I remember as a child spending hours putting together model planes, cars, and rockets. They were fun, fairly cheap, and kept me out of my parent's hair for a few hours each week. Then the computer came along and my parents never had to worry about me going missing ever again, they knew I would be sitting behind that wonderful monochrome fourteen inch monitor typing away at my latest gaming program using good old BASIC. Today, Estes has finally merged these two wonders of my youth into a cool new model rocket that I would have died to have as a child.
The Digital Camera Rocket by Estes:
This new digital camera rocket is not the first rocket with a mounted camera to be offered by Estes, but it does appear to be the first to offer up to twelve seconds of video from blast off. It can also be set to take still images as well. Previous rocket mounted cameras used ordinary film that had to be sent in for developing. The new Estes digital camera rocket uses a small CCD digital camera that quickly and easily downloads to your computer via a simple USB cable. The camera is limited to 320x240 pixel images, but even so, the fun and excitement that you see in a child's eyes no longer is limited to the few seconds after the launch. You can now carry that fun and youthful curiosity into the family room as you watch the images of his first flight on your computer screen. You can then turn around and post those same images on YouTube like several other users of the rocket kit have done.
Model rocketry is not exactly high technology, but the marriage of a simple digital camera to this classic toy of our youth can help us make some great new memories with our own kids. Hop down to your local hobby shop or online at Amazon and order one to share with your kids today. The memories, and the images, will last a lifetime.
