INTERVIEW: Ky Michaelson shoots for the sky on ‘Homemade Astronauts’
Photo: Homemade Astronauts features Ky Michaelson, the self-proclaimed “Rocketman.” Photo courtesy of Discovery / Provided by press rep with permission.
The recently launched streaming service discovery+ has been unveiling new content on a regular basis, and this month saw the premiere of the four-episode limited series Homemade Astronauts, which tracks the dreams of three self-financed teams of private citizens who want to launch themselves into space. Their rocketry has had many successes over the years, and they are ready to take their adventuring to the next level.
One of the most engaging of the characters is Ky Michaelson, an 82-year-old veteran of the private rocket industry who calls himself the real “Rocketman.” He is extremely happy to have the chance to share his story and his insights.
“I like to tell my story because I’m totally dyslexic, and when I went to school, they didn’t know what dyslexia was back in the ‘50s,” Michaelson said in a recent phone interview. “I’m 82 years old, and it wasn’t until I was in my 30s where I was watching a TV show where they started talking about what dyslexia was. Wow, that’s what I got. … I just want to encourage other kids out there that are dyslexic that they can do a lot of unbelievable things if they just work hard at it.”
When Michaelson was 13 year sold, he received his first chemistry set. He became hooked on science and started working on homemade firecrackers (Note to readers: Do not try this at home). He then graduated to rockets after his father encouraged his newfound hobby.
“My dad made telescopes and things like that, and a lot of the magazines that he had around me were like Space,” he said. “So I was around that since I was a young boy, and I just never stopped building rockets. … We started building rocket-powered vehicles and ended up chasing after a bunch of world records, and we ended up setting 72 state and national and international speed records, all rocket-powered vehicles. So I’ve been around it for a long, long time, and in 1997, I said, I wonder if anybody has ever put a rocket in space. And that’s when I first started dealing with the federal government to find out what it took to do that, and as it turned out, you had to be licensed by the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration]. And we had to work with a number of federal agencies, but in 2004 we were the first civilian to actually build and fly a rocket into space, 72 miles up, 3,580 miles down. So that was a big deal for us.”
Michaelson said that particular day in 2004 was the happiest day of his life. He was obsessed with the idea of getting a rocket to successfully make it into space, and he wanted to be the first civilian to do just that. Over the years, this obsession, which includes small test launches in Minnesota and larger launches in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, has come with some sacrifices: For starters, this hobby can get quite expensive.
“I would be maybe sitting in a big boat out in Hawaii right now if I wasn’t playing with rockets,” he said with a laugh. “But I still live a pretty good life. I think I’d have a big boat right now if I stayed away from rockets, but that’s also helped me make a living.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Homemade Astronauts is now airing on discovery+, the new streaming service from Discovery. Click here for more information.
