Homer Hickam lives in Coalwood, West Virginia. Most of the boys that live in Coalwood end up working in the mines. Realizing that Homer doesn’t want to work in the mines forever, Homer tries out for football, but doesn’t make tryouts. During the football tryouts the coach points out that he has the spirit for football, but not the strength by saying, “ Well, Homer, you've sure got guts; but ya gotta know when to quit.”(time 2:55). Homer later goes home and joins all of the neighbors, to watch the Sputnik 1 go across the sky. As the Sputnik 1 travels across the sky, Homer is amazed by the satellite. The next day Homer says, “ I'm gonna build a rocket.”. Though, the mother is fine with this you can tell the father isn’t, by the father’s expression and no words.…show more content… Homer states, “ Since here in Coalwood everyone's much more interested in what's down below the earth than what's above it, there isn't a whole lot of material to be found on the subject of rocketry”, so because of low informational resources, Homer’s forced to ask Quentin, the school nerd, for help. Homer’s friends soon help Homer and Quintin with the rockets, but now have to test for a successful rocket because Homer’s father has banned rockets on company property. The rocketboys travel to snake pit to test many rockets, till the rocket goes up without blowing up. The rocketboys then realize that the rocket needs to be 100% undiluted alcohol. After filling the rocket up with the needed 100% undiluted alcohol and many attempts at a successful, the rocket finally goes up into the sky without blowing
