(December 26, 2011 — Middlefield, OH)
Pathfinder’s latest mission…
![ALS_041_pad](http://www.cpgaeronautics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ALS_041_pad-300x178.jpg)
Pathfinder on Launch Pad #1 waiting for liftoff...
As a whole, pathfinder’s mission (ALS-041) went better than expected. There was one problem though…
Pathfinder / Artemis took to the skies on an Aerotech F-35 white lightning motor — which is (so far) the most powerful motor used on any of my rockets to date.
Pathfinder’s top altitude was 1360 feet AGL with a top speed of 320 MPH. A most impressive boost to apogee, where the drogue fired with perfect timing, and Pathfinder started its decent to earth.
![DSC_0444](http://www.cpgaeronautics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/DSC_0444-199x300.jpg)
Liftoff!!!
At 400′, the main parachute was supposed to deploy. That event did not happen, and Pathfinder landed a bit faster than planned, thankfully with minimal damage.
Looking over the flight data, it was determined that either the igniter for the main parachute was defective, or that a short-circuit happened in the igniter wiring during the boost phase
of the flight. Which mode of failure has yet to be determined, but I will be able to figure that out in a few more days…
Pathfinder is definitely living up to its name by showing the path to (hopefully) trouble-free electronic recovery deployment systems. The design of the Adventure / Nesaru
rocket has been tweaked several times based test flights of similar systems on board pathfinder.
The next flight for Pathfinder is set for January 21, again on the F-32 motor. A second flight MIGHT be scheduled using the 29mm motor booster for the first time —
and the first 29mm motor booster flight is set to use a G-64 engine…raising the bar on motor power yet again!
The Pathfinder missions are designed as a bridge between my class1 (level 0) launches and the upcoming Class 2 (Level 1) certification launches.