Watching a just-launched rocket fall from the sky is a little bit like watching the opening sequence of the classic TV show "I Dream of Jeannie."
The rocket goes about as far as it will go — which varies widely depending on the size of the rocket — and then it pops a little, rocket-sized parachute and gently glides back down to Earth, much like Major Nelson's cartoon space capsule on the TV show.
Such a sight was common all last weekend during the Southern Arizona Rocketry Association's annual Desert Heat rocket launch, west of Saguaro National Park West.
"I did this as a kid for years and years and years," club president Sean Keane said shortly before a mass launch of 50 small rockets on Sunday. A similar launch also happened on Saturday.
Now what he calls a "born-again rocketeer," he got back into the hobby when his boys — ages 7, 9 and 3 — got old enough to be interested.
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"We come out as a family, and we have a great time," he said.
The multigenerational aspect of the pastime was evident at every turn.
A highlight of Sunday's activities was the launch of Art Just's nine-foot rocket, which went about 4,500 feet into the air before deploying its parachute.
Of course, Sunday's wind carried the rocket so far it took Just and his friend Kevin McCue an hour-and-a-half of walking to retrieve it.
Just got into rocketry a little more than two years ago after his grandson Aubrey, 11, attended a rocketry camp at Catalina Foothills High School.
Soon after, Aubrey and his grandfather got a rocket together and attended a Desert Heat event. That year, Aubrey won a slightly bigger rocket in a raffle.
Now Aubrey, his father Tom and his grandpa attend the rocketry events together.
And Aubrey thinks he's found his career field as well.
"I want to either build rockets for NASA or build missiles for Raytheon," he said Sunday.
The Southern Arizona Rocketry Club maintains between 30 and 40 members, said membership chairman Doug Forester.
Despite the down economy, interest in rocketry has remained pretty steady, he said.
The rockets are reusable — hence the parachutes to keep them from crashing — and the smaller rockets don't cost much to launch.
The club has a "rent a rocket" program at its events that allows members to rent rockets, including motors, for $2 apiece.
Club membership is fairly cheap, too. The cost is $20 a year for an individual or $25 for a family. There are no meetings, but there are monthly rocket launches, alternating on Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate all schedules. The launches are on a different part of the property where the annual Desert Heat event is held.
And it's always free just to go and watch.
Amy and Scott Gibbs took their son Jax, 7, to see what it was like on Sunday.
"I liked when 50 rockets took off, and they spinned," Jax said.
The Gibbses said they would probably be back for another launch in the future.
"I think so," Amy Gibbs said. "It made quite an impression."
Find out more online
Go online to www.sararocketry.org for more information on the Southern Arizona Rocketry Association.
