Sci. 5-1 Rocket SciencePages 128-131

A. Rocket- a machine that uses escaping gas to move

B Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (Russian High School Teacher)- is considered the Father of Rocket Theory.

1) Tsiolkovsky explained how rockets work. He never built any rockets.

C. Robert Goddard (American Physicist) – known as the Father of Modern Rocketry

1) Goddard tested more than 150 rocket engines.

D. During WWII, German Wernher Von Braun designed the V-2 rocket for the German military.

1) In 1945, Von Braun and 127 of the best German rockets scientists surrendered to the Americans making the USA rocket research boom in 1950.

E. NASA- National Aeronautics and Space Administration was formed in 1958 because Americans feared that the Soviet Union would be superior in space.

1) NASA combined all the separate rocket development teams in the USA and developed a series of rockets.

F. Rockets work according to Newton’s Third Law of Motion- for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

G. Thrust- is the force that accelerates a rocket

H. Combustion- all rockets have combustion chambers where the hot gas is under very high pressure

I. The force of exiting gas out of the bottom of the rocket must be greater than the weight of the rocket if the rocket is going to move skyward.

J. Orbital Velocity- is the speed and direction a rocket must have in order to orbit the Earth

1) Lowest possible speed a rocket may go and still orbit Earth is about 8 km/s

2) If the rocket goes slower, it will fall back to Earth

K. Escape Velocity- the speed and direction a rocket must travel to completely break away from a planet’s gravitational pull (11km/s).

L. Oxygen must be present to burn a rocket’s fuel. Rockets must carry oxygen with them if traveling in space.