Homer Hickam's Rocket Boys

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What is the greatest thing mankind has accomplished? Now, how did the person behind it accomplish something so great? It is because of goals. Everyone has goals, whether it is getting honor roll for a marking period or maybe it is to become the first human to set foot on the surface of Mars. No matter how big or small they may be, goals are what drive humans to do their best. What would have happened if John F. Kennedy never challenged the United States to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960’s? Well, the United States would probably still be years behind in science, if not tied up in the cold war. In Homer Hickam’s memoir, Rocket Boys, he is the John F. Kennedy or Steve Jobs of his town. In his memoir, Hickam tells about the seemingly un-attainable goals he set for himself and …show more content…

Homer Hickam tries his best to source materials for his rockets. In Coalwood, some of the necessary materials are hard to find and has to negotiate to get these parts. Hickam also worked hard to form his team, he convinced Quentin to join the team and build the rockets and more importantly the team to work with Quentin. Hickam approaches Quentin and asks him to join to which Quentin replies, “‘Ho-ho!’ he exclaimed. ‘The same as you, old chap! If I learn how to build a rocket, I’ll stand a better chance of getting on down at the Cape’” (Hickam 70). Lastly, he constantly improved the design of his rockets. Homer Hickam was in charge of calculating the De Laval nozzles’ design and the launch of the first rocket bearing his design is described as: “It [The Rocket] flew straight, slicing without flinching through the plane of the mountaintops. Sherman counted. ‘Ten, eleven, twelve …’ I watched as the smoke trailed off from the Auk, and then it disappeared” (Hickam 268). He launched numerous rockets at once which exposed possible patterns of failure, and he immediately worked to fix flaws in his

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