Homer Hickam was a young boy from a West Virginia mining town who hungered for his father’s approval. He knew he could earn it by following in his father’s footsteps and spending his life down in the mines. But Homer had a dream—to go to college and to devote his life to rocket technology. October Sky was the true story of the pivotal events that led Homer Hickam to move closer to his two goals of reaching for the sky and gaining his father’s respect. The title of October Sky is very significant. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first man-made satellite, in the sky on October 5, 1997. Hence the name of the m