KUALA LUMPUR: Growing up watching planes take off and land at Alor Setar airport in the northern Malaysian state of Kedah left Tan Zu Puayen with a long-standing fascination with plane and flight.
So a lot in order that he selected to pursue aerospace engineering all the method to a doctorate in the United States and dove into amateur rocketry, constructing and launching rockets as tall as 5m.
These amateur, unmanned rockets are propelled by rocket motors, with some capable of attain an altitude of over 100km above Earth’s floor – the fringe of area – earlier than segmenting and falling again to the floor.
Tan Zu Puayen together with his Boleh Two rocket earlier than the launch. (Photo: Tan Zu Puayen)
His first high-power rocket, known as Boleh One and measuring at 2.5m, bought 600m off the floor in 2011 from the rocket launch website in Alabama.
“When I launched Boleh One, the sound of it taking off caught in my head for weeks after, like a musical earworm.
“Rockets don’t actually go ‘woosh’ or ‘pssh’ as they launch. It’s actually more like cracking thunder, you could hear the sound bouncing off the nearby hills,” he recalled.
Tan’s curiosity in aerospace was met with skepticism from his household at first, he recalled.
“I’d known a couple of family friends who had also done the same field, but they ended up in careers unrelated to their studies, and generally, if you take this field, there aren’t many related jobs in Malaysia,” he mentioned.
Arriving in America in 2008 was a tradition shock at first for Tan, particularly when he found that aerospace research was a area one may pursue with the hope of ultimately pursuing a profession in.
“That influenced my thinking,” he mentioned.
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When he started learning for his grasp’s diploma in 2011, he joined an amateur rocketry membership at Georgia Institute of Technology known as the Ramblin’ Rocket Club and bought hooked.
In the similar 12 months, he launched into a private venture dubbed Boleh Rockets.
“Boleh” is Malay for can, and usually evokes the can-do spirit in the context of Malaysia.
To date, Tan has constructed three Boleh rockets in the US and launched them a number of occasions. He was concerned in the launch of a Low Altitude Demonstrator in Perak final December, a venture spearheaded by Singapore-based launcher start-up Equatorial Space Systems (ESS).
Currently an assistant professor heading the Aerospace Systems and Aerodynamics Research Lab at Taiwan’s National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Tan has one other Boleh rocket in the pipeline – a Boleh Three mannequin which he wished to experiment getting off the floor with electrical ducted followers, as an alternative of rocket gasoline.
SUPPORTIVE ROCKETRY ECOSYSTEM IN THE US
At its fundamental, an amateur rocket consists of an outer tube or rocket physique to accommodate the motor, which contains a metallic tube or casing and the propellant.
And in keeping with Tan, fundamental fashions may very well be purchased fairly cheaply from a pastime store or chain shops like Walmart in the US.
Beginners may begin off by having fun with small, enjoyable fashions, and as they moved on to extra subtle ones, rocketry grew to become harder and at occasions, lonely, Tan instructed CNA.
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Despite the supportive rocketry ecosystem in the US, the pastime may additionally get tough for hobbyists and lovers, particularly for these making an attempt to chase their amateur rocketry {qualifications}. This is because of value of supplies and the stringent qualification standards, he mentioned.
“But we also feel that a rocket lifting into the sky is a direct metaphor for willpower and resolve, because the rocket punches through the air on raw engine power. It isn’t graceful or compromising with the sky, like an airplane,” Tan mused.
“I think each launch event, in a way, is us physically manifesting our subconscious resolve to break through challenges. And that’s why we’re addicted to it,” he added.
In the US, amateur rocketeers can acquire three ranges of certification via nationwide organisations to progressively fly extra highly effective rockets.
The motors of amateur rockets are classed by alphabets, with A to D ranges bearing cardboard or plastic casing and H onwards being high-power rockets. The additional alongside, the extra pushing drive it has and the longer the motor burns.
Walmart-style rockets at a typical launch occasion, which in keeping with Tan Zu Puayen, has the environment of a weekend barbecue get together. (Photo: Tan Zu Puayen)
“So the holy grail of high-power rocketry is from alphabets M to O and beyond, which are under Level Three and are enough to push all the way to the edge of space,” Tan defined.
One motive fundamental rocketry and amateur rocketry had been so accessible to the public in the US, he mentioned, was the presence of a complete supporting ecosystem to encourage youngsters and adults alike to pursue amateur rocketry.
There are amateur golf equipment and nationwide organisations with native chapters in every state.
“Meanwhile, research into aerospace studies is well-funded, because you have the United States’ federal government, the corporations putting in money. Not to mention generous involvement from academia, and assistance from private makerspaces and workshops,” Tan added.
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BOLEH ROCKETS LIFTS OFF
Tan’s Boleh One was launched in 2011 for him to acquire his Level One certification in high-power rocketry.
“For this qualification, I decided to build a model which was taller than I am, with excess capacity so I could put in a more powerful motor down the road,” he mentioned.
The significance of the profitable launch started to sink in after he shared pictures and movies of the launch.
“Friends in Malaysia and other countries were excited by Boleh One’s launch,” he recalled.
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Other rockets quickly adopted, comparable to Boleh Mini, a smaller rocket with a robust engine that just about broke the sound barrier, and Boleh Two for the highest amateur rocket qualification which he took in 2014.
“It was pretty big even by American amateur standards, because it was 5m tall. The whole project cost about US$2,500,” Tan mentioned.
But getting Boleh Two off the floor was additionally fairly painful, he recalled.
A composite picture taken by Tan Zu Puayen of his Boleh Mini rocket, from launch to the drop again to the launch website, with a parachute to forestall the spent rocket from dropping too shortly. (Photo: Tan Zu Puayen)
“Both in terms of funding and the physical work, because you had to spend hours bent over, wrapping fibreglass around the cardboard tubes by hand for reinforcement,” he mentioned.
Moreover, resulting from Boleh Two’s massive measurement, carrying it wherever, and even to the launch website in Talladega, Alabama, and setting it up was an ordeal.
“Having the first launch attempt scrubbed because the launch rail attachment didn’t fit right was devastating; all that effort and money riding on the success or failure of one minute of flight was nerve-wracking,” he mentioned.
“So when Boleh Two successfully launched and recovered, I remember the sunlight became unusually bright and warm on the drive back. That was weird,” Tan mentioned.
It shouldn’t be low-cost to launch amateur rockets and Tan mentioned it was fortunate that his tuition was waived and he additionally earned a small stipend for college work.
“So if you save a bit on your transport, eating out and other luxuries, funding rocket projects is entirely feasible,” he mentioned.
Tan thought of his rockets “Malaysian rockets” as a result of they had been Malaysian-built and funded.
“That one (Boleh Two) opened up a lot of conversations and opportunities to collaborate, even more than my university transcripts,” he mentioned.
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PAST AND FUTURE COLLABORATIONS
Tan’s curiosity in rocketry has led to fascinating collaborations, the newest being Boleh Rockets’ involvement in a Low Altitude Demonstrator take a look at launch at an oil palm property in Perak final December.
The occasion was a joint collaboration of ESS, Universiti Teknologi MARA and MTC Engineering Sdn Bhd to reveal the efficacy of ESS’s hybrid rocket motor that used the start-up’s proprietary gasoline method.
Tan supplied consulting on the rocket’s aerodynamics and steadiness, in addition to helped with the efficiency evaluation. It was launched to an altitude of 1.2km.
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Boleh Rockets at the moment capabilities on a non-profit foundation, and in keeping with Tan, he has additional collaborations down the line. Some usually are not precisely associated to rocketry.
This August, for example, Tan’s college lab, alongside together with his college’s Aero-Tech lab, additionally run by one other Malaysian tutorial, can be collaborating with Universiti Sains Malaysia’s High Altitude Balloon Team on a venture known as “Mission Reconnect 2020”.
The high-altitude balloon mission, which began out with technical aims, additionally encompasses a social side.
“Aside from testing out a light-weight camera system, the balloon capsule design team primarily comprised tertiary-level students guided by the two labs.
“We tentatively plan to conduct outreach efforts, such as space workshops with Taiwan or Malaysian primary and secondary schools,” Tan said. Suggested events included competitions to fly small experiments with the team or art projects to inspire further interest among schoolchildren.
“And the mission name is such to symbolically ‘reverse’ last year’s isolation that COVID-19 inflicted on us,” he added.
Tan Zu Puayen’s Boleh One lifting off from a launch website in Alabama. (Photo: Tan Zu Puayen)
Tan recalled when he wished to check aerospace engineering again then, each he and his household approached the area from a place of unfamiliarity.
There was scepticism and fixed corrections alongside the manner, however ultimately they reached a degree the place his household not solely stopped questioning, however grew to just accept his viewpoint on his research.
“As for Boleh Rockets and my current career, their thinking is that ‘Hey, not only might this work, but you might actually have something to contribute in the aerospace field,’” he mentioned with fun.
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“So now, an aerospace career is my rice bowl, and the practical and aspirational aspects of a career in aerospace are both realised, their thinking is ‘Why not?’” Tan added.
“In the US, it was an effort advancing my personal rocket. As a professor now, it becomes an effort to create the opportunity for others, including my students, to fly while also continuing to fly myself,” he mentioned.
Read More at www.channelnewsasia.com
source https://infomagzine.com/meet-the-malaysian-enthusiast-who-builds-and-launches-amateur-rockets/
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