Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2025

Three boys launch a rocket, the rocket explodes

Résumé

The present talk sets out to explore the relationship between the media and homemade rockets in late 1950s-early 1960s France. It does so by taking as its starting point a film made in 1959 by secondary school pupils under the guidance of their teacher of the French language. In this film, three young boys build a rocket and try to launch it. This plot is just a pretext for the story, but the scenario that the young filmmakers have imagined also refers to a hobby that has actually been taken up by several groups of young people all over the country. In this talk, I try to uncover the conditions of emergence of such practices. While media coverage of the nascent space race is undoubtedly a central feature of the context, it does not suffice to understand why and how young people engage in practical, hands-on activities to build and launch rockets. I will argue that such activities draw also largely on technical culture and tinkerers practices. It is important to note that these activities are also reflected in the press, which may contribute to engaging young people in pursuing similar goals. But more importantly, the initial treatment, focusing on accidents and the dangers to young people of handling explosives, encourages the involvement of the authorities in the regulation of home-made rocketry. Subsequent media coverage show the involvement of the media in this regulation and in diverting the interests of young people towards activities with scientific education as their main objective. While some established popular scientific associations try to capitalize on children’s enthusiasm for outer space and rocketry to enrol new members, other popular education movements emerge foster educational programmes giving a large part to experimental practices. Some of them benefit from the support of the French Space Agency and the media coverage. This transforms representations of amateur rocketry from dangerous games to educational science projects.

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Dates et versions

hal-05203061 , version 1 (07-08-2025)

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  • HAL Id : hal-05203061 , version 1

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Catherine Radtka. Three boys launch a rocket, the rocket explodes. London PUS Seminar, Nov 2025, Londres, United Kingdom. ⟨hal-05203061⟩
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