Rocket Boys

In March 1959, Homer Sr. leaves Coalwood to attend a mining-engineering conference in Ohio. The entire week that he’s gone, Homer prays for him to have a safe trip home. Homer Sr. does, indeed, return safely.

A few days after Homer Sr. returns, he finds Homer studying calculus in his old math book. Homer Sr. accuses Homer of taking the book without asking permission first. Instead of responding to this accusation, Homer asks his father for help with a calculus problem. Homer Sr. starts to answer the question, but then cuts himself off—he wants to know why Homer is bothering to study calculus at all. In response, Homer begs his father to come watch his rocket launches at Cape Coalwood. He further accuses Homer Sr. of paying more attention to Jim than to him. Homer Sr. doesn’t respond directly to these accusations, but he does suggest that there’s still time for Homer to become a mining engineer. Homer replies that he has no interest in such a career. Homer Sr. looks disappointed and leaves Homer alone.

Mr. Ferro calls Homer, asking him how he’d like to position the nozzle on his latest rocket. Homer calls him back later, explaining that the nozzle must be built for lightness and efficiency. Mr. Ferro agrees, explaining that he’s already designed the nozzle in exactly this way. He enthusiastically asks Homer if he’ll launch more rockets over the weekend. When Homer replies that he will, he hears whoops and cheers over the phone.

Shortly after his phone call, Homer bikes over to Ferro’s store, where he finds a three-foot rocket waiting for him. Mr. Caton has designed the rocket with special fins attached to the tube. He’s also added a wooden cone to the top of the tube, and extra screws for the fins. Homer accepts the new rocket, though he’s worried that it’s become too heavy.

Homer shows the new rocket to Quentin. Quentin is impressed but worried by the additions Mr. Caton has made—he argues that the BCMA will only find the best rocket design if they make changes one at a time. He adds that Homer is clearly in a hurry, but he should be taking his time and proceeding in a “scientific” manner instead. Homer tries to cheer Quentin up by telling him that they need to hurry up in order to enter the science fair. A science fair medal would be an excellent achievement, Homer thinks privately—it would prove to his father that he hasn’t been wasting his time.

Quentin asks Homer if he’s going to college. Homer isn’t sure how to reply—he admits that he might go to college, if he can convince his father. Quentin explains that he’ll have no way of paying for college unless he wins a science fair medal—the same is probably true of the other BCMA members, he adds. Even if the medal itself isn’t worth any money, it’s a surefire way to get the BCMA noticed: by scientists, scholarship providers, and engineers. Homer realizes that Quentin is absolutely right.

The narrative skips ahead to the next rocket launch. Auk XX launches normally, but before it’s gotten 500 feet in the air, it explodes. The BCMA tries to understand what made the rocket explode, but they can’t agree—it might have been the casement, the fins, the nozzle, etc. Quentin seems to have been right—because Mr. Caton made so many changes to the rocket, there’s no way for them to measure their progress. Suddenly, Mr. Caton—who’s attended the launch—rushes forward. He explains that he welded two halves of the rocket tube together—evidently, his welding wasn’t strong enough, since the pressure inside the rocket has caused a deep rent in the welded section of the tube. Homer calmly asks Mr. Caton to redo the welding, using a stronger, seamless weld. Homer’s still very angry with his father, but he thinks that he can use his anger to help him focus on success.