Rongai Man Building a Rocket. Thereโs a crazy man on the loose in Rongai. Heโs 28 years old, medium height; last seen giving a media interview.
Eugene Awimbo is building a rocket. Yes, you heard that right. A freakin rocket.
I have long suspected that our education system is mostly a failure, but I think now the evidence is out. In an interview with Standard newspaper,ย Awimbo said that he isย optimistic that he will get into orbit one day. His dream of becoming a rocket scientist started at the age of 5.
โI came across a documentary on TV and was fascinated by German V-2 rockets. I then started building a foot-long rocket and stuffed it with with a mixture of ground charcoal, sulphur and potassium nitrate,โ he says.
In 2009, living in Mombasa, Awimbo launched his first โrocketโ. Reportedly, he easily got permission to fly from the air traffic control, since the threat of terror was low at that time.
โI was granted permission on condition that I would not hit peopleโs homes. I put a cat inside the rocket because I wanted to know if my rocket could carry a living, breathing organism and also what effect this would have on its performance. The rocket disappeared never to be seen again but the cat came back after five days,โ he says.
He then made another rocket, codenameย Heart-Quake Two, which was 4.5 metres tall but did not do well after the ignition burnt up.
Not giving up, Awimbo embarked on making Heart-Quake Three, which was 2.5 metres tall. He says its performance was much better.
โIt also carried a cat and soared 100 metres high. The cat looked confused when the rocket came down but it recovered after a few minutes,โ he says. He went a notch higher with Heart-Quake Four, which was 3.75 metres tall and soared 200 metres high.
Finally he says,ย โI would like to send one to orbit and be the first African to land on Mars one day,โ
I hate to be the buzz killer, but Awimbo, it ainโt happening.
First and foremost, what youโre calling a rocket looks more of a missile. Secondly, I donโt believeย any of your โprototypesโ have ever left the ground, leave alone project a cat a hundred metres high.
Even if that happened, trust me there must be some laws of physics to explain it, but youโre definitely not any closer to sending your โrocketโ to space than you were when you started.
This is clearly a young brilliant mind who is misdirecting his efforts. I know Iโll receive a lot of name calling, but if youโre looking for a guy to pat your back and tell you to keep on when thereโs clearly no hope, I ainโt your guy.
Frankly, I will feel bad when anyone encourages this young man to continue doing what heโs doing when we all know itโs leading nowhere.
I donโt believe he has relevant education, so even NASA would not want anything to do with him.
Let me tell you the story ofย Sangulani Chikumbutso. He is a Zimbabwean inventor quite famous in his home country. He understands the world we live in, and strives to make practical objects.
Theoretically, he can make โRocketsโ like our guy in Rongai, but he knows what the world needs.
His company, Saith Technologies, has this year launched a drone, a helicopter, power generator,ย surveillance towers, mobile broadcast communication backpack, intelligent IP Mesh backpack and household transformer that can multiply power a hundredfold. All these have some aspect of innovative technology and not just copying what the Americans did.
Here are some photos of his products.
Images via Techzim.co.zw
The Zimbabwean may or may not sell hisย product, but the Kenyan is assured heโll never sell anything. So Kenyan inventors, lets be clever.
Additional reporting by Standard Digital
First and foremost, what youโre calling a rocket looks more of a missile. Secondly, I donโt believeย any of your โprototypesโ have ever left the ground, leave alone project a cat a hundred metres high.
Even if that happened, trust me there must be some laws of physics to explain it, but youโre definitely not any closer to sending your โrocketโ to space than you were when you started.
This is clearly a young brilliant mind who is misdirecting his efforts. I know Iโll receive a lot of name calling, but if youโre looking for a guy to pat your back and tell you to keep on when thereโs clearly no hope, I ainโt your guy.
Frankly, I will feel bad when anyone encourages this young man to continue doing what heโs doing when we all know itโs leading nowhere.
I donโt believe he has relevant education, so even NASA would not want anything to do with him.
Let me tell you the story ofย Sangulani Chikumbutso. He is a Zimbabwean inventor quite famous in his home country. He understands the world we live in, and strives to make practical objects.
Theoretically, he can make โRocketsโ like our guy in Rongai, but he knows what the world needs.
His company, Saith Technologies, has this year launched a drone, a helicopter, power generator,ย surveillance towers, mobile broadcast communication backpack, intelligent IP Mesh backpack and household transformer that can multiply power a hundredfold. All these have some aspect of innovative technology and not just copying what the Americans did.
Here are some photos of his products.
Images via Techzim.co.zw
The Zimbabwean may or may not sell hisย product, but the Kenyan is assured heโll never sell anything. So Kenyan inventors, lets be clever.
Additional reporting by Standard Digital
- nairobiwire.com
Rongai Man Building a Rocket