Chinese youth builds rocket after watching video

A Chinese youth has built a rocket after watching a video online. His name is Zhang Shijie. He is only 18 years old. At this age, he has done something that has caused a stir across China.

Zhang lives in a village in Han province, China. He first became interested in building rockets at the age of 14. He became interested in it after watching a rocket launch live on television with his father. Over time, his interest intensified.

Young Zhang knew nothing about building rockets before. He took refuge online to learn about it. He started watching videos posted by others on various online platforms about making DIY rockets.

Zhang was a secondary school student at the time. One of his teachers said that the internet helped Zhang a lot in building a rocket using the limited resources of the village school.

The teacher also said that Zhang used everything at his fingertips to improve his skills. Zhang borrowed an old laptop from his sister and researched various scientific inventions.

Initially, Zhang collected nitrates from his family's pig farm and mixed them with sugar and water in the kitchen to make rocket fuel.

At one point, the young Zhang realized that the fuel he was making was not pure enough. Using a filtration method he learned in school, he made a cleaner fuel from manure.

Zhang tried to make a rocket engine using cheap materials like PVC tubes and cement. However, his efforts were unsuccessful.

Zhang learned 3-D modeling and software design. He used money he received as a New Year's gift and borrowed money from friends to buy an old 3-D printer to make rocket parts.

On his birthday in June 2023, Zhang invited his father and classmates to watch his first test launch. However, his launch failed due to rain that day. He tried again the next day, and he succeeded.

After hundreds of attempts, the young man was finally able to send his rocket to an altitude of 400 meters. In this effort, he built four types of rocket engines, several single-stage and one two-stage rocket.

Zhang's school has always supported his efforts. He gave him 3,500 yuan (about $500). His classmates have helped him with his research and he has been given a place at the school to conduct his research.

Long, who has taught at Zhang's school for 30 years, said that this is the first time in his career that he has seen such a deep love for science in a student.

Long said that hobbies are a person's best teacher.

Zhang's strong interest in scientific innovation has always had his family by his side. His father is a rideshare driver in the provincial capital, Changsha. His mother works as a nanny in another city.

Zhang's father said he had already noticed that Zhang was different from other children. Instead of being drawn to video games, Zhang was more interested in taking apart toys and finding out their parts.

Zhang recently announced with joy that he had been accepted into the aerospace engineering department at Shenyang Aerospace University, one of China's top aerospace research institutions.

Announcing his admission to the university, Zhang also said that his ultimate goal is to one day design a real rocket.