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On this episode of Mythbusters, a blast from the past.

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As Adam and Jamie hit the history books.

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There would be a lot of fire and I could get burned.

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To explore an explosive myth from the Civil War.

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Did the Confederate Army build the world's first long range missile?

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In three, two, one.

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Who are the Mythbusters?

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Adam Savage, Jukko, and Jamie Heineman.

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This is going to kill you.

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Between them more than 30 years special effects experience.

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That's what I'm talking about.

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They don't just tell the myths.

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They put them to the test.

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This one, I've been waiting for three whole years to make this one finally happen on the show.

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It's got danger, gunpowder, so I'm all for it.

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The myth is that late in the Civil War, the Confederate Army actually built, aimed, and launched a two-stage rocket from Richmond, Virginia to Washington, DC.

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Almost a hundred miles.

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Observers claim to have watched this rocket roar skyward, drop its first stage, and disappear from sight.

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Oh yes.

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It's a myth of ballistic proportions.

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The American Civil War was mostly slugged out with rifles and cannons.

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But did the Confederates have a secret weapon?

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Could they really have built the world's first long range missile?

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The Mythbusters and the build team are going to join forces to find out.

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So where should we start with this?

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Well, I think we can only begin with an examination of exactly what the state of the art of rocketry was, if any, at the time this myth is supposed to have happened, roughly 1865.

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So what you're getting at is that we need to get a bunch of plans for these rockets, build them, and see how well they actually worked.

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Shoot them off, see what they're capable of.

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Okay.

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First, before attempting to make the mythical 100-mile missile, the Mythbusters are building short-range rockets that were used in the Civil War.

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When complete, they'll launch them to learn whether the long-range Confederate rocket is even plausible.

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But so far, this build isn't exactly a walk in the park.

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Sixth. So, sixth larger, that's...

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With plans dating back over a century, this one is proving to be a bit of a brain drain.

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2.3A.

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Until finally, Jamie gets some inspiration.

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I'm building a replica of what is known as the Hail Rocket, and that type of rocket is generally acknowledged as the state of the art in the Civil War era.

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A state of the art because over its 2,000-yard range, it had a hint of accuracy, brought about by tail fins that caused it to spiral through the air.

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My, my, my, my!

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Armed with dusty plans from the Smithsonian, Jamie sets his sights high, but in case Hail falls flat, Adam's building another retro rocket.

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And his, like the Myth, is a two-stage ring.

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The Boxer Rocket is actually a rescue rocket.

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It was made to fire from one boat to another or from the shore to a boat in need of rescue, carrying a line so that that boat could be pulled to safety.

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The Boxer Rocket's initial thrust came from the first stage.

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As that burned out, it fell away, and the second stage fired up and carried the rope over 300 feet to the sinking ship.

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But for Adam, it's not all plain sailing, because no one seems to have built one for over a hundred years.

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I have no idea if this is going to work.

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While the Boxer makes progress, the Hail is out for the count, because Jamie's made an error of schoolboy proportions.

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And to avoid public humiliation...

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You know, if I don't talk, you don't, you don't get any good TV.

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He's run away from the cameraman.

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What happened?

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Nothing.

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Denial is a river in Africa.

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Come on.

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What happened?

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Did you accidentally weld the thing at the end of your pipe that was supposed to be a screw fitting?

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Overzealous welding has sealed his rocket shut, and he's not happy.

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We've had about, like, a couple of hours of playing around with the thing, and that's not interesting, but somehow when we screw up, everybody's all over it.

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While a sulking Jamie has to start from scratch, Tari's busy building the Civil War rocket launcher.

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It's a pretty simple design. It's just a channel that we're going to load the rockets into, and it's got two legs that support it in the front, and it also allows the angle to change.

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They're adjustable, so we can have different, you know, angles of trajectory.

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Time for a test, albeit with a flimsy firework.

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I'm not really sure what this one's going to do.

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It might scream. It might explode, but...

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Okay.

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You know what? The rocket followed the channel perfectly, and it sent it in the right angle.

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I just hope it's sturdy enough for the big rocket.

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I know. That's going to be a lot of thrust.

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I got some more rockets. I mean, we should light off a couple more.

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Yeah, like a couple at once.

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While Pyro Tari gets his kicks, Adam's made a find that changes the boxer and maybe the mythical rocket too.

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Upon doing some more research, it turns out that nobody's ever seen one of these rockets.

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No one's seen one in a long time. No one's got one. No one builds them.

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So there has been some confusion as to whether or not it was a true two-stage rocket or a compound rocket.

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And it turns out that it's a compound rocket, and indeed, it does not separate in the middle halfway through its ignition.

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So the boxer is not a true two-stage rocket. The sections don't split, they simply burn through each other.

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The idea that the mythical Confederate rocket was a two-stage must now be in doubt.

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As Adam puts the finishing touches to the boxer, Jamie's come out of his corner fighting

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and is already attaching those revolutionary tail fins that spun the hail rocket for accuracy.

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There was a price to pay to make these spin. Even with this clever design, it actually reduced the total range of the rocket.

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Range doesn't mean crap if it can't be accurate. I'll take accuracy over range any day.

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And that's the same conclusion as Mr. Hale drew.

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I'm fairly happy with this. It's not a polished, shiny thing, but it looks like it means business.

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At last, the rockets are ready. They just need the gunpowder fuel.

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Here we run into kind of a problem. First of all, it's illegal for you and I to pack black powder ourselves.

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But secondly, the pressures they packed these rockets under was really just monstrous, and that makes it even more dangerous.

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Sounds like we need to get our old buddy Eric Gates.

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Yeah, I think we should call Eric, and I think rather than go with black powder, we should ask Eric to supply us with some modern, equivalent motors

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that replicate the amount of thrust and burn time of the Civil War era rockets.

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Civil War rockets, but modern fuel. And for the imminent launch, the team head for the hills.

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The Mythbusters have built rockets that date back to the Civil War.

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They're going to launch them in the desert to help them learn how to build the mythical Confederate rocket, rumored to have a range of 120 miles.

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We're here in the Mojave Desert at the Cohen Dry Lakebed near Edwards Forest Base,

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and we're about to test the authentically recreated Civil War era rockets.

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Authentically recreated, but because of state laws, contemporarily fueled.

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Thanks to the rocket expertise of their honorary Mythbuster, Eric Gates.

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Eric has already helped show that an ancient Chinese entrepreneur failed to get into orbit.

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And can you do a full 360 on a swing?

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Well, only if you've got someone like Eric there to help.

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Today, the cool of the van has become Civil War mission control.

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I got something to show you guys.

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This right here is my boxer rocket.

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Adams is proud as a new father. And like a new baby, the rocket first gets weighed.

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All right, so 8.4 pounds for this thing.

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And measured.

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Diameter of the rocket is three inches.

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This data is then fed into a computer simulation to see whether the rocket stands a chance of flying.

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Okay, I've put a little set of fins on here to simulate the stick, and it looks like it's going to be stable.

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Let's try a motor.

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Let's put a K550 in it to start out.

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K550 it is.

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The computer's fully primed.

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Go.

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Flight pack, perfect.

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Range, 20,000 feet.

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Remember, these are really rough simulations because your nozzle is not the same as what comes with the motor.

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So these could be greatly off, but hopefully they're going to be fairly accurate predictions.

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Jamie's 20-pound rocket is historically more reliable than Adams.

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So what does the accurate computer make of it?

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See, right now it's doing about 500 feet and about 50 feet up, 60 feet up.

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That's not quite the spinning that the hail rocket was famed for.

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As launch looms, the rockets are ready to be fueled up with ammonium perchlorate motors.

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These modern motors are the most advanced in amateur rocketry, and may be a little more powerful than Civil War black powder.

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But as they wrap them to ensure a snug fit in the rockets, Adam and Jamie are wondering if the main myth has historical authenticity, or is it just another tall tale?

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Well, you know, now you can find references to the Civil War rocket all over the web, and they're saying that the rocket was about 12 feet long, and it carried a 10-pound gunpowder warhead.

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Well, the tale first showed up in 1958 in a southern newspaper written by a Vienna correspondent, signing only as C.R. Johnson.

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Well, our researchers were unable to find C.R. Johnson or the article.

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The myth may be nothing more than a mirage, but in this desert, it's team on as 60 seconds for the hail rocket.

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We built this according to official plans and specs of the period, and if it worked then, it ought to work now.

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What does our percentage maestro think?

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70% chance the thing spins out and ends up about 200 feet away.

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29% chance that it actually flies totally successfully and ends up 3,000 feet away.

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There's a 1% chance that it hits the ground and bounces right over to us.

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And with those words of wisdom, it's the bit now with the countdown.

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3, 2, 1, go!

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She's up and away!

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Congratulations, dude.

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Wow!

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You think it done, brother?

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I was afraid that it was gonna loop, but then it just got the spin.

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When the spins were keep going straight, that was great.

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Those revolutionary hail tail fins did the trick and kept the rocket on a computer-defying perfect arc.

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You see it actually go and work, especially kind of having you on the edge of your seat as you're watching it go.

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And then it just kind of homes in and does its job.

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It was cool.

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It's a cool design.

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One down, one to go.

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I got a box of rocket and I'm gonna fire it.

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Complete with its rescue robe.

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You're ready to rock and roll.

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Is that it?

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That's it.

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Is that it?

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That is it.

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Next, you push the button.

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Let's try some rockets!

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In 3, 2, 1...

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Whoa!

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We have liftoff!

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You guys all clear?

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That is cool!

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It looks like they knew what they were doing back there in the 1800s.

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They might have known what they were doing.

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Yep.

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Looked good.

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Ain't that the truth?

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Another near-perfect flight.

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The rescue robe didn't fare so well, but at least the drowning sailors would have had a spectacle to behold.

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Adam and Jamie's next task is to build the long-range rocket of the myth.

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So first, they'll need to find out how far their non-mythical missiles flew.

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I don't know, but I think that's one of the rockets.

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And judging by the size of the hole, I think it's mine.

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I don't know.

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I'm gonna see if I can feel the end of it.

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I'm still not touching anything.

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Oh, back, Ota!

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Like a miner in the gold rush, Jamie starts digging.

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And the lighter boxer rocket?

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Well, 500 yards further on.

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That's where I landed.

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I'm just terrible at judging distance from here, but I'd say it's at least a mile and a half.

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I'm gonna pace it out, calculating each of my steps as about a yard, and we'll see where I get to.

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As Adam measures his flight path, Jamie has at last struck gold.

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There she is.

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We got the end clearly exposed, and I think we should be able to tug it out with it come along pretty well, so...

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The heavy hail flew half as far and went over five feet into the ground.

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Soft to crash land in, tiring to measure.

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1,317 yards.

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I'm tired.

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The Mythbusters have successfully launched rockets that haven't been seen for 80 years,

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but now they've got to use what they learned to build the mythical 100-mile range Confederate rocket.

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Well, now we have a pretty good idea of what the standard kind of rocket that was used in the Civil War era is capable of,

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and I gotta say we've got our work cut out for us as far as this mythical rocket,

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because there's just not a whole lot of information about what it was.

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Well, you know, we start with what we've got.

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I mean, they say it was a liquid-fueled rocket, so we should talk to somebody about what kind of technologies that would make a liquid-fueled rocket they had available at the time.

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Liquid fuel? Well, that is what NASA uses.

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Of course, they had their teething problems too, but surely this technology is light years ahead of the Confederates.

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If only we had a rocket scientist.

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Hello. How are you doing, guys?

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Nice to meet you.

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So you're like a rocket scientist, right?

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Yeah, exactly. I teach the rocket propulsion class at San Diego State, and I launch my own rockets.

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Does being a rocket scientist help you pick up chicks?

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Unfortunately, in the rocket science world, there's not that many women, and they're hunted to extinction.

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Hunted to extinction.

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So have you heard this myth that the Confederate army actually built a liquid-fueled rocket that they fired from Virginia to Washington, D.C.?

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It was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. People were doing all kinds of crazy things with steam engines and steam boats. I suppose it's possible.

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What's not possible is to understand the ensuing discussion.

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But eventually they thrashed out the characteristics of a plausible Civil War-era two-stage rocket, powered by ethanol and liquid oxygen.

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And they unearthed some interesting new data.

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This myth was supposedly made possible by Lord Kelvin, who was persuaded to make liquid oxygen 12 years before it is generally accepted that this first occurred.

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Apparently, German physicist Ernst Mock contributed a small turbine and a gyroscopic stabilizer.

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The rocket was launched from a hole in a river bank that was lined with a tube made from naval cannons.

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So here are the likely ingredients. Lord Kelvin's liquid oxygen made the rocket fuel burn.

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Ernst Mock's gyros gave it stability.

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A cannon provided the trajectory, and gun cotton made it explode out of the barrel.

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But what was the fuel? It could have been ethanol, made since ancient times by fermenting sugar.

220
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And it is used as a fuel. In today's environmentally conscious age, clean-burning ethanol is widely used as an additive to reduce gasoline emissions.

221
00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:50,000
Clean and green was not the aim of the Nazis when they invented their ethanol-fueled V2 rockets.

222
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:56,000
It was an oil shortage that drove their search for an alcohol-based rocket fuel.

223
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:05,000
Nonetheless, the V2 suggests that moonshine could have been used in the Confederate rocket.

224
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:12,000
Next, it's Lord Kelvin's big O. Liquid oxygen is needed as the fuel oxidizer.

225
00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:16,000
Without it, the ethanol will burn only gently.

226
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:24,000
But when it's added, the fuel is fully oxidized and virtually explodes, causing a massive amount of thrust.

227
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,000
And it's down to Grant to make it.

228
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:41,000
Well, I'm going to replicate Joseph Priestley's landmark experiment of the late 1700s, where he actually discovered oxygen using mercuric oxide, liquid mercury, a magnifying glass, and the sun.

229
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:50,000
Before making liquid oxygen, he first has to produce oxygen gas by focusing the heat of the sun onto mercuric oxide.

230
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:53,000
Now for the sun.

231
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:58,000
As it heats up, oxygen gas should bubble up into the test tube.

232
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:03,000
It's bubbling. Tiny. Still bubbling.

233
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,000
It's working, but he's going to be here a while longer yet.

234
00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:13,000
And when he's got enough, like Lord Kelvin, Grant's got to liquefy it.

235
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:20,000
Meanwhile, because the mythical rocket was fired from a naval cannon, Carrie's gone to the fort.

236
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,000
So Jamie and Adam need to know what size the cannons were during the Civil War.

237
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:29,000
So I've come here to Fort Point to do some measuring of cannons and find out.

238
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:37,000
These measurements are key to the Mythbusters missile, because there's no written record of the dimensions of the Confederate rocket.

239
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,000
Alright, that's an 11-foot link.

240
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:47,000
Adam and Jamie do know that it was fired from a cannon, so if Carrie measures the biggest cannons from the Civil War...

241
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,000
10 inches.

242
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:53,000
Then the Mythbusters can build the biggest rocket possible.

243
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,000
And they'll also have a launch tube they can replicate.

244
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,000
9-foot 2 inches.

245
00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:01,000
It's another ingredient ready.

246
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:04,000
Launch tube cannon, check.

247
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:09,000
But the Mythbusters have made a worrying discovery about Lord Kelvin.

248
00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:24,000
Well Adam, as the Myth suggests, William Thompson, a.k.a. Lord Kelvin, did in fact live during the Civil War era, but he never claimed to have made liquid oxygen.

249
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:29,000
And we're supposed to believe someone whose name was Thompson, but went around saying he was Lord Kelvin.

250
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,000
That's Lord Kelvin, do you?

251
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:37,000
But in 1852, he did observe that gas expanding in a vacuum decreased in temperature.

252
00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:50,000
And that discovery in turn made it possible in 1877 for two French scientists, Piquet and Calitette, I believe it was, to in fact achieve making liquid oxygen.

253
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:57,000
Yeah, but their success was only making the tiniest little vapor of liquid oxygen for just a few seconds.

254
00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:03,000
Industrial quantities were not remotely available until the 1890s, and really until the 1900s.

255
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,000
Well, that explains why Grant's been struggling so.

256
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:14,000
Using Civil War technology, he's been trying to put his oxygen gas under so much pressure that it turns into liquid.

257
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,000
That doesn't sound like 80 psi.

258
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,000
But whatever he tries just ain't working.

259
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,000
I've got a problem with this cylinder.

260
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:30,000
And that's because M5, like the Civil War times, is just too warm.

261
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:36,000
As it turns out, it's actually a critical temperature above which you can't liquefy oxygen.

262
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,000
It just simply won't happen.

263
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,000
That temperature is minus 118.6 degrees Celsius.

264
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:48,000
And unfortunately in Civil War times, they didn't possess the technology to make anything nearly that cold.

265
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:54,000
And without the liquid oxygen, the Confederate rocket myth is looking busted.

266
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:05,000
In the American Civil War, did the Confederate Army fire a long-range missile?

267
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:09,000
The mythbusters are trying to find out.

268
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:14,000
But Grant has just failed to make a vital rocket ingredient.

269
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:21,000
Well, you know, Grant's results make it pretty clear that they just did not have the ability to liquefy oxygen during the Civil War,

270
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:28,000
which for us rules out the possibility of a liquid-fueled rocket that uses liquid fuel and a liquid oxidizer.

271
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,000
I don't really know where we go from here.

272
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,000
Well, I do.

273
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,000
And, you know, I've been doing some reading on this.

274
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,000
I think the design we should use is called a hybrid.

275
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,000
The fuel is wax.

276
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,000
The oxidizer that we would use would be nitrous oxide.

277
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:48,000
The design doesn't involve any really complicated moving parts or anything.

278
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,000
Number one, all those materials sound really safe to work with.

279
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:55,000
And number two, the technology for all of them was available during the Civil War.

280
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,000
That sounds like a perfect solution.

281
00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:01,000
So it's Plan B, a hybrid Confederate rocket.

282
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:09,000
Lord Kelvin's liquid oxygen replaced with liquid nitrous oxide and the ethanol fuel by solid paraffin wax.

283
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,000
It's the last chance for this myth.

284
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:21,000
And it all depends on whether making liquid nitrous oxide using Civil War technology is even possible.

285
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,000
So, Grant gets another bite at the cherry.

286
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:32,000
But this time, in an extreme case of please don't try this at home, the recipe has been censored.

287
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:39,000
The plan here is to heat up with a...

288
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:43,000
That will actually produce a gas.

289
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:47,000
We're going to run those through a...

290
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,000
And at the other end should come out nitrous oxide.

291
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:58,000
So, Grant adds some moo with some meow and starts heating.

292
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:03,000
With the temperature creeping higher, the gas starts to bubble out.

293
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:10,000
And Adam can't resist having a sniff.

294
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,000
That burns!

295
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,000
As Adam recovers, more gas bubbles through.

296
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,000
But is it nitrous oxide?

297
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,000
Or to use its common name, laughing gas.

298
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:33,000
Nitrous oxide is more plausible as an oxidized...

299
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,000
Nitrous oxide is more...

300
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,000
I don't...

301
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,000
Okay, nitrous oxide is more...

302
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,000
They've clearly made laughing gas.

303
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,000
But what is he trying to say?

304
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:56,000
Nitrous oxide is more plausible as an oxidizer during the Civil War than oxygen because the pressure that you need is a lot less.

305
00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:02,000
You're looking at 50 atmospheres for nitrous oxide versus 400 for oxygen.

306
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:06,000
So, nitrous oxide needs less pressure to be liquefied.

307
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,000
And better still, it can be done at room temperature.

308
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,000
A time-saving shop-bought bottle later.

309
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:19,000
And the Confederate hybrid rocket can really happen.

310
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,000
But with one final alteration.

311
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:30,000
Adam's boxer rocket, like that of the myth, was described as a two-stager.

312
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,000
But further research proved otherwise.

313
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,000
And it turns out that it's a compound rocket.

314
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,000
And indeed, it does not separate in the middle halfway through its ignition.

315
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:46,000
Given that the launch was so successful, they're going to make their mythical rocket a one-stager as well.

316
00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,000
The final design is set.

317
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:53,000
The rocket will be the size of the biggest cannon carry found at the fort.

318
00:26:53,000 --> 00:27:02,000
At the top, there'll be a tank full of liquid nitrous oxide joined via a release valve to a tank filled with paraffin wax.

319
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:08,000
Upon ignition, the burning gases will burst out through a graphite nozzle.

320
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,000
So, first things first.

321
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:17,000
Jamie goes 21st century shopping for some 19th century parts.

322
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:26,000
He's looking for some metal piping that Civil War rocketeers might have found at their local suppliers.

323
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:35,000
They're going to make their best effort and then test it in the shop before trying to make it fly in the desert.

324
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,000
I'm making the nitrous oxide tank for the rocket.

325
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:45,000
We're using common steel plumbing pipe and fittings because that's easy and quick for us.

326
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:49,000
And it's not too dissimilar from what they might have had at the time.

327
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:56,000
Meanwhile, Adam's cooking up the new fuel, the paraffin wax with carbon added for an even burn.

328
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:03,000
After it solidifies, it should fit perfectly inside the rocket.

329
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:05,000
No leaking.

330
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:11,000
As the testing draws nearer, for safety, the team need a rocket resistant bunker.

331
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,000
Also known as a shipping container.

332
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,000
Okay, we're in.

333
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:24,000
Perfect.

334
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,000
Perfect parking, but how bomb-proof is the bunker?

335
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:29,000
There we go.

336
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,000
Woo, uh-oh.

337
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:33,000
Not very.

338
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,000
A lot of daylight coming through the room.

339
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,000
They've bought a holy rust bucket.

340
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,000
Who cut the budget on the bunker?

341
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,000
This seems like something you'd spend the extra cash on.

342
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:48,000
Yeah, we got lives at stake.

343
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:49,000
Is that a wasp nest?

344
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:52,000
Yeah.

345
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:55,000
Sweet.

346
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,000
To top it off, there's wasps.

347
00:28:58,000 --> 00:28:59,000
But not for long.

348
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:04,000
Oh, shoot.

349
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,000
That was cool.

350
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:08,000
Set a bomb off in there.

351
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:09,000
The whole roof might go up.

352
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,000
So I gotta redo the roof.

353
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,000
I still gotta get the ventilation in.

354
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:14,000
I gotta get the cinder blocks in.

355
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:15,000
I gotta sweep this thing out.

356
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,000
I mean, things are a mess.

357
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,000
But hey, we're gonna have a bunker.

358
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,000
As Tari slowly makes it blast-proof,

359
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,000
the Mythbusters have dug up some more mythical musings.

360
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:33,000
What factoids do you have for us today, J.B.?

361
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:37,000
The myth specifically states that the launch took place near Richmond

362
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:42,000
in March of 1865 and was witnessed by Jefferson Davis,

363
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:46,000
who was the president of the Confederate States of America.

364
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,000
There is an element of truth to this story.

365
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:53,000
Jefferson Davis was, in fact, in Richmond around March of 1865.

366
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,000
Well, the problem is that there is actually a very good record

367
00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:01,000
of every day of Jefferson Davis' activity during the month of March,

368
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:05,000
and there is no mention, whatever, of any kind of a two-stage rocket.

369
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,000
But maybe it was a secret launch.

370
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:09,000
Well, there's always that.

371
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,000
It's no secret launch.

372
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:19,000
It's no secret that Tari's bunker is becoming ever more beefed up,

373
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:23,000
and as launch nears, Adam's rocket fuel is all set.

374
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,000
All right, well, the wax is cured overnight.

375
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,000
Let's see what it did.

376
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,000
Oh, yeah!

377
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:35,000
It's worked perfectly.

378
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:39,000
Yeah, I'm proud.

379
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,000
And will it fit?

380
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,000
Of course.

381
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,000
But there's no rest for the wicked.

382
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:50,000
Jamie gets on with sealing the rocket,

383
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:54,000
but is slightly alarmed at how simple it all seems to be.

384
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,000
It doesn't make any sense that it should be this easy.

385
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:03,000
This is some laughing gas and some plumbing fixtures.

386
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,000
And if it actually goes someplace,

387
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,000
that's kind of scary.

388
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:13,000
The mythbusters are not used to things being so painless,

389
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:17,000
but let's not forget, it's not even past its test yet.

390
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,000
Well, there she is.

391
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,000
Tanks sealed.

392
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,000
We have the ignition valve in place.

393
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,000
We have the combustion chamber.

394
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,000
They're just waiting for the graphite nozzle.

395
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,000
Great!

396
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,000
They're just waiting for the graphite nozzle.

397
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:39,000
Graphite was the only thing available during the Civil War

398
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:43,000
that could handle the crazy heat that the rocket's combustion generates.

399
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,000
Oh!

400
00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,000
That's a rocket.

401
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,000
Oh, I'm totally psyched about that.

402
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,000
She's fully pried.

403
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,000
With countdown just around the corner,

404
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,000
it's time to take her to the bunker.

405
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:07,000
The mythbusters are preparing to batten down the hatches

406
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,000
in preparation for a big boom test.

407
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:17,000
They've built their own Confederate rocket out of Civil War-era technologies.

408
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:22,000
And because the desert is a long way to drive to find out the motor doesn't work,

409
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,000
they're about to try it in a bunker in their shop.

410
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:31,000
For safety, Adam secures the rocket so it will burn but not launch.

411
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:38,000
And Jamie sets up some ventilation in case it's more of a smoke bomb.

412
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,000
With everything ready, they're on to the final checks.

413
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,000
Starting with the quick release,

414
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:48,000
the valve that will open the nitrous oxide to the fuel.

415
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,000
Okay, go ahead and pull.

416
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:52,000
Cool.

417
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:53,000
Check.

418
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,000
Next test is the ignition.

419
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,000
All right, Jamie, I'm ready when you are.

420
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,000
Okay, and three, two, one.

421
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:05,000
Smoking smells like, there we go.

422
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:06,000
Check.

423
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:08,000
Yeah, that took a second.

424
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:13,000
It's time to vacate the bunker because the Confederate rocket is going to get fired.

425
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:19,000
They're going to fill the top half of the rocket with liquid nitrous oxide,

426
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,000
ignite the wax, and then open the quick release valve.

427
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:24,000
There you go.

428
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,000
That's what I'm talking about.

429
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,000
The nitrous oxide tank should be filling up,

430
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:33,000
but no one is quite sure whether it's working.

431
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:35,000
I saw something drip.

432
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:37,000
It's dripping out of the quick release.

433
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:38,000
Oh, okay.

434
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:39,000
So that's actually a good sign.

435
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:42,000
Okay, well, let's kind of stand away from there, guys.

436
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:44,000
We're getting liquid nitrous oxide.

437
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:50,000
But 15 minutes later, and the tank is still filling up.

438
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:52,000
Yes, this is where the danger zone happens.

439
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:53,000
When nothing happens for a while,

440
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,000
it's like, well, let's get closer.

441
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:56,000
Let's get closer.

442
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:57,000
Let's get closer.

443
00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:58,000
Boom!

444
00:33:58,000 --> 00:33:59,000
Whenever it's dead.

445
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:00,000
Do you want to just go for it?

446
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:01,000
Yeah, let's do it.

447
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:02,000
Okay.

448
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,000
They're just going to go for it.

449
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:05,000
But for safety reasons,

450
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:09,000
Jamie must first disconnect the nitrous oxide filler tank.

451
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:13,000
Are you okay?

452
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:14,000
Yeah, I knew I was going to do that.

453
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:18,000
Next time you should say that there might be a large caboose.

454
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,000
Because, like, my heart's beating, like,

455
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,000
500 times a minute right now.

456
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,000
Those with a weak heart or a nervous disposition

457
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:30,000
should look away now, because it's test time.

458
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,000
Okay, I'm in place, Adam.

459
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,000
Fire in the hole.

460
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:39,000
So, three, two, fans, go!

461
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:46,000
We clearly have ignition.

462
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,000
But what the hell's going on in there?

463
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:56,000
Not so much fire in the hole as fire in the hole shop.

464
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,000
The MIFBusters fire team have their work cut out.

465
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:02,000
And what on earth must the neighbors think?

466
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:07,000
There's more smoke than a year's worth of cigars.

467
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:11,000
With the fire under control, the team decide to evacuate

468
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,000
in case the gas is toxic.

469
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,000
Hey, that worked!

470
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:20,000
I called three, two, one, two, three, two, one, two, three, two,

471
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,000
three, two, one, two, three, two, three, two, three, two,

472
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,000
three, two, one, two, three, two, three, two, three, two,

473
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:28,000
it worked!

474
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:30,000
I called three, two, fans, go.

475
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,000
I pushed the igniter.

476
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,000
Jaymie pulled the fuel release, and I heard the thing catch.

477
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:41,000
I heard it go, boom, boom, boom.

478
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,000
I mean, just like exactly the way all the footage we've seen

479
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:46,000
of liquid-fueled rockets going should sound.

480
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:50,000
It put out a diabolical fireball outside the thing.

481
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,000
Looks like it melted the ballistic glass.

482
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,000
I mean, I can't wait to actually see the kind of damage it did in there.

483
00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:01,000
As the smoke begins to clear, the damage is getting easier to see.

484
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:07,000
Their hybrid rocket has turned M5 into a scene of apocalyptic proportions.

485
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:16,000
It's a testament to this size of the fireball and the heat that came out.

486
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,000
What happened to my hovercraft?

487
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:22,000
If it did that to the hovercraft, what was going on inside the bunker?

488
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:30,000
Well, the heat was so great that the cameras only filmed a giant fireball.

489
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:34,000
Until that is, they melted.

490
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:40,000
You know, I don't mind saying that I'm suffering this in a pride here just a little bit.

491
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:46,000
No one can dispute that through our ingenuity we have achieved a hybrid rocket

492
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,000
engine in two days with just a bunch of plumbing parts.

493
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:52,000
You mean we've achieved a hybrid rocket engine and system.

494
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:57,000
We still have yet to put it in a sleek rocket-like exterior and build the cannon to fire it out of.

495
00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:07,000
Exactly. And there's also the problem of tackling this mythical gyroscopic stabilizing system that the myth states.

496
00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:12,000
So I'll tackle the gyroscopic stabilizer. You want to take on the body and the nose cone?

497
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:13,000
Okay.

498
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:19,000
After some celebratory ego massaging, the down-to-earth work continues.

499
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:28,000
For the final refinements, Adam's making the stabilizing system that gives the rocket a smooth and accurate flight path.

500
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:31,000
But steam-powered this ain't.

501
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:41,000
We looked at a lot of different ways to add gyroscopic stabilization to this thing and we settled on the design that Hale used when he designed the Hale rocket,

502
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:51,000
which was fins that affected the exhaust of the rocket only, but that exhaust being made to be rotational, added a rotational stability to the rocket itself.

503
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:55,000
So we've tried to do the same thing with ours on a much larger scale.

504
00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:02,000
Ernst Mock and his gyro join Lord Kelvin and his liquid oxygen in the busted bin.

505
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:10,000
Meanwhile, Jamie is making a more efficient string-pulled release valve to let the liquid nitrous oxide into the fuel tank.

506
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,000
For the test, he was standing right next to the bunker.

507
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:18,000
For the launch, he wants to be a bit further away.

508
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:31,000
It's important that I not be very close to the rocket when the nitrous oxide is dumped into the combustion chamber when it's lit, because there will be a lot of fire and I could get burned.

509
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:38,000
With the quick release ready and working, Jamie's rooted around the shop and come up with a naval cannon launching tune.

510
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:45,000
It's this pipe that the rocket will be propelled out of. Courtesy of the myth's Civil War gun cotton.

511
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:52,000
Carrie Elizabeth Byron, your mission should you choose to accept it is to make us some gun cotton.

512
00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:55,000
Great. What is it?

513
00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:01,000
Well, it's some kind of cotton and it's probably got some nasty chemical added to it.

514
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:07,000
It's definitely going to shorten your lifespan, but we need a bunch of it. We need to figure out how to make it and get some over to us.

515
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,000
Sounds like fun.

516
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:15,000
Oh, by the way, it's quite possibly explosive when you're done making it. So, you know, be careful. Keep that in mind.

517
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,000
Guys always give me the best jobs.

518
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:27,000
Gun cotton is what apparently gave the rocket its initial thrust. It's an important but dangerous part of this myth.

519
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:31,000
So the recipe is a myth buster secret.

520
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:37,000
Okay, we're adding half ounce of to a half ounce of

521
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:47,000
Slowly when you add donkey to rooster, you get a violent reaction and all that wonderful smoke cannot be good.

522
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:51,000
So it's in with the cotton wool.

523
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:58,000
I don't know how much I trust respirators and masks at this point. That stuff looks just disgustingly fatal.

524
00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:07,000
The rest of the fatal process is classified, but after a complicated afternoon, Carrie's gun cotton is all set for a test.

525
00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:08,000
All right.

526
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,000
Three, two, one.

527
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:17,000
Not bad.

528
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,000
That makes a big difference.

529
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:27,000
The secret recipe works. The gun cotton is remarkably energetic. But could it propel a rocket out of a cannon?

530
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:31,000
All right, let's try it at the cannon.

531
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:32,000
Cool.

532
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:40,000
This is the crucial part. If the gun cotton is powerful, then they can scale this up to give the hybrid rocket its initial thrust.

533
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,000
You ready?

534
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:44,000
Okay.

535
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:50,000
Fire in the hole in three, two, one.

536
00:40:50,000 --> 00:41:03,000
Success. And with more off it, it could just be enough to kickstart the rocket out of its naval cannon launch tube.

537
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:11,000
The fifth and final mythical ingredient is ready. The gun cotton check.

538
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:17,000
That just leaves the last details. First, the nose cone.

539
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:25,000
I don't have a big enough piece of wood for the nose cone, so I'm going to lay that out of foam. I mean, we're not putting an actual warhead on this thing.

540
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:33,000
Even the mythbusters have to draw the line somewhere. A foam nose cone will have to do.

541
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:42,000
And second, a paint job. Looking pretty in pink, the mythbusters rocket is finally ready.

542
00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:50,000
This puppy is going to get fired.

543
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,000
Oh, it's got an heavier.

544
00:41:58,000 --> 00:41:59,000
Yeah, I know.

545
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:06,000
The mythbusters homemade Confederate rocket is about to shoot for the moon. Time to return to the desert.

546
00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:13,000
Where things have started badly.

547
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:15,000
And we're stuck.

548
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:22,000
But it's only the biggest vehicle in the fleet that's stuck. So we're using every other vehicle to get it out.

549
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:34,000
Jamie drove them into this mess, so he's got to dig them out.

550
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:37,000
What else do we have to stick under there or anything?

551
00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:43,000
But they're not having much luck. And believe me, this is not a fun place to break down.

552
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:50,000
We're hoping to work for the morning and then go back to the hotel, have a hacienda, work later in the day so we didn't take the heat of the sun.

553
00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:53,000
But no, go ahead and pull.

554
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:00,000
Pull, pull, come on, pull.

555
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:07,000
At 110 degrees, reinforcements are called.

556
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:14,000
And with some tow-track talent, she's out.

557
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:21,000
Freed at last, Jamie swings the track around and...

558
00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:26,000
...get stuck again.

559
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:32,000
Is there anything I could say that would make this more poignant? I don't think so.

560
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:41,000
Like rats in a sinking ship, the team abandon their lamentable lorry and take all their rocket equipment with them.

561
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:51,000
After finally arriving on site, the race is on to get the rocket ready and fired.

562
00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:57,000
And to start, Adam finishes off the cannon-inspired gun barrel.

563
00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:03,000
To get the launch trajectory, Adam's attaching an A-frame to it.

564
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:08,000
Meanwhile, Jamie's back to pulling strings.

565
00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:22,000
I've run the pull cord, which opens the nitrous valve the entire distance because I want to feel what it feels like and have somebody watching on the other end to make sure that it actually worked.

566
00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:24,000
We're ready for the test, whenever you are.

567
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:25,000
Yo!

568
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:29,000
Hey!

569
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:30,000
That was it, right on the ball.

570
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:31,000
Hey, that worked!

571
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:38,000
With the quick release valve working from 500 feet, the team slide the rocket into the cannon.

572
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:40,000
Favourite, the far side.

573
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:42,000
Add the wax fuel...

574
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:46,000
...and then seal her up.

575
00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:50,000
Perfect, lovely, fabulous.

576
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:53,000
Use the man, stud.

577
00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:57,000
And next up for these studs is the erection.

578
00:44:58,000 --> 00:44:59,000
There you go, Eric.

579
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:01,000
She's nearly ready.

580
00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:03,000
You like it?

581
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:05,000
Yeah.

582
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:09,000
Jamie adds Carrie's gun-cotton propellant to the base of the cannon.

583
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:16,000
And that just leaves the fuel oxidizer, the liquid nitrous oxide.

584
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:24,000
As the team make the final preparations, it seems this hybrid rocket has come a long way from the original myth.

585
00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:28,000
So is any part of this parable actually true?

586
00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:33,000
They did have gun-cotton in 1865 and they did have steel.

587
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:36,000
They did have nitrous oxide.

588
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:39,000
Buying a rocket from a tube, totally plausible.

589
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:42,000
Completely within the realm of possibility.

590
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:44,000
Building the rocket is one thing.

591
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:56,000
All of the processes that go into actually launching it make it, in my opinion, improbable but not impossible for them to have done in that era.

592
00:45:57,000 --> 00:46:01,000
The Civil War rocket. Improbable but not impossible.

593
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:09,000
Sure, the mythbusters have made a few changes, but does it really stand a chance of flying the mythical 120 miles?

594
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,000
Alright, here's the percentages.

595
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:24,000
60% chance that we get a lot of flame and a lot of fuss and bother and the rocket doesn't leave the tube.

596
00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:30,000
5% chance that it blows up in the tube from too much pressure or something like that.

597
00:46:31,000 --> 00:46:32,000
What have I got left? 35?

598
00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:41,000
Yeah, I'll give a 20% chance of a successful launch and 15% chance of something I cannot even remotely predict.

599
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:48,000
Let's find out. Adam's going to press the button, then Jamie will yank open the quick release valve.

600
00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:58,000
Alright, here goes the big boom, Civil War rocket in 3, 2, 1, ignition.

601
00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:04,000
Something's happening.

602
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:07,000
Go!

603
00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:13,000
Wow!

604
00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:18,000
Woo!

605
00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:20,000
Yeah!

606
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:22,000
I forgot to take a picture.

607
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:25,000
Sir? Good job, everybody.

608
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:27,000
Got out of the air.

609
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:30,000
Our first hybrid rocket.

610
00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:33,000
And didn't she do well?

611
00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:39,000
It took a while for the nitrous oxide to mix with the fuel, but then she was off.

612
00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:41,000
Nice, nice work.

613
00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:43,000
Should we go find our rocket?

614
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:45,000
Yeah.

615
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:47,000
Is it that thing right that way?

616
00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:49,000
Okay, so I'll paste it off while we walk out.

617
00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:54,000
That was a rocket. There's no two ways about it.

618
00:47:55,000 --> 00:48:02,000
For being made out of some plumbing pipe and pipe caps, it's not half bad. That was heavy.

619
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:07,000
It weighed over 200 pounds, but how far did it go?

620
00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:10,000
I got it!

621
00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:15,000
Here it is!

622
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:18,000
There you go.

623
00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:19,000
One, two, three.

624
00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:25,000
Made it about 500 yards in two days. Two days, baby.

625
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:32,000
Let anybody else do that and get something airborne like this out of plumbing parts in a visit to your local hardware store.

626
00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:34,000
A little hubris from the Heinemann.

627
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:42,000
And rightly so. After all, they just built a rocket out of plumbing parts in 48 hours.

628
00:48:43,000 --> 00:48:44,000
Want to see it again?

629
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:52,000
The 200-pound Civil War rocket came straight out of the barrel, but had nowhere near the thrust of modern rockets.

630
00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:57,000
A success, but still 119 miles shorter than the myth.

631
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:01,000
So there you have it, Confederate rocket.

632
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:03,000
Is it busted, plausible, or confirmed?

633
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:13,000
Totally busted. We got airborne with stuff that they could have had, they could have put together, but nowhere near 120 miles.

634
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:20,000
I agree. They had access to all this technology, but putting it all together didn't happen for another maybe even 100 years.

635
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:24,000
We made a good effort, and I'm so glad we got a launch, but this one's busted.

636
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:26,000
Busted.

637
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:32,000
Busted.