- Hickam, Homer H., Jr.
Rocket Boys.
New York: Doubleday, 1998.
ISBN 0-385-33321-8.
-
The author came of age in southern West Virginia during the dawn of
the space age. Inspired by science fiction and the sight of Sputnik
gliding through the patch of night sky between the mountains which
surrounded his coal mining town, he and a group of close friends
decided to build their own rockets. Counselled by the author's
mother, “Don't blow yourself up”, they managed not only to avoid that
downside of rocketry (although Mom's garden fence was not so lucky),
but succeeded in building and launching more than thirty rockets
powered by, as they progressed, first black powder, then melted
saltpetre and sugar (“rocket candy”), and finally “zincoshine”, a
mixture of powdered zinc and sulphur bound by 200 proof West Virginia
mountain moonshine, which propelled their final rocket almost six
miles into the sky. Their efforts won them the Gold and Silver award
at the National Science Fair in 1960, and a ticket out of coal
country for the author, who went on to a career as a NASA engineer.
This is a memoir by a member of the last generation when the U.S. was still
free enough for boys to be boys, and boys with dreams were encouraged
to make them come true. This book will bring back fond memories for any
member of that generation, and inspire envy among those who postdate
that golden age.
This book served as the basis for the 1999 film
October Sky,
which I have not seen.
July 2005 