Tag: rockets

My son and I have discovered nirvana in the desert.   Geekdads congregate from around the world and launch big rockets.  The kids launch mid-power rockets.  Day and night.  And about 20% of the time, something goes completely out of control, and that is even more exciting, when it’s not your own rocket of course.   It’s […]

Model rocketry was never my "thing," not for any reason other than I probably never hooked up with the right people. Spending my youth working in my Granddad’s tool & die shop certainly gave me access to the proper tools. Anyway, the Michael’s store near us has been carrying a full array of ready-to-launch Estes […]

If you’re not busy in late July and early August this year, head to the EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Besides being "the world’s greatest aviation celebration," AirVenture will host the first ever Rocket Racing League exhibition race August 1st and 2nd. The AirVenture races will pit two flying teams against each other […]

One year ago, folks were reading this on GeekDad: Rocket Science Redux You may remember Estes rockets as a kid. 300 million of them have launched so far.  Somehow, when I was growing up, I never launched a rocket vertically.  But now, I am giving it a more serious pass, and trying to recover each […]

The TED conference looked at the "big questions’ this year.  Good, Evil and Why are We Here?; pretty much all the questions your five year old asks you in the car every week.  Did you attend TED this year? Did they answer any questions for you or just leave you wanting more? At least one […]

GeekDad reader Andy Rollins has sent along the link to this great story about Ken Schellenberg, an electrical engineer and obvious Geeky Dad, who has made it his goal to design an launch a bottle-rocket int orbit. From a large workshop in a pasture behind his home on a wooded mountain plateau high above the […]

A play-house rocket, made entirely out of recycled cardboard.  Besides folding flat for storage, it can be painted and decorated to suit your particular intergalactic tastes.  Link to purchase, found via Boing-Boing. (hat tip to Vince)

Via Gizmodo this week, the tale of a intrepid band of rebels- um, rocket hobbiests who created a working X-Wing: "After drawing the plans using CAD software, Andy’s team and his friends at Polecat Aerospace (with the help of RMS Laser and Aerotech Consumer Aerospace) used laser cutting to make the pieces out of Baltic […]

The Paper Puzzle Parade proffers a PDF presenting plans for your personal pneumatically-propelled…rocket projectile. Regrettably for alliteration fans, I can’t come up with a synonym for “rocket” that starts with “p.” The plans are quite cool, nevertheless, and should provide a solid afternoon’s entertainment. There’s also a list of “flight data” submitted by builders, though […]

When it’s hot, and you need some excitement, it’s time for water rockets. Yes, you can buy a really cheap version for $5 and it works fine. But real geekdads show their kids how to hack one using discarded soda bottles. It will take longer to launch, but the possibilities and variations are endless. Water […]

Coming to a dry lake bed near you! ROCstock is a 3-day semi-annual model rocket launch held in Lucerne Dry Lake, California. If your idea of high powered model rocketry is a Big Bertha Rocket with a D engine in it, prepare to be blown away. ROCstock features hobbyists firing off rockets of every size, […]

A little bird told me that HBO’s groundbreaking miniseries From the Earth to the Moon is on sale at Amazon.com today only, 57% off. I wouldn’t normally post such a sale, but I can’t recommend this series highly enough. Tom Hanks and Ron Howard applied the same care, drama, and special effects to telling the […]

For anyone interested in an easy and fun entry to rocketry, Estes sells a beginner video rocket kit, the Oracle  (as low as $75 online) that has everything you need except engines, which are inexpensive.   It is a completely pre-assembled rocket, but it only takes a D-size engine.  The video camera is in the nosecone […]

At the LUNAR launch event this weekend, Tony’s rocket was highly anticipated by the kids.  It launched up on a short-burn motor and then released nearly a hundred little parachutes attached to M&M-filled Easter eggs that drifted down to a swarm of kids trying to catch the candy rain. When the parachute pops, the kids […]

You may remember Estes rockets as a kid. 300 million of them have launched so far.  Somehow, when I was growing up, I never launched a rocket vertically.  But now, I am giving it a more serious pass, and trying to recover each rocket for another day. Let’s start small.  Trying to build the smallest […]

What’s the fun of spending hours in painting your model rocket only to have the wind sweep it away into the next county? Maybe there is a way to make a quick and dirty model rocket, one that you don’t mind losing. What’s the simpliest model rocket we could make? So my son and I […]