60 years since the Pencil Rocket
Launch Commemorative Event at Kokubunji
April 12, 2015, Tokyo, Japan - Half30-2, Japan's very first "pencil rocket," is exhibited at a civic hall in Kokubunji, home of the nation's aerospace technology, on Sunday, April 12, 2015. A research group led by Hideo Itokawa, father of Japan's rocket development, launched the less than 12-inch rocket for the first time from Tokyo University's proving ground in Kokubunji on April 12, 1955. The exhibition was held to mark the 60th anniversary of the epoc-making event. (Photo by AFLO) UUK -mis-