Rocketry Planet

LAKE ELSINORE, California USA — When Richard Dierking's son Bryan and his friend asked if they could start a rocket club a few years ago, it rekindled the Temecula man's boyhood love of space exploration.

Bryan Dierking, the president of Temecula Rocket Group, launches Temecula Middle School student Travis Harper's first model rocket. The nonprofit group holds rocket launches monthly at local schools.

Thus began the nonprofit Temecula Rocket Group in 2006. Its mission: to promote fun and safe model- and high-power rocketry activities for boys and girls in middle and high school.

"I consider the kids the actual founders of the group. Bryan is the group's president and Nathan (Mazelin) is the vice president," Dierking said.

The club is governed by the rules of the National Association of Rocketry, which each new member must join. Membership is for youngsters up to age 13, and dues are $25 a year.

Rocket launches are held monthly at local schools. A rocket launch has been scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon today at Lakeside High School, 32593 Riverside Drive in Lake Elsinore.

"Kids get excited about building their own rockets, space exploration and engineering and it engages kids' creativity and it can also help them in school," Dierking said.

Dierking was recently named as a solar system volunteer ambassador for NASA's "Kepler Mission," which is managed by the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena. Volunteers communicate JPL's numerous space exploration missions and information to their communities.

NASA's Kepler Mission is designed to find earth-like planets orbiting stars in the Milky Way. It was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral on March 6.

"In other words, the mission is attempting to answer the question, 'Are we alone?' " Dierking said.

For information on the rocket group call 951-757-6074. Visit the Kepler Mission Web site at www.kepler.nasa.gov.

Copyright © 2009, The Press-Enterprise.