Fri, 10/01/2010 – 20:09 — Tim Pickens RCSP team leader
The Rocket City Space Pioneers are excited about all the interest we are receiving in this competition! Huntsville, home of the Rocket City Space Pioneers, is known as “The Rocket City” for its impact on space exploration. Huntsville has been developing important space technologies since the 1950s when the German scientists headed by Dr. Wernher von Braun, brought to the United States at the end of World War II, arrived to develop rocketry for the U.S. Army. Huntsville lofted the first satellite into orbit – Explorer I – in 1958.
That’s where “Alabama Explorer II,” the name Alabama Governor Bob Riley offered us $1 million to name our lunar lander, came from.
Huntsville is home to Redstone Arsenal and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where the Saturn V used by the Apollo program manned Moon missions was developed. Huntsville continues to play a vital role in space exploration.
We are pumped about igniting a spark in this community that has such a strong space heritage with our Race to the Moon. Companies, individuals, schools and other organizations are contacting us to find out how they can be a part of our Race to the Moon.
Homer Hickam, the “Rocket Boy,” spoke at our media event announcing our entry into the competition. He is the author of “Rocket Boys/October Sky” and several other books. His latest is “My Dream of Stars,” the memoir of space-flyer Anousheh Ansari who funded the $10 million for the Ansari XPRIZE.
We are looking forward to finding out more about the other teams at the Isle of Man Summit!