Every year, the Black Rock Desert is host to a pack of Trucks and RVs carrying rockets and explosives. The group behind this outing meets a few times a year for a little bonding with like-minded rocket makers. Their goal; launch some homemade rockets into the upper atmosphere. With FAA approval, of course.
When you think rocket science, lab coats, and complicated computer models come to mind for many of us. This is a little more NASCAR than NASA.
Boy Scouts roast marshmallows on their campsite. Amateur rocketeers throw copper thermite (which is their rocket motor igniter) into a fire to see who can make the bigger explosion. Good times.