Five-Year-Old Boy Sent A Letter And Rocket Design To NASA And Was Overjoyed With The Response | HuffPost Life

'He said his design would fly faster than NASA’s.' 🚀

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Life editor at HuffPost UK

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A five-year-old boy who designed his own space rocket and decided to send it off to NASA was delighted when he received a response.

The boy, from London, saw his older brother had made a space rocket for a school project, so he wanted to make one too.

“He put a NASA logo on his rocket and then asked if we could send a picture of his design to NASA asking it be made and sent into space,” the boys’ dad, told HuffPost UK.

“He said his design would fly faster than NASA’s.”

Supplied

The dad said the family posted the design to NASA HQ with a letter and hoped for a reply.

They didn’t get a response straight away, but when Kevin DeBruin, systems engineer from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory saw the dad’s tweet about his son’s design, things started to get exciting.

“Kevin asked me for the details and responded to my son with a really motivational letter and NASA stickers,” said the dad.

“My son went crazy when it came through the post. He phoned me at work shouting ‘Dad, NASA replied!’

“We’ve read the letter together countless times and he’s waiting to get back to school in September to show it to his teachers.

“The best thing is that he’s now set on a career as an astronaut or engineer, and the letter from Kevin DeBruin has inspired him to believe it’s possible.

“It’s important to encourage ambition and for kids to believe in themselves. I’m really pleased that NASA has staff that do this kind of thing.”

The boy’s letter said: “To NASA, I made a letter for you to report about. This rocket is for you. Please make it and send it to an astronaut in space.

“I will fly my rocket to space for NASA. Please can I have an astronaut licence.”

The reply from DeBruin thanked the boy for his rocket design, and read: “It’s great. Creating work like that is the start to a great future astronaut who can pilot a rocket. Keep it up!

“We encourage aspiring young individuals like yourself to fully apply yourself and give 110% so you may one day join us.

“NASA looks forward to the next group of people with new bright ideas like yours and a love for space exploration.”

Before You Go

NASA's Most Famous Images

(01 of18)

Edward H. White II, pilot of the Gemini 4 spacecraft, floats in the zero gravity of space with an earth limb backdrop circa November 1965.

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Kinescope images of astronaut Commander Neil Armstrong in the Apollo 11 space shuttle during the space mission to land on the moon for the first time in history on July 20, 1969

(03 of18)

The ascent stage of Orion, the Apollo 16 Lunar Module, lifts of from its descent stage to rendezvous with the Apollo 16 Command and Service Module, Casper, with astronaut Thomas Mattingly aboard in lunar orbit on 23rd April 1972.

(04 of18)

Five NASA astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis look out overhead windows on the aft flight deck toward their counterparts aboard the Mir Space Station in March of 1996.

(05 of18)

Photograph of the Milky Way Galaxy captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Dated 2007.

(06 of18)

The exhaust plume from space shuttle Atlantis is seen through the window of a Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) as it launches from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center July 8, 2011 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

(07 of18)

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket carrying NASA's first Orion deep space exploration craft sits on its launch pad as it is prepared for a 7:05 AM launch on December 4, 2014 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

(08 of18)

A military pilot sits in the cockpit of an X-15 experimental rocket aircraft, wearing an astronaut's spacesuit circa 1959.

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Echo 1, a spherical balloon with a metalized skin, was launched by NASA on 12th August 1960. Once in orbit the balloon was inflated until it reached its intended diameter of 30 metres and it was then used as a reflector to bounce radio signals across the oceans.

(10 of18)

Four views of Earth rising above the lunar horizon, photographed by the crew of the Apollo 10 Lunar Module, while in lunar orbit, May 1969.

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American geologist and Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Hagan Schmitt stands next to the US flag on the surface of the moon, during a period of EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site, December 1972.

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The space shuttle 'Enterprise' (NASA Orbiter Vehicle 101) makes its way along Rideout Road (Alabama State Route 255) to the Marshall Space Flight Center near Huntsville, Alabama, 15th March 1978.

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A crowd of people, viewed from behind, watch the launch of the first NASA Space Shuttle mission (STS-1), with Columbia (OV-102) soaring up into the sky, leaving a trail of exhaust smoke, in the distance from the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, 12 April 1981.

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Astronaut Bruce McCandless II photographed at his maximum distance (320 ft) from the Space Shuttle Challenger during the first untethered EVA, made possible by his nitrogen jet propelled backpack (Manned Manuevering Unit or MMU) in 1984.

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Aerial shot of the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-41-D) as it takes off, leaving a trail of exhaust smoke, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, 30 August 1984.

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Two technicians inside a Space Shuttle external tank, circa 1985.

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An astronaut's bootprint leaves a mark on the lunar surface July 20, 1969 on the moon. The 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon mission is celebrated July 20, 1999.

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Astronaut Charles Moss Duke, Jr. leaves a photograph of his family on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, 23rd April 1972.

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