October Sky Page #2

I wish the scouts could've seen

that first game with Bluefield.

I'm gonna build a rocket.

Like Sputnik.

Well, I'm not sayin' it's gonna

go up in space or anything,

but I'm gonna do it.

I'm gonna build a rocket.

[Chuckles]

Well, just don't

blow yourself up.

[Laughing]

More eggs, anybody?

Nice rocket, Homer.

How high do you think

it will fly?

Well, I got it packed with

the powder from 30 sky rockets.

Three, four miles.

You ready?

Yeah.

Yeah.

[All]

Ten, nine...

Eight, seven, six...

Should we get behind somethin'?

[Grunting]

[Gasps]

Wh-What happened?

- [Homer]

My rocket blew up.

- Are you okay?

- I guess.

- My heart's poundin'.

I thought the mine blew up.

Oh, Homer.

I waited six months for

the company carpenter to get

around puttin' up that fence.

Didn't I tell you

not to blow yourself up?

Yes, ma'am.

Then let's not.

[Sighs]

[Woman] Elsie.

[Elsie]

It's all right, Ms. Fields.!

It's all right.

[Homer's Voice]

Dear Dr. Von Braun,

[TV Announcer]

Six, five, four, three...

My name is Homer Hickam.

Two, one...

I'm 17 and I live in a small

mining town in West Virginia.

Ignition.

Liftoff. Liftoff.

I'm writing to offer

my condolences to you

and your team...

on your recent attempt

to launch the Vanguard rocket.

I also had a disastrous

occurrence during the launch

of my own small rocket.

Since here in Coalwood,

everyone's much more

interested...

in what's down below the earth

than what's above it,

there isn't a whole lot

of material to be found

on the subject of rocketry.

So I've been kind of stumbling

around in the dark.

[music]Don't you give me

no dirty look [music]

[music] Your father's hip

He knows what cooks [music]

[music]Just tell your hoodlum

friend outside [music]

[music] You ain't got time

to take a ride [music]

[music] Yakety yak

Don't talk back [music]

[music] Yakety yak, yakety yak [music]

You can't be seen

with him, Homer.

[Roy Lee]

He's a weirdo.

You go ahead,

but you can kiss

your social life good-bye.

Hi, Homer.

Hi.

I don't let anybody

copy my homework.

I don't wanna copy

your homework.

Um,

do you know anything

about rockets?

Of course I do.

Uh, you wanna come with me

over to the library?

No.

[Students Murmuring]

What do you wanna know

about rockets?

Everything.

Well, rocketry was actually

invented by the Chinese

as early as 1,000 A.D.

And, supposedly,

they were quite sophisticated.

[Chattering Continues]

Potassium chlorate and sulphur.

Uh, well,

what'd you use?

Uh, somethin' like that.

[Homer]

Hey, Quentin, this is great.

This is exactly... We have

everything we need in here.

Roy Lee,

drive me to my house.

We can use my basement.

Yeah, at least nobody'll

see us down there.

Go, go, go.

[Engine Turning Over]

Come on.

[Quentin]

You got a loose choke cable.

You hear that?

The butterfly valve

isn't closin' all the way.

Uh, last year I built

an internal combustion engine...

and entered it

in the science fair.

Yeah, well, you wouldn't happen

to have it on you, would you?

[music] Gonna find her [music]

[music] Gonna find her [music]

[music] Gonna find her [music]

[music] Gonna find her [music]

[music] Yeah [music]

[music]I've been searchin'[music]

[music] Uh, I'm searchin'[music]

[music] Oh, yeah, searchin'[music]

[music]Every which way [music]

Ow!

[music] Oh, yeah [music]

I'm sorry.

[music]Searchin'[music]

[music]I'm searchin'[music]

You missed a spot.

[music]Searchin'every which way [music]

[music]But I'm like that... [music]

This thing's startin'

to look like a rocket.

Listen to this.

"Weld the washer

to the base of the rocket body,

creating a combustion chamber

and nozzle."

We don't know how to weld.

Weld.

Homer,

your brother's in metal shop.

Maybe he could, uh...

- Do we really need

this nozzle thing?

- For cryin'out loud,

the nozzle's

the most important part.

It directs the flow

of the hot gases.!

Hey, cool it, Quentin.

[Roy Lee]

Man, talkin'about

your hot gases.

I don't think your father

would like you sneaking up in

the middle of the night in here.

And I know that he wouldn't

like me welding for you

on company time.

Well, what if I paid

the company for your time?

Homer, I can't.

I would lose my job.

I'm sorry.

Did you see Sputnik go over

the other night?

Nah.

'Cause it was beautiful.

I stood there and watched it

streak across the sky.

And anywhere in the world,

someone could look up

and see exactly what I saw.

For once, it felt like Coalwood

was part of the outside world.

Homer, believe me,

there are much worse places

than Coalwood in this world.

Besides, this is just

a flying piece of steel.

You know, a rocket

took it up there, Mr. Bykovsky.

I don't know. L...

When I was workin'

on this rocket, I felt like,

I felt like I was,

like I was Wernher von Braun.

Let me see.

Homer,

it will be our secret.

Mr. Bykovsky did

a dang good job on this.

Yeah, well,

he used a washer for the weld.

Man, it looks just like it did

in the picture.

Prodigious.

When, uh,

when do we go?

Give me that.

Uh, Saturday...

What is this,

a weapon of some kind?

[Homer Chuckling]

No, sir. It's a,

it's a rocket.

I don't allow dangerous devices

on school grounds.

Mr. Turner, I asked Homer

to bring that to school.

To show it in class.

You know, the boys are

thinkin' about enterin'

that county science fair.

Be careful, gentlemen.

I'm gonna have my eye on you.

Thank you, Mr. Turner.

That science fair is rigged.

All the judges are from Welch,

so only the kids from Welch

ever win.

And besides,

science fairs are for geeks.

No offense, Quentin.

Well, it's too bad

you feel that way.

You know, the winners go on

to the National Science Fair

in Indianapolis,

and colleges from all over the

country hand out scholarships.

It's great.

Have a good lunch, boys.

College scholarships

for winning a science fair?

Well, maybe

it's not for you.

W-W-Well,

what do you mean?

Homer, you got a great mind.

But science requires math,

which has never been one

of your favorite subjects.

[Chuckling]

Can't just dream your way

out of Coalwood, Homer.

Auk I.

Stroke of genius, Homer.

It won't fly unless somebody

lights the fuse.

What the hell is auk?

It's a bird that don't fly.

What, kind of like

a parakeet?

Ready?

[Whistle Blowing]

Well, Youngstown's

always been fair, Otis,

[Chuckling]

But you're askin' me to lay off

damn near half the town.

The mine

is just not producin'...

the way it was

ten years ago, John.

We're payin'the same labor

for half the tonnage.

What if we were

to open up a new shaft?

[John]

That coal is down there, Otis.

You just, you just

let me go after it.

The Coalwood mine

is givin' out, Mr. Hickam.

Move!

Ten...

[All]

Nine, eight,

seven, six, five,

four, three, two...

Uh-oh.

Holy sh*t,

it's headed for the mine!

- [Yelling]

- I told you we didn't know

what we were doin'!

I told you!

Oh, no. Oh, no.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote