My name is Daniel, and I want to tell you an incredible story about how I was once able to build a real rocket from scratch and fly it into space.
My passion for astronomy and rocket building began as a child, when every clear night I would watch with bated breath the shimmering lights of the stars in the window of my room. I imagined myself as an astronaut, travelling the interplanetary expanse in my own ship.
Years have passed since then, but my dream has not faded. Day after day I tirelessly studied the basics of astronautics and aerospace engineering, greedily absorbing any knowledge. But the more I learnt, the stronger my desire to put into practice all that I had seen and read.

— I must do something incredible! — I said to myself one evening, looking at an inspiring picture of the starry sky. — I must go into space!

The idea of building my own rocket seemed pure madness at first. However, I’m not one to give up without a fight. Gathering all my willpower, I decided to start realising my dream.

Not being able to purchase any complex devices and materials, I was forced to do otherwise. Research and calculations showed that a basic model of a rocket could be created from the most common items found in every home! What’s not a challenge for a true jack-of-all-trades?

So, let’s get started! For the basis for the body of the rocket I chose an old exhaust pipe from a failed kitchen gas boiler. I found a barrel for air compressed cylinders at the nearest car junkyard. I hand-bent the nozzles and stabilisers out of thick tin, and borrowed the navigation equipment from an old computer.

To create the fuel mixture I needed potassium permanganate crystals, aluminium powder and some liquid oxygen from the cylinder I had in stock. The combustible mixture for the jet engine was to be simple fuel oil, which I also had on hand in large quantities.

— Here we are, all the components are assembled! — I exclaimed, admiring the materials scattered on the floor. — Now we will use them to build a rocket, which will rise into the sky!

Three days of hard craftsmanship and my spaceship was finally ready. It looked truly unique — a bizarre fusion of old parts and the latest designs. It was almost 12 metres long and about 3 metres in diameter!

— Wow, guys! — I marvelled along with my friends who were helping me as a workforce. They were, of course, a little shocked at what they had messed with. But their faith in me didn’t wane, even when the question arose of who would pilot this homemade marvel.

— Friends, you’ve been an amazing help,’ I told them in a serious voice. — But the last and most important step I will take alone. From the ground you will be able to see and watch my flight more safely.

They still tried to talk me out of it, giving me a huge number of reasons and arguments. But the thought that I was so close to my long-held and all-consuming dream was exhilarating and convinced me not to stop. After all, if one were to give up on every task because of fears, mankind would still be living in caves.

And now the decisive day had come! Having thoroughly checked all the systems of the rocket, I started the launch. Taking one last look around the safe haven of my garage, I shouted to my friends:

— Guys, don’t worry! As soon as I get the rocket running, I’ll come back and tell you all about my flight!

With these words I climbed into the cramped cabin of the ship and slammed the airtight hatch behind me. With trembling hands I switched on the ignition and heard the muffled murmur of the liquid rocket engine firing up below.

What an extraordinary feeling! Ready to break away at any second, my heart exulted with delight and excitement at the same time. And now the metal cylinder of my brainchild, shuddering with the whole body, rushed upwards, leaving behind fountains of red-hot gases.

For the first time in my life I got off the ground in my own rocket ship! Burning out at an altitude of several hundred metres, the liquid engine was abruptly replaced by the incredible thrust of the anti-missile launcher, which I had assembled from a simple oversized tube designed to use the tank principle. Indeed, the chemical reaction of the components created such a powerful thrust that I was practically squeezed into the pilot’s seat.

Having finished burning, the rocket continued to gain height by inertia for some time before finally, having reached the maximum point of 12 kilometres above the ground, did not slow down and stopped in the upper stratosphere.

Unbelievable! A magnificent picture of the vast blue of endless space and distant stars appeared before me. And above my head hovered the dazzlingly bright disc of our Sun, now naked and incredibly beautiful without the cover of the Earth’s atmosphere!

Everything around me was whirling and slowly turning in airless space. I had the impression that the only force holding me in place was the inertia of the remaining fuel in the tanks and the stabiliser counterweights.

Nestling against the porthole, I froze in admiration. So that’s how it is — the real space, which has always beckoned me with its unexploredness! Even just hovering above the Earth’s atmosphere, I had already stepped on the threshold of a grandiose journey beyond my home planet. My most cherished dream was fulfilled! Tears of gratitude and happiness came to my eyes.

But soon came the bitter realisation that I would not have enough fuel to get back. Yes, I had succeeded in reaching space, but my rocket was not originally designed for landing. Am I doomed to hang in orbit, slowly depleting my oxygen supply? Was I so close to my dream and yet doomed to perish?

Suddenly the emergency system beeped, and the backup monitor came to life, illuminating the cabin with a greenish flicker. What’s that? A signal from the ground tracking centre? It can’t be! Could someone have detected my flight?

The screen displayed a terse message: ‘DO NOT MOVE. A RESCUE OPERATION IS UNDERWAY. HOLD OUT FOR A FEW HOURS.’

With a sinking heart, I clung to the seat rail, praying that this urgent message wasn’t a hallucination. In my dreams, I was already picturing a triumphant return to Earth, a thorough examination of my revolutionary project, and a leap forward in the development of new space technologies.

The long hours of anxious waiting in the cramped cabin were rewarded. To my great shock, suddenly another, larger spacecraft entered the front camera scope!

It was an actual civilian space agency Sputnik-class starship! So I had been spotted after all and an emergency rescue team had been called in! That realisation made the blood rush to my head.

— Homemade rocket, identified as Svoboda-1, stay where you are,’ came the cheerful voice of a starship pilot from the speakers. — We’ve picked up your distress call and are sending a rescue module!

What followed was like something out of a sci-fi film. A small shuttlecraft detached from the big ship, which, before my eyes, first docked with my rocket and then hermetically connected to its auxiliary hatch.

The flaps opened and I came face to face with three men in spacesuits surrounding me on all sides.

— Pilot Daniel? — one of them addressed me. — We’re taking you aboard our rescue shuttle. Congratulations, you’ve made history as the first person to go into outer space on your own in an amateur ship! The whole world has heard of your feat!

Shaking with happiness, joy and overwhelming emotions, I could only nod my head, allowing the rescuers to put a spare spacesuit on me. In the next few minutes I had already left the hard seat of my precious rocket and found myself in the cosy compartment of the rescue shuttle. It was warm, cosy and so… homely. Looks like my crazy stunt was a success!

Landing at the nearest spaceport, I found myself in a veritable whirlwind of applause, congratulations, interviews and ceremonies. My tiny homemade rocket was meticulously scrutinised by the best engineers and designers of the world’s aerospace agencies, finding more and more unique solutions and creative genius in it. Ironically, the doubters who had recently laughed at me were now swearing their faith from the start!

And a whole new life began for me. Suddenly, I turned from a mere dreamer into the number one sensation in the world of space industry. Universities were begging me to teach, agencies were flooding me with job offers, sponsors were offering insane sums for the right to be associated with my name. But most importantly — there was a real opportunity to continue the realisation of my dream, namely to go on a full-scale flight into space!

Under my leadership, the best minds of mankind began to develop a new type of jet pack capable of finally realising the long-held dream of interplanetary flight. We used the schematics of my home-made rocket as a basis, supplementing them with the latest materials and technologies, as well as advances in the field of alternative energy. The crowning achievement of this ambitious programme was to be the first ever all-metal seamless ship with a unique propulsion system borrowed from the stars!

It took about 5 years of hard work by a team of professionals, and our miracle ship, codenamed ‘Iskra’, was finally ready. Truly a masterpiece of technical genius! A smooth, polished metal cylinder 40 metres long and 16 metres in diameter, equipped with a sophisticated computer control system and the latest engines.

— Here it is, the fruit of my dream and your labours! — I exclaimed, addressing the triumphant engineers. — Mankind stands on the threshold of a new era of space exploration!

In a solemn atmosphere, among thousands of cheering spectators, with the participation of the highest government officials, Iskra embarked on its historic flight. Rumbling to overcome the Earth’s gravity, Iskra gained speed faster and faster until it made a dazzling fiery arc in the night sky and disappeared into the boundless space distances. My heart clenched with excitement and pride as the live broadcast showed my ship entering orbit, travelling thousands of kilometres in a matter of minutes!

‘Iskra was a truly unique creation. It was based on a revolutionary development — an engine on high-energy metal nuclei, capable of maintaining a stable thrust for many years. The secret was to use a substance with a huge concentration of energy — iron-60 nuclei, synthesised artificially and fed by the vacuum medium of cooling stars!

This unique fuel cell provided an almost inexhaustible source of thrust for the small-sized engine. In addition, the operation of the nuclear plant was accompanied by the release of powerful electromagnetic fields, the effect of which on the hull of the ship created a kind of anti-gravity effect. In fact, Iskra was the first ship in history with combined antigravity-ionic propulsion!

In Earth orbit, I was enthusiastically greeted by a space fleet of several shuttles and observation stations. Watching the spacecraft’s entry into the lower atmosphere, I felt proud of my brainchild. And when the first call signs of my cosmonaut friends from the Iskra sounded from the loudspeakers, I was ready to cry from happiness.

— It’s amazing, Daniel! — marvelled their commander. — Now we have a real space explorer’s weapon in our hands. With a ship like this, we’ll be able to go into outer space without any problems and leave the earth’s orbit forever.

And indeed, after a short test period, the interplanetary cruiser Iskra under my command was given the green light for the first ever expedition to Mars!

According to calculations, with the available fuel we could easily fly to the red planet and return. But my team would hardly agree to limit themselves to such a trip to the nearest neighbourhood of the solar system.

— Since we are so close, why not go a little further and try to go beyond it? — I had one of my boldest ideas.

And so, having gained maximum speed, ‘Iskra’ raced away from the solar orbit. Past Jupiter and frozen particles of comets on the very outskirts of the system, into the interstellar darkness and the unknown!

Days changed into months, but the flight continued at ever-increasing speeds. We reached values unimaginable for conventional engines and were still accelerating, using thrust from our unique anti-gravity field and energetic metal cores.

The ship held flawlessly at ten times the speed of light. Only light bursts of graviton waves indicated that our journey was unusual.

When we turned from the vector of motion of the nearest known stars and dived into the cloud of helium matter, stretching billions of light years in all directions, it became clear — we became the pioneers of the farthest space frontiers!

— My friends, congratulations! We have become the first alien ship for other civilisations!

And it was a truly great achievement not only for Earthlings, but for any intelligent race in general. Ahead of us awaited new, even more daring goals of conquering the unknown depths of the material world and testing at the limits of possibility.

It was unknown where exactly the indomitable flow of space-time continuum would take us in the end. But one thing I knew for sure — my crazy childish dream of space travel, once born at the window under the glow of stars, had entered a new incredible orbit. All thanks to the power of my own faith, determination and hard work!

Such an amazing story happened to me when I decided to build a real rocket from improvised means. Dreams should not frighten us with their scope. On the contrary, they show us the right goal to achieve new achievements. You just have to dare to overcome the first impulse of fear and uncertainty, and the whole universe will open up before you!

Wherever I am now, cutting through the fathomless depths of outer space, I will continue my flight to new worlds and discoveries. Truly, the true path of the explorers is endless!