Danny Jaques remembers the exact day he became a space nerd. It was May 15, 1963. He was five years old, sitting in the living room in front of the black-and-white TV in his family’s farmhouse near Ignacio, Colorado. Newscaster Walter Cronkite appeared on the screen as astronaut Gordon Cooper lifted off aboard Faith 7 on the last crewed mission of NASA's Mercury program. Over the next 34 hours, Cooper orbited the Earth 22 times and became the first American to spend more than a full day in space. For a five-year-old farm kid in Southwest Colorado, that day changed everything. Jaques still gets chills when he thinks about it. “I remember telling my dad, that's it, that’s what I want to do.” His father replied, “Well, you know, you can do anything you want to, Danny, as long as you're home to do your chores by 6 o'clock”, Jaques recalled.
From that day on, Jaques’s cosmic curiosity blasted off. He knew if he couldn’t become an astronaut, he would do everything possible to at least become astronaut-adjacent. That took the form of attaining a scholarship to attend Fort Lewis College, where he earned a degree in biology, and then becoming a middle school math and science teacher in Ignacio, a role he held for over three decades. “I told myself, if I can't be an astronaut, I'm going to give back to my community and become a science teacher. So that's what I did,” Jaques said. Every year, during the last quarter of school, Jaques's teaching was devoted to the subject dearest to his heart: space science. Students examined the history of the universe and space exploration, and immersed themselves in the mechanics of rocket building, some of which were launched from Jaques’s family property, eventually earning it the nickname "Rocket Ranch."
In 1992, the gravitational pull of outer space brought Jaques, his wife and two young daughters to Huntsville, Alabama, where Jaques toured the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, home to the Space Camp program. There, he met with staff and crew chiefs and witnessed, up close, the hands-on educational experience that is Space Camp, where participants train like astronauts and even participate in a mock-up space mission. Jaques remembers his time there fondly. “I was like a kid in a candy store,” he said. After his tour, he knew he had to bring kids here to experience it. The following year, thanks to scholarship assistance from a fellow teacher, Jaques chaperoned two lucky students attending Space Camp. Then, in the Fall of 1996, Jaques helped raise funds through raffles, candy sales, car washes, and other endeavors to send 56 students to Space Camp the following summer. They chartered a large bus and drove all 56 kids and chaperones to Huntsville. “It was magical,” Jaques recalled. So far, Jaques has helped 567 students attend Space Camp, earning him a place in the distinguished Space Camp Hall of Fame in 2010. For the camp participants, it's the ultimate space dream come true. Fifteen-year-old Space Camp attendee Estevan Medina remembers the highlight of his week there. “My favorite part at camp was making a rocket together with the other campers. I was proud my rocket was one that successfully launched,” he said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Despite success raising funds for scholarships, the money was always the most challenging part. Car washes and candy sales could only stretch so far. To close that gap, in 2018 Jaques began exploring a business idea that drew on another one of his passions: cooking. The first product was hiding in his own kitchen all along. It was a fresh salsa recipe he'd been perfecting for 40 years. Over nine months and 13 test batches, he reverse-engineered it into a dehydrated, "just add water" version, creating, as Jaques puts it, “the only one of its kind in the known universe.” The stars aligned and Danny's Rocket Ranch launched in August 2020 with a single salsa, Danny's Rocket Ranch Martian Spicy Original. The business has since grown to nearly 20 “space-certified” products, including five salsa flavors, the Marsarita Mix, and Alien Abduction Coffee, among others. All products are ideal for space travel or a more terrestrial earthbound camping trip. Ten percent of annual profits go to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Education Foundation for Space Camp scholarships.
For Jaques, however, the products he sells aren't the endgame so much as the engine. Ask him what motivates him to keep on going, and it isn't salsa. It’s the kids. And Jaques has no plans of slowing down. It’s his ultimate mission to endow scholarships for students in grades 4-12 to attend Space Camp in perpetuity and to continue inspiring kids to reach for the stars long after he’s gone. “It’s why I get up in the morning.”
For more information, visit www.dannysrocketranch.com
Want to fuel a future Explorer? Danny's Rocket Ranch space-certified salsas, coffees, and margarita mixes are available at dannysrocketranch.com, local retailers, and the Bayfield Farmers Market on Saturdays. Ten percent of profits fund Space Camp scholarships through the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation.
"Danny's Rocket Ranch Martian Spicy Original-The only one of its kind in the known universe."