The Rocket Boys 

of NIH

How the National Institutes of Health 

Gives Hope and Health to Kids 

and the World

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services • National Institutes of Health
Dedicated to researchers young 

and old who dream of a better, 

more healthy world.

A special thanks to Terence Boylan 

for sharing his story.

Thanks also Drs. Richard Mandel 

and Sam Joseloff for bringing 

the rocket letters to light.

Written by Don Luckett 

Communications Director 

Center for Scientific Review

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 

National Institutes of Health

Bethesda, Maryland

rocket@csr.nih.gov

http://www.csr.nih.gov/
3

The Rocket Boys Ask for Help

Terence Boylan and Bruce Cook had a 

dream. They wanted to soar past the 

clouds and explore space. It was a 

big dream in 1957. No one had done 

it before. And Terence was just 9 years 

old. His friend Bruce had to use a 

wheelchair to go anywhere. 

They made plans for a shiny rocket that could carry a mouse into the 

sky and bring it back safely. But they didn’t have the money to buy the 

aluminum they needed. 

One cold winter night, Terence got an 

idea. He went to his father, who was a 

medical researcher at the University of 

Buffalo in New York. Terence asked him 

where he got his research money. His 

father didn’t ask him what he was up 

to. Dr. Boylan was busy with papers 

from work. He simply said his money 

came from the National Institutes of 

Health (NIH). Dr. Boylan went back to 

his papers and Terence got a pen. 

On February 9, 1957, Terence wrote 

to NIH in Bethesda, Maryland. The 

little white envelope came in a 

big bag of mail. Applications for 

funds were piling up at NIH. A 

vaccine for polio had just been 

made, and millions of children 

were now safe from this terrible 

disease. People everywhere had 

great hope. Scientists from all over wanted 

funds to find new cures for other deadly diseases.

Terence Boylan asks NIH for $10 

to build a rocket with his friend.
4

The Rocket Boys Move NIH

Did anyone have time to open a kid’s letter? Yes, and it bounced on 

waves of laughter through the NIH Division of Research Grants. A rocket 

ship! Two kids wanted government research funds! NIH had never seen 

such a request before. 

The letter finally landed in the hands of Dr. Ernest Allen. He was Chief 

of NIH Grants. He was a man who had done great things. He helped 

create the process NIH uses to find the best grant applications. It’s called 

“peer review.” NIH asks groups of smart scientists from far and wide 

to help find men and women with the best ideas for curing diseases. 

NIH then gives these researchers the money they need. Peer review 

groups have done great jobs. Millions of men, women and children are 

alive and healthy today because these groups looked through piles of 

requests and found the best ones. 

Despite all he did to make this happen, Dr. Allen wanted others to take 

credit. He was a kind man who really believed in NIH and the future. 

When he looked at Terence’s letter, he didn’t laugh. He saw a big dream, 

and he wanted to help. Dr. Allen took the letter to the next meeting of the 

National Health Advisory Council. 

Famous men and women in this 

group reviewed grant applications 

and told NIH which ones looked 

like the best ones. Dr. Allen 

read Terence’s request to them. 

Everyone in the room agreed it 

wouldn’t help fight a disease. 

NIH couldn’t give NIH money for 

a rocket. But everyone saw the 

rocket boys had promise. So 

they passed a hat and collected the $10 

Terence and his friend needed. They hoped something good 

would happen one day. No one could have guessed what really happened.

NIH Reviewers Today
5

The Phone Rings for the Rocket Boys

Terence’s father, Dr. Boylan, found a 

reporter on the phone. Words flew fast. All 

he understood was that the reporter was 

rushing over to talk about an NIH grant. 

Dr. Boylan thought it was one of his, because 

he was a well-known kidney researcher. 

When the reporter came, Dr. Boylan 

got a big surprise. The reporter 

wanted to talk to Terence. He 

had just become the youngest person to get an NIH grant! 

Terence ran next door and got his friend Bruce. Together, they 

answered the reporter’s questions. “We want to get down to 

work,” said Terence. “As soon as the money gets here we’ll 

go ahead.” Dr. Boylan sat in the corner and smiled. 

The next day, the newspaper printed the news: “Boy Rocket 

Ship Builders Obtain ‘National’ Funds.” The article had a 

large photo. Bruce’s face shined like a full moon, as Terence 

held one of their model rockets. Buffalo Courier-Express, 

March 14, 1957 

Photo Courtesy of Buffalo State 

College Archives

Rocket Troubles

Terence and Bruce built a new rocket, but the metal they used was too 

heavy. Their rocket wouldn’t fly far. The rocket boys were in trouble. 

Everyone at school knew about their dream. If they didn’t launch soon, 

everyone would laugh at them.

Terence didn’t give up. He went to his father’s laboratory. He dug in the 

trash and found some cardboard tubes. They were strong but light. They 

were just what the rocket boys needed. Terence and Bruce found other 

parts at the grocery store and the hardware store. 

Bruce kept an eye on Terence, who did most of the work. Bruce had a 

disease called cerebral palsy. It paralyzed his legs and one arm. But 

Bruce had a dream to soar as big as Terence did. Bruce also knew 

something about rockets. Sometimes he helped Terence solve big problems.
6

Shooting for Stars

After a small test rocket worked, Terence and Bruce built a big one. It 

was 4 feet high with long metal fins. They placed a hard plastic capsule 

on top. Padding, food, and water went inside for their mouse. They then 

attached a parachute and capped their rocket with a funnel from the 

hardware store. They were ready to shoot for the stars.

Their rocket blasted from their backyard. It shot into the sky and soared 

past where birds fly. It became a speck in the sky. Then, it disappeared. 

Everything went quiet. Terence and Bruce hadn’t expected this. Their 

rocket, mouse and dream were gone! 

!

The Phone Rings Again

Someone from Clarence, New York, called. He had seen the parachute 

float down and picked up the capsule. Terence had put his phone 

number inside. The rocket boys couldn’t believe it. Clarence was a town 

that was miles away!

Terence’s parents drove the rocket boys to Clarence that afternoon. 

They found their mouse was alive and not hurt. Their experiment was a 

success! They drove back home and put their mouse back into its little 

home. The rocket boys never dreamed their rocket would go so far and 

surprise so many people. 
7

The Rocket Boys Move NIH

Dr. Allen at NIH never heard how well the rocket flew. But the rocket boys’ 

dream had touched him. It made him think about other kids and their 

future. Lots of work needed to be done to cure diseases. What if future 

scientists got started when they were kids? Dr. Allen decided to establish 

the first NIH program to educate kids about health and science. 

Today, NIH has an Office of Science Education to get kids started in 

science. A summer program brings young people from across the 

country to its Bethesda campus. They work with some of the best 

scientists in the country. NIH also developed teaching tools that it gives 

free to teachers from kindergarten to 12th grade. 

What Happened to the NIH Rocket Boys?

When Terence got older he cleaned test tubes for 

his father during the summer at the Mount Desert 

Island Biological Laboratory in Maine. When he was 

12, he did his own experiments! Terence later went 

to college. He planned to go to medical school and 

hoped to be a researcher like his father one day.

But that day never came. Terence also loved to write Terence Boylan

songs and sing. His voice soared like his rockets. 

And his songs were built like his rockets. They were clever and powerful.

One day, he was singing at the Village Gate coffeehouse in New York 

City. The music critic from the New York Times newspaper heard him. The 

next day, Terence found his name in the newspaper again. The reporter 

loved his songs, and soon a music company gave him a recording 

contract. Before he knew it, Terence was traveling across the country 

giving concerts.

Terence’s friend Bruce had a harder time. He suffered from many 

problems due to his disease, cerebral palsy. It’s a disease that some 

babies and young children get. It affects muscles and body movement. It 

can sometimes affect the brain. But all the time Bruce struggled, he could 

still remember the bright day he and his best friend soared further than 

anyone believed they could go. 
8

The Importance of Doing Something

Terence never forgot his friend Bruce. And he never forgot the need for 

research to help others who suffer. Terence spent many hours reading 

about medicine and talking with doctors. One day, he decided to do more. 

Terence set up a foundation that has helped support over 1,200 medical 

students and young researchers. His foundation also funds research at 

the laboratory where he worked as a kid. Because he was so helpful, the 

Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory made Terence the Chairman 

of its Board of Directors. 

No doubt his father and Bruce would be proud. Dr. Allen and all the 

reviewers who put money in the hat for the rocket ship would be proud, 

too. Their belief in the rocket boys really paid off. 

NIH Is Still at It 

Men and women who study medicine and behavior from across the 

country and the world still send their best research ideas to NIH. Over 

70,000 applications now come to the NIH Center for Scientific Review 

each year. 

Groups of reviewers still read them to find the best ones. There are just a 

lot more reviewers now. About 17,000 of them volunteer to be reviewers for 

the Center for Scientific Review. Over 10,000 more scientists help NIH make 

its important decisions. Reviewers spend 1-3 months reading and rating 

applications. They don’t really do it for the money, which isn’t much. They 

do it for a bigger reason. They believe like Dr. Allen and his reviewers did: 

Good things can happen if NIH can find and fund the best researchers.
9

Your Hope for Health

Using peer review groups, NIH supports 

more than 325,000 researchers across 

the country and around the world. 

Their research is fighting cancer, heart 

disease, diabetes, AIDS, drug addiction, 

and many other diseases. 

NIH started reviewing and funding 

research in 1946. Since then, this 

research has paid off just like the $10 

NIH reviewers gave to the rocket boys.

An average person in the U.S.A. in 1946 could expect to live about 67 

years. Today, you can expect to live 10 years longer! And many will live 

even longer. Fewer people are dying from cancer, heart attacks, stroke 

and other diseases. NIH has played a big role in all these advances.

So every time you go to a doctor or drug store you may be touched by 

what happened years ago when NIH reviewers picked up an application 

and agreed it was a good one. 

And if you get sick years from now, 

you’ll have more hope. Because NIH 

reviewers and scientists are hard 

working—just like the rocket boys—

to do something that has never been 

done before.

A researcher helps a patient at the 

NIH Clinical Center

NIH Reviewers in 1946
10

Things Have Changed

Mouse Safety: NIH will no longer let researchers use animals in ways that 

can hurt them if it is not necessary. Rocket girls and boys today use eggs 

instead of live animals. 

Rocket Safety: The rocket boys could have hit an airplane! It is now against 

the law to build rockets that can go as high and far as the rocket boys did. 

We also know more about the dangers of the chemicals the rocket boys 

used. Kids today must use less toxic rockets and more imagination. 

If You Have a Great Idea: Talk with your teachers and parents. They 

can get you started. One day you may soar as an NIH Scientist and help 

lots of people!

Children learn about NIH by rating fun, made-up 

research applications at the Center for Scientific Review

Learn More on the Web

NIH Children’s Page: http://health.nih.gov/result.asp/134/24

Child and Teen Health: http://health.nih.gov/search.asp/24

NIH Office of Science Education: http://science.education.nih.gov

The Rocket Boys: http://www.csr.nih.gov/rocket

CSR Peer Review Video: http://www.csr.nih.gov/Video/Video.asp

CSR: http://www.csr.nih.gov

NIH: http://www.nih.gov

Do You Have a Great Idea?

Talk with your teachers and parents. 

They can get you started. One day 

you may soar as an NIH Scientist and 

help lots of people!

http://www.csr.nih.gov/rocket

NIH Publication No. 08-6417

ISBN 978-0-9797540-2-9

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services • National Institutes of Health