Years of research led to a successful SpaceX-like model rocket landing that went viral on YouTube.
Joe Barnard is a rocket enthusiast who had a dream. He wanted to work for SpaceX. With no relevant experience though, he realized he had to do something unique to stand out as a candidate. He figured he would build a model rocket and land it after launch just like SpaceX’s ground-breaking Falcon 9 rocket does. That would impress them! The only challenge was that he didn’t have a degree in aeronautics, astronautics, coding, or EE. He was a music major in college with a focus on audio engineering. So while he didn’t have the formal requirements for the role, he was clearly a smart and ambitious individual.
Project Moved Beyond Goal For A Job
For seven years, Joe labored to achieve his goal of a vertical takeoff, vertical landing model rocket. He chronicled his story of development with some spectacular failures and engineering challenges. His success video showed the masterful landing and was a ‘breakout’ hit. The video of his endeavor that finally nailed the landing went viral on YouTube, with well over 3 million views.
His Perseverance is Even More Impressive
It’s a pretty impressive video to see a model rocket land just like the SpaceX rocket. The story of his perseverance is even more inspiring though. The obstacles he faced were numerous throughout his journey. If you dig into his channel, BPS.space, you’ll see the many videos showing the incremental and sometimes painful steps towards project success.
Now that he’s achieved his goal, Joe is continuing the development of model rocketry with more advanced rockets. He pays for his project through a Patreon site, sales of his VTVL system for model rockets, and YouTube video ad revenue.
Joe’s goal is now to revolutionize the model rocket industry. He ended up not working at Space X, but it’s pretty clear that he’s ok with that and enjoying his own unique career path.
