Operation Rocket - Smarter Every Day 39
Hey, it's me Destin. Welcome to Smarter Every Day. So, I am very passionate about rockets. You probably know that by now. But the reason I am is because my grandfather worked for NASA, and he introduced me to rockets. I knew from that moment when he introduced me that I wanted to explore space; I want to be an astronaut.
So here's what we did. My hero says to him, "To whom much is given, much is required," and I grew up in the shadow of that. I've been given a lot. So we recognize that there are people who don't even know what rockets are. So, a buddy of mine and I, we launched this operation. It took us a year and a half to plan and execute, but we took rockets to people who'd never seen rockets before.
But in order to do this, the first thing we had to do logistically was figure out how to get rockets to the smallest nation in Africa.
[music]
We have a class B Estes model rocket, and we're gonna let it fly and let these kids learn a little bit more about science, math, and technology.
[music]
(To students) In order for the fins to hold it straight, it has to be going fast. Before it goes fast, you have to hold it straight. The answer is science, OK? When your teacher gets ready to fire, we're going to count down. Now, what we do when you shoot rockets is you count from 5 down to zero.
1… zero
[students excited screams]
This is the inauguration of the Gambian space program.
5…4…3…2…1…Fire!
Did you see that? Look, let me play it back. Watch this kid right here. That guy. Ignore the other ones. He's having the moment. This is the very first time that this kid's ever seen a rocket in his entire life.
Did you like it?
-[laugh]
Do you remember what that's like for you? Well, here's the deal. You've been given many opportunities that other people in the world haven't got. It's like this: To him who much is given, much is required. What have you been given?
So, me and Stevo's plan to get people excited about science, technology, engineering, and math was the initiation of the Gambian space program. So it's simple. What are you going to do? Tell us, and then subscribe so you can get Smarter Every Day. I'm Destin. Have a good one.
5…4…3…2…1…Fire!
[rocket launch]
[Captions by Andrew Jackson]
Captioning in different languages is welcome. Please contact Destin if you can help.