3. Operating Principal
Newton’s third law of motion:
“For every action there is an equal
and opposite reaction.”
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other
vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine.
In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from
propellants carried within the rocket before use.
Rocket engines work by action and reaction. Rocket
engines push rockets forwards simply by throwing
their exhaust backwards extremely fast.
4. Liquid Fueled Rocket - Operating Principal
Thrust: amount depends on mass flow through
engine and exit velocity of gas
5. Solid Fuel Rocket - Operating Principal
• Fuel and oxidizer packed together in solid cylinder
• Will not burn until heat is applied (store easily)
• Bad News – Once ignited, cannot be “un-ignited”
7. History
• 1st century A.D. fireworks
• 1232 first use as weapon of war
• 13th - 15th centuries much experimenting and improving
less use as weapons
• 16th century step rocket
Newton’s laws of motion
• 1720 steam-propelled model car
• 18th- 19th centuries weapons revival
9. “And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”
- Francis Scott Key
Written after witnessing the bombardment
by rockets of Fort McHenry by the British
Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay
during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the
War of 1812.
10. History - Modern Rocketry
• 1898 Space exploration by rocket
proposed by writers
11. • Early 20th century Goddard’s experiments
liquid-propelled rockets
13. 1941 - 1945 German build first
large-scale rockets
during World War
14. 1945 - Today Development of
guided rockets
continues…..
15. Spaceflight Begins
• October 4, 1957 Sputnik I
• January 31, 1958 Explorer I
• April 12, 1961 Gagarin first man to orbit
Earth
• February 20, 1962 John Glenn first American to
orbit Earth
•
• …and the race was on!
•
• July 20, 1969 Moon landing
16. “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy,
but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our
energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are unwilling to postpone, and one
which we intend to win, and the others, too. “
President John F. Kennedy, 1962
http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/rocketry/04.html
In 1232 AD the Chinese used rockets against the Mongols who were besieging the city of Kai-fung-fu. An arrow
with a tube of gunpowder produced an arrow of flying fire. (Reproduced from a painting by Charles Hubbell and
presented here courtesy of TRW Inc.and Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio)
http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/rocketry/34.html
The Army Ballistic Missile Agency incorporated the Von Braun team in key positions with Dr. Von Braun as
head of the Development Operations Division. On October 4, 1957, the nation was shocked when the Russians
launched Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. Two months later, the United States suffered disappointment
when a Navy Vanguard rocket, with its satellite payload, failed to develop sufficient thrust and toppled over on
the launch pad.
Name of Image:
Shepard Lifts Off
MIX #:
6414825
NIX #:
MSFC-00334
Date of Image:
5-May-61
Category:
Rockets
Full Description:
Astronaut Alan B, Shepard, Jr. lifts off in the
Freedom-7 Mercury spacecraft on May 5, 1961.
This third flight of the Mercury-Redstone (MR-3)
vehicle, developed by Dr. Wernher von Braun and
the rocket team in Huntsville, Alabama, was the
first manned space mission for the United States.
During the 15-minute suborbital flight, Shepard
reached an altitude of 115 miles and traveled 302
miles downrange.
(MRPO) MRD/SPD Discipline(s):
n/a
(MRPO) Subject Type:
n/a
Keywords:
History, Rockets, Freedom-7
MSFC Negative Number:
6414825
Reference Number:
0020H
(MRPO) Source Ref#:
n/a