Liftoff !!!

Thor has liftoff in the desert. It was the Southern Arizona Rocketry Association's ninth annual winter rocket launch, Desert Heat 2013.

It was a perfect flight. This 17 ft tall rocket blasted 4200 ft into the atmosphere, reached apogee, separated, deployed parachutes and landed safetly.

This is a serious hobby that started with a rocket kit for a grandson's Cub Scout project. For this flight Thor burned about $500 worth of fuel.

We expected to see only a few launches, however there were dozens. Rockets were firing almost continuously for the hour or so that we watched. This event included a mass launch of 50 small rockets with prizes for the kids that reminded me of an Easter Egg Hunt as the children scrambled to retrieve their prizes.