Homer Hickam Visits Huntington



April 20, 1999 Jay Hamilton and Homer Hickam at Cabell County Library
Homer Hickam, author of the book Rocket Boys, stands with Jay Hamilton Drost and the Davis Creek Elementary Mars Red Rover.  Mr. Hickam spoke about his childhood in a small West Virginia coal town leading to becoming a NASA Engineer at the book signing at the Huntington Public Library.  Mr. Hickam spoke about his movie, "October Skies", that came out in early 1999.  The movie is based on experiments on rocketry conducted by Homer Hickam and friends.  During the period of excitement about Sputnik, Mr. Hickam and his friends were successful in gaining support from their town, Coalwood.  The group won the science competition which awarded them an opportunity to attend college.  Homer Hickam pursued his interest and worked for NASA as a scientist.

Jay talked to Mr. Hickam about the Mars Red Rover Project at Davis Creek Elementary LEGO Site Map that uses LEGO elements, camera, and computer to simulate the Mars Rover.  The DC Mars Rover has been driven over the Internet from nearby locations, such as Pea Ridge Elementary, Marshall University, and the PTA community.  The Rover has also been driven from as far as Armadale Primary School in Melbourne, Australia.

We enjoyed Mr. Hickam's book talk and hope that he may return for another visit at a future time.




DC LEGO Site Map
Davis Creek Elementary




Created 4/20/99
Updated 8 / 2/ 2004
S. Simon
L. Hamilton