyone into space exploration.

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Building a Cardboard Triple Rocket Launcher

Building a Cardboard Triple Rocket Launcher

We’re amazed by the things that people can make out of cardboard. In this video from The S, he shows how he built a massive toy blaster that fires a trio of rocket-shaped projectiles. The video also serves as a great demonstration of the bargain-priced Wainlux L6 laser cutter, which makes quick work of the precision paper cuts.

CO2-powered Rocket Plane

CO2-powered Rocket Plane

Those CO2 cartridges used to carbonate beverages store a lot of pressure in a small space. Inspired by the Backyard Scientist’s CO2-powered rocket, Sam Barker wanted to see if the same forces could lift a model airplane into the sky. He used lightweight plastic to 3D print the plane, which he quickly wrecked by flying it into a brick wall.

ACME Rocket Kayak

ACME Rocket Kayak

While the idea of a rocket-powered kayak sounds entertaining, that’s not what the guys at FliteTest made in this video. What they actually created was an electric-fan-powered kayak and built its engine to look like a rocket straight from the ACME Corporation, where Wile E. Coyote buys all his gadgets.

The Fastest LEGO Car

The Fastest LEGO Car

James from Project Air likes to make things that go fast. Recently, he produced a series of experimental builds to see which method of propulsion would make the fastest possible LEGO vehicle. Which will hit the top speed? Multiple LEGO motors, rocket engines, or a brushless motor from an R/C sports car?

Christmas Rocket Tree Goes Rogue

Christmas Rocket Tree Goes Rogue

Like last year, maker Xyla Foxlin and Joe from BPS.Space wanted to celebrate the holidays with a rocket-powered Christmas tree. But this year’s launch didn’t quite go according to plan, and the flaming yule tree literally went sideways and turned into a missile that could have easily taken out Santa and his sleigh of reindeer.

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Artemis I in 60 Seconds

Artemis I in 60 Seconds

From liftoff to splashdown, NASA’s Artemis I mission took 25.5 days. This video from the European Space Agency condenses the picture-perfect journey of the Space Launch System and Orion moonship down to just 60 seconds through the magic of editing and time-lapse footage.

Smashing Things with a 400 MPH Rocket Knife

Smashing Things with a 400 MPH Rocket Knife

The Backyard Scientist should change his name to “The Dangerous Scientist.” This time, he made his own rockets, then devised a way to attach kitchen knives to them and launched them into various objects. Before you say anything about the wonky aerodynamics, the rockets had to be attached to a steel guide cable.

Dropping an Egg from Space

Dropping an Egg from Space

For his latest experiment, rocket scientist and entertainer Mark Rober teamed up with Joe Barnard of BPS Space to launch an egg into space to see if they could catch it safely a mattress when it dropped back to earth. But the project proved far more challenging than they thought and required huge amounts of trial and error.

3D Printing Rockets

3D Printing Rockets

Building full-size rockets typically requires the creation of costly custom tooling. But Relativity Space is taking a different approach to the problem, using a giant 3D printer and additive manufacturing to melt and form aluminum into the shape of a rocket. Veritasium takes us inside of their facility for a look at how it works.

Model Rocket Sticks the Landing

Model Rocket Sticks the Landing

One of the big innovations to come out of SpaceX is the Falcon 9 rocket, which can return to earth and land on its tail end, making it much more reusable than other rockets. After years of research, planning, and trial-and-error, Joe Barnard from BPS.space built a model rocket that works much in the same way. (Thanks, Rob!)

Rocket Candy Dispenser

Rocket Candy Dispenser
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3… 2… 1… lift-off! This rocket-shaped candy dispenser helps launch your day into orbit with a candy fix. It holds up to 16 ounces of candies like Skittles, M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces, gumballs, or nuts, and automatically dispenses by the handful using a motion sensor. Runs on 3 AAA batteries.

Rocket-powered Helicopter Rotor

Rocket-powered Helicopter Rotor

Helicopter rotors are usually propelled by a spinning motor, but Project Air wanted to see if it would be feasible to use a rocket engine to make the blade spin instead. Rather than build a complete helicopter, he built a free-flying monocopter that could fly with a single rocket.

Hypersonic Sled Test

Hypersonic Sled Test

When engineers need to test missile components without launching actual missiles, they test them on a rocket-powered sled. Holloman Air Force Base is home to a test track where they fire hypersonic sleds at speeds up to Mach 8.6 – about 6599 mph. They’ve also figured out how to stop and recover them quickly.

Steampunk Rocket Lamp

Steampunk Rocket Lamp
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Artist Steve Gallagher makes this cool desk lamp that looks like a steampunk rocket ship. Each one is made from a cage light with a glass shade, various bits of pipe, and a wooden base. The deluxe version features a decorative brass finial and looks great with either flicker flame or spiral filament LED bulbs.

Rocketman Goes Full Throttle

Rocketman Goes Full Throttle

Not long ago, Bob “Rocketman” Maddox fired up his Beast Jet Kart – but he only pushed its accelerator pedal down about halfway. This time, he went full throttle, driving the obnoxiously loud go-kart through the desert at about 60 mph. We’re impressed he didn’t drop his selfie stick.

Dragon Jet Kart

Dragon Jet Kart

Robert “Rocketman” Maddox is back with another crazy jet-powered vehicle which he hopes will be his fastest yet. The Dragon Kart 270-pound thrust engine lets out a bellow that’s sure to wake the neighbors. He’s yet to equip it with brakes or a seatbelt, but he still took the thing for a brief ride.

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