The Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) is an international organization and one of the two major organizing bodies for
high power rocketry in the United States.
History
Tripoli Rocketry Association was founded in 1964 in the
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...
, region as a high school science club, integrating both rocketry and space science. The name "Tripoli" was chosen because the founding members came from three different towns, and one of them helped fund the club's early projects using gold coins that his father had brought back from
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
*Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...
(whose name approximately means "three towns")
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. By the late-1980s, it transitioned from a regional club into formal, incorporated, USA-national organization, with a focus on self-regulating advanced, High-Power Rocketry (HPR). The deregulation of the aviation industry by the
Reagan Administration
Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...
also facilitated the growth of HPR activities.
The founder was Francis G. Graham. Early members who helped expand the club were Curtis W. Hughes, Kenneth J. Good, and Arthur R. Bower, with Thomas J. (Tom) Blazanin leading its formalization as an incorporated national organization in 1987 with the assistance of Alaska lawyer Darrel J. Gardner.
Tripoli organizes many rocket launches, both regional events hosted by local prefectures and larger international launches like LDRS ("Large Dangerous Rocket Ships") and BALLS. They also provide insurance for organized launches, administer a member certification program for flying high power rockets, and perform testing and certification of commercial hobby rocket motors.
Tripoli has expanded internationally over the years, and currently has clubs in many different countries including Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Additionally, it formerly was active in Israel.
Tripoli was involved as a plaintiff in a nine-year lawsuit (in conjunction with the
National Association of Rocketry as a co-plaintiff) against the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...
(ATF) as the defendant, regarding its claims of jurisdiction over and legal classifications regarding permitting, storage, and use of
ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) in rocket motors. On March 16, 2009, the
United States district court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district c ...
for the District of Columbia found in favor of TRA/NAR, and ordered the ATF to vacate APCP from its list of regulated explosives.
External links
Tripoli Rocketry Association web site* Patricia Leigh Brown;
'; New York Times, October 14, 2006
* Mike Anton; ''
ttp://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/18/local/me-rocketeer18 Spare Time Rocket Science';
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
, January 18, 2008
References
{{Reflist
Organizations based in Nebraska
Model rocketry
Model rocketry