COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado USA — For twenty years a local rocketry club has been helping to launch the imaginations of people in our community. The Colorado Springs Rocket Society (COSROCS) hosts free public launches twice a month in the Pikes Peak region.

SLIDESHOW: COSROCS hosts launches on the second and fourth Saturdays of each the month, weather permitting.

This year, a group of middle school students mentored by COSROCS members took fifth place in a national rocketry competition in Washington D.C. The group says building model rockets is a great way to make math and science interesting to young people.

"These are not toys,” Club President David Virga stresses. “They're actually scientific models, scientific vehicles that you can use for studying the aerodynamic principals, the physics, and the mathematics behind rocketry."

COSROCS hosts launches on the second and fourth Saturdays of each the month, weather permitting. Additionally, they will be participating in the math pioneers day summer camp rocket build from July 9-11.

They will also participate in a high-power launch June 12 at 9:00 a.m. at the Prebles Ranch in Peyton; a rocket contest and public mission at the ChallengerLearningCenter at 8:00 a.m. July 19 in Colorado Springs; and a sport launch at 9:00 a.m. on July 26 also at the Challenger Learning Center.

To learn more about these and other events, Contact Dr. Warren Layfield at 646-0175 or visit the COSROCS website here.

Copyright © 2008, KOAA-TV NBC News.