ROCKETRY CLUBS

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.