Rockets

Warped Perception takes an up-close look at a highly critical, but underappreciated element of every rocket launch – the igniters which get the rocket fuel going. The result is some truly stunning slow-motion macro footage. Watch in 4K if you can.

BrainfooTV shows us how to make nifty little rockets using ordinary household items like aluminum foil and strike-anywhere matches. They fire as far as 60 feet, and are surprisingly stable and accurate. The tailfins aren’t required, but they do make them look cooler.

The European Space Agency shared this stunning time-lapse footage captured from the vantage point of the International Space Station, as astronaut Alexander Gerst watched a Russian Soyuz rocket take flight and head towards the ISS with fresh supplies.

Destroyer of things Daved Windestal built a totally insane RC car. By attaching a powerful model rocket engine to the middle of a HobbyKing Desert Fox racer, it’s able to jump over obstacles without a ramp. Perhaps a parachute would be a good addition next time.

Learn a little bit about the chemistry and physics that go into the construction of a basic rocket in this clip from BBC Earth Lab’s Bang Goes the Theory. The demonstration with the oxy-acetylene soda bottle rockets is neat, but is way too dangerous to try at home.

LEGO Ideas members Valerie Roche and Matthew Nolan’s SpaceX Ultimate Collection consists of 1,583 pieces. It lets you build the Falcon 9, the Falcon Heavy and the launcher. It also comes with a cargo ship, the Dragon spacecraft and Musk’s Tesla Roadster.

Most of the footage of SpaceX’s rockets are shot from far away, with little to no context to their size. Corridor Crew thought it would be nice to stack them up next to buildings so we can appreciate just how amazing it is that these babies can land and be reused.

(Loud) Here’s two minutes of porn for rocket junkies, as private space exploration company Blue Origin tests out one of their BE-4 rockets which can produce 550,000 lb-ft. of thrust. And if you think that looked powerful, keep in mind that this was just at 65% of full throttle.

LEGO Certified Professional Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught and his team recently completed this replica of NASA’s SLS Rocket. The model measures nearly 25 ft tall, weighs 1100+ lb, and was built using 460,323 LEGO bricks, and took over 563 hours to complete.

Inspired by the cluster of rocket engines at the base of the SpaceX Falcon 9, Andrew McCalip of Cosine Additive created this slick modern hanging lamp. Each of its nozzles is 3D printed from either polycarbonate or PPS-carbon fiber reinforced material. Appx. 34.8″ diam.

The largest privately-built rocket successfully took flight from the Kennedy Space Center, carrying test cargo in the form of Elon Musk’s red Tesla Roadster into space. As exciting as the launch was, the dual rocket booster landing was simply stunning. Skip to 28:39

Photographer Jesse Watson captured some stunning time-lapse imagery of a recent launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as it lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The visuals are a stark contrast to the crummy dash cam video that’s been going viral.

Elon Musk’s visionary concept would employ reusable rockets to launch passengers into space, around the globe at speeds up to 18,000 mph, and from NY to LA in 25 minutes. They’ll need to work out the landing kinks before this would possibly be safe for humans.

Warped Perception demonstrates exactly why it pays to use a really good slow motion camera, showing off what happens when you drop a model rocket engine into an aquarium, then ignite it. Rest assured, no fish were harmed. Explody bits start at 2:40.

After watching Adam Savage and his pals assemble the new LEGO Saturn V rocket, we already wanted one. But JK Brickworks went and made it even more droolworthy, adding LEDs to the engines, as well as a speaker that plays sounds from NASA’s Apollo missions.

Adam, Will and Norm got their hands on the awesome LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V scale model rocket a bit earlier than us mere mortals. Watch them unbox, methodically knoll parts, and build the set. Assembly and story time start at 2:25.

Every time we think we’re done with the fidget spinner fad, somebody comes along and amps these silly playthings up to the next level. The Backyard Scientist decided that he couldn’t spin his fast enough, so he added a propulsion system, and upping the danger factor by 100x.

Based on a proposal by LEGO Ideas members Felix Stiessen and Valérie Roche, this model kit features a 3ft-tall (1:110 scale) model of the Saturn V, the most powerful rocketship ever built. It comes with a lunar lander and three astronaut microfigs. Drops 6/2017 for $120.

Grant “The King of Random” Thompson previously tested the myth that mixing propane and Coca-Cola would turn it into a pressure-packed rocket, and failed. He tried it again with butane, and the highly-flammable stuff works brilliantly. Definitely don’t try this one at home.

After building a car engine we could see inside of, Warped Perception split some model rocket engines down the middle and sealed them under plexiglas so we can watch them ignite. We think an acrylic tube would burn more accurately, but it’s still awesome to watch.

The Slow Mo Guys filmed 6ft tall paper rockets made by a group of students at Purdue University. The rockets were fueled by solid propellants, just like missiles and boosters. They soar faster than the speed of sound, albeit for only a few seconds.

NightHawkInLight walks us through the basic science behind hybrid rockets, and the process behind building a compact rocket using acrylic rod and a canister of oxygen to control its output on demand.

In 1974, daredevil Evel Knievel infamously failed to jump the Snake River Canyon on a rocket bike. Now, stuntman Eddie Braun has pulled off the stunt, launching 2000ft into the sky off a 10-story ramp, at over 400mph. We’re hoping for some GoPro footage, but so far nothing.

Amazing video of the flame of a rocket engine captured with NASA’s new High Dynamic Range Stereo X (HiDyRS-X) camera system. This new technology allows scientists to see every minute detail of a flame, rather than just the bright orange plume we’re used to seeing.

There’s something immensely satisfying about this video of a 75-ton rocket engine being tested by the Korean Aerospace Research Institute. While you’d think the sound would be ear shattering, the white noise produced is soothing enough that we could sleep to it.

Awe-inspiring GoPro footage of the launch of UP Aerospace’s SL-10 rocket, as it shot up to an apogee of 396,000 feet, with speeds as high as Mach 5.5. The payoff for the dizzying ascent are some of the most spectacular near space images we’ve ever seen.

Amazing first-person footage of the Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft as it makes its way through Earth’s atmosphere and safely lands on the ground 339,178 feet below. We loved hearing all the sounds it makes on its journey. See just how fast it was coming in here.

To celebrate his 2 millionth YouTube subscriber, inventor, builder, and mad scientist Colin Furze created a giant turning wheel, loaded with rockets, placed precariously in front of cases full of more fireworks. The explosive end result is as bonkers as you’d imagine.

The guys from Jet Granny Cars have a made a very special mobility scooter. Watch as it powers down the Santa Pod raceway, then demonstrates why strapping four rocket engines to your butt isn’t exactly the smartest idea. The wet tarmac didn’t help matters.

Despite the heavy losses suffered by the failed SpaceX cargo mission and the other two missions before it, Smarter Every Day points out that these failures yield priceless data, and that they couldn’t have happened at a better time.