The U.S. Water Rockets Research Team averted disaster today while flight testing an experimental recovery system designed to provide the most stable video camera recordings when a sudden shift in wind sent the rocket and camera on a major recovery trajectory excursion.

Wind conditions were optimal up until the time of launch. The lanch went off without a hitch, and the rocket flew flawlessly to an apogee of 789 feet. Within seconds, the experimental electro-chemical parachute system activated, and functioned perfectly. The new parachute system, designed to provide longer and more stable video by splitting the rocket into two separately prachuting sections, proved to be too effective, when sudden shift in the wind was felt by the ground and recovery crews moments after the parachutes were spotted.

Eyewitnesses report that the border between a high pressure and low pressure system had passed over just prior to launch and this caused a sudden shift in the wind direction in the opposite direction. The parachuting rocket sections abruptly changed direction and headed off over a very heavily wooded area.

Ground tracking personel monitored the flight path and determined the bearing and direction of the search parties. After only a short time the pressure vessel was spotted lying on the ground in a tiny clearing surrounding a house in the dense trees. Minutes later, the electronics and payload section was spotted hanging from a tree about 15 feet above the ground behind the house. The rocket was recovered undamaged minutes later.

The U.S. Rockets Team was relieved to have averted disasater because the video from the rocket shows clearly that the rocket somehow managed to find the only miniscule clearing in hundreds of square feet of tall dense foliage, and came away with some valuable information on wind forecasting.