Rocket Science

On Saturday, we took the boys to the 53rd Annual NARAM. We figured that since it was being held in Cincinnati, we had little excuse not to go.
Oh, NARAM? It's the National Association of Rocketry Annual Meet. And since it is a week-long National event, we were lucky that it was so close to home. For instance, just last year it was held in Colorado, and that is quite a bit further away from us.


Basically, a bunch of rocket scientists took over a soccer sports complex and used the fields for their model rocket championships. So, for several hours, we watched a good number of launches, including one Estes model Saturn V, which is exactly what we are building ourselves right now.


We met some really nice people, including one lady who is trying to perfect the launch of a home-made rocket of her own design, using a McDonald's Happy Meal box as her main structure. That's right, she is basically adding explosives to a Happy Meal and launching the box. Sounds like fun, but not very aerodynamic, if you ask me.

Here is a video of the launch of the largest rocket we saw on Saturday. Please forgive the unsteady camera work at the beginning - I was chasing Lex as he decided to run right for the launch pad as soon as the countdown began, having been content to be out in the field for the 20 minutes before. Because that's what little boys do.