Improbable Ventures Blog

Improbable Ventures Posts

Sport Rocketry / Certification

High power rocketry (2019-10-20)

This is where things get really fun. I went into detail in a previous post about rocket motors and their power. In short, each letter (representing a motor class) is twice as powerful as the one ... [Read More]

L3: a story of hubris (2020-04-14)

At the beginning of 2020, before we collectively realized that COVID-19 would completely upend everything we know and love and that this year would be written off as a total disaster, I had set a ... [Read More]

High Power Rocketry: L1 Certification Flight (2020-07-04)

Finally! According to the National Association of Rocketry, I now officially have my level 1 certification in high power rocketry. I finished building my first high power rocket, the HyperLOC 835, ... [Read More]

High Power Rocketry: L2 Certification Flight (2020-07-22)

Officially level 2 certified! Fulfilling a 2020 goal I really started getting into rocketry last fall, less than a year ago, and I had set some goals for 2020 when the year began. My goals included ... [Read More]

How I decided on my L3 project in high power rocketry (2020-08-21)

Once I completed my level 2 certification in high power rocketry, I had been spending a lot of time thinking about what, exactly, I should build for my level 3 project. And more generally, how ... [Read More]

Going down in flames: how to self-destruct with rockets (2020-11-24)

The big day was finally here. I finished building the L3 Fusion rocket in early September and was ready to launch – once the wildfire smoke cleared in the PNW – as soon as the o ... [Read More]