Benjamin Atkins developed a fascination with rockets at a young age. He saw the space shuttle launch in Florida in 2011 when his family made a spur-of-the-moment trip to watch Atlantis lift off from the Kennedy Space Center.
Once he entered middle school and realized he could study aerospace engineering in college, Atkins set his sights on a future career. The Knoxville native knew one of the best options for pursuing a degree was right down the street at the University of Tennessee’s Tickle College of Engineering (TCE).
“Going here for aerospace was kind of a dream come true,” Atkins said. “It was always my goal. I didn’t even really have a backup plan. I probably should have had a backup plan, but this was always my goal.”
Atkins has immersed himself in the aerospace culture at UT. A sophomore in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), Atkins is an active participant in the university’s Student Space Technology Association (SSTA).
As a freshman last year, Atkins led a project where SSTA built 10-foot-tall hybrid rocket with solid fuel and a liquid oxidizer that flew 12,000 feet.
“The club has been so hugely helpful in learning about high power rockets, because I was totally on my own before,” Atkins said. “Now I’m in this environment full of people that are happy to help teach me things, give criticism and praise. I think everyone at UT who wants to work on space hardware as a job needs to be in SSTA.”
Young rocket builder
Atkins started building model rockets at age 15. He read books and began designing his own and flying them. Using a 3D printer at home, he made rockets out of paper towel rolls and printed parts.
“Over the course of high school, I just slowly started to make more advanced rockets,” he said. “I got more into electronics, so I kind of trended up into slowly more complicated rockets as I learned more about it. It’s just the coolest hobby ever.”
Atkins has built 25 rockets on his own and conducted more than 60 launches. He keeps a flight record with notes detailing every launch to improve after each one. His first few rockets struggled to get off the ground until he learned more about the aerodynamics to make the flights less wobbly.
“Now pretty much all of my rockets go straight up,” he said. “The other thing is getting it back in one piece, which is way harder than the actual rocket part. Sending a rocket up straight is not that hard, but having it shoot a parachute and recover successfully is not easy.”
Atkins’ parents have been extremely supportive of his rocket pursuits. His mom, who is a principal at Mount Olive Elementary, attended UT in the 90s and took a class called aerospace for educators
“I’m very jealous of this. She got to go see the space shuttle on the launch pad,” Atkins said. “She got to fly in aerial refueling tankers while they refueled fighter jets and do all this awesome stuff.”
Sharing the love
As much as Atkins loves building rockets, he derives equal joy from sharing his knowledge with others. Atkins has spoken with many elementary school kids over the last three years to explain how rockets are built and how the engines work. Last year, he performed a launch for a local Boy Scouts troop after being contacted by its leader.
“I get really excited to make these appearances because I love talking about rockets. It’s my favorite thing to do,” Atkins said. “It’s a really great experience to see kids get so excited about space and space flight.”
Atkins appeared at Copper Ridge Elementary School in Knoxville a few years ago when the students were gathering to celebrate achieving their goal for a “Reaching for the Stars” coupon book campaign. Atkins helped launch one of his model rockets as the finale of the event.
“This experience had a positive impact on our elementary students because it combined celebration and real-world application in a meaningful way,” said Copper Ridge Principal Shawn Smith. “The rocket launch provided a concrete connection to STEM. Having the opportunity to observe a model rocket launch reinforced learned concepts about force, motion, and space. It also allowed Benjamin to be a role model and inspiration to younger students.”
Future in space flight
Atkins has started getting into high power rocketry, which required him to obtain a Level 1 certification. To do that, he had to successfully build, fly, and recover a rocket on a Level 1 sized motor.
In conjunction with SSTA, Atkins built a rocket that consisted of mostly parts he designed himself. He drove five hours to South Carolina last July for the launch. After his first attempt failed, Atkins returned a few months later and was successful. His rocket flew 1,245 feet and recovered perfectly with a parachute.
Atkins has been named project lead for the 15-person SSTA team working to build a two-stage rocket that will fly upwards of 100,000 feet.
“I wrote a detailed project proposal, and had it reviewed by the SSTA admin in order to get the project approved,” Atkins said. “In support of the project, I’ve met with TCE professors for funding, grown relationships with several faculty in MAE, and I feel like I have really come into my own as a leader.”
The personal evolution is just another step on a journey for Atkins that started in childhood and led him to UT. His ultimate goal is to fly even higher in the aerospace world.
“My dream job is working on rockets or lunar landers,” Atkins said. “I’ve always been so interested in the moon. Right now, NASA’s whole Artemis program is focused on returning people to the moon, so there’s a lot of growth in that sector. But I will take any job I can get that just supports space flight.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey ([email protected])