• Project Event Horizon

Look up to see Event Horizon, the brainchild of Windsor, Colorado, teenager Art Hoag. Along with team members Troy Hummel and Joe Cowan, Art designed and built the rocket—the largest ever launched in Colorado—in his family’s garage when he was just 16 years old.

Look up to see Event Horizon, the brainchild of Windsor, Colorado, teenager Art Hoag.

Along with team members Troy Hummel and Joe Cowan, Art designed and built the rocket—the largest ever launched in Colorado—in his family’s garage when he was just 16 years old.

e Event Horizon, the brainchild of Windsor, Colorado, teenager Art Hoag. Along with team members Troy Hummel and Joe Cowan, Art designed and built the rocket—the largest ever launched in Colorado—in his family’s garage when he was just 16 years old.

Event Horizon is built mostly of composite materials like fiberglass and phenolic.

Planning, design, and fabrication took about eight months. In the process, Art learned how to weld, perform an automotive-quality paint job, and all the other skills required to fabricate the 21-foot, 365-pound rocket.

Art Hoag and Troy Hummel combined their talents to produce the rocket. Planning, design, and fabrication took about eight months. In the process, Art learned how to weld, perform an automotive-quality paint job, and all the other skills required to fabricate the 365-pound, N-clustered Event Horizon. Joe Cowan pitched in with just about everything, including the support of his business, Hobby Town USA.

The rocket’s first launch, in May 2006, reached 10,161 feet above Colorado’s Pawnee National Grassland.

Three engines propelled Event Horizon to speeds of nearly 600 miles per hour. Slowed by parachutes, the rocket descended to Earth 10 minutes later and about a mile away.

The rocket’s first launch, in May 2006, reached 10,161 feet above Colorado’s Pawnee National Grassland. Three engines propelled Event Horizon to speeds of nearly 600 miles per hour. Slowed by parachutes, the rocket descended to Earth 10 minutes later and about a mile away.

Event Horizon is powered by three N-class rocket engines. Each engine produces 3,000 pounds of thrust. The rocket pulls 21 Gs at launch!

Event Horizon is powered by three N-class rocket engines. Each engine produces 3,000 pounds of thrust. The rocket pulls 21 Gs at launch!

As it descends, Event Horizon is slowed by a small drogue parachute. At 2,000 feet above the ground, two 28-foot parachutes bring the rocket in for a soft landing.

Event Horizon was launched twice more, including an invited appearance at the October 2006 X-PRIZE CUP in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The rocket’s already impressive performance improved with each launch, earning Project Event Horizon a place in the limelight.

Art Hoag—who received some high school credit from sympathetic teachers for his work on Project Event Horizon—is currently studding Aerospace Engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He’s not sure what comes next, but whatever he does will include pursuing his dreams of flight and building his own rockets.