fredjr Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 A friend of a friend's father who worked for NASA at the Lewis research center recently passed away. In his basement was a box full of rocket parts. Anyways since my friend knows I'm into rockets he asked if I could sell any of this stuff (the family is hurting for $). I have no idea if any of this stuff is valuable. But was wondering if anyone here would have a idea if any of this is valuable and if so where could I sell it. Here's a few pictures. There's a lot of pieces parts in the box... http://www.pyrobin.com/files/10-19-09_1710.jpghttp://www.pyrobin.com/files/10-19-09_1711.jpghttp://www.pyrobin.com/files/10-19-09_1712.jpghttp://www.pyrobin.com/files/10-19-09_1713.jpg Fred
TheEskimo Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 Dang, I bet any high-power enthusiast would go for those. Dunno about all the stick-out bits, but I bet somebody would pay $$ for custom nozzles, esp. ones from NASA. Even if they dont work as practical nozzles, I bet some collector/museum would pay for them. I know I would get one, if I had the money, they look pretty cool.TyroneEzekiel, you're into high-power APCP; would anybody go for those?
Twotails Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 (edited) If it where a diffrent time, I would purchese the whole box from them, It looks like you have some Virtical thrusters in there i presume(correct me if im wrong, i think i am)? At any other time i would see myself buying those ( not now, it's too close to X-mas for me to dive into a past hobby) I'll see if Anyone i know of is interested, my physics teacher might purches them when they name a price. a privite collecter would be a good pick, Contact the guy that owns Fantasy of flight, im sure he woul atleast know who to turn to Edited October 19, 2009 by Twotails
firetech Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 There are various HPR forums, I'm almost positive you'll find some takers. Very cool stuff though.
Swede Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 Anything that LOOKS rocket-like will bring TOP $$ on eBay, and those all look like maneuvering thrusters for probes or small satellites. If you can determine the provenance (test thrusters for the voyager probe, etc) it could multiply the $$ by 10. Maybe sell them on consignment for the family, split it 50:50. I'll bet those thrusters would fetch a couple hundred bucks each, maybe more.
healthypt Posted October 22, 2009 Posted October 22, 2009 Anything that LOOKS rocket-like will bring TOP $$ on eBay, and those all look like maneuvering thrusters for probes or small satellites. If you can determine the provenance (test thrusters for the voyager probe, etc) it could multiply the $$ by 10. Maybe sell them on consignment for the family, split it 50:50. I'll bet those thrusters would fetch a couple hundred bucks each, maybe more. [name=healthypt]try contacting the major amateur/high power rocketry supply site,www.aeroconsystems.com;they cater to both liquid and solid propellant experimenters;maybe the curators at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum know collectors!
Chris Posted October 22, 2009 Posted October 22, 2009 Aerocon Systems might be interested in the parts. http://www.aeroconsystems.com/used.html
fredjr Posted October 26, 2009 Author Posted October 26, 2009 Still doing research on these but looks like they are mostly attitude control thrusters for space probes such as voyager. More pics can be found here http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c184/FSxJr/Thrusters/
TYRONEEZEKIEL Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 Dang, I bet any high-power enthusiast would go for those. Dunno about all the stick-out bits, but I bet somebody would pay $$ for custom nozzles, esp. ones from NASA. Even if they dont work as practical nozzles, I bet some collector/museum would pay for them. I know I would get one, if I had the money, they look pretty cool.TyroneEzekiel, you're into high-power APCP; would anybody go for those? Absolutely! I cant imagine why I couldnt find someone to take those off of your hands! They would be great test subjects, or even just really neat conversation pieces. Either way, Ill spread the word
TYRONEEZEKIEL Posted November 19, 2009 Posted November 19, 2009 Well, to my surprise, I have yet to find anyone interested. Im sorry mate.
Yafmot Posted December 14, 2009 Posted December 14, 2009 (edited) Those are almost certainly either H2O2 or hypergolic motors. And I can guarantee you don't have the facilities, equipment or know-how to safely and successfully run one. I was at Aerojet one time when we got a leak of either MMH or NTO (I've forgotten which) while testing a subscale apogee kick motor using these propellants. The next day we found dead snakes, rodents, birds, raccoons, opossums, acouple of deer and some other things downwind from the small engine test facility. We had to seal off the control room and put on hazmat breather suits just to get out of there. And would you really want to handle 99% Hydrogen Peroxide? The stuff will take the hide right off you. Right now. Judging from the fact that some have a "Bell Aerospace" placard on them, they're probably attitude thrusters for either a manned spacecraft or a high altitude atmospheric vehicle such as the NF-104 or the X-15. Another good bet would be that they're from a Bell Rocket Belt! Those used H2O2. As far as what to do with them, I have a few connections at NASA, Lockheed, Edwards & elsewhere that may know their exact application. Also, I met a guy at Oshkosh last summer that is building peroxide powered rocket belts & may want them, just for wallhangers if nothing else. And if all else fails, you can donate them to the California Aerospace Museum. You can claim a tax deduction for any amount you think you can get away with. Don't make enough money to make it worth your while at tax time? Sell 'em to someone who does. There's plenty of people still making enough to make it profitable. I'll help you out with that, if you like. I know lots of people who would like to knock $30K off of their tax bill. PM me if you're interested. Edited December 14, 2009 by Yafmot
Recommended Posts