Guests: Neil McGilvray & Bob Utley. Topics: High powered rocketry, Rockets Magazine, rocket engine certification, Merchant Marine, Somali pirates. Neil McGilvray and Bob Utley were our guests for this Space Show program which focused on high powered model rocketry, also referred to as hobby or amateur rocketry. We discussed the need to be credentialed by either Tripoli or the National Association of Rocketry to be able to fly H and larger rocket engines. Our guests explain this very well and also set out the path from beginner to one who can and does fly the high powered rockets, all the way up to Q engines and larger. Our guests explained the different engines and the size designation, we talked about the new amateur rocket rules by the FAA, and we also discussed the needed FAA flight waivers. The rockets talked about are all solids though hybrids can also be used. The rules do not allow liquids and biprops are not used other than in special locations for special projects and not without a significant set of problems. As a result of listener questions we learned that the rules do not allow for any guidance on the rockets and no animals can be on board any rocket for any reason. We also talked about the launch and flight success rate for high powered rocketry, listen to what our guests said about this. At the start of the second segment, we diverted for a few minutes from the subject of high powered rocketry to talk about the Merchant Marine and the situation regarding the Somali pirates and how crews could and should defend themselves and their ships from attack. Neil is a merchant mariner and still has friends sailing on ships in the area of pirate operation. He was quite outspoken about the problem and possible solutions. He discussed arming the crews, said they were being trained to be armed at this time and talked about how the pirates actually attack a ship. This was information we don't always hear in the traditional news services we all use so I hope you find it as interesting as I did. I thought it was most interesting to learn that the wheel house was the target, that a strategy to defend the ship is to make it go dark, and that even small to relatively larger small arms may be insufficient given some of the weapons the pirates carry on their small boats. While this subject was not that relevant to Space Show topics, Neil was the first guest I have had on the show in the Merchant Marine so I thought it was worth a few minutes of discussion to hear from him and those actually on the ocean as to their perspective of the problem and their recommendations for solutions. In the last segment, we returned to discussing rockets. Did you know that recovering the rocket is the hardest part of the entire flight? Also, more and more computer power is being used on these high powered rocket flights including the managing of electronic packages on board the rocket. We also talked about the cameras used to take pictures of the flight such as those used by Steve Eves and his recent Saturn V launch and flight. We learned that there were on board cameras on the Saturn V plus cameras on the ground being used to document the flight. In addition to the Saturn V flight, we talked about other well known high powered rocket projects. Neil and Bob also told us about Tripoli Rocketry Association's 28th Annual LDRS event July 2-6, 2009 in Potter, NY. Find out more about this event to see if you want to attend at www.ldrs28.org/. Other websites of interest to you include www.mdrocketry.org/ for the MDRA and for Tripoli please use www.tripoli.org/. For Rockets Magazine, use www.rocketsmagazine.com. If you have a question or comment for Neil McGilvray or Bob Utley, you can send your note to me through drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward it to them. In addition, you can use the contact information on the Rockets Magazine at www.libertylaunchsystems.com/Contact. If you used the contact page, make sure you put The Space Show and the person you want to contact in the subject line of your email.