March 27, 2002: The Rocket Guy - Brian Walker
Podcast: The Art Bell ArchivePublished On: Thu Mar 20 2025
Description: Art Bell checks in with Brian Walker, the self-funded inventor known as Rocket Guy, who is building a personal rocket to launch himself 30 miles straight up into space. Walker, a successful toy inventor who has invested roughly $350,000 into the project, provides an update on his progress since his first appearance on the show nearly a year earlier. He describes his newly constructed 45-foot geodesic dome assembly building and a half-scale test rocket designed to reach 15,000 feet.Walker explains the technical details of his hydrogen peroxide-fueled rocket system, which uses a pneumatic air catapult to accelerate the craft to 30 miles per hour in just eight feet at launch. He describes oversized detachable fins that provide stability at low speeds, then shed at higher velocities. Walker also reveals he purchased a genuine Russian space suit and trained at Star City, where cosmonauts approved his physical fitness for spaceflight after withstanding eight Gs in their centrifuge.The conversation takes a personal turn as Walker shares that he met his fiancee in Russia, a woman who had dreamed of becoming a cosmonaut as a child. He acknowledges the risks involved but emphasizes that survivability remains his top priority, and he will not launch unless three unmanned test flights succeed first.
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