51-471: The Delta-K was an American rocket stage , developed by McDonnell Douglas and Aerojet. It was first used on 27 August 1989 as the second stage for the Delta 4000 series. It continued to serve as the second stage for subsequent variants of the Delta rocket . It was propelled by a single AJ10-118K rocket engine, fueled by Aerozine 50 and dinitrogen tetroxide , which are hypergolic . The Delta-K had
102-464: A rocket if it is unguided. Anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles use rocket engines to engage targets at high speed at a range of several miles, while intercontinental ballistic missiles can be used to deliver multiple nuclear warheads from thousands of miles, and anti-ballistic missiles try to stop them. Rockets have also been tested for reconnaissance , such as the Ping-Pong rocket , which
153-420: A multi-stage rocket , and also pioneered the concept of a rocket launch pad (a rocket standing upright against a tall building before launch having been slowly rolled into place) and the rocket-launch countdown clock. The Guardian film critic Stephen Armstrong states Lang "created the rocket industry". Lang was inspired by the 1923 book The Rocket into Interplanetary Space by Hermann Oberth, who became
204-565: A nozzle . They may also have one or more rocket engines , directional stabilization device(s) (such as fins , vernier engines or engine gimbals for thrust vectoring , gyroscopes ) and a structure (typically monocoque ) to hold these components together. Rockets intended for high speed atmospheric use also have an aerodynamic fairing such as a nose cone , which usually holds the payload. As well as these components, rockets can have any number of other components, such as wings ( rocketplanes ), parachutes , wheels ( rocket cars ), even, in
255-399: A rocket engine in the form of a fluid jet to produce thrust . For chemical rockets often the propellants are a fuel such as liquid hydrogen or kerosene burned with an oxidizer such as liquid oxygen or nitric acid to produce large volumes of very hot gas. The oxidiser is either kept separate and mixed in the combustion chamber, or comes premixed, as with solid rockets. Sometimes
306-475: A vehicle may usefully employ for propulsion, such as in space. In these circumstances, it is necessary to carry all the propellant to be used. However, they are also useful in other situations: Some military weapons use rockets to propel warheads to their targets. A rocket and its payload together are generally referred to as a missile when the weapon has a guidance system (not all missiles use rocket engines, some use other engines such as jets ) or as
357-773: A body of theory that has provided the foundation for subsequent spaceflight development. The British Royal Flying Corps designed a guided rocket during World War I . Archibald Low stated "...in 1917 the Experimental Works designed an electrically steered rocket… Rocket experiments were conducted under my own patents with the help of Cdr. Brock ." The patent "Improvements in Rockets" was raised in July 1918 but not published until February 1923 for security reasons. Firing and guidance controls could be either wire or wireless. The propulsion and guidance rocket eflux emerged from
408-415: A cardboard tube filled with black powder , but to make an efficient, accurate rocket or missile involves overcoming a number of difficult problems. The main difficulties include cooling the combustion chamber, pumping the fuel (in the case of a liquid fuel), and controlling and correcting the direction of motion. Rockets consist of a propellant , a place to put propellant (such as a propellant tank ), and
459-432: A chemical reaction is initiated between the fuel and the oxidizer in the combustion chamber, and the resultant hot gases accelerate out of a rocket engine nozzle (or nozzles ) at the rearward-facing end of the rocket. The acceleration of these gases through the engine exerts force ("thrust") on the combustion chamber and nozzle, propelling the vehicle (according to Newton's Third Law ). This actually happens because
510-499: A decomposing monopropellant ) that emit a hot exhaust gas . A rocket engine can use gas propellants, solid propellant , liquid propellant , or a hybrid mixture of both solid and liquid . Some rockets use heat or pressure that is supplied from a source other than the chemical reaction of propellant(s), such as steam rockets , solar thermal rockets , nuclear thermal rocket engines or simple pressurized rockets such as water rocket or cold gas thrusters . With combustive propellants
561-530: A failed launch. A successful escape of a crewed capsule occurred when Soyuz T-10 , on a mission to the Salyut 7 space station , exploded on the pad. Solid rocket propelled ejection seats are used in many military aircraft to propel crew away to safety from a vehicle when flight control is lost. A model rocket is a small rocket designed to reach low altitudes (e.g., 100–500 m (330–1,640 ft) for 30 g (1.1 oz) model) and be recovered by
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#1732779790658612-435: A fixed location on the ground, but would also be possible from an aircraft or ship. Rocket launch technologies include the entire set of systems needed to successfully launch a vehicle, not just the vehicle itself, but also the firing control systems , mission control center , launch pad , ground stations , and tracking stations needed for a successful launch or recovery or both. These are often collectively referred to as
663-561: A high pressure combustion chamber . These nozzles turn the hot gas from the combustion chamber into a cooler, hypersonic , highly directed jet of gas, more than doubling the thrust and raising the engine efficiency from 2% to 64%. His use of liquid propellants instead of gunpowder greatly lowered the weight and increased the effectiveness of rockets. In 1921, the Soviet research and development laboratory Gas Dynamics Laboratory began developing solid-propellant rockets , which resulted in
714-691: A long heritage to the first Able stage used in Project Vanguard . The AJ-10 engine was first used in the Able second stage of the Vanguard rocket , as the AJ10-118 configuration. It was initially fueled by nitric acid and UDMH . An AJ10 engine was first fired in flight during the third Vanguard launch, on 17 March 1958, which successfully placed the Vanguard 1 satellite into orbit. As of 25 May 2008, 138 have been launched, and excluding one which
765-543: A pointed tip traveling at high speeds, model rocketry historically has proven to be a very safe hobby and has been credited as a significant source of inspiration for children who eventually become scientists and engineers . Hobbyists build and fly a wide variety of model rockets. Many companies produce model rocket kits and parts but due to their inherent simplicity some hobbyists have been known to make rockets out of almost anything. Rockets are also used in some types of consumer and professional fireworks . A water rocket
816-614: A rail at extremely high speed. The world record for this is Mach 8.5. Larger rockets are normally launched from a launch pad that provides stable support until a few seconds after ignition. Due to their high exhaust velocity—2,500 to 4,500 m/s (9,000 to 16,200 km/h; 5,600 to 10,100 mph)—rockets are particularly useful when very high speeds are required, such as orbital speed at approximately 7,800 m/s (28,000 km/h; 17,000 mph). Spacecraft delivered into orbital trajectories become artificial satellites , which are used for many commercial purposes. Indeed, rockets remain
867-693: A reference to 1264, recording that the "ground-rat", a type of firework , had frightened the Empress-Mother Gongsheng at a feast held in her honor by her son the Emperor Lizong . Subsequently, rockets are included in the military treatise Huolongjing , also known as the Fire Drake Manual, written by the Chinese artillery officer Jiao Yu in the mid-14th century. This text mentions the first known multistage rocket ,
918-504: A sense, a person ( rocket belt ). Vehicles frequently possess navigation systems and guidance systems that typically use satellite navigation and inertial navigation systems . Rocket engines employ the principle of jet propulsion . The rocket engines powering rockets come in a great variety of different types; a comprehensive list can be found in the main article, Rocket engine . Most current rockets are chemically powered rockets (usually internal combustion engines , but some employ
969-454: A solid combination of fuel with oxidizer ( solid fuel ), or solid fuel with liquid or gaseous oxidizer ( hybrid propellant system ). Chemical rockets store a large amount of energy in an easily released form, and can be very dangerous. However, careful design, testing, construction and use minimizes risks. In China, gunpowder -powered rockets evolved in medieval China under the Song dynasty by
1020-724: A variety of means. According to the United States National Association of Rocketry (nar) Safety Code, model rockets are constructed of paper, wood, plastic and other lightweight materials. The code also provides guidelines for motor use, launch site selection, launch methods, launcher placement, recovery system design and deployment and more. Since the early 1960s, a copy of the Model Rocket Safety Code has been provided with most model rocket kits and motors. Despite its inherent association with extremely flammable substances and objects with
1071-407: Is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air . A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely from propellant carried within the vehicle; therefore a rocket can fly in the vacuum of space. Rockets work more efficiently in a vacuum and incur a loss of thrust due to the opposing pressure of
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#17327797906581122-416: Is a type of model rocket using water as its reaction mass. The pressure vessel (the engine of the rocket) is usually a used plastic soft drink bottle. The water is forced out by a pressurized gas, typically compressed air. It is an example of Newton's third law of motion. The scale of amateur rocketry can range from a small rocket launched in one's own backyard to a rocket that reached space. Amateur rocketry
1173-406: Is less necessary, a pressurised fluid is used as propellant that simply escapes the spacecraft through a propelling nozzle. The first liquid-fuel rocket , constructed by Robert H. Goddard , differed significantly from modern rockets. The rocket engine was at the top and the fuel tank at the bottom of the rocket, based on Goddard's belief that the rocket would achieve stability by "hanging" from
1224-558: Is split into three categories according to total engine impulse : low-power, mid-power, and high-power . Hydrogen peroxide rockets are used to power jet packs , and have been used to power cars and a rocket car holds the all time (albeit unofficial) drag racing record. Corpulent Stump is the most powerful non-commercial rocket ever launched on an Aerotech engine in the United Kingdom. Launches for orbital spaceflights , or into interplanetary space , are usually from
1275-496: The 'fire-dragon issuing from the water' (Huo long chu shui), thought to have been used by the Chinese navy. Medieval and early modern rockets were used militarily as incendiary weapons in sieges . Between 1270 and 1280, Hasan al-Rammah wrote al-furusiyyah wa al-manasib al-harbiyya ( The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices ), which included 107 gunpowder recipes, 22 of them for rockets. In Europe, Roger Bacon mentioned firecrackers made in various parts of
1326-616: The Italian rocchetta , meaning "bobbin" or "little spindle", given due to the similarity in shape to the bobbin or spool used to hold the thread from a spinning wheel. Leonhard Fronsperger and Conrad Haas adopted the Italian term into German in the mid-16th century; "rocket" appears in English by the early 17th century. Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima , an important early modern work on rocket artillery , by Casimir Siemienowicz ,
1377-557: The Saturn V and Soyuz , have launch escape systems . This is a small, usually solid rocket that is capable of pulling the crewed capsule away from the main vehicle towards safety at a moments notice. These types of systems have been operated several times, both in testing and in flight, and operated correctly each time. This was the case when the Safety Assurance System (Soviet nomenclature) successfully pulled away
1428-569: The 13th century. They also developed an early form of multiple rocket launcher during this time. The Mongols adopted Chinese rocket technology and the invention spread via the Mongol invasions to the Middle East and to Europe in the mid-13th century. According to Joseph Needham, the Song navy used rockets in a military exercise dated to 1245. Internal-combustion rocket propulsion is mentioned in
1479-572: The Congreve rocket in 1865. William Leitch first proposed the concept of using rockets to enable human spaceflight in 1861. Leitch's rocket spaceflight description was first provided in his 1861 essay "A Journey Through Space", which was later published in his book God's Glory in the Heavens (1862). Konstantin Tsiolkovsky later (in 1903) also conceived this idea, and extensively developed
1530-571: The L3 capsule during three of the four failed launches of the Soviet Moon rocket, N1 vehicles 3L, 5L and 7L . In all three cases the capsule, albeit uncrewed, was saved from destruction. Only the three aforementioned N1 rockets had functional Safety Assurance Systems. The outstanding vehicle, 6L , had dummy upper stages and therefore no escape system giving the N1 booster a 100% success rate for egress from
1581-634: The Soviet Katyusha rocket in the artillery role, and the American anti tank bazooka projectile. These used solid chemical propellants. The Americans captured a large number of German rocket scientists , including Wernher von Braun, in 1945, and brought them to the United States as part of Operation Paperclip . After World War II scientists used rockets to study high-altitude conditions, by radio telemetry of temperature and pressure of
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1632-779: The Soviet Union ( Vostok , Soyuz , Proton ) and in the United States (e.g. the X-15 ). Rockets came into use for space exploration . American crewed programs ( Project Mercury , Project Gemini and later the Apollo programme ) culminated in 1969 with the first crewed landing on the Moon – using equipment launched by the Saturn V rocket. Rocket vehicles are often constructed in the archetypal tall thin "rocket" shape that takes off vertically, but there are actually many different types of rockets including: A rocket design can be as simple as
1683-689: The atmosphere, detection of cosmic rays , and further techniques; note too the Bell X-1 , the first crewed vehicle to break the sound barrier (1947). Independently, in the Soviet Union's space program research continued under the leadership of the chief designer Sergei Korolev (1907–1966). During the Cold War rockets became extremely important militarily with the development of modern intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The 1960s saw rapid development of rocket technology, particularly in
1734-419: The atmosphere. Multistage rockets are capable of attaining escape velocity from Earth and therefore can achieve unlimited maximum altitude. Compared with airbreathing engines , rockets are lightweight and powerful and capable of generating large accelerations . To control their flight, rockets rely on momentum , airfoils , auxiliary reaction engines , gimballed thrust , momentum wheels , deflection of
1785-410: The deflecting cowl at the nose. In 1920, Professor Robert Goddard of Clark University published proposed improvements to rocket technology in A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes . In 1923, Hermann Oberth (1894–1989) published Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen ( The Rocket into Planetary Space ). Modern rockets originated in 1926 when Goddard attached a supersonic ( de Laval ) nozzle to
1836-463: The dynamics of rocket propulsion is due to William Moore (1813). In 1814, Congreve published a book in which he discussed the use of multiple rocket launching apparatus. In 1815 Alexander Dmitrievich Zasyadko constructed rocket-launching platforms, which allowed rockets to be fired in salvos (6 rockets at a time), and gun-laying devices. William Hale in 1844 greatly increased the accuracy of rocket artillery. Edward Mounier Boxer further improved
1887-425: The engine like a pendulum in flight. However, the rocket veered off course and crashed 184 feet (56 m) away from the launch site , indicating that the rocket was no more stable than one with the rocket engine at the base. Rockets or other similar reaction devices carrying their own propellant must be used when there is no other substance (land, water, or air) or force ( gravity , magnetism , light ) that
1938-609: The exhaust stream , propellant flow, spin , or gravity . Rockets for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th-century China . Significant scientific, interplanetary and industrial use did not occur until the 20th century, when rocketry was the enabling technology for the Space Age , including setting foot on the Moon . Rockets are now used for fireworks , missiles and other weaponry , ejection seats , launch vehicles for artificial satellites , human spaceflight , and space exploration . Chemical rockets are
1989-698: The film's scientific adviser and later an important figure in the team that developed the V-2 rocket. The film was thought to be so realistic that it was banned by the Nazis when they came to power for fear it would reveal secrets about the V-2 rockets. In 1943 production of the V-2 rocket began in Germany. It was designed by the Peenemünde Army Research Center with Wernher von Braun serving as
2040-460: The first launch in 1928, which flew for approximately 1,300 metres. These rockets were used in 1931 for the world's first successful use of rockets for jet-assisted takeoff of aircraft and became the prototypes for the Katyusha rocket launcher , which were used during World War II . In 1929, Fritz Lang 's German science fiction film Woman in the Moon was released. It showcased the use of
2091-410: The force (pressure times area) on the combustion chamber wall is unbalanced by the nozzle opening; this is not the case in any other direction. The shape of the nozzle also generates force by directing the exhaust gas along the axis of the rocket. Rocket propellant is mass that is stored, usually in some form of propellant tank or casing, prior to being used as the propulsive mass that is ejected from
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2142-482: The most common type of high power rocket, typically creating a high speed exhaust by the combustion of fuel with an oxidizer . The stored propellant can be a simple pressurized gas or a single liquid fuel that disassociates in the presence of a catalyst ( monopropellant ), two liquids that spontaneously react on contact ( hypergolic propellants ), two liquids that must be ignited to react (like kerosene (RP1) and liquid oxygen, used in most liquid-propellant rockets ),
2193-479: The only way to launch spacecraft into orbit and beyond. They are also used to rapidly accelerate spacecraft when they change orbits or de-orbit for landing . Also, a rocket may be used to soften a hard parachute landing immediately before touchdown (see retrorocket ). Rockets were used to propel a line to a stricken ship so that a Breeches buoy can be used to rescue those on board. Rockets are also used to launch emergency flares . Some crewed rockets, notably
2244-470: The propellant is not burned but still undergoes a chemical reaction, and can be a 'monopropellant' such as hydrazine , nitrous oxide or hydrogen peroxide that can be catalytically decomposed to hot gas. Alternatively, an inert propellant can be used that can be externally heated, such as in steam rocket , solar thermal rocket or nuclear thermal rockets . For smaller, low performance rockets such as attitude control thrusters where high performance
2295-549: The technical director. The V-2 became the first artificial object to travel into space by crossing the Kármán line with the vertical launch of MW 18014 on 20 June 1944. Doug Millard, space historian and curator of space technology at the Science Museum, London , where a V-2 is exhibited in the main exhibition hall, states: "The V-2 was a quantum leap of technological change. We got to the Moon using V-2 technology but this
2346-519: The world in the Opus Majus of 1267. Between 1280 and 1300, the Liber Ignium gave instructions for constructing devices that are similar to firecrackers based on second hand accounts. Konrad Kyeser described rockets in his military treatise Bellifortis around 1405. Giovanni Fontana , a Paduan engineer in 1420, created rocket-propelled animal figures. The name "rocket" comes from
2397-575: Was destroyed by the explosion of a lower stage, none have failed. The Delta-K was used as the second stage of the Delta II rocket from 1989 to 2018. This second stage was retired at conclusion of the ICESat-2 launch on 15 September 2018. This rocketry article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Rocket A rocket (from Italian : rocchetto , lit. ''bobbin/spool'', and so named for its shape)
2448-535: Was fielded in the Napoleonic Wars . It was Congreve rockets to which Francis Scott Key was referring, when he wrote of the "rockets' red glare" while held captive on a British ship that was laying siege to Fort McHenry in 1814. Together, the Mysorean and British innovations increased the effective range of military rockets from 100 to 2,000 yards (91 to 1,829 m). The first mathematical treatment of
2499-531: Was first printed in Amsterdam in 1650. The Mysorean rockets were the first successful iron-cased rockets, developed in the late 18th century in the Kingdom of Mysore (part of present-day India) under the rule of Hyder Ali . The Congreve rocket was a British weapon designed and developed by Sir William Congreve in 1804. This rocket was based directly on the Mysorean rockets, used compressed powder and
2550-498: Was launched to surveil enemy targets, however, recon rockets have never come into wide use in the military. Sounding rockets are commonly used to carry instruments that take readings from 50 kilometers (31 mi) to 1,500 kilometers (930 mi) above the surface of the Earth. The first images of Earth from space were obtained from a V-2 rocket in 1946 ( flight #13 ). Rocket engines are also used to propel rocket sleds along
2601-645: Was technology that was developed with massive resources, including some particularly grim ones. The V-2 programme was hugely expensive in terms of lives, with the Nazis using slave labour to manufacture these rockets". In parallel with the German guided-missile programme, rockets were also used on aircraft , either for assisting horizontal take-off ( RATO ), vertical take-off ( Bachem Ba 349 "Natter") or for powering them ( Me 163 , see list of World War II guided missiles of Germany ). The Allies' rocket programs were less technological, relying mostly on unguided missiles like
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