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+# Altus Metrum 
+
+Altus Metrum produces open source hardware and software avionics solutions 
+for the hobby rocketry community.
+
+# The Usual Suspects
+
+The people behind Altus Metrum are
+[Bdale Garbee](http://gag.com/~bdale) and 
+[Keith Packard](http://keithp.com/keithp).  Both of us are well-known in the
+Free Software community, and we share a passion for hobby rocketry.  We 
+often describe ourselves as "two grown men with a shared chemical 
+dependency .. on ammonium perchlorate!"  That's because AP is the oxidizer
+component of APCP, which is the proptellant we most often use in our rockets.
+
+Because all of our designs are open source, we enthusiastically invite 
+technical contributions, particular to our software,
+from anyone interested in helping make our products better!
+
+# Your Rights
+
+All hardware designs on this site are licensed under the 
+[TAPR](http://www.tapr.org/)
+[Open Hardware License](http://www.tapr.org/ohl.html), 
+and all the software is under the 
+[GNU](http://www.gnu.org/)
+[General Public License, version 2](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html)
+or compatible licenses.
+
+# Hobby Rocketry #
+
+The motivation for the circuits and software you will find on this site is
+our loosely-knit group's shared interest in hobby rocketry.  This very brief
+[Ted presentation by Steve Jurvetson](http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jurvetson_on_model_rocketry.html)
+quickly conveys at least part of why we do this.  John Coker 
+has published an excellent 
+[overview of hobby rocketry](http://www.jcrocket.com/welcome.shtml) 
+on his web site.  Keith has also put together some useful notes about the 
+process of [certification](http://keithp.com/rockets/certification/) to
+fly high power rockets.
+<p>
+To find more information about the rockets Bdale and his son have built, see
+[Garbee Rockets](http://www.gag.com/rockets).
+<p>
+As Bdale and Robert became more experienced in the hobby and started to build
+and fly more sophisticated projects, we started to feel limited by the 
+existing electronics products available.  OpenAlt was Bdale's first 
+attempt to address this situation with a completely open hardware and software
+design... other project have since followed, and it's cool to have help from
+Keith and other friends!