The Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) is one of the two major organizing bodies for high power rocketry
It was founded in 1964 in the Pittsburgh, PA region as a high school science club, integrating both rocketry and space science. It slowly evolved into a USA-national organization, with a focus on advanced high-power rocketry. 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. Blazanin leading its formalization as an incorporated national organization.
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 the U.S, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
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 (BATFE) 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 US District Court for the District of Columbia found in favor of TRA/NAR, and ordered the BATFE to vacate APCP from its list of regulated explosives.
Famous quotes containing the word association:
“The spiritual kinship between Lincoln and Whitman was founded upon their Americanism, their essential Westernism. Whitman had grown up without much formal education; Lincoln had scarcely any education. One had become the notable poet of the day; one the orator of the Gettsyburg Address. It was inevitable that Whitman as a poet should turn with a feeling of kinship to Lincoln, and even without any association or contact feel that Lincoln was his.”
—Edgar Lee Masters (1869–1950)