Hacker News Reader

Comment by ejr | Hacker News Reader

This is one of the most fascinating groups I've seen in quite a long time. Check out their YouTube channel too where they show details on the turbopump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6BC1QfA0Ug

View on HN

I went to a lecture with one of the founders. They are indeed fascinating and quite capable people. Not only have they built an actively guided rocket and launched it up to 8km, nearly vertically, but before they started Copenhagen Suborbitals they had already built several submarines (including one that had a toilet _and_ shower) all of which where quite seat-worthy.

They built them using very little money, because they didn't have that much forexample to make the g-test for their rocket they borrowed a free fall attraction in a local amusement park.

Copenhagen Suborbitals truly have the hacker spirit.

That's very cool! They really are following the hacker spirit; the enthusiasm they have for their work, the try-and-see discovery of capabilities and the joy they have in sharing what they've done. It's very refreshing.

Extra awesome bonus point: When they were first testing their rockets, they used their submarine as a tow/tug for their launch platform. Yeah, these guys are crazy awesome.

Sounds like the Mad Scientists Club books from when I was a kid.

Since they had the submarine, rocket and it's perfectly legal to launch in international waters, they talked about just putting the rocket in/on the submarine and be done with it.

... until someone pointed out that building a submarine with ballistic missiles and playing with it in Russia's back-yard probably is a very bad idea.

The breakdown (at 4:28) for each component of the turbo pump is fascinating. They do a great job explaining how each part works and how it contributes to the pump. Thank you for linking this.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com