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Arocket (fromItalian:rocchetto,lit. ''bobbin/spool'', and so named for its shape) is an elongated flyingvehicle that uses arocket engine toaccelerate without using any surroundingair. A rocket engine produces thrust byreaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Unlikejet engines, rockets are fuelled entirely bypropellant which they carry, without the need for oxygen from air; consequently a rocket can fly in thevacuum of space, indeed rocket engines operate more efficiently outside the atmosphere.
Multistage rockets are capable of attainingescape velocity from Earth and therefore can achieve unlimited maximum altitude. Compared withairbreathing engines, rockets are lightweight and powerful and capable of generating largeaccelerations. To control their flight, rockets may usemomentum,airfoils,auxiliary reaction engines,gimballed thrust,momentum wheels,deflection of the exhaust stream, propellant flow, andspin, or may simply fly in aballistic trajectory under the influence ofgravity.
Rockets for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th-centuryChina. Significant scientific, interplanetary and industrial use did not occur until the 20th century, when rocketry was the enabling technology for theSpace Age, includingsetting foot on the Moon. Rockets are now used forfireworks,missiles and otherweaponry,ejection seats,launch vehicles forartificial satellites,human spaceflight, andspace exploration.
Chemical rockets are the most common type of high power rocket, typically creating a high speed exhaust by thecombustion offuel with anoxidizer. The stored propellant can be a simple pressurized gas or a singleliquid 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 mostliquid-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 the consequences of accidents can be severe.
The term "rocket" is also used for small fireworks, which are the subject of articlerocket (firework). (Full article...)
Atlas is a family of US missiles and spacelaunch vehicles that originated with theSM-65 Atlas. The Atlasintercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program was initiated in the late 1950s under theConvair Division ofGeneral Dynamics. Atlas was aliquid propellant rocket burningRP-1 kerosene fuel withliquid oxygen in three engines configured in an unusual "stage-and-a-half" or "parallel staging" design: two outboard booster engines were jettisoned along with supporting structures during ascent, while the center sustainer engine, propellant tanks and other structural elements remained connected through propellant depletion and engine shutdown.
The Atlas name was originally proposed byKarel Bossart and his design team working atConvair on project MX-1593. Using the name of amighty Titan from Greek mythology reflected the missile's place as the biggest and most powerful at the time. It also reflected the parent company of Convair, theAtlas Corporation. (Full article...)
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