In the October sky over the mining town of Coalwood, a satellite from the Soviet Union reaches the small town, arousing not only the hope of these teenagers but also the inner desires of town people. The story starts with a boy, Homer Hickam, who can not achieve scholarship to enter the college but does not want to become a miner as his father or all town people do. Although Homer's father expects Homer to take over his job after his brother Jim has enrolled in a college, Homer still tries to figure out a personal way to get himself out of the mining town. He teams up with Quentin Wilson, Roy Lee and Sherman O'dell. As a team, they benefit from each other's strong points, support and dreams. They dedicates their own knowledge and passion, consequently, win the National Science Fair which means chances of enrolling in colleges.
             In the beginning of the movie, Homer said "I'm gonna build a rocket. Like Sputnik." His family laughs, telling him that it is unrealized to build a rocket to create a chance of achieving a college scholarship. Homer tries to build his first mini rocket, however, he is stuck by the blast of rocket. Since Coalwood people care more about what's down below earth, he finds any help. This initiates the idea to team up with others. Quentin Wilson, a typical nerd, interests in rocket engineering and turns out to be the best person that has the ability to meet Homer's needs. Even thought Roy asks him note to kill his social life by talking to Quentin, he still do it without hesitation. What Homer learns from Quentin is mainly the knowledge of rockets, but also a persistent spirit. No matter how other people judge about Quentin, Quentin still insists his dream on science, even if he has to huddle in a corner of his small room. Reciprocally, Homer stimulates Quentin's dream, otherwise Quentin still keep reading books but does not apply any of his knowledge. When Homer is arre...