October Sky Page #7

the rocket...

right there.

Prodigious.

...associated...

[Students Murmuring]

Mr. Hayes,

where you off to

in such a hurry?

Okay, everybody,

back in your seats.

Miss Stanton, Miss Blue,

let's go, back in your seats.

Mr. Hancock.

That goes for you too,

Mr. Wilson.

Miss Riley,

what's going on in here?

They didn't start

that fire, Mr. Turner.

In the first place,

you are not a member

of this classroom.

Neither are you,

Mr. Turner.

[Students Chuckling]

Why don't you let the boy

defend himself?

And in the second place,

this rocket proves nothing.

You've already admitted

having lost a number

of your rockets.

You cannot prove

conclusively...

that another one of them

didn't start that fire.

Yes, I can.

Are we to conclude,

Mr. Hickam, that

since leaving school,

you've not only become an expert

in rocket science, but in

the field of trigonometry?

I didn't say

that I was a rock...

Obviously, you learned more...

in the coal mines

than you did in high school.

[Students Chuckling]

Let the boy talk.

Go ahead, Homer.

Now, that fire was near Welch,

just under three miles

from our launch pad.

And at the time of the fire,

the best that we could do

was 1.2 miles...

which is exactly where we found

that rocket, Mr. Turner.

See, Mr. Turner, that rocket

fell for about 14 seconds,

which means...

that it flew to an altitude

of 3,000 feet...

according to the equation...

"S" equals one-half"A"

"T" squared...

where "S'is the altitude,

A'is the gravity constant...

or 32...

and "T" is the time

it took for that rocket

to come back down.

Velocity equals

acceleration times time.

Get him, Homer, get him.

Are you following this,

Mr. Turner?

[Students Chuckling]

All right,

we're all duly impressed.

But do you mind telling me,

if you did not start that fire,

who did?

[Phone Ringing]

What is it?

Whatever it is,

i-it's ingenious.

The fins are spring-loaded.

That isn't a rocket

at all.

It's an aeronautical flare.

There's an airport here

in Welch. It's right above

where the fire started.

Mr. Hickam,

report to my office as soon

as we return to school.

You do intend to enter

the county science fair,

do you not?

Yes, sir, we do.

Well, if you intend

to represent Big Creek,

you're gonna have to be

enrolled as a student

at Big Creek.

[Engine Starting]

"Prodigenous."

[Homer] Do you think

you can draw well enough

so Mr. Bolden could build it?

Yep.

Let me see.

Yeah.

Hey, Homer.

- Hi, Dad.

- What's this stuff doin' here?

Mr. Hickam, we didn't

start the fire.

The troopers gave it back to us.

Yeah, it wasn't even

one of our rockets.

It was an aeronautical flare.

Y'all go on home now.

Yes, sir.

This the reason

you skipped work today?

Yes, sir.

I thought you put

all this nonsense

behind you, Homer.

I thought you weren't

gonna be doin' it...

Dad, it isn't nonsense.

L-I don't wanna

argue with you.

Look, son,

I can't even begin to tell you

how proud of you I've been

these past weeks.

I mean, you've just been

doin' a hell of a job

in that mine.

You keep goin',

you're gonna have

my job someday.

Everybody says so.

You got any idea how proud

that would make me?

Dad, what l...

[Stammering]

I guess what I'm sayin' is,

is that if this rocket stuff

is so important to you,

then so be it,

as long as you're careful.

Guess there's worse hobbies

you could have.

But skippin'work,

that's out of line.

And you gotta know that.

So let's go

and get you right

with Jake.

Tell him you'll work

the hoot owl shift tonight.

No.

The coal mine's your life.

It's not mine.

I'm never going

down there again.

I wanna go into space.

[Man]

Homer Hickam, Roy Lee Cook,

Quentin Wilson...

and Sherman O'Dell

of Big Creek High...

for their ingenious display

of amateur rocket-building

techniques.

I can't believe

we beat the kid

with the robot dog.

And I thought

the see-through ear

was gonna win.

I got Miss Wade workin'

on your travel arrangements,

so you boys are gonna

have to decide who's goin'

to Indianapolis.

We're all goin'.

Yeah.

Son, I wish you could,

but we can't afford

to send all four of you.

Only one. Let me know

what you decide. I'm gonna

have to know by Friday.

You boys did

a fine job today.

I need to borrow a suitcase,

and I'm gonna need

you guys' addresses...

because I'm gonna

write some postcards.

Oh, you shut up, Roy Lee.

Come on, you dope.

You know, you're goin',

Homer.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Say hello

to the outside world

for us.

Do we know

what we want?

[All] Yeah!

Are we gettin' it?

[All] No!

All right!

All in favor of goin' out

on strike, say "aye"!

[All]

Aye!

All right, let's go.!

[Shouting]

All right, shut 'em down.!

Let's go.!

Strike.! Strike.!

Strike.!

[Shouting Continues]

Well, they sure are

gettin' themselves

worked up.

Everybody's sayin'

this one's gonna be

a long one.

And it will,

if I have anything

to say about it.

Ungrateful

sons of b*tches.

Mom, have you seen

the big green suitcase?

Did you look in the attic?

Yes, ma'am.

Well, I don't know. John,

you know where the suitcase is?

How the hell should I know

where the suitcase is?

I don't know, sug.

[Mother Murmuring]

[Sighing]

[Gunshot,

Glass Shattering]

- John!

- Y'all stay inside!

[Tires Screeching]

Vernon!

[Jim]

I'm gonna kill

that son of a b*tch.!

Oh, don't be

a damn fool.

All right, well,

what are we gonna do?

Nothin'.

Drunken bastard couldn't hit

the broad side of a barn.

He tried to kill you, Dad.

Yeah, Dad,

you can't just stand...

Hey, hey, don't

trouble yourself, Homer.

You got

more important things

to worry about.

[John]

Just go look

for your suitcase.

Forget about it, Homer.

Shut up, Jim!

Listen, I'm sorry about

what's goin' on around here,

but it isn't my fault!

What do you want

from me anyway?

Better watch yourself, Homer!

If I win at Indianapolis,

maybe I can go to college,

maybe even get a job

at Cape Canaveral!

There's nothing here for me.!

The town is dyin'!

The mine is dyin'!

Everybody knows it here

but you!

You wanna get out of here

so bad, then go! Go!

Yeah, I'll go!

Yeah, I'll go!

Go, go!

I'll go!

And I'll be gone forever!

I won't even look back!

[Door Slamming]

[Man]

Welcome to Indianapolis.!

Visitors to the fair

will include prominent members

of every branch...

of the national

scientific community.

The fair will be open

to the public

over the next two days.

The following day,

the judges will arrive

to select the winners.

By timing the rocket's descent,

we would be able to figure out

just how high the rocket flew.

Would you like to see?

This is a Delaval nozzle.

Do any of y'all know

what a Delaval noz...

Two, please.

The judges always go

for the most expensive exhibits.

That guy with

the biosphere's gonna win.

I don't think so.

My money's on the kid

with the rocket display.

Have you seen it yet?

It's really cool.

[Woman On P.A.]

Mr. Owens,

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