Back in 2007, I was making a documentary feature film for the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first satellite, Sputnik, on October 4 of 1957. One of the things that fascinated me was what that launch provoked in America and that is why focus on in my film. America reacted on so many levels and changed so many things. One of the things that happened was that hundreds if not thousands of teenage boys began to build rockets. Their story was depicted in the book "Rocket Boys: A Memoir" by Homer Hickam, that was later adapted into the movie "October Sky." Although the group wasn't credited with helping the USA beat the Soviet Union in the real-life Space Race, their story did reflect the spirit of scientific curiosity and ingenuity that defined this era.
Homer Hickam and his friends were collectively known as the "Rocket Boys”. They grew up in the small, coal-mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia. Inspired by the launch of Sputnik by the USSR, Hickam decided to build his own rockets. Despite facing many challenges, including a lack of resources and skepticism from their community, the boys' perseverance led them to success, eventually winning a national award.
The men that I interviewed in 1997, all rocket boys, were more about personal aspiration and their love of science. But they believed that they could help the United States compete in the space race. For them, this was a patriotic act of time when America felt second-class in terms of science and the building of ICBM rockets that could carry nuclear weapons to our shores.
Homer Hickam and his buddies built several iterations of rockets as part of their journey. They started with very simple designs, using materials such as cherry bomb casings, and they gradually improved their rocket designs as they learned more about the principles of rocketry.
The boys also built a launchpad which they named "Cape Coalwood," and created a rudimentary tracking system to measure the altitude their rockets achieved. They conducted their experiments with the approval of the mine's management, who provided them with a safe place to launch and resources to build their rockets.
Their success in building and launching these rockets led them to win the gold and silver medals in the 1960 National Science Fair, which opened the door to college scholarships and future careers in science and engineering.
As this video shows, while there were teenagers across the USA who were interested in rocketry during the Space Race era, most of them did not gain significant recognition or fame for their efforts like the Rocket Boys did. That being said, one notable figure who showed an interest in rocketry and space from a young age is Elon Musk. Although Musk was not a teenager during the 1950s, he was known to have been fascinated by space and technology from a very early age. In fact, he taught himself computer programming and created a video game called "Blastar" when he was just 12.
Today, in the new space era, several companies are attempting to do some version of what the rocket boys did back in the 1950s.
There is SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk in 2002. SpaceX has accomplished a number of firsts in the private space industry, including being the first privately-funded company to send a spacecraft (Dragon) to the International Space Station.
Blue Origin, founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, is known for its New Shepard suborbital space vehicle intended for space tourism, and the New Glenn, a reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle.
Rocket Lab, and American company founded in New Zealand, operates the Electron launch vehicle, which provides dedicated launches for small satellites.
Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems build the Antares rocket used for resupply missions to the ISS, as well as the Pegasus, Minotaur, and OmegA rockets.
Arianespace is a European company that operates a family of rockets, including the Ariane 5, Soyuz-2, and Vega, to deploy a variety of payloads to orbit.
Relativity Space is an American company working on 3D-printed rockets, most notably the Terran 1.
ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) is a government space agency of India that operates the PSLV and GSLV rockets.
CASC (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation): is the main contractor for the Chinese space program.
Roscosmos (Russian Space Agency) operates a variety of rockets, including the Soyuz, Proton, and Angara.
I would like to thank some of the companies who post their advertisements on this and other of my space related videos. Northrop Grumman aerospace. Continental aerospace technologies. Aeronautical engineer. California aerospace museum. Aerospace machine shop. McKinsey aerospace and defense. Big aerospace companies. Liquid fuel rocket engine. 3D printer Rocket.
David Hoffman Filmmaker