A rocket is anything that obtains thrust from a rocket engine. Common types include solid-fuel and liquid rockets. They work on Newton's third law - every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
Rocket engines are the parts of the rockets that allows the rockets to obtain their thrust to allow them to lift up. They all require oxidiser as there is no oxygen for fuel to use to combust in space. The propellants are forced through the engine, and thanks to the igniter they light up and push the rocket. Solid-fuel rockets cannot be turned off, but they can be stored for years, useful for launching ICBMs.
The first rocket-like things were first made in China a millennium ago.. In 1926, a certain Robert Goddard created the hoop skirt rocket. The first so-called "proper" rocket was created by Werner Von Braun.
Space Race
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The United States was worried after Sputnik-1 was launched by the Soviets. As a result, they rushed their space program, obviously resulting in a rocket failure. This resulted in the formation of NASA by President Eisenhower, which absorbed the whole of the NACA, which experimented with rocket planes.
NASA managed to launch Explorer 1, the first American satellite on a Redstone rocket on to an eccentric orbit.
The Soviets then launched the first man, Yuri Gagarin, in space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Therefore, the US decided to do the same thing for obvious reasons.
After a speech by Kennedy, NASA had to develop the Saturn V, the most powerful rocket of its time to be able to make a crewed return mission from the moon.
The Soviets claimed that they were not planning to go to the moon, but they still created the N1 rocket. It failed due to its first stage containing 30 engines. The Soviets also had a bad economy and cannot afford the cost of the rocket. Its chief rocket engineers, Sergei Korolev, also died, and was replaced by someone who was inexperienced.
Reusable rockets
A problem the Apollo program faced was the cost of launching the rockets. It costed a lot of money to launch a rocket that could only be used one time. As a result of the cost and the fact that the space race ended, the Apollo program was cancelled.
NASA then created the Space Shuttle, a partially-reusable rocket with an orbiter-glider that was used to launch astronauts. It allowed the capture, maintenance and (re)launch of satellites.
The Soviets made the Buran, which is similar to the Space Shuttle but also had the capability to be uncrewed. The rocket used to help launch it could also have been launched on its own, allowing for the launch of superheavy payloads. It was better than the Space Shuttle, but was only launched once before the Soviet Union collapsed. It was destroyed when the hangar holding it collapsed. There is one left.
Modern rockets
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SpaceX's Falcon 9 is a partially-reusable rocket. Its first stage and fairings could be re-used and can even be used to send up to 4000kg of payload to Mars. It could also launch the Crew Dragon to the International Space Station. The Falcon Heavy is basically a Falcon 9 with extra boosters strapped to its side. It can send 16000kg to Mars.
The Atlas V is one of the most reliable rockets. It launched the rovers Curiosity, Opportunity and Perseverance and could be adapted to add on 0-6 solid rocket boosters placed in an asymmetrical configuration.
The Delta IV, however, is going to be retired soon. It is literally burned before launch to get rid of oxygen pockets that may end up damaging the engine. It uses hydrolox as its fuel.
The Long March rocket is China's rocket that can launch payloads to the moon. It launched the Chang'e 4 to the Moon. Its side boosters often drop onto villages as the rockets are launched inland, but villagers are often evacuated.
The Ariane 5 is a rocket operated by the European Space Agency. It is mainly used to launch satellites into a geostationary orbit from French Guiana.
Future rockets
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| By Forest Katsch - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=98004762 |
The Starship is the new SpaceX rocket. It is planned to be fully-reusable and is run on methane. It is planned to be a superheavy launcher that can launch up to 100 tons of payload.
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The Space Launch System is NASA's new Moon rocket. It is based on the Space Shuttle and is basically it with a new configuration. It is not reusable.
The Ariane 6 is the improved version of Ariane 5. It is meant to launch a larger range of satellites.
The Amur is a reusable rocket by Russia. It looks suspiciously similar to the Falcon 9.
The Vulcan Centaur is Atlas V's replacement and will act similarly to it with a new design.
Rocket parts
Rocket engines
Standard engines are optimised for use at sea level or in an atmosphere. Vacuum-optimised engines have a larger bell size.
Payload bay and fairings
The payload bay contains satellites and modules to be launched from space shuttles. It protects the payload from the atmosphere. The fairing is similar, except that it is used at the top of regular rockets.
Gyroscope
The gyroscope tells the orientation of the spacecraft relative to its launch position
RCS
The RCS allows for the steering of spacecraft while in a vacuum.
Docking ports
Docking ports allow for the docking of two or more spacecraft. It allows for the transfer of crew and supplies between spacecraft. It is used to build the ISS.
Reflection
I think this lesson was better than my presentation on radio telescopes last week. It was more coordinated and was more interesting. It also has text to go along with the images, allowing it to be easier to catch up with what is being said. I felt that this session was informative and more was more interesting than the one last week. It could be improved by adding a hands-on part in which we could design a water rocket and launch it, or design a rocket on keynote or Sketch-Up. Since space is an extremely diverse topic, I think there could've been a segment on the rockets used for interplanetary travel. There was only a brief touch on Mars-capable rockets. There could've been another segment on unconventional space travel, such as using lasers to accelerate small satellites in the direction of the nearest star. All in all, I think this was an interesting content-heavy lesson that was well done.
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