Almost like a religious experience, the trek to the Mecca of amateur rocketry begins in the fall of each year, with all points leading to the deserts of northern Nevada.  The destination is slightly northeast of Gerlach, on the flat expanse of the Black Rock Desert, and the event is known as BALLS.

IT'S BEEN ALMOST A YEAR since TRA president Ken Good found himself at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, awaiting a plane, when his cell phone rang. Good was en route to Washington, D.C. to meet up with NAR president Mark Bundick.

Journalist Taylor Dinerman examines our need to train a new generation of U.S. scientists and engineers, while tounching on the fact that the leadership of the nation's educational establishment shows no signs of being ready to change the habits and priorities of a lifetime.

Interested in onboard cameras but can't justify the cost?  You aren't alone. But there are solutions out there that are less than you might think. While searching for a new project last winter, Max Praglin discovered an inexpensive camera for his model rocketry applications.

One of the first rockets I got my hands on was the Giant Leap Rocketry Escape Velocity 2.6, one of their line of "Ready to Fly (Almost)" kits, a 2.56" speedster that includes everything you need other than a motor and launch pad to build and launch your own high powered rocket.

Heavenly Hobbies has a unique, no ... a revolutionary, rocket called the Backdraft, a BT-60 based three-foot rocket that utilizes a retro-rocket recovery system, and brings delayed-deployment concepts to the masses.  Colorado's Dr. John Smolley reviews this interesting kit.

Steve Shannon finally tames Old Man Winter out in rugged Montana while at the same time constructing a Heavenly Hobbies' Brutus 2.6 Payloader.  After the cold weather finally broke and sun filled the skies, he pressed the launch button and then shared the results with all of us here.

An obsession that started when he was just eight years old led Dan Michael into the hobby of model rocketry.  He never forgot his fascination with the Estes Cherokee D kit, and decided to upscale the model, which led to the creation of this 14 foot tall Cherokee M!