science

Homemade Astronauts

Homemade Astronauts is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Homemade Astronauts rather than just read about it. In short: Homemade Astronauts is a television show on Science Channel (Discovery Science USA) and Discovery+ that debuted in 2021. It featured three self financed teams, who design and build their own equipment, in an attempt to reach the edge of space.

Key takeaways

Homemade Astronauts belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Homemade Astronauts to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Homemade Astronauts from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Homemade Astronauts is a television show on Science Channel (Discovery Science USA) and Discovery+ that debuted in 2021. It featured three self financed teams, who design and build their own equipment, in an attempt to reach the edge of space. The people are average Americans building on their farms, ranches, garages, and backyards.

History Mike Hughes reached 1,875 feet (572 m) altitude in a manned steam rocket in 2018, filmed for the series, setting a record for an amateur manned rocket. Discovery Networks gave the greenlight for full series production in 2019, for airing on The Science Channel in 2020. In February 2020, during filming of an attempt by Mike Hughes to reach 5,000 ft (1,500 m) or 1 mi (1.6 km) in altitude, the steam rocket crashed on landing, killing Hughes. In March 2020, the show filmed an attempt by Kurt Anderson to break the world ice speed record in his rocket sled Arctic Arrow using a peroxide rocket, with the Rocketboys team. The attempt resulted in a crash that destroyed the dragster sled, reaching 241 mph (388 km/h), short of the record of 247 mph (398 km/h). Season 1 began airing in May 2021, having been filmed over 2.5 years, for a total of 4 episodes. Season 1 carries a dedication 'This series is dedicated to Michael "Mad Mike" Hughes 1956-2020', and uses the title crawl "The newDIY space race is here. Tech giantsEveryday people are making history. They're using their billionscredit cards to fund their dreams."

Cast Cast featured on the show include:

Team Hughes/Stakes Mike Hughes, professional daredevil, wannabe astronaut Waldo Stakes, vehicle designer; builder of Hughes' manned rocket Stephanie, Waldo's daughter and team member The Rocketboys (Team Michaelson/Anderson) Ky Michaelson, SFX artist, stuntman, and founder of the Civilian Space eXploration Team — the first amateur group to build a rocket which crossed the Kármán line Kurt Anderson, Rocketboys mechanical engineer, and Arctic Arrow rocket sled dragster pilot, wannabe astronaut David, Rocketboys electronics engineer Buddy Michaelson, son of Ky, Rocketboys parachute expert Pacific Space Flight (Team Smith) Cameron Smith, doctor of anthropology and archaeology, Portland State University anthropology professor, built his own pressure suit to pilot his balloon to the edge of space. Majorie, a student and part of Team Smith

Teams Teams shown include:

The Rocketboys: (Team Michaelson/Anderson) using a solid fuel rocket; attempting to build a crewed space rocket to reach the edge of space (50 mi (80 km)), the McDowell Line Team Hughes/Stakes, using a balloon launch steam rocket rockoon to reach 62 mi (100 km) up, the Kármán Line Pacific Space Flight: (Team Smith) using a balloon; to reach the Armstrong Line (63,000 ft (19,000 m) or 20 km (12 mi)), in a high altitude balloon

Episodes

See also Civilian Space eXploration Team Ansari X-Prize Billionaire space race Space 2.0

Notes

References

External links Homemade Astronauts at IMDb

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Homemade Astronauts

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Homemade Astronauts claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Homemade Astronauts before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Homemade Astronauts ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Homemade Astronauts

In research: Homemade Astronauts appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Homemade Astronauts in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Homemade Astronauts is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2020s American documentary television series, 2021 American television series debuts, American non-fiction television series, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Homemade Astronauts outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Homemade Astronauts in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Homemade Astronauts means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Homemade Astronauts out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Homemade Astronauts in simple terms?

Why does Homemade Astronauts matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Homemade Astronauts?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Homemade Astronauts.