Jay's a celebrity now!

[CPMcGraw]

Apogee's Newsletter #150 is out, and our own Jay "CenturiGuy" Goemmer got his website mentioned. An image of his "Prometheus" design stands out...

Way to go, Jay!

[Tau Zero]

Apogee's Newsletter #150 is out, and our own Jay "CenturiGuy" Goemmer got his website mentioned. An image of his "Prometheus" design stands out...

Way to go, Jay!Thanks, Craig! I was teasing Bill Eichelberger (off-forum) that I was "Kind of famous... again." (Bill posted something similar over on OldRockets when my Lee Piester article was finally published in "Sport Rocketry"... has it really been almost 3 years ago?)

A couple of months ago, I sent a bug report to Tim Van Milligan and Paul Fossey (hereafter known as "The Rocksim Guys"), and included the URL mentioned in the article. TVM sent a reply e-mail to myself and IIRC John Manfredo, who's the current editor for "Peak of Flight," mentioning it as a possible website to feature in a future article. So I've been *waiting* for it to show up for the last 3 issues!

http://www.apogeerockets.com/education/downloads/Newsletter150.pdf

I was slightly disappointed that my Estes Wolverine BT-55 upscale wasn't pictured in the article, but thought the selection of my "Tau Zero" and the "Pometheus" [sic] :eek: :D ;) was pretty cool!

And Craig, I *have" been working on a preliminary "hand and torch" design for the "P's" fin decal. Bill thought it was pretty good (*I* think it's pretty shaky), but wondered why the heck I was holding a torch, when just incense should do the trick of "clearing the air." :confused: :eek: :p

Anyway, thanks for the congratulations! It's nice, even if I *am* playing to a small, intimate (but very supportive) audience. :D :cool:

And if I can work it out successfully, below you'll see a preview of the aformentioned decal.


Cheers,

--Jay

[CPMcGraw]

... I *have" been working on a preliminary "hand and torch" design for the "P's" fin decal

Cheers,

--Jay

Now it's looking like I imagined it would...

The "hand" seems OK to me (better than I've ever done...); the "torch" needs to look a bit more Greco...

A "fluted column" appearance, with some sort of "grape" motif around the upper rim...

Draw it large, like 18 x 24, to get the details; most of that will disappear when it gets reduced to 2 x 2 or smaller, of course, but you'll be surprised at how much it will improve the final image.

[JRThro]

Thanks, Craig! I was teasing Bill Eichelberger (off-forum) that I was "Kind of famous... again." (Bill posted something similar over on OldRockets when my Lee Piester article was finally published in "Sport Rocketry"... has it really been almost 3 years ago?)

A couple of months ago, I sent a bug report to Tim Van Milligan and Paul Fossey (hereafter known as "The Rocksim Guys"), and included the URL mentioned in the article. TVM sent a reply e-mail to myself and IIRC John Manfredo, who's the current editor for "Peak of Flight," mentioning it as a possible website to feature in a future article. So I've been *waiting* for it to show up for the last 3 issues!

http://www.apogeerockets.com/education/downloads/Newsletter150.pdf

I was slightly disappointed that my Estes Wolverine BT-55 upscale wasn't pictured in the article, but thought the selection of my "Tau Zero" and the "Pometheus" [sic] :eek: :D ;) was pretty cool!

And Craig, I *have" been working on a preliminary "hand and torch" design for the "P's" fin decal. Bill thought it was pretty good (*I* think it's pretty shaky), but wondered why the heck I was holding a torch, when just incense should do the trick of "clearing the air." :confused: :eek: :p

Anyway, thanks for the congratulations! It's nice, even if I *am* playing to a small, intimate (but very supportive) audience. :D :cool:

And if I can work it out successfully, below you'll see a preview of the aformentioned decal.


Cheers,

--Jay
Jay,

Is that "Tau Zero" as in Poul Anderson's novel "Tau Zero"?

[Tau Zero]

Is that "Tau Zero" as in Poul Anderson's novel "Tau Zero"?John,

Yes, indeedy. The initial working name was "Biff Pau" (a horrible pun on the "sound effects" in the 1960's "Batman" TV show), and I liked the "au" because of the Centuri "Taurus." I haven't read Poul's book "Tau Zero" in years, but an astronomer friend of mine from the local observatory told me (as well as I can remember :o ), that the closer you get to traveling at the speed of light, the closer that the value for the Greek letter "tau" gets to zero. So (I *think*) that if you get to "Tau Zero," you're actually travelling at lightspeed. :confused:

So yes, I borrowed the name from Poul's book. I've been especially enamored by his novella "Epilogue" (which I first encountered in the collection _Time and Stars_ 20-plus years ago), and I like lots of his other earlier works, too.

In other words, "You caught me!" :eek: :D :cool:


Cheers,

--Jay

[Tau Zero]

Now it's looking like I imagined it would...

The "hand" seems OK to me (better than I've ever done...); the "torch" needs to look a bit more Greco...

A "fluted column" appearance, with some sort of "grape" motif around the upper rim...

Draw it large, like 18 x 24, to get the details; most of that will disappear when it gets reduced to 2 x 2 or smaller, of course, but you'll be surprised at how much it will improve the final image.You can tell I spent plenty of time on the hand, but not on the torch. And aren't those flames a *long* way from realistic? :o

I don't know if I'll go as large as 18 x 24, because I have to fit the pictures into my standard-size scanner, but 200% of the final size seems like a good place to start. ;-D


Thanks, and cheers (and sorry I have to learn how to draw "more gooder-er" first),

--Jay

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

You can tell I spent plenty of time on the hand, but not on the torch. And aren't those flames a *long* way from realistic? :o

I don't know if I'll go as large as 18 x 24, because I have to fit the pictures into my standard-size scanner, but 200% of the final size seems like a good place to start. ;-D


Thanks, and cheers (and sorry I have to learn how to draw "more gooder-er" first),

--Jay

You want unrealistic flames? How 'bout dese?!

[JRThro]

John,

Yes, indeedy. The initial working name was "Biff Pau" (a horrible pun on the "sound effects" in the 1960's "Batman" TV show), and I liked the "au" because of the Centuri "Taurus." I haven't read Poul's book "Tau Zero" in years, but an astronomer friend of mine from the local observatory told me (as well as I can remember :o ), that the closer you get to traveling at the speed of light, the closer that the value for the Greek letter "tau" gets to zero. So (I *think*) that if you get to "Tau Zero," you're actually travelling at lightspeed. :confused:

So yes, I borrowed the name from Poul's book. I've been especially enamored by his novella "Epilogue" (which I first encountered in the collection _Time and Stars_ 20-plus years ago), and I like lots of his other earlier works, too.

In other words, "You caught me!" :eek: :D :cool:


Cheers,

--Jay
I wasn't trying to catch you, I was more trying to discover another connection (besides rocketry) between you and me, via Poul Anderson's science fiction. I used to read every one of his earlier books I could get my hands on at the local public library, and "Tau Zero" was one of my favorites, even when I read it as an adult, years (or decades, even) later. I think I read most of his later novels as well.

But you're right, that's what the tau refers to. It's this: tau=sqrt(1-v^2/c^2), unless I'm totally mistaken, where v is your speed and c is the speed of light. As you approach lightspeed, the ratio v^2/c^2 approaches 1, so the value of tau approaches zero.

In the novel, something went wrong with the ship's drive and they were unable to stop or maybe even slow down, so they made the decision to keep accelerating... and they kept right on going until the universe collapsed and the next big bang happened. By that (shipboard) time, I think they got the drive fixed and were able to slow down and finally land somewhere.

Btw, and to get slightly more on topic, I like the looks of your Tau Zero as shown in the Rocksim image!

[Tau Zero]

I wasn't trying to catch you, Did you notice the "cool" emoticon " :cool: " in that post? (chuckling good-naturedly)


I was more trying to discover another connection (besides rocketry) between you and me, via Poul Anderson's science fiction. I used to read every one of his earlier books I could get my hands on at the local public library, and "Tau Zero" was one of my favorites, even when I read it as an adult, years (or decades, even) later. I think I read most of his later novels as well.
[snip]
In the novel, something went wrong with the ship's drive and they were unable to stop or maybe even slow down, so they made the decision to keep accelerating... and they kept right on going until the universe collapsed and the next big bang happened. By that (shipboard) time, I think they got the drive fixed and were able to slow down and finally land somewhere.Poul was one of my recurringly favorite SF authors for several years. I think "Harvest of Stars" was the thickest (!) novel of his that I've read. And while I liked "Genesis," I was disappointed that the "cover creatures" were just briefly mentioned in passing.

Btw, and to get slightly more on topic, I like the looks of your Tau Zero as shown in the Rocksim image!Thanks so much! Bill E. says we all need more sci-fi rockets, so I like to think I'm doing my little bit to help out! :D

BTW, do you have Rocksim? "Let me know," he said slyly. :eek:


Have a good weekend!

--Jay

[JRThro]

Did you notice the "cool" emoticon " :cool: " in that post? (chuckling good-naturedly)


Poul was one of my recurringly favorite SF authors for several years. I think "Harvest of Stars" was the thickest (!) novel of his that I've read. And while I liked "Genesis," I was disappointed that the "cover creatures" were just briefly mentioned in passing.

Thanks so much! Bill E. says we all need more sci-fi rockets, so I like to think I'm doing my little bit to help out! :D

BTW, do you have Rocksim? "Let me know," he said slyly. :eek:


Have a good weekend!

--Jay
I only have the version 5 free/evaluation version. I had the v8 evaluation version, but it expired. But if you have a parts list or three to pass along, that would work!

Btw, I notice that I didn't use ANY emoticons in my previous post... which, along with my writing 'style,' probably makes me sound more serious than I meant to be.
;) :) :p :D :eek:

And I'm using the word 'style' very loosely!

[Tau Zero]

I only have the version 5 free/evaluation version. I had the v8 evaluation version, but it expired. But if you have a parts list or three to pass along, that would work!
Hey, John! Did my e-mail [sent through YORF] re: above make it through? Please let me know! Thanks! :D


Cheers,

--Jay

[JRThro]

Hey, John! Did my e-mail [sent through YORF] re: above make it through? Please let me know! Thanks! :D


Cheers,

--Jay
Jay, nope! I saw nothing! (Also, I *know* nothing, but that's another story.)

If you wouldn't mind sending directly to both "jrthro at sbcglobal dot net" and "john dot thro at amec dot com", please do!

Well, depending on when you sent the e-mail via YORF... I hadn't seen (or at least noticed) anything as of about 10 PM CST Thursday night.

[Tau Zero]

Jay, nope! [snip] If you wouldn't mind sending directly to both "jrthro at sbcglobal dot net" and "john dot thro at amec dot com", please do!It's done! Let me know if "things got through." I'll have to send "the rest of the package" (as it were) this weekend. Enjoy! :D :cool:

Cheers,

--Jay :eek: