Dear Sonny,
It's been three years since you and your little friends had started building those rockets of yours. You've went through thick and thin with these things. I know I really haven't been around that much for you while you've worked, but I do have to say I am quite proud of what you've accomplished. The perseverance you've had to go and build these things is unimaginable. As well, you have gotten the entire town to back you on - something I can barely do myself. At first I was really hard on you about it. Having you shoot your deathtraps off near the mine was quite a hazard, and I didn't really need the mine to be blown up at any time. But as I saw how people took to your hobby, it started to impress me. Now you've went from flunking algebra to excelling in calculus and differential equations. You have went from not knowing what to do to winning the national science fair. And even though you won't take on my career, I am proud of you, Sonny.
I love you, son,
Dad
Thursday 30 May 2013
Monday 27 May 2013
October Sky Letter 1
Dear Mr. Von Braun,
My name is Sonny Hickam. I have been a great fan of your work since you have been working with the Air Force. You work in rocketry is quite astounding and I have been striving to learn as much as possible about the science behind rockets. My team and I have been working hard at building our own rockets.We have set up a testing sight just outside our town. There, we launch all our rockets and figure out how they work. Each launch varies, but we are always getting a bit better. In fact, it seems we learn more out of our failures than out of our successes.
It has been hard, working with such few materials and knowledge we have. The fuel we use is made up of basic components which most people can buy from any drug store. Right now we are use saltpeter and sugar, which we melt down and pour into our casings. it's crude, but effective for the time being. As well, our rockets are basically a tube with a nozzle made from bar stock. We soon hope that we can start working on improving, but first we must acquire a book on rocket design.
I have created a team of all my closest friends. Quentin is the intelligence of the team. He looks after the technical aspects of the team. Roy Lee supplies us with transportation, which we need to go to our testing sight. O'Dell and Sherman help with building the rocket. We also get a lot of technical help from the machinists at the mine, Mr. Bykovski had initially helped us out in building the rockets, and has now taught us to do it ourselves. We also get much help from my father and Mr. Ferro, who help with supplying us with steel fro the rockets.
We hope that soon we will be able to launch great rockets which will reach space. And I hope to join you in Cape Canaveral some day, helping you build rockets. That is my dream.
Best Regards,
Sonny Hickam
My name is Sonny Hickam. I have been a great fan of your work since you have been working with the Air Force. You work in rocketry is quite astounding and I have been striving to learn as much as possible about the science behind rockets. My team and I have been working hard at building our own rockets.We have set up a testing sight just outside our town. There, we launch all our rockets and figure out how they work. Each launch varies, but we are always getting a bit better. In fact, it seems we learn more out of our failures than out of our successes.
It has been hard, working with such few materials and knowledge we have. The fuel we use is made up of basic components which most people can buy from any drug store. Right now we are use saltpeter and sugar, which we melt down and pour into our casings. it's crude, but effective for the time being. As well, our rockets are basically a tube with a nozzle made from bar stock. We soon hope that we can start working on improving, but first we must acquire a book on rocket design.
I have created a team of all my closest friends. Quentin is the intelligence of the team. He looks after the technical aspects of the team. Roy Lee supplies us with transportation, which we need to go to our testing sight. O'Dell and Sherman help with building the rocket. We also get a lot of technical help from the machinists at the mine, Mr. Bykovski had initially helped us out in building the rockets, and has now taught us to do it ourselves. We also get much help from my father and Mr. Ferro, who help with supplying us with steel fro the rockets.
We hope that soon we will be able to launch great rockets which will reach space. And I hope to join you in Cape Canaveral some day, helping you build rockets. That is my dream.
Best Regards,
Sonny Hickam
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