Portal:Rocketry

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The Rocketry Portal

A rocket (from Italian: rocchetto, lit. 'bobbin/spool') is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the 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 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 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 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), 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. (Full article...)

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Depiction of rocket arrows, from the Huolongjing. The left arrow reads 'fire arrow' (huo jian), the middle is a 'dragon shaped arrow frame' (long xing jian jia), and the left is a 'complete fire arrow' (huo jian quan shi).

The first rockets were used as propulsion systems for arrows, and may have appeared as early as the 10th century in Song dynasty China. However more solid documentary evidence does not appear until the 13th century. The technology probably spread across Eurasia in the wake of the Mongol invasions of the mid-13th century. Usage of rockets as weapons before modern rocketry is attested to in China, Korea, India, and Europe. One of the first recorded rocket launchers is the "wasp nest" fire arrow launcher produced by the Ming dynasty in 1380. In Europe rockets were also used in the same year at the Battle of Chioggia. The Joseon kingdom of Korea used a type of mobile multiple rocket launcher known as the "Munjong Hwacha" by 1451.

Iron-cased rockets were used by Kingdom of Mysore (Mysorean rockets) and by Marathas during the mid 18th century, and were later modified and used by the British. The later models and improvements were known as the Congreve rocket and used in the Napoleonic Wars. (Full article...)

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In the news

7 May 2024 – M23 offensive: The death toll from rocket strikes on an IDP camp in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, increases to 18. (Reuters)
5 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war: Israeli air raids in Meiss Ej Jabal, Lebanon, cause "massive destruction" according to a Lebanese state-run agency, killing four civilians and injuring three others. In response, Hezbollah fires dozens of Katyusha and Falaq rockets towards Kiryat Shmona, Israel. (Reuters); Three Israeli soldiers are killed and ten civilians are injured when Hamas launches a rocket barrage at the Kerem Shalom border crossing. (Times of Israel) (Reuters) (Jerusalem Post)
12 April 2024 – Israel–Hezbollah conflict: Hezbollah forces launch dozens of rockets into northern Israel. The militant group says that the missile barrage targeted IDF artillery positions. No casualties are reported. (Al Arabiya)

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The following are images from various rocketry-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Robert Goddard (from History of rockets)
Image 2A battery of Katyusha launchers fires at German forces during the Battle of Stalingrad, 6 October 1942 (from History of rockets)
Image 3Rocket vehicle mechanical efficiency as a function of vehicle instantaneous speed divided by effective exhaust speed. These percentages need to be multiplied by internal engine efficiency to get overall efficiency. (from Rocket engine)
Image 4A German V-2 rocket on a Meillerwagen. (from History of rockets)
Image 5A V-1 flying bomb, amongst the first guided missiles (from Missile)
Image 6Simplified diagram of a solid-fuel rocket:
1. Solid fuel–oxidiser mixture (propellant) packed into casing
2. Igniter initiates propellant combustion.
3. Central hole in propellant acts as the combustion chamber.
4. Exhaust nozzle expands and accelerates the gas jet to produce thrust.
5. Exhaust exits nozzle.
(from Rocket engine)
Image 7An illustration of fire arrow launchers as depicted in the Wubei Zhi (17th century). The launcher is constructed using basketry. (from History of rockets)
Image 8Robert Esnault-Pelterie (1909). (from History of rockets)
Image 9A simplified diagram of a solid-fuel rocket.
1. A propellant is packed with a hole in the middle
2. An igniter combusts the propellant
3. The hole acts as a combustion chamber
4. The hot exhaust is choked at the throat
5. Exhaust exits the rocket
(from Missile)
Image 10A Tomahawk cruise missile in flight (from Missile)
Image 11French Diamant rocket, the second French rocket program, developed from 1961 (from History of rockets)
Image 12Robert Anderson suggests using metal for rocket casing (from History of rockets)
Image 13Layout of a V-2 rocket. (from History of rockets)
Image 14Rocket carts from the Wubei Zhi (17th century) (from History of rockets)
Image 15Rocket thrust is caused by pressures acting in the combustion chamber and nozzle. From Newton's third law, equal and opposite pressures act on the exhaust, and this accelerates it to high speeds. (from Rocket engine)
Image 16Simplified diagram of a liquid-fuel rocket:
1. Liquid fuel tank
2. Liquid oxidiser tank
3. Pumps feed fuel and oxidiser under high pressure.
4. Combustion chamber mixes and burns the propellants.
5. Exhaust nozzle expands and accelerates the gas jet to produce thrust.
6. Exhaust exits nozzle.
(from Rocket engine)
Image 17Robert Goddard and the first liquid-fueled rocket. (from History of rockets)
Image 18Opel RAK.1 - World's first public manned flight of a rocket plane on September 30, 1929. (from History of rockets)
Image 19Viking 5C rocket engine used on Ariane 1 through Ariane 4 (from Rocket engine)
Image 20A "long serpent enemy breaking" fire arrow launcher as depicted in the Wubei Zhi (17th century). It carries 32 medium small poisoned rockets and comes with a sling to carry on the back. (from History of rockets)
Image 21The Congreve rocket (from History of rockets)
Image 22The four expansion regimes of a de Laval nozzle:• under-expanded• perfectly expanded• over-expanded• grossly over-expanded (from Rocket engine)
Image 23The 'convocation of eagles chasing hare' rocket launcher from the Wubei Zhi (17th century). A double-ended rocket pod that carries 30 small poisoned rockets on each end for a total of 60 rockets. It carries a sling for transport. (from History of rockets)
Image 24Armadillo Aerospace's quad vehicle showing visible banding (shock diamonds) in the exhaust jet (from Rocket engine)
Image 25Von Braun's rocket team in 1961 (from History of rockets)
Image 26A semi-active missile homing system (from Missile)
Image 27Typical ballistic missile sequence:
- 1. Launches by firing motor1(A)
- 2. Stage1 drops, motor2(B) ignites & shroud(E) ejects
- 3. Motor3(C) ignites and separates
- 4. Stage3 terminates and post-boost vehicle(D) separates
- 5. Vehicle maneuvers itself and prepares re-entry vehicle (RV)
- 6. RV with decoys and chaffs deploys
- 7. RV re-enters the atmosphere
- 8. Warhead(s) detonate on target
(from Missile)
Image 28RS-68 being tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center (from Rocket engine)