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Model Rocketry (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Model Rocketry was an American hobbyist magazine published from October 1968 to February 1972. The Editor and Publisher was George Flynn and the Managing Editor was Gordon Mandell. The magazine was owned by the editorial staff and the paid circulation reached 15,000 by 1970.
The launch of Sputnik in 1957 and the space race
to the moon made model rocket
s a popular hobby. This magazine was started at the height of the Apollo program. Each issue had plans and instructions for constructing rockets typically powered by black powder rocket motors such as those made by Estes Industries
. There were also technical articles on model rocket design that would include several pages of theory and equations. There was a series of articles starting in October 1969 on writing FORTRAN
programs to calculate flight parameters. The magazine also covered model rocketry clubs' launch meets and contests.
From August 1969 to February 1972 Model Rocketry incorporated The Model Rocketeer, the official journal of the National Association of Rocketry.
The September 1969 issue of Model Rocketry has a typical cover design and contents. The cover photo shows the launch of a model rocket approximately 2 feet (60 cm) tall with a small camera as the payload. The camera will take a photo after the rocket reaches its apogee and starts its descent with a parachute. The magazine has construction plans for an egg lofting rocket. These would be used in competitions to see how high an egg could be launched without cracking. The topics on the cover include Apollo 11
. There was a 6 page article by the Managing Editor, Gordon Mandell, about the first manned mission to land on the moon.
In July 1969, Publisher George Flynn attended the Southwestern Model Rocket Conference at Eastern New Mexico University
. There he met Air Force Captain Forrest Mims
, senior advisor to the Albuquerque Model Rocket Club. Mims told Flynn about a transistorized lamp flasher for tracking night launched rockets. He also described modulating Light Emitting Diodes to transmit data from the rocket to infrared detectors on the ground. Flynn invited Mims to write an article about his "Transistorized Tracking Light for Night Launched Model Rockets" and it was published in the September 1969 issue of Model Rocketry.
Mims was stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base
in Albuquerque NM with a fellow officer, Ed Roberts. They decided to form a company to sell electronic kits for projects like the tracking light. Mims, Roberts and two other coworkers formed Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
(MITS) in late 1969. The press release announcing the formation of MITS was published in the December 1969 issue of Model Rocketry. In January 1975 MITS introduced the Altair 8800
computer and the personal computer revolution was launched. Bill Gates
and Paul Allen
moved to Albuquerque in 1975 to write Altair BASIC
and soon started Microsoft
.
Several copies of Model Rocketry magazine and the prototype tracking light are on display at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
in their "STARTUP: Albuquerque and the Personal Computer Revolution" exhibit. Mr. Mims donated his MITS 816 calculator, Altair 8800 computer, early MITS documents and unsold model rocket telemetry kits to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History
.
The launch of Sputnik in 1957 and the space race
Space Race
The Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...
to the moon made model rocket
Model rocket
A model rocket is a small rocket that is commonly advertised as being able to be launched by anybody, to, in general, low altitudes and recovered by a variety of means....
s a popular hobby. This magazine was started at the height of the Apollo program. Each issue had plans and instructions for constructing rockets typically powered by black powder rocket motors such as those made by Estes Industries
Estes Industries
Estes Industries is a company based in Penrose, Colorado, USA that designs and builds model rocket and model aircraft engines and kits. They were the best known model rocket company during the "golden age of rocketry" in the 1970s and early 1980s, competing primarily with Centuri Engineering and a...
. There were also technical articles on model rocket design that would include several pages of theory and equations. There was a series of articles starting in October 1969 on writing FORTRAN
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
programs to calculate flight parameters. The magazine also covered model rocketry clubs' launch meets and contests.
From August 1969 to February 1972 Model Rocketry incorporated The Model Rocketeer, the official journal of the National Association of Rocketry.
The September 1969 issue of Model Rocketry has a typical cover design and contents. The cover photo shows the launch of a model rocket approximately 2 feet (60 cm) tall with a small camera as the payload. The camera will take a photo after the rocket reaches its apogee and starts its descent with a parachute. The magazine has construction plans for an egg lofting rocket. These would be used in competitions to see how high an egg could be launched without cracking. The topics on the cover include Apollo 11
Apollo 11
In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
. There was a 6 page article by the Managing Editor, Gordon Mandell, about the first manned mission to land on the moon.
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
Eastern New Mexico University
Eastern New Mexico University , frequently called Eastern, is a state university in Portales, Roosevelt County, New Mexico, USA...
. There he met Air Force Captain Forrest Mims
Forrest Mims
Forrest M. Mims III is an amateur scientist, magazine columnist, and author of the popular Getting Started in Electronics and Engineer's Mini-Notebook series of instructional books that was originally sold in Radio Shack electronics stores. Mims graduated from Texas A&M University in 1966 with a...
, senior advisor to the Albuquerque Model Rocket Club. Mims told Flynn about a transistorized lamp flasher for tracking night launched rockets. He also described modulating Light Emitting Diodes to transmit data from the rocket to infrared detectors on the ground. Flynn invited Mims to write an article about his "Transistorized Tracking Light for Night Launched Model Rockets" and it was published in the September 1969 issue of Model Rocketry.
Mims was stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base
Kirtland Air Force Base
Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Roy C. Kirtland...
in Albuquerque NM with a fellow officer, Ed Roberts. They decided to form a company to sell electronic kits for projects like the tracking light. Mims, Roberts and two other coworkers formed Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems was an American electronics company founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico that began manufacturing electronic calculators in 1971 and personal computers in 1975. Ed Roberts and Forrest Mims founded MITS in December 1969 to produce miniaturized telemetry...
(MITS) in late 1969. The press release announcing the formation of MITS was published in the December 1969 issue of Model Rocketry. In January 1975 MITS introduced the Altair 8800
Altair 8800
The MITS Altair 8800 was a microcomputer design from 1975 based on the Intel 8080 CPU and sold by mail order through advertisements in Popular Electronics, Radio-Electronics and other hobbyist magazines. The designers hoped to sell only a few hundred build-it-yourself kits to hobbyists, and were...
computer and the personal computer revolution was launched. Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
and Paul Allen
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates...
moved to Albuquerque in 1975 to write Altair BASIC
Altair BASIC
Altair BASIC was an interpreter for the BASIC programming language that ran on the MITS Altair 8800 and subsequent S-100 bus computers. It was Microsoft's first product , distributed by MITS under a contract...
and soon started Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
.
Several copies of Model Rocketry magazine and the prototype tracking light are on display at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science is a natural history and science museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico near Old Town Albuquerque. The Museum was founded in 1986....
in their "STARTUP: Albuquerque and the Personal Computer Revolution" exhibit. Mr. Mims donated his MITS 816 calculator, Altair 8800 computer, early MITS documents and unsold model rocket telemetry kits to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Among the items on display are the original Star-Spangled Banner and Archie Bunker's...
.