Watch: Record launch of 5,000 model rockets to celebrate 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 Mission

In a bid to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and also to set a Guinness World Record, the US Space and Rocket Center launched five thousand model rockets into the air. Astronauts, NASA engineers and young campers witnessed the event organized in Huntsville, Alabama, a city dedicated to space exploration.

To break the one-year old record of 4,231 model rockets that were launched during a European Space Science Convention, as many as 178 volunteers assisted Rocket Center staff in preparing the launch. Together, they put in around 700 hours of work, including 75 hours to build the wood frames on which the rockets were placed.

Boeing engineer Jarred Green, said, “It was a tremendous honour to work on the project. Boeing manufactured the S-IC, the first stage of the Saturn V rocket, designed to carry the rocket through the first 38 miles of its climb to space.” "Being a part of this particular program is a tremendous honor for the company and the people who helped it," he added.

Interestingly, the designs for the Saturn V rocket that carried the Apollo 11 crew into space exactly 50 years ago have their roots in Huntsville too. Visitors of all ages attended the historic launch.  

“Huntsville is the rocket city,” Randall Robinson of the US Space and Rocket Center told InsideEdition.com. “We work on propulsion, we design engines, we design all those things that get the rockets, get the shuttle, everything up to space,” he added.

The US Space and Rocket Center said it wanted to hold its own rocket launching to encourage young scientists to follow their dreams. “You could be part of this experience and something like this could be the key to the next person who has a great idea or a great invention and maybe that first person who sets foot on Mars,” Robinson concluded.

Record launch of 5,000 model rockets: Take a look

(Video Credit: Guinness World Records)

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