Rocket Man

One thing man has imagined is the possibility of soaring through the air like a bird or bumble bee and in his mind he has even created a wearable device called a jetpack that uses rocket power to propel the wearer through the air. Comic strips and movies such as Buck Rogers in the 1920’s, and King of the Rocket Men in 1949 first popularized the concept, but it has been the more recent box office legends like Star Wars, (1977) and the The Rocketeer, (1991) that have truly ignited human imaginations with the idea.

The desire to break away from gravity and the limitations of man’s earth-bound nature is nothing new. Historical records show that Leonardo DaVinci who lived from 1452-1519 dreamed of flying and he drew many concepts of flying machines even conceptualizing a device resembling a modern jetpack device. For men like DaVinci, flying with a backpack rocket remained nothing more than a dream, but if DaVinci would have lived in the 1900’s he may have seen his dream come true.

In June 1960, a man named Wendell Moore filed a patent on a real jetpack device, known as the Bell Rocket Belt. The original test pilots to take to the sky with this wearable rocket were Bill Suiter and Gordon Yeager. They flew Moore’s device in movies and in aeronautical exhibitions around the world, most notably the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Las Angeles CA, USA. Bill launched at one end of the stadium, flew through the air and landed in the center of the field for over a billion spectators that day. Moore’s device was impressive and it was American made, but it was not the first. Before the Bell Rocket there was a jet pack developed in Germany during WWII, a device they called the Skystormer.

The Skystormer was developed with the intention of troops being able to cross the waterways when bridges were unavailable, or to cross potential minefields safely without having to cross on foot. But like Moore’s Bell Rocket Belt, the Skystormer had a lack of maneuverability and like the belt, it used hydrogen peroxide, an expensive fuel. Safety issues and expense of operation have constrained its practicality and use, but this has not stopped other inventors from test piloting “experimental” jetpacks. In 1980, the United States space program tested something called the Manned Maneuvering Unit, which has since been used in many NASA space missions.
So, you see, safety issues, as well as cost that has kept such devices from being marketed to the general public and they are expensive. One jetpack was offered in 2008 at a cost of $250,000.00 with a promise to keep its wearer aloft for 30 seconds. A less expensive jetpack was offered however, for only $155,000.00.

At the price of a museum painting, Leonardo DaVinci would be amazed.