Mark Joseph's BSD 38 Special lifts off with an Aerotech I161 motor in a test flight mainly to estimate wind velocity aloft and verify that the rockets would land within a reasonable distance of the launch site. Photo by Alan Carroll

High power rocket launch held on November 6, 1994 near Flatville, IL to launch rockets and payloads built by the University of Illinois' Fall 2004 Aerospace Engineering 199 class. CIA members also flew their own rockets after the five class flights were successfully completed

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CIA-Rocketry > One of the AE199 class groups with their rocket, a modified BSD 38 Special. Photo by Alan Carroll

CIA-Rocketry > Before the launches began, one of the groups begins to prepare their rocket for flight. Photo by Alan Carroll

CIA-Rocketry > Mark Joseph, one of the CIA advisors to the AE199 class, flew his own BSD 38 Special in a test flight before the class rockets. Here, he loads it on the pad. Photo by Alan Carroll

CIA-Rocketry > Mark Joseph's BSD 38 Special lifts off with an Aerotech I161 motor in a test flight mainly to estimate wind velocity aloft and verify that the rockets would land within a reasonable distance of the launch site. Photo by Alan Carroll

CIA-Rocketry > The first of the AE199 class rockets lifts off. All the class flights used Aerotech I161 motors and reached altitudes near 2000 feet according to the onboard altimeters. Photo by Alan Carroll

CIA-Rocketry > Liftoff of another AE199 class rocket. Photo by Alan Carroll

CIA-Rocketry > The rocket deploys a colorful parachute (and a large cloud of recovery wadding) prior to making a safe descent and landing. Photo by Alan Carroll

CIA-Rocketry > Mark Joseph assists in loading another of the AE199 class rockets on the pad. Photo by Alan Carroll

Mark Joseph's BSD 38 Special lifts off with an Aerotech I161 motor in a test flight mainly to estimate wind velocity aloft and verify that the rockets would land within a reasonable distance of the launch site. Photo by Alan Carroll