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A rocket is a device that does not need atmospheric oxygen to burn its fuel, since it carries it’s own, either separately or in chemical combination with fuel. Rockets are propelled forward by gas or liquid being expelled backwards. Rockets work on a fundamental law of motion by Sir Isaac Newton that states, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This helps explain how rockets fly on earth and in space. For example, the rocket fuel is exploded in a controlled way so that the exhaust gas or liquid is sent streaming down out the rocket nozzle and causing the rocket to accelerate up. Rockets are usually shaped like an arrow, with long and slender bodies and fins at the bottom. This shape provides stability for flying straight, and with low air resistance for flying fast. The evolution of the rocket has made it an irreplaceable tool in the exploration of space. For centuries, the ancient Chinese has used rockets for ceremonial and warfare purposes. The Chinese were the first known people to use and make rockets. Wernher Von Braun made a big advancement in rocketry during WWII when he built a rocket that was powered by ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen. The rocket was called either A-4 or V2, and had a range of about 220 miles (350km), and a maximum height of about 162 miles (100km). This rocket was the main reason that the United States and Russia started the space exploration war.
A solid propellant rockets posses more advanced fuels, designs, and functions than the early rockets, as does the Liquid fueled. Yet solid propellant rockets remain in wide spread use today, as seen in rockets including the Space Shuttle dual booster engines and the Delta series booster stages. A solid propellant is a monopropellant fuel, which is a single mixture of several chemicals. This fuel is in its solid state and has a pre-formed or molded shape. The interior shape of the core is an important factor in determining a rocket's performance. Solid fueled rockets are relatively simple rockets. This is their chief advantage, but it also has its drawbacks. Once a solid rocket is ignited it will use up all of its fuel and cannot be shut off. Another disadvantage is the danger involved in the premixed fuels of monopropellant rockets. The Saturn V moon rocket used nearly 8 million pounds of thrust requiring a high specific impulse liquid propellant. Some of these rockets are small missiles such as Honest John and Nike Hercules; others are large ballistic missiles such as Polaris, Sergeant, and Vanguard. Liquid propellants may offer better performance, but the difficulties in propellant storage and handling of liquids near absolute zero (0 degrees Kelvin) has limited their use.
Liquid fueled rockets where first theorized by Tsiolkozski in 1896 when he first published "Investigation of Interplanetary Space by Means of Reactive Devices, ". Tsiolkozski’s idea was later realized when Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid fueled rocket. The liquid rocket engine was so complex that there is no doubt the builders of the liquid fueled rocket engine were highly intelligent. Liquid fueled rockets thrust the Russians and Americans deep into the space age with the mighty Energiya SL-17 and Saturn V rockets. As with conventional solid fuel rockets, liquid fueled rockets burn a fuel and an oxidizer. The distinction between the two is the liquid state of the fuel and the oxidizer. Liquid propellant rockets are the most powerful propulsion systems available. A real modern liquid bipropellant engine has thousands of piping connections carrying various cooling, fueling, or lubricating fluids. Given this myriad of parts, the chance of one integral function failing is large. Causing many rockets to be rated in terms of reliability. Nitric acid, a type of chemical in liquid propellant is hazardous in handling because the mixture with water produces a strong acid and produces harmful by-products in combustion with a fuel, so its use is limited.
Beginning of Rocketry Timeline
1957: Soviets launch Sputnik 1, 182lb broadcasted 21 days of data, and survived 57 days before the atmospheric drag destroyed it.
October 16 The first two American objects in space were aluminum pellets launched by the Air force.
1958: January 31 first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1 launched from Cape Canaveral at 10:45 pm. Bullet shaped 80 inches long, 6 inches in diameter.
March 17 Vanguard 1 was 3 ¼ lb and the smallest ever. It also had the largest orbit ever.
October 11 the lunar exploration, pioneer rocket was launched in an attempt to circle the moon but failed on October 12. It obtained a record altitude of 79,193 miles which was thirty times any previous man made object.
1959: February 17 Vanguard 2, 21.5 lb, was designed to function as a weather station and was launched at Cape Canaveral.
February 28 Discoverer 1 was the first in the discoverer military research satellite program and was launched from Vandenburg Air Force Base Cali.
April 13 Discoverer 2 launched from Vandenburg
August 7 Explorer 6 launched from Cape Canaveral. 142lb, called the paddle wheel because It had four vanes of solar cells, and was the first to be handled from start to finish by NASA.
Bibliography
http://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/adc/education/space_ex/index.html May 25, 2001
http://lasp.colorado.edu/rocket/eop/EOP_Rockets.html May 25, 2001
http://www.ohwy.com/al/u/ussproce.htm May 29, 2001
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