What is LDRS?

LDRS is the annual national rocket launch event of the Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA), which is one of the two national rocketry organizations in the United States.  Each year, LDRS is hosted by a different local TRA prefecture (a "prefecture" is a TRA-affilliated local rocketry club).

This year, LDRS is being hosted by the Rocketry Organization of California (ROC), one of the largest and most-active TRA prefectures, with a history of hosting large rocketry launch events.  In addition to hosting LDRS for the third time this year (the other two times were in 2001 and 2006), ROC also has been hosting two large regional launch events, known as ROCstock, every year in June and November for the past 15 years.

What does "LDRS" stand for?

LDRS stands for "Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships".  It's a tongue-in-cheek name, dating from the early days of high power rocketry.

Some of the original model rocketry pioneers were vehemently and vocally opposed to the idea of expanding the scope of model rocketry to higher power levels.  Reaction to that opposition was one of the factors that led to the formation of, and especially to the early growth of, the Tripoli Rocketry Association.  Declaring that TRA's annual national launch event was the place to fly your "Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships" was a none-too-subtle dig at the overblown rhetoric used by those early naysayers.

Of course, given high-power rocketry's exemplary safety record -- much safer than many common recreational activities like baseball -- some rocketry hobbyists have called for the event to be renamed.  "Let's Do Rocketry Safely" was one such suggestion, and it was widely (and deservedly) ridiculed for being too politically correct, and not in keeping with the irreverent spirit of the event.

Therefore, keeping that same irreverent spirit alive, perhaps this year's LDRS should be known as "LDRS Does ROCstock"....