Why rockets?

I chose to learn more about rockets because I find them extremely fascinating. I've always had a passion for science and when I was younger I wanted to become an astronaut (who doesn't?). As a teacher, however, I don't see that same passion in my students when it comes to rocketry.
How do rockets fly? That's the question that comes to mind when I see videos of these huge contraptions taking off into outer space. To find the answer to this question I had to do a little research. I searched on Howstuffworks.com and read an interesting article about how rocket engines work. It turns out that my junior year of high school wasn't so useless because the foundation of rocket flight boils down to physics. If you know Newton's three laws of motion then you know how rockets fly. I also looked on the NASA website (NASA.gov) and found a lot of valuable information for students as well as for teachers who are interested in teaching this topic.
After learning this I started to wonder why our students are not as passionate about this topic as I once was. Could it be because rocketry and space travel was more talked about during my childhood? Maybe we don't emphasize science enough in our curriculum? Or could it be that rockets can't compete with all the technology these days? Whatever the answer is I am determined to find out.
In order to achieve this feat I plan to survey my students, look closer at our science curriculum and interview teachers in order to gather the data needed.
It's be stated in countless articles that the United States is producing less and less scientists each year while other countries flourish in this area. Could rocketry be a way to change this?
I'll have to find out.