This presentation will give a brief description of rocket principles.

ROCKET PRINCIPLES Newton’s First Law: Objects at rest will stay at rest or objects in motion traveling in a straight line will stay in a straight line unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. ROCKET PRINCIPLES There are a few principles that need to be understood before designing a rocket. They are Newton's Three Laws of motion. Objects at rest will stay at rest or objects in motion in straight line unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This is a pretty simple and straight forward fact. Make sure you keep it in a relative aspect.

ROCKET PRINCIPLES Newton’s Second Law: Force is equal to mass times acceleration. F = MA ROCKET PRINCIPLES Force is equal to mass times acceleration. This is pretty much a statement of a mathematical equation. WRITE-- f = ma

ROCKET PRINCIPLES Newton’s Third Law: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. ROCKET PRINCIPLES Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. A rocket can lift off of a launch pad only after it has expelled gas from its engine. That gas in turn pushes the rocket. The gas being expelled is the opposite reaction of the rocket leaving the launch pad.

ROCKET PRINCIPLES An unbalanced force must be exerted for a rocket to lift.-1st Law The amount of thrust will be determined by the mass of rocket propellant burned. – 2nd Law The motion of the rocket is opposite to the thrust from the engine. – 3rd Law ROCKET PRINCIPLES What do all of these mean to rocket propulsion? An unbalanced force must be exerted for a rocket to lift.-1st Law The amount of thrust will be determined by the mass of rocket propellant burned – 2nd Law The motion of the rocket is opposite to the thrust from the engine – 3rd Law

PROPULSION SYSTEMS There are two basic types: Solid Rockets Liquid Rockets Rockets are the only engines that produce enough energy to escape the earth is a rocket. They are also the only engine that carries al of it’s need components to operate. PROPULSION SYSTEMS There are two major types of Rocket Engines (or propulsion systems). What are they? Solid Rockets Liquid Rockets We’ll deal with the Solid Rockets first, but a couple of major points about fuels first (Write on board) Propellant – Fuel plus an oxidizer that when ignited produces rapidly expanding gases that propel a rocket. Oxidizer – Agent used to support the combustion of a rocket propellant NOTE – In order for propellant to burn, oxygen must be present. In space, there is no oxygen.

PROPELLANT A propellant is a mixture of fuel and oxidizer. It is what allows a rocket to fly in space. Rockets are the only engines that produce enough energy to escape the earth is a rocket. They are also the only engine that carries al of it’s need components to operate. PROPULSION SYSTEMS There are two major types of Rocket Engines (or propulsion systems). What are they? Solid Rockets Liquid Rockets We’ll deal with the Solid Rockets first, but a couple of major points about fuels first (Write on board) Propellant – Fuel plus an oxidizer that when ignited produces rapidly expanding gases that propel a rocket. Oxidizer – Agent used to support the combustion of a rocket propellant NOTE – In order for propellant to burn, oxygen must be present. In space, there is no oxygen.

THRUST The "strength" of a rocket engine is called its thrust. Thrust is measured in "pounds of thrust" in the U.S. and in Newtons under the metric system 4.45 Newtons of thrust equals 1 pound of thrust. PROPELLANT DESIGN (Refer to student handout) End Burning – Slowest burning, ignited close to the nozzle, minimum surface area, lower thrust over longer time period. Internal-burning – More thrust because of larger surface area, faster burning Star Shaped Internal – fastest burning, but the most thrust.

THRUST

History of Rockets

Hero Engine Archytas – Wooden Pigeon Hero 0f Alexandria - Aeolipile

Chinese Fire Arrows First Century A.D. 1232 – Kai-King Battle

13th to 15th Centuries Roger Bacon Jean Froissart Joanes de Fontana

Chinese Legend – Wan Hu Rocket-powered flying chair

Rocketry Becomes a Science Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Newton’s Laws of Motion

Rocketry Becomes a Science Colonel William Congreve Congreve Rockets – War of 1812

Rocketry Becomes a Science Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) The Star-Spangled Banner

Pioneers of Modern Rocketry Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935)

Pioneers of Modern Rocketry Dr. Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945) The Father of Modern Rocketry

Pioneers of Modern Rocketry Hermann Oberth (1894-1989) The Rocket Into Planetary Space -1923

German Rocket Scientists and the V-2 World War II

Pioneers of Modern Rocketry Dr. Wernher von Braun (1912-1977)