Sarah Pickens

Sarah Pickens was born in Huntsville, AL. She will be 16 years old in July. Her dad (Timothy Pickens) and mom own and operate Orion Propulsion in Huntsville. She has had an interest in space since an early age. Sarah has a done a few projects over the years that gained her some national attention. Sarah owns a rocket bicycle that she and her dad put together. She desired to build and ride her bike after watching her dad ride his 200 pound thrust hybrid rocket bike, while she was at the age of 10. Her first rocket bike was carbon dioxide- powered and was built around a "Barbie Bicycle". It would do speeds up to 20-30 MPH. Sarah rode the bike many times and wrote to Popular Mechanics about it. They featured the bike as a major story, and it later won her an award as "The Reader Project of the Year". At the age of 12, she built her second rocket bike that got her and her dad a free trip to New York City. Here, their bikes were ridden for in Central Park, but for New York's "Inside Edition". Later, Sarah's bike was covered in Popular Science. Sarah also appeared on the Discovery Channel, and Discovery Science in Canada. Additionally, she was featured in the Smithsonian Magazine, as well as "The daily show with Jon Stewart". Since then, Sarah and her dad have built various devices that Sarah dreamed up, such as an animated Christmas decoration/scene used in the yard at Christmas. Six-foot-tall rockets are lit up depicting a cat that runs across the yard, leaps into the rocket, and leaves earth. This animation can be see at www.youtube.com by searching "Christmas in Dixie". The early bike runs can be seen there also by searching "Sarah Pickens". Sarah is currently working on a turbojet bike with her dad that will be ready by July.