Book Review ‘Don’t Blow Yourself Up’: Homer Hickam’s Life Story

Don’t Blow Yourself Up, by Homer Hickam (Post Hill Press, 416 pages, $27)

Many Americans have heard of Homer Hickam as the protagonist of the movie October Sky, which tells the story of a group of Appalachian miners’ kids who were inspired by the challenge of Sputnik to become “rocket boys,” reaching for the stars. The film’s epilogue tells us that Hickam went on to become a NASA Space Shuttle engineer. That’s true. But the journey from Coalwood, W.Va., to the Johnson Space Center took Hickam a quarter century, taking him through the heat of Vietnam combat, the cold shark-infested waters of U-boat graveyards off Cape Hatteras, and many other adventures along the way.

About the Author

Robert Zubrin

Robert Zubrin is an aerospace engineer and the author of twelve books, most recently The New World on Mars: What We Can Create on the Red Planet.

Don’t Blow Yourself Up, by Homer Hickam (Post Hill Press, 416 pages, $27)

Many Americans have heard of Homer Hickam as the protagonist of the movie October Sky, which tells the story of a group of Appalachian miners’ kids who were inspired by the challenge of Sputnik to become “rocket boys,” reaching for the stars. The film’s epilogue tells us that Hickam went on to become a NASA Space Shuttle engineer. That’s true. But the journey from Coalwood, W.Va., to the Johnson Space Center took Hickam a quarter century, taking him through the heat of Vietnam combat, the cold shark-infested waters of U-boat graveyards off Cape Hatteras, and many other adventures along the way.