So You Want To Be A Rocket Scientist

From the award-winning So You Want To Be A… Series
GRAND PRIZE — 2026 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards
SILVER AWARD — 2026 CIPA EVVY Book Awards, Children's Nonfiction

 

What does it really take to build a rocket?

Rockets roar off the launch pad on a pillar of fire, but the real adventure starts years earlier. It begins with the engineers, scientists and builders who design, test and launch the machines that carry satellites, telescopes and astronauts into space. So You Want To Be A Rocket Scientist takes young readers inside that world, from the test stand to launch control, with true stories, surprising facts and a clear, honest look at a career in aerospace engineering.

Written for readers ages 10 to 14 and enjoyable for curious kids 8 and up, this illustrated nonfiction book makes rocket science easy to understand without talking down to young readers. No background in science is needed. Kids learn how Isaac Newton’s laws make rockets fly and why a rocket is mostly a giant flying fuel tank. They discover why rockets tip sideways after liftoff instead of going straight up, and how a satellite stays in orbit by falling around Earth without ever hitting it. A labeled diagram shows the parts of a rocket, from the fairing at the tip to the engines at the tail.

Readers will hold their breath through the “seven minutes of terror” as engineers wait to learn whether a rover landed safely on Mars. They’ll watch giant mechanical “chopsticks” catch a returning rocket booster in midair, and spend a day with a propulsion test engineer whose countdown is stopped by a wandering armadillo. Along the way, they’ll meet the people behind the rockets: a NASA chemist who proudly called himself a “nasalnaut,” the welders whose work has to be nearly perfect, and the launch teams who share jars of lucky peanuts at big moments.

The book is honest about the hard parts of the job, too. It covers explosions on the test stand, launches called off at the last minute, and a Mars spacecraft lost because of mixed-up units. Inspiring profiles introduce space pioneers from around the world, including Robert Goddard, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Hideo Itokawa, Yvonne Brill, Annie Easley and Ritu Karidhal. A thoughtful page on Wernher von Braun helps readers ask an important question about science and ethics: who will my work help, and who could it hurt?

Kids will also see how rocket science reaches into everyday life. Weather satellites warn families before hurricanes hit. GPS satellites guide ambulances. Technology first built for spacecraft is inside the camera in your phone.

Packed with fun facts about the Saturn V, missile mail and a top-secret wheel of cheese, plus hands-on STEM activities, a glossary of rocket science words, recommended books and websites, and practical ways to start preparing now, this book is ideal for curious kids, classrooms, homeschool families, libraries and young space fans dreaming about their future.

Part of the So You Want To Be A… career exploration series for kids, which gives young readers an honest, engaging look at real jobs and the people who do them.

Maybe the next great rocket will be yours.