ROCKETRY CLUBS
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This exciting hobby gives you a feel for the technology
used by NASA in launching rockets. It is a rapidly growing
hobby that has been given a lot of press lately, with regularly
aired documentary specials on the Discovery Channel.
Participating in a rocketry club is an opportunity for a parent
and child to work together on a joint hobby, building and
launching high-powered rockets. Rocketry is an educational,
safe, and exciting hobby, which is enjoyed by thousands
worldwide.
Through your local rocketry club, adults and children can
safely learn the science behind launching and building rockets.
The clubs provide experts who pass on knowledge essential
to successfully making your rocket-launching hobby more
than just a day in the schoolyard, launching and losing model
rockets that were purchased in the local hobby store.
There are organized launches set up all over the country.
These launches provide the structure and safety essential to
making this an exciting hobby. Most enthusiasts begin with a
small rocket and build from there. This hobby has little competition,
because once you look around and see larger rockets
to your left and right, you feel compelled to size up.
You and your child will also meet other expert amateurs.
Discovery television network recently produced and aired a
documentary on this rapidly growing hobby.
To locate the Rocketry Club near you, go on-line to www
.tripoli.org, which lists clubs all over the country. Tripoli does
hold a major launch once a year, but the smaller local launches
are just as much fun and a little less intimidating.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ROCKETRY–STUDENT
EXPERIMENTAL PAYLOAD PROGRAM
www.nar.org/nareduc.html
QUICK TAKE: Calling all future space cadets and NASA scientists.
Here’s your first major assignment, a chance to be the
inventor of your own rocket! Open to all kids who have the
drive and determination to see their work literally soar! Plus,
they will receive useful knowledge about the project. This
program is definitely a dream come true for the science whiz!
AGE REQUIREMENT: All ages
BACKGROUND: A part of the educational services provided by
the National Association of Rocketry, the Student Experimental
Payload Program (SEP) was founded as a not-for-profit in
1990. SEP has helped launch countless experimental payload
rockets, provided teacher workshops, and performed rocketry
demonstrations across the United States.
DESCRIPTION: Providing hands-on experience in the field of
aerospace technology, this program offers the stimulation of
concepts and techniques utilized in advanced science and
math.
Following the guidelines of scientific research and using
the scientific method from initial concept to complete payload,
the children are asked to construct a rocket that can
carry a standardized payload provided by the SEP. Taking into
consideration many different parameters of rocketry, they
are required to track and monitor every stage of the launch,
from preliminary design to post-flight evaluation.
OUR TAKE: Every child has looked skyward and thought
about what’s up there and how things get into the sky. With
rockets capable of reaching 3,000 to 10,000 feet, this is an
ideal way for your child to investigate those questions. What
could be more fun than blasting off something much heftier
than a bottle rocket, and knowing the why and how it all
works?
OUR RECOMMENDATION: Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and
William Pickering all began by planning, experimenting, and
realizing their dreams on the ground. This is a perfect opportunity
for your child to begin to aim skyward, blast off, and
explore some new space. Working together with other kids
will also give your child the chance to make new friends with
similar interests.