Happy New Year everyone.

As many of you know, Vince Chichack has been the Interim Chief Range Safety Officer (CRSO). Vince had agreed to fill this roll till the end of last year and Vince has now stepped down.

Words cannot express the depth of gratitude I feel for the multitude of contributions Vince has made to our community both recently and in the past. His time as CRSO was very productive. It saw the continuation of the work done by his predecessors Max and Wayne.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Vince for all he has done for us.

The search for a new CRSO has taken many months and I am pleased to announce that the Board of Directors have confirmed Pierre Laurendeau as the CAR's new CRSO.

Pierre is a highly experienced L4 flier, an active RSO, RSO committee member, L4CC and has coordinated the CAR's Technical Safety Review process reviews. I have personally RSO'ed with Pierre and can attest to his skills, knowledge and integrity.

On behalf of the CAR, I would like to thank Pierre for stepping up and participating.

The latest issue of the Earthrise is now available on the Earthrise page. Please keep in mind that you will only be able to access the download if you have logged into CARWeb. If you have any trouble logging into CARWeb, please contact the CARWeb Manager at Shane.Weatherill@canadianrocketry.org.

It has come to the attention of the CRSO recently, that the CAR High Power safety Code rule which states:

Smoking or open flames in within 10m of any high power rocket motor, motor reloading kit or pyrotechnic module is *not permitted*.

Currently this is not being constantly enforced.

One reason for this may be that it is not always clear where the high power rocket motor, motor reloading kit or pyrotechnic module is located. To aid the launch organizer, RSO, and spectators in identifying where 1.3C and 1.4C explosives are located, in and around the launch site, starting immediately all explosive users ( High Power Flyers ) are asked to display a “NO SMOKING” placard in their storage and reloading area at all launches.

The placard should measure at least 12 inches by 12 inches. This placard should be in color, red/white or red/yellow, to be easily visible. The placard should be displayed in such a manner that it is easily seen and should be displayed in the 1.3C and 1.4C users reloading area and storage area at the launch site.

At this time this is a recommendation but at some time in the future it may become a requirement.

It is strongly advised, in the interest of safety, that all 1.3C and 1.4C users follow this recommendation.

As a result of discussions in the RSO Committee, the following Safety Updates have been issued.

1. Mandatory Use of Launch Rails and/or Launch Towers
It has been the practice of CAR, particularily in the Alberta and BC regions, that rails or towers were the only launch gear that launch organizers would allow to be used for rockets with an installed impulse of 160Ns or greater. This has not been enforced nor has this ever been ratified or codified by CAR.

Subject to inclusion in future editions of the CAR Safety Codes and RSO Guidelines, the CAR Executive is taking the step of endorsing the RSO Committees recommendation to not allow the use of launch rods, and making it mandatory to use rails or towers on ALL rockets with an installed impulse of 160 Ns or greater.

In addition, the CAR Executive strongly endorses the recommendation that all rockets over 80Ns use rails or towers instead of rods.

Rather than being an effort to frustrate rocketeers that swear by rods, this move is being made in the interest of improving overall safety for our members and equally importantly, spectators at our launches.

2. Multi-Stage Rocket Requirements
In response to some events this past year and in general, the higher risk from higher impulse multi-stage rockets, the CAR is endorsing a recommendation from the RSO Committee that any multi-stage flight with an installed impulse greater than 160Ns must be equipped with a device that will disable subsequent stage ignition in the event of a non-nominal boost phase.

Clearly there are many possible methods that can be employed, but as a courtesy to those who may be planning multi-stage projects, this early notice should help in the planning.

Also, the RSO Committee has been in contact with several avionics suppliers, and can advise as follows:

- MAD MUSIC
Robert Galejs, the creator of the Magnetic Apogee Detector, is working on a Magnetic Upper Stage Ignition Control (MUSIC). It will be flight tested over the next few months.

- Ground Control Radio
This technology exists and is widely available.

In addition, established altimeter suppliers have offered the following information:

- AltAcc 4
Scott Bartel at BlackSky has indicated that the new AltAcc 4, scheduled for release this spring, will have a user-progamable channel where the user can set their own parameters, for example a 5 G acceleration for a minimum 4 seconds) which must be met before the AltAcc will enable second stage ignition. While this may not solve flights that tip aggressively off the pad, it will ensure that the rocket is at least well down range prior to second stage ignition.

- R-DAS
Similar situation to BlackSky

- AFC-877
Current firmware on the FC offers second stage inhibition if apogee has been detected.

The RSO Committee will provide more information as it is made available.