'Rocket Boy' Hickam might be rocketing into space on a Bezos flight (just like that other guy)

Oct. 27—In the not-so-distant future, as the old science fiction writers used to trumpet, Homer Hickam just might be boldly going where Capt. Kirk just boldly went.

Maybe.

More on that.

In the meantime, Hickam, a retired NASA engineer who parlayed his rocket-infatuated teen years in McDowell County into the bestselling memoir, "Rocket Boys " (which, in turn begat a well-received Hollywood movie), touched down Tuesday afternoon at center court in the gym at South Middle School.

Standing starboard to the "Stallions " logo, he told an audience of rapt eighth-graders to not be afraid to launch their dreams, too.

He also encouraged them to apply for scholarships to the famed NASA Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., the learning lab that introduces science, technology, engineering and math concepts to youngsters deploying actual space ship principles the astronauts use.

Hickam stayed in Huntsville after his retirement from the space agency in 1998.

The West Virginian was an aerospace engineer who specialized in training astronauts on their journeys to slip the surly bonds of Earth.

"I don't see a lot of West Virginia kids at the camp, " said Hickam, who is on its board of directors. "We need to change that."

Rocket's red glare In the little mining town of Coalwood in the late 1950s, his neighbors never saw anything quite like the tenacity and scholarship displayed by then-"Sonny " Hickam and his interstellar partners in crime: Roy Lee Cooke, Sherman Siers, O'Dell Carroll, Billy Rose and Quentin Wilson.

They were the real-life "Rocket Boys " from his book and its Hollywood treatment, and they were going to build, and launch, a rocket to the stars — just like the Russians did with Sputnik.

Sonny Hickam was just 14 that October day in 1957 when news broke of the successful launch.

As a satellite, the pint-sized Sputnik didn't do much but circle the Earth in sub-orbit while emitting radio beeps, but that didn't matter to Hickam: It was the first thing up there.

Hickam actually looked up to the night sky to regard Sputnik streaking across the heavens.

By the time Hickam and the Rocket Boys were done with their experiments three years later, they had broken out their Appalachian orbit, making it all the way to 1960 National Science Fair where their rocket-propulsion display and research took first place.

Not long after that, Hickam was in Vietnam. He joined the Corps of Cadets on his way to graduating with an engineering degree from Virginia Tech.

He was recognized with the Bronze Star after seeing heavy combat during the Tet Offensive. NASA was a beacon back to his professional and intellectual home, and he eventually joined the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville in 1981.

Liftoff, to new chapters Tuesday was another Sputnik-kind of day for the Rocket Boy.

His sequel to "Rocket Boys, " which follows his years from Vietnam to NASA to Hollywood, hit the bookstores that day.

He was in his home state to make virtual keynote remarks at the West Virginia Book Festival over the weekend.

And he was making other appearances on behalf of the Adams Hallmark family greeting card chain, which is setting up a Space Camp scholarship program to Huntsville solely for West Virginia kids who want to be rocket boys (and girls) too.

Meanwhile, "Don't Blow Yourself Up, " is the title of the book sequel.

It's a direct quote from his mother, who was imparting maternal concern to son back during his burgeoning rocket-builder days in McDowell.

"Sounds like pretty good advice, I think, " he said, while the South eighth-graders were locked in his orbit.

His advice to the students at South ?

Keep an open mind about outer space, he said.

Especially, he said, since paychecks will likely come from there in the future.

"Some of you might be working on the Moon or Mars, " he said. "I just wish I could be around to see it."

'These are the voyages ...'

Hickam, who is 78, might get to see some of it yet, though.

Earlier this month, 90-year-old William Shatner — the TV actor and the original Capt. Kirk of the "Star Trek " franchise — rocketed to sub-orbit in a Blue Origin civilian flight.

Blue Origin, the company, was launched by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, an avowed fan of the original series and its spinoffs.

As it turns out, Bezos also loves "October Sky, " the movie that morphed from Hickam's book.

Which means a kid from Coalwood could likely be regarding the Earth from above, in (not so distant) future days.

"I'm told I'm on the short list and I'm not dead yet, " he said, with grin crinkling up from under his face mask.

"So, we'll see what happens."

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