Last weekend at Black Rock (BALLS 34), someone flew a homebuilt 54mm experimental rocket to Mach 4.96 (5372 fps). Claims it's the fastest single-stage rocket ever flown and fully recovered by an amateur, plus a bunch of other student rocketry records. That's the kind of stupid-ambitious project that actually moves something forward. No corporate budget, no government contract. Just someone who built it and sent it to space.