THE US 鈥渨ar on terror鈥� looks set to inflict some unexpected domestic casualties. Around 8000 amateur rocket enthusiasts say security regulations due to be ushered in this year will crush their hobby.
The problem lies in a part of the US Homeland Security Act that is due to take effect on 24 May. It will force most of the country鈥檚 鈥渉igh-power鈥� rocketeers to be photographed, fingerprinted and undergo background checks by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). They will then need a $25 permit.
鈥淭he level of regulation the ATF would impose on our hobby is going to shut high-power rocketry down,鈥� says Mark Bundick, president of the National Association of Rocketry in Altoona, Wisconsin. 鈥淐an you think of any other hobby, a safe scientific hobby, where people are submitted to fingerprinting and background checks?鈥� he asks.
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High-power rocket enthusiasts use a mixture called ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) to launch their rockets. Unlike toy rockets, high-power models do more than just shoot up a hundred metres or so. Regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration, high-power rockets can reach 10,000 metres, a typical cruising altitude for airliners.
The ATF is adamant APCP needs regulating, however. 鈥淭he mixture they use is an explosive,鈥� says Gary Taylor, a specialist with the ATF鈥檚 public safety branch in Washington DC. But rocketeers maintain the compound is designed to burn slowly and cannot be made to explode. They say the propellant is exempt from the Homeland Security Act because it falls within the rules for 鈥減ropellant-actuated devices鈥�, which are permitted.
The National Association of Rocketry is awaiting the outcome of a legal case under consideration by the US District Court in Washington DC to get the ATF to change its classification of the propellant. Bundick is hoping for a judgement before the 24 May deadline.