Rocket

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A rocket or rocket vehicle is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust by the reaction of the rocket to the ejection of fast moving fluid exhaust from a rocket engine. Chemical rockets create their exhaust by the combustion of rocket propellant. The action of the exhaust against the inside of combustion chambers and expansion nozzles is able to accelerate the gas to hypersonic speed, and this exerts a large reactive thrust on the rocket (an equal and opposite reaction in accordance with Newton's third law).

Rockets, in the form of military and recreational uses, date back to at least the 13th century. Widespread military, scientific, and industrial use did not occur until the 20th century, when rocketry was the enabling technology of the Space Age, including setting foot on the moon.

Rockets are used for fireworks, weaponry, ejection seats, launch vehicles for artificial satellites, human spaceflight and exploration of other planets. While comparatively inefficient for low speed use, they are very lightweight and powerful, capable of generating large accelerations and of attaining extremely high speeds with reasonable efficiency.

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.

For more information about Rocket, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with rocket

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Novel nano-devices developed by U of T researchers

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Toronto researchers continue to uncover the mysteries of space. But even the best astronauts in the world are stymied if the spaceship doesn't launch. When the countdown stops, it is often because ...


Russian rocket to launch from French Guiana in 2010

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 07, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 4

A Russian rocket will next year for the first time blast off from a European launch pad in South America, officials said Saturday, as the first rockets headed for the site on board a ship.


Father of China's space tech program dies at 98

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 31, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2

(AP) -- Qian Xuesen, a rocket scientist known as the father of China's space technology program, died Saturday in Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency said. He was 98.


2 parachutes malfunctioned in NASA test flight (AP)

2 parachutes malfunctioned in NASA test flight

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 30, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 1

(AP) -- Two of three parachutes malfunctioned in the test flight of a prototype moon rocket earlier this week, causing major damage to the booster, NASA said Friday.


NASA: Booster rocket damaged in test flight (AP)

NASA: Booster rocket damaged in test flight

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (6) | comments 0

(AP) -- NASA says the booster rocket used in a test flight was badly dented when it fell into the Atlantic.


Russia hopes nuclear ship will fly humans to Mars (AP)

Russia hopes nuclear ship will fly humans to Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (33) | comments 36

(AP) -- Russia should build a new nuclear-powered spaceship for prospective manned missions to Mars and other planets, the nation's space chief said Thursday.


NASA's new moon rocket makes first test flight (AP)

NASA's Ares I-X moon rocket makes first test flight

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (25) | comments 17

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Ares I-X test rocket lifted off at 11:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a two-minute powered flight.


NASA tries 2nd time to launch experimental rocket (AP)

NASA tries 2nd time to launch experimental rocket

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

(AP) -- Bad weather was interfering with NASA's attempt to launch a new, experimental rocket for the second day in a row early Wednesday.


Bad weather delays NASA new rocket test flight (AP)

Bad weather delays NASA new rocket test flight

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 27, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

(AP) -- NASA tried for hours Tuesday to launch its newest rocket for a shakedown flight, but clouds and high wind kept it stuck on the pad.


Bad weather could interfere with NASA test flight (AP)

Bad weather could interfere with NASA test flight

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- NASA's newest rocket is on the verge of blasting off on a test flight.


NASA puts new rocket on launch pad for test flight (AP)

NASA puts new Ares I-X rocket on launch pad for test flight

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 20, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (10) | comments 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time in more than a quarter century, a new vehicle is sitting at Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Ares I-X flight test vehicle arrived at the pad ...


NASA Updates Shuttle Atlantis Target Launch Date

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA is targeting Nov. 16 for the launch of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


Nanosatellites expected to benefit from advanced propulsion technology

Nanosatellites expected to benefit from advanced propulsion technology

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (12) | comments 3

A University of Michigan professor is developing an electric rocket thruster, NanoFET, that uses nanoparticle electric propulsion and enables spacecraft to travel faster and with less propellant than previous ...


NASA Tests Load Limits for Ares I Rocket Main Parachute

NASA Tests Load Limits for Ares I Rocket Main Parachute

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 09, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA and industry engineers conducted a design limit load test of the Ares I rocket's main parachute Oct. 8 at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma, Ariz. The Ares I is the first ...


New aluminum-water rocket propellant promising for future space missions

New aluminum-water rocket propellant promising for future space missions

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 07, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (21) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers are developing a new type of rocket propellant made of a frozen mixture of water and "nanoscale aluminum" powder that is more environmentally friendly than conventional propellants ...




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