Watch Live: Obama’s Counterterrorism Speech

‘#24forOK’: Doc Thompson Begins 24 hour radio marathon to Benefit Oklahoma Tornado Victims!

Science

Want to See Videos of the ‘Redneck’ Rocket Scientists?

Sep. 26, 2011 12:27pm Christopher Santarelli

National Geographic is launching a new reality show filming rednecks in Alabama. What makes the show watchable? It’s set in Huntsville, birthplace of the U.S. space program and home to NASA’s Marshall Flight Center. It also features a camo-wearing family of rednecks littered with PhDs and advanced degrees in rocket science.

The show “Rocket City Rednecks,” premieres on the National Geographic Channel Wednesday night with four back-to-back episodes, including “Moonshine Rocket Fuel” and “20,000 Kegs Under the Sea.a”

In this clip from “Moonshine Rocket Fuel,” the redneck relatives gather parts to build a homemade whiskey still to manufacture moonshine to fuel a rocket:

In “20,000 Kegs Under the Sea” the boys get in a heap’a trouble test driving a submarine built out of an emptied fertilizer tank and beer kegs:

The channel just might have a hit on its hands. Roll Tide.

Benghazi, IRS, AP...What's next? Only TheBlaze TV offers the truth from Glenn Beck, Andrew Wilkow, and Real News from TheBlaze. Get instant access and a free trial here.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (127)

eric6161
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:57pm
Where are the black “rednecks?” This is racist to not include any.
Log in to ReplyReply
- Bill Rowland
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:05pm
  Blacks cannot be Rednecks that would be racist
  
  OMG – Psalm 109:8
  
  Report this comment
- Libertyluvnmomma
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:45pm
  Bill Rowland if you are going to site scripture verses, it would do well not to take the Lord’ Name in vain.
  It is one of the few things He commands of us- and yes, “OMG” counts.
  
  On account of the article- looks like a interesting show- for once!
  
  Report this comment
- dave.1976
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 5:09pm
  you know it is people like you. ” thats racist” everthing has to be racist to you don’t it what about the B.E.T and shows with no white people in it if you ask me your racist !
  
  Report this comment
- Corrigenda
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 5:52pm
  >>Where are the black “rednecks?” This is racist to not include any.<<
  
  The mind boggles that anyone can really think this a sensible comment to put forward let alone one that merits an answer.
  
  Report this comment
- jb.kibs
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 5:57pm
  why can’t black people be rednecks? i think there are so many redneck black people…
  
  i’ve seen people without red necks called rednecks… i’ve heard people without red necks call themselves rednecks…. so… i don’t think you actually have to be a short haired, white, outside worker and have an actual red neck to be a redneck… ;)
  
  Report this comment
- Captain Crunch
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 6:42pm
  My goal in life is to be a redneck living in a trailer on the side of a mountain in West Virginia with pigs, chickens, a couple of mean dogs, with a mote and electric fence as the first line of defense against anyone who doesn’t like my redneck. I ain’t sayin what the next line of defense is, but it will be impressive!
  
  Report this comment
- 1casawizard
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 7:03pm
  There’s rednecks out here, but everyone is a shade of brown. It don’t matter what your skin shade is, It’s all brown. FYI ALERT! We’ve gone a little further than the B/W crap.
  
  Report this comment
- comsense08
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 7:09pm
  Oh God, not another one. Give it up dude? Who the hell is counting anymore? Sheesh!
- RockyMountainPride
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 7:51pm
  People, PEOPLE, calm down. It was a joke … a joke. He doesn’t really think they’re being racist … calm … down … … … good.
  
  Report this comment
- 1casawizard
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 7:51pm
  @ CAPTAINCRUNCH, Go easy, now. I like your plan. I don’t know about the moat, tho. Also, have a box outside the gate for FedEx and the like. Put up signs, then if someone crosses said line, you have certain rights to defend life and property. nufsaid.
  
  Report this comment
- Ron Paul is a NUT
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 8:45pm
  Datz rayciss!
  
  Report this comment
- SH4D0W
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 8:58pm
  Whatchya gonna call’em? Blacknecks? Kinda defeats the whole “Red”, as in sunburn’t neck, part of it….
  
  Report this comment
- rangerp
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 9:41pm
  You may be surprised at some of the country black folks I used to coon hunt with in Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. Just as backwoods and country as any redneck I know.
  
  Report this comment
- kenboo1
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 10:59pm
  JB
  “i’ve seen people without red necks called rednecks… i’ve heard people without red necks call themselves rednecks…. so… i don’t think you actually have to be a short haired, white, outside worker and have an actual red neck to be a redneck… ;)”
  ITS NOT REQUIRED, BUT IT HELPS, OK???
  
  Report this comment
- SgtB
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 11:32pm
  I know a few, but they’re okies. We’re a different kind of redneck. I’m not sure we’d build anything like a sub. But if you want a rat rod or a 4×4 we can get you hooked up.
  
  Report this comment
- pattybbb1
  Posted on September 27, 2011 at 12:08am
  I live about 20 miles from Huntsville, AL and there are plenty of black rednecks around here. Now hush up y’all and watch the show Wed. night!! You might just learn something.
  
  Report this comment
- dadat30
  Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:57pm
  @Libertyluvnmomma
  God Is not God’s name!!! People!!! Gahhhhhh!!
  
  God is “What” He is. A title!! His name is something we can’t even rightly pronounce. So we say “Yahweh” Got it?
  
  Report this comment
- K123K
  Posted on September 27, 2011 at 3:53pm
  I’m black, and I’m married to a self-proclaimed redneck. He keeps trying to teach me redneck ways, but he thinks I’m just not getting it.
  
  Report this comment
- pompey
  Posted on September 27, 2011 at 5:43pm
  ….they are n—-rs and they are in the White House……
  
  Report this comment
- Obeeone
  Posted on September 27, 2011 at 9:09pm
  It is also racist if you don’t have any Red blacknecks.
  
  Report this comment
- Obeeone
  Posted on September 27, 2011 at 9:10pm
  It is also racist to not have any Red blacknecks.
  
  Report this comment
- GollygeeMrwilson
  Posted on October 3, 2011 at 10:43am
  Take a pill, Eric
  
  Report this comment
Baikonur
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:53pm
@Rickfromillinois
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 12:33pm
‘Travis Taylor who is on the show is also a successful SciFi author.’
*************
Speaking if Sci Fi authors, I am surprised that Phillipp K. Dick never comes up in any of these threads. He is probably the greatest science fiction writer that ever lived (OK, equal to Azimov and Bradbury) and toward the end of his life, became extremely, mystically Christian. His later stories show this.

He believed that we indeed lived in the end times, but that these end times, and us right now, are actually still in the latter part of the 1st century AD. I don”t know if he meant it literally or figuratively. He believed that ‘The Empire’ (The Roman Empire) never ended, only consolidated its control, and that Christianity was still in its Apostolic Age, and struggling against an evil and powerful foe.

Marvelous, brilliant writer. I like all his books.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- kedward
  Posted on September 27, 2011 at 11:16am
  I agree. Bladerunner, from “Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep?” is probably the best movie inspired by a science fiction book.
  
  Report this comment
bigfatslob
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:34pm
I’d love to see a couple of adventures of ” Ghetto Rocket Scientists”, wouldn’t you ?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Bill Rowland
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:08pm
  That would be fun. What would they use for rocket fuel? Meth
  
  OMG – Psalm 109:8
  
  Report this comment
- Ron Paul is a NUT
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 8:46pm
  Maybe they could harvest methane from your mammy’s backside for fuel?
  
  Report this comment
- kenboo1
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 11:05pm
  OH no you didn’t jus bus out da momma jokes!!!!
  
  Report this comment
- Skee
  Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:47pm
  If we could find find scientists in the ghetto
  There are chemical engineering labs
  
  Report this comment
Eddie
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:29pm
May I quote the famous phrase insuring problems ahead and which has been uttered at some point by my fellow Tennessee and other Southern Rednecks….”Hey, watch this!”

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Bro Geo Too
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:55pm
  Wait a minute, Eddie, aren’t those usually what’s called “famous last words”?
  
  Report this comment
- 1casawizard
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 5:09pm
  I think it’s “Hold my beer and watch this.” signed Mike, from North Jawjah.
  
  Report this comment
- BurntHills
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 7:02pm
  definitely “hold my beer and watch this”‘ are the most famous last words
  
  Report this comment
georgeisn6
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:24pm
The only thing ever invented by a liberal was the tin cup, so his fellow liberals could have the means to invent a way to make a liveinp

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
texasfarmer
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:21pm
When the crap hits the fan I won’t have to worry about going to the store and picking up some wine.
A mason jar full of “rocket fuel” makes for a fine day.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- 1casawizard
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 5:28pm
  Pas me some rokit fuel …Pu…leeze.
  
  Report this comment
georgeisn6
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:20pm
I am offended; any one who advicate’s for red necks is by definition a RACIST, and I demand equil time on the program for offending blacks, and hispanics and gays and three legged gray hounds and chinese and one eyed rabits and so on; everone and ever thing should be treated equil;

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Bill Rowland
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:11pm
  Hey George are you sure you haven’t been into the rocket fuel?
  
  OMG – 109:8
  
  Report this comment
Baikonur
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:16pm
Cool story.

I was a little puzzled by this line: ‘It also features a camo-wearing family of rednecks littered with PhDs and advanced degrees in rocket science.’ Maybe we need to redefine ‘redneck’ :) A family where many people have advanced degrees in physics is not exactly ‘redneck.’

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- NRABIBLETHUMPER
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:53pm
  Exactly how do you define redneck?
  
  Report this comment
- TerryCSA
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:54pm
  Apparently YOUR definition of redneck is a misconception. But we rednecks know how to do things that are a little bit out of the box. and we have more fun doing them too. LOL
  
  Report this comment
- Blackhawk1
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:58pm
  Redneck is a chosen lifestyle and has nothing to do with education or income. You are used to seeing Rednecks depicted as hillbillies on TV.
  
  Report this comment
- 420 Patriot
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:06pm
  Jeff Foxworthy dfines it best. “If going to the bathroom in the middle of the night requires shoes and a flashlight…” Buy a CD and listen. Funny stuff.
  
  Report this comment
- Baikonur
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:16pm
  @Blackhawk1
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:58pm
  ‘You are used to seeing Rednecks depicted as hillbillies on TV.’
  *************
  What is the difference between a redneck and a hillbilly? I assume both refer to an uneducated rural person, with differences being geographic: hillbillies occupying the Appalachian Mountains and rednecks being more the deep south types.
  
  Report this comment
- desirefirst
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:16pm
  i’m amazed at how many people here fail to know the original base meaning of redneck is farmer
  
  Report this comment
- Blackhawk1
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:09pm
  Here are some of the differences I found.
  
  A redneck wears a gigantic, shiny belt buckle. A hillbilly wears a gigantic, rusty belt buckle. A redneck has the buckle on a belt while a hillbilly might have it hanging from the rope he’s using as a belt.
  
  A redneck favors trailers for homes. So do hillbillies, except a hillbilly trailer won’t have skirting around it. Makes it too hard for the dogs to get under when it rains.
  
  Both favor beer but a redneck prefers cans over bottles. A hillbilly is concerned only about the price.
  
  A redneck might marry his cousin but not his sister. A hillbilly might marry his sister although he might not know it until the junior cretin is born.
  
  A redneck usually has at least half of his teeth or a partial plate. A hillbilly may not have any teeth, including a partial. He does carry his last tooth around his neck, on a string.
  
  The main difference between a redneck car and a hillbilly car is the amount of time spent up on blocks.
  
  Rednecks stick to comic books. Hillbillies look at only pictures, including naked women, although he doesn’t believe women look like that in real life.
  
  Report this comment
TomFerrari
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:31pm
Give a redneck a beer can and a used tire, and he can make you anything you want!

THIS IS AMERICAN INGENUITY at work !

“Rednecks” grew up, having to make do, to improvise, or to do without. So, when necessity arose, they are equipped to find a solution! (Necessity is the mother of invention)

This is the real reason for used vehicles being on blocks around people’s homes…
They know that there are many good parts on the old vehicle, even if it does not run. Growing up poor, you don’t throw away anything. A used hubcap can become a bbq grill. NOTE: The wheels and tires were already used on another vehicle.

Way to go, “redneck rocket scientists!”

It’s not just the Haa-vaad intellectual elite that are intelligent, in spite of what THEY may think or say.

SPEAKING PERSONALLY:
I’M KENTUCKY BORN AND BRED.
Born in the Appalachians;
educated in public schools;
graduate of 2 universities; (1st generation even to attend college)
a commercial pilot;
can write software/program in 10 languages;
and I’m also a polyglot.
And there are millions more examples of bright, successful, educated “rednecks.”
.
.
.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- MHP
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:04pm
  Us Rednecks and hillbillies are smarter than city fellers.
  Got that encinom? You wouldn’t know how to improvise.
  We do it all the time.
  Sometimes we call it N******r rig it
  
  Report this comment
- 1casawizard
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 5:53pm
  Lemme tellya something Mister tomferrari, you sound like my brother. He can speak fluently three lingos other than english, while I’m still trying to learn one. He can point to the hood of any one of his three Mercedes and tell you, “I think the engines in there.” While I can tear down, rebuild, tweak to better performance, MPG, looks, you name it. I can do alot but my youngest son is jealous. Jealous because I’m gonna graduate high school two years before him.
  
  Report this comment
- RockyMountainPride
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 8:05pm
  And sometimes people call MHP .. trolls. You’re no redneck. Probably still living in you mom’s basement playing W.O.W. .. Yip. I nailed it.
  
  Report this comment
- mrbuff1959
  Posted on September 28, 2011 at 1:00am
  Need exter room com on down to centeral texas.Wealways have room for smart people.
  
  Report this comment
- KYHighlander
  Posted on September 28, 2011 at 1:11am
  Polyglot? I thought all them was in Utah not Kentucky. I live in Kentucky and never met a polyglot. LOL
  
  Report this comment
- MBOL
  Posted on September 28, 2011 at 9:40pm
  What in tarnations is a polyglot?
  sounds more city to me…..hmmmm.
  and “THIS IS AMERICAN INGENUITY at work !” should say something like Southern enginuity..
  
  Report this comment
- TomFerrari
  Posted on October 2, 2011 at 10:10pm
  @MrBuff – I just DID – I’m in Southlake now! Where are you? (I can be found via twitter & facebook)
  
  @KyHighLander – You in East Ky?
  
  @MBOL – “polyglot” – one who glots too much. LOL It was meant as a joke – I do speak multiple languages – just none too well. LOL
  
  @1casawizard – We’re in agreement. I’m STANDING UP for “rednecks” and consider myself one. I just happen to be one of the ones that did well in school. Even without the schooling, we fare better than others because we are resourceful, and we do it for ourselves! I’m jealous of you too! I USED TO be able to overhaul an engine… but, those days are LOOOONG gone! With all the electronics and such, I don’t even TRY! Every time I have a problem now, they tell me I’d have to buy a computer to “diagnose” it – can’t I just change the spark plugs? Or replace the CV joints? Early congrats on graduation, bud!!!
  
  Report this comment
sWampy
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:27pm
Love how the yankees that have never produced anything make fun of the south, where all the great inventions of the 20th century, the only great US literature, and 90% of the beautiful women come from.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Baikonur
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:21pm
  @sWampy
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:27pm
  ‘Love how the yankees that have never produced anything make fun of the south, where all the great inventions of the 20th century, the only great US literature,…’
  **************
  Agreed about great America writers coming from the South, but if you read any great Souther writers like Faulkner, Williams, O’Connor, Chopin you know that they are writing about the suffocating hypocrisy, cruelty and constriction of life in the South. They may be Southern writers, but their writing is about how horrible life there is.
  
  Report this comment
- HurricaneTim
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:02pm
  @Baikonur, I do believe they were FICTION writers weren’t they?
  
  Report this comment
- Baikonur
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:19pm
  @HurricaneTim
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:02pm
  ‘Baikonur, I do believe they were FICTION writers weren’t they?’
  *************
  Yes, in the Realist tradition.
  
  Report this comment
- 1casawizard
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 6:08pm
  Remember Swampy, our greatest invent. That is the cotton gin. You can make alcohol from anything that spoils.
  
  Report this comment
Indymaverick
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:23pm
Can`t wait to see the show.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
kickagrandma
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:22pm
Now, that was fun!

And, I’m “just a girl!”

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Dustyluv
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:21pm
Wow drownded blowed up rednecks…Obama should love this.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- 1casawizard
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 6:14pm
  Well, He’s invited to join the party.
  
  Report this comment
Plan B
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:19pm
Thanks for the laughs Blaze! Needed something light on a Monday!!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
RodT82721
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:14pm
Cody on Dual Survivors, they guy that only wears shorts and no shoes, no matter where he goes, built a still out of an old tin can and a piece of copper tubing he found.
He used pine pitch to plug his holes. He was just making potable water to drink, and it worked. So this is not a new idea, compared to a couple of PhDs with all a Hardware store building a still!

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Samsss
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:41pm
  Did you by any chance TASTE the water he produced – or do you know what pine pitch is? If he drank that water, he spent some time hiding in the woods for sure. Also, he got rid of any “bowel” worms he may have had.
  PawPawSam
  
  Report this comment
wkw58
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:12pm
….only in America.

Gotta love it.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:12pm
Ironman suit test, Ha! This looks funny.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
onegodinkansas
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 12:54pm
stupid Obama.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- IvanK
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:10pm
  Now that Obama has KILLED the space program [Yes our MIC (marxist in chief) killed the greatest scientific program in the world], these folks have to do something other than collect unemployment and food stamps.
  
  Report this comment
- REALID 239823749828-HIF
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:27pm
  @IVANK
  
  Come now, you don’t really believe that Obama or anyone else actually shut down our space program do you? I appreciate your sentiment, I like to blame Obama for everything too, but think about it for a minute.
  
  The first space shuttle lauch was on Apr 12, 1981, and clearly there was research and development time well before that. The shuttle program was at *least* 35 year old technology when it was shut down. Surely in the last 35 years NASA/JPL/USAF has come up with something that’s better than the shuttle program in every way. I’m not saying either one of these exist, but look up SR-75 and the TR-3B as a couple of potential examples. I guarantee you we can still get into orbit. We’ll still hitch a ride with the Russians every now and then to keep up appearances, but we can still get there ourselves. I mean, how else are we going to get top secret satellites into orbit? :D
  
  Report this comment
normbal
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 12:53pm
Small problem with that. Since George Washington declared war on home distillers (see “whisky rebellion”) alcohol distillation has been severely restricted and regulated in the US. I do hope they have the appropriate ATF-approved license for their still. There was a program on cable last year about a survivalist-oriented family in Pennsylvania and they did something similar. Although the fines are smaller, manufacturing alcohol this way is a federal offense much like manufacturing one’s own machine guns but very selectively prosecuted so far. Just saying.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Wringeaux
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 12:51pm
I like the lawnmower races.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
nannyatnannydotgov
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 12:46pm
Just goes to show you, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
gmoneytx
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 12:40pm
Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about, this will be something on TV worth watching…BTW, can we get Obama in that sub they built and give him a try at it?!?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
NuffSaid
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 12:38pm
Can you reach Washington DC from Huntsville?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Le Sellers
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 1:44pm
  Of course you can. You can reach Washington City from Kenya.
  
  Report this comment
- OhioRifleman
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:28pm
  @ Le Salle
  
  Washington can be reached from anywhere on the planet. The question is, how much are you willing to pay for a puppet to get in there for you?
  
  Report this comment
- bikerr
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:22pm
  Sure you can ………………………”We’re the country that built the Intercontinental Railroad,” Barack Obama.
  
  Report this comment
- 1casawizard
  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 6:57pm
  I’m sure the Saturn 5 can reach with NO PROBLEM, Sir.
  
  Report this comment
DrFrost
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 12:36pm
Inside every grown man is a 12 year old dying to get out and no amount of education is going to change that.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Rickfromillinois
Posted on September 26, 2011 at 12:33pm
Travis Taylor who is on the show is also a successful SciFi author.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.