A team of middle schoolers prepares for blastoff in this adventure from the author of the "New York Times "bestselling "Mousetronaut," based on the childhoods of real-life astronauts Mark Kelly and his twin brother Scott.
It s a long, hot summer and Scott and Mark are in big trouble for taking apart (aka destroying) their dad s calculator. As a punishment, they re sent to their grandfather s house, where there s no TV and they have to do chores. And Grandpa is less tolerant of the twins constant bickering. Why don t you two work together on something constructive. What if you built a go-kart or something? Grandpa suggests.
But it s not a go-kart the twins are interested in. They want to build a rocket. With the help of Jenny, nicknamed Egg, and a crew of can-do kids, they set out to build a real rocket that will blast off and orbit the Earth. The question soon becomes: which twin will get to be the astronaut?
Written by a NASA astronaut with four space flights under his belt, this exciting story includes extensive back matter on the space program with fantastic facts and details."