As someone who does it professionally. There is a very real risk being that close. We have shells that go up and don’t explode, we have hang fires where it doesn’t launch when it’s supposed to and then does when the smoldering paper finally touches the lift, and we have some that don’t reach apogee and explode at the wrong height.

It’s a thrill, I know. I love watching them launch and being that close. But it comes with some dangers.