u/TanakaChonyera

I teach kids how to build and launch fiberglass high-power rockets! I created the camp to inspire them, and nothing says inspiration like launching a rocket over 5,000 feet using the same fuel as NASA’s rockets! I also make it completely free to eliminate the high cost barrier to entry. One of my favorite parts is that the rockets are taller than some of the kids. That’s been one of my goals from the start.

I’m aiming to train 1,000 kids and have them build 1,000 rockets! This past Sunday we launched in Muncie at the AMA field, and it was an incredible experience. I set up about 27 rockets from my cohorts at the Indiana State Museum and the Fishers Parks Maker Playground, where I ran my build sessions.

I can’t wait to see what these kids do later in life. Indiana will have the highest rockets per capita in the world! 🚀

In 20 years, the kids I taught this weekend will be headed to the moon, inventing new math, discovering new physics, creating great art, whatever they want! Because now they know they can!

I ran two of my High-Power Rocket Bootcamps back to back this past Friday and Saturday! One at the Indiana Convention Center on Friday and the other at the Indiana State Museum on Saturday for their Space Day! It was an incredibly demanding but astronomically rewarding two days. I’m so glad I got more rockets in more people’s hands and I can’t wait for them to see them launch.

It’s a great experience for the kids and adults! I bring back kids from previous cohorts to volunteer for new ones, so they go from students to teachers. I also have adult volunteers build their own rockets too. Everybody gets one.

I created this bootcamp to inspire everyone, and I make it free because my goal is to eliminate cost and logistics barriers to entry. The material is fiberglass, and the launch sites are ~1 hour and 30 mins away, so I charter transportation to get everyone there.

I’m at over 200 kids taught and 145 rockets built.

My goal is for Indianapolis to have the most rockets per capita in the world! 🌎🚀

I’m organizing my high-power rocketry bootcamp as part of a corporate volunteer STEM day. I’m looking for land in or near Indy (don’t mind going further out).

I need an open field with roughly a 1,500-foot clear radius (about 162 acres of unobstructed space). Rockets will fly to around 2,000 feet, and the national rocketry safety codes require a launch site sized to at least 1.5 times the highest anticipated altitude. So 2,000 feet up means 1,500 feet of clearance in every direction. Open farmland, pasture, or large tracts with no overhead obstructions are ideal.

Don’t count yourself out on the acreage. I’m flexible on shape, so a long rectangular field can work, and two adjacent properties can combine to make up the space. If you’ve got a big open stretch and aren’t sure it fits, reach out anyway and we’ll figure it out.

For context, the Tripoli Rocketry Association and the National Association of Rocketry are the two national organizations that govern the safe flying of high-power rockets in the US, and this event runs by their codes.

The target date is Friday, September 25, with Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th as backup days. Rocketry is weather-dependent, so I want the full weekend as a window in case we need to push for wind or rain. This is a custom event, and I handle the FAA waiver and all safety coordination on my end.

If you own land that fits, or you know someone who does, drop a comment or send me a message. Your help is greatly appreciated!

I’m organizing a high-power rocketry event as part of a corporate volunteer STEM day. I’m looking for land in or near Indy.

I need an open field with roughly a 1,500-foot clear radius (about 162 acres of unobstructed space). Rockets will fly to around 2,000 feet, and the national rocketry safety codes require a launch site sized to at least 1.5 times the highest anticipated altitude. So 2,000 feet up means 1,500 feet of clearance in every direction. Open farmland, pasture, or large tracts with no overhead obstructions are ideal.

Don’t count yourself out on the acreage. I’m flexible on shape, so a long rectangular field can work, and two adjacent properties can combine to make up the space. If you’ve got a big open stretch and aren’t sure it fits, reach out anyway and we’ll figure it out.

For context, the Tripoli Rocketry Association and the National Association of Rocketry are the two national organizations that govern the safe flying of high-power rockets in the US, and this event runs by their codes.

The target date is Friday, September 25, with Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th as backup days. Rocketry is weather-dependent, so I want the full weekend as a window in case we need to push for wind or rain. This is a custom event, and I handle the FAA waiver and all safety coordination on my end.

If you own land that fits, or you know someone who does, drop a comment or send me a message. Your help is greatly appreciated!

The greatest day of my life! I have no words… actually I have a lot.

This past Saturday and Sunday was truly the magnum opus of my life.

Saturday I ran a rocket build session with 19 students. Sunday was launch day. I took those 19 students plus 11 more from my April 4th build session and we rolled out to Williamsport for LDRS (Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships), the premier and largest launch event in the U.S.!

Between the students, the volunteers, and their rockets, we launched 39 rockets in a single day. Every single one soared close to 2,000 feet in the air.

This was me at my best. Every lesson learned from the first time I did this back in August last year culminated into this execution. The kids had a fantastic time. One parent told me her son was tired afterward and said she had never heard those words come out of his mouth before! Another student’s rocket is taller than him!

Over 100 kids across Indy have had this experience. They are filled with inspiration, hope, and the kind of blazing fire only rocket fuel can give you. My goal is 1000 people, each with their own rocket, by the end of the year!

The future of humanity. Colorful rockets, colorful people, colorful dreams, colorful lives!

I’ve got launch videos on my post on the Indiana subreddit!

I’ve also been featured in The Week Junior!

The greatest day of my life! I have no words… actually I have a lot.

This past Saturday and Sunday was truly the magnum opus of my life.

Saturday I ran a rocket build session with 19 students. Sunday was launch day. I took those 19 students plus 11 more from my April 4th build session and we rolled out to Williamsport for LDRS (Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships), the premier and largest launch event in the entire US.

Between the students, the volunteers, and their rockets, we launched 39 rockets in a single day. Every single one soared close to 2,000 feet in the air.

This was me at my best. Every lesson learned from the first time I did this back in August last year culminated into this execution. The kids had a fantastic time. One parent told me her son was tired afterward and said she had never heard those words come out of his mouth before! Another student’s rocket is taller than him!

Over 100 students across Indy have had this experience. They are filled with inspiration, hope, and the kind of blazing fire only rocket fuel can give you.

The future of humanity. Colorful rockets, colorful people, colorful dreams, colorful lives!

I’ve got launch videos on my post on the Indiana subreddit!

I’ve also been featured in The Week Junior!

The greatest day of my life! I have no words… actually I have a lot.

This past Saturday and Sunday was truly the magnum opus of my life.

Saturday I ran a rocket build session with 19 students. Sunday was launch day. I took those 19 students plus 11 more from my April 4th build session and we rolled out to Williamsport for LDRS (Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships), the premier and largest launch event in the entire US.

Between the students, the volunteers, and their rockets, we launched 39 rockets in a single day. Every single one soared close to 2,000 feet in the air.

This was me at my best. Every lesson learned from the first time I did this back in August last year culminated into this execution. The kids had a fantastic time. One parent told me her son was tired afterward and said she had never heard those words come out of his mouth before! Another student’s rocket is taller than him!

Over 100 students across Indy have had this experience. They are filled with inspiration, hope, and the kind of blazing fire only rocket fuel can give you.

The future of humanity. Colorful rockets, colorful people, colorful dreams, colorful lives!

I’ve got launch videos on my post in the Indiana subreddit!

I took my group out to Williamsport, Indiana for LDRS 44, which is Tripoli Rocketry Association’s Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships event. It’s the biggest rocketry event in the entire country. We launched 39 rockets. All 39 of them flew, every single one!

That was the greatest day of my life! I created this Rocket Bootcamp to inspire the next generation of scientists, astronauts, artists and engineers. Kids 6 and up are the main participants. One of the rockets a student made was taller than them! That’s been one of my goals.

I also recruit adult volunteers from all different backgrounds that I also have build their own rockets to help make this happen. We’ve built over 120 rockets all over Indianapolis. My goal is a thousand by the end of the year!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​