Some people loved rockets when they were children. Others picked up the hobby as adults, sharing the fun with their own kids. For Dr. Warren B. Layfield, rocketry has been a lifelong passion that was strengthened after working as an engineer with NASA for a decade.
2 photos 
About 300 amateur rocket builders and designers from around the country gathered at Hudson Ranch in southwest Pueblo starting Saturday for a week-long series of events and competitions to show off and launch their creations.
As co-founder of the Colorado Springs Rocket Society in 1988, Layfield helped coordinate for this year's National Association of Rocketry Annual Meet, in its 56th year.
'Teaching is the best part of rocketry for me, getting the kids excited about science, technology, engineering, and math,' he said. 'I also really like flying my own rockets.'
Before retiring from the Army in 1991, Layfield worked as an engineer for NASA space shuttle operations. As a Colorado Springs resident, he has taught rocketry and robotics at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado College and Pikes Peak Community College.
Sunday's event was open to people who weren't literal rocket scientists, too.
Jack Comfort, 9, approached the launch pad with his rocket named 'Big Bertha' and prepared to launch. The rocket built by Jack and his father, Tim Comfort, rose several hundred feet, released a streamer and fell to the field by the launch area.
'I enjoyed rocketry since I was a boy, and I like sharing it with my son,' Tim Comfort said. 'It's great learning all the science and technology behind it, plus it's a great exercise in risk management. Sometimes you build something and it doesn't work, and that's part of the fun.'
Colorado Springs Rocket Society President David Virga said his fascination with rockets began when he was a kid, but distractions pulled him away from it until the late 1990s, when his son got involved in an after-school rocketry program.
'Any educational field, including mathematics, modeling, science and engineering, can be incorporated into rocketry,' Virga said. 'It's a powerful way to get children interested in fields and careers that help push our country forward.'
The meet runs through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For information, visit www.cosrocs.org.
Entities 0 Name: Colorado Springs Rocket Society Count: 2 1 Name: Colorado Springs Count: 2 2 Name: Tim Comfort Count: 2 3 Name: NASA Count: 2 4 Name: Layfield Count: 2 5 Name: Jack Comfort Count: 1 6 Name: David Virga Count: 1 7 Name: Hudson Ranch Count: 1 8 Name: Army Count: 1 9 Name: University of Colorado Count: 1 10 Name: Jack Count: 1 11 Name: National Association of Rocketry Annual Meet Count: 1 12 Name: Colorado College and Pikes Peak Community College Count: 1 13 Name: Virga Count: 1 14 Name: Dr. Warren B. Layfield Count: 1 Related Keywords 0 Name: rocketry Score: 62 1 Name: rockets Score: 46 2 Name: layfield Score: 30 3 Name: colorado Score: 28 4 Name: virga Score: 20 5 Name: engineering Score: 17 6 Name: springs Score: 17 7 Name: launch Score: 15 8 Name: comfort Score: 13 9 Name: kid Score: 11 Authors Media Images 0
Post a Comment for "56th annual rocket event encourages science, engineering interests"