Library program has children shooting for Mars
A volunteer talked about space travel including the most recent trip to Mars.
By Jim Smedley
Staff Writer

NORWAY – “5-4-3-2-1!” a dozen young voices yelled in unison.

There was a small whoosh, a puff of smoke and these aspiring NASA workers and astronauts craned their necks skyward trying to watch a white, foot-long rocket streak its way into the light blue, cloudy sky.

“There’s the parachute,” a small voice cried out.

And sure enough, rocket after rocket, a chute would open and the rocket would float back to earth.

All, that is, except for the chute with the holes in it. The children were at the rear of the Boxberry School in Oxford on Saturday morning participating in Norway Public Library’s Rocket Discovery program.

The day began at the library, where volunteer Mike Murphy talked about space travel including the most recent trip to Mars.

Students took rockets they had made during the past several weeks and hung them from the ceiling on a “pretend” flight to Mars, with a simulated landing the ultimate goal.

Amy Secord, children services coordinator, said the discovery area of the library is devoted to a different project every two months. In March the discovery area will shift from rockets to zoos for two months.

“The discovery area is where children can independently learn about topics,” Secord said. “There’s a wide variety of learning opportunities for the children.”

She said the discovery program is well attended because it features interactive learning and can be attended whenever the library is open.

The Estes rockets used by the children on Saturday were propelled by a incendiary device called an “engine” that is 2.5 inches long with the diameter of a dime.

Rich Baumgartel, an aviation and rocket enthusiast, volunteered to help with the launch. His son, Sean, 10, was active in the program.

Baumgartel put a wire igniter into the engine and then set the rocket on a stand, from which it would be launched.

After the countdown he set an electrical charge propelling the rocket upward 600 feet.

The rockets are made of cardboard and have plastic nose cones.

“Once they’re over the trees, they’re at the mercy of the wind,” Baumgartel said. “That’s why I cut holes in the parachute, they’ll come straight down.”

Secord said there would be another rocket class in the future.