Word: rocketeers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...solid-fuel rocket is like the monoplane in the early years of aviation. Biplanes were then the established type. They were easy to build because their double wings, braced by crisscrossed wire and struts, strengthened each other. But they were inefficient aerodynamically, and they had to be fooled with continually to keep their complex structure in proper order. The single wings of monoplanes were hard to make strong enough, but everyone knew that when they could be built, their efficiency and simplicity would make them dominant...
...solid-fuel rocket, too, is simple and vastly promising-but difficult. Chief problem is to get the fuel to burn dependably in such a way as to provide a precalculated, controllable thrust. In the liquid rocket this is done by an intricate system of gas generators, pumps, valves, turbines and tubing. But this advantage is also a source of trouble, because failure of one or more of these intricate parts is the usual reason for the frequent liquid-rocket misfires...
Minuteman. Most promising solid-fuel rocket is the Minuteman, the Air Force's long-range (6,300 miles) missile. Not much has been revealed officially, but an air of success hangs around men who are working on it. Much smaller than its rivals, the liquid-fuel Atlas and Titan, it has three stages filled with fuel made mostly of a rubbery plastic holding together crystals of an oxygen-supplying material, such as ammonium perchlorate. The ingredients are first blended to form a semiliquid mass like peanut butter. This is pumped with extreme care into the rocket casing and cured...
...acts as an insulator to protect the vulnerable metal casing from the searing heat of its flame. As the fuel is consumed, the cavity becomes nearly cylindrical, so when the flame reaches the outside wall not enough fuel is left to soften the metal. A well-made solid-fuel rocket engine can be touched with bare fingers just after firing on the test stand...
Always Ready. Solid fuel can also be stored in the vehicle. Thus the rocket is always ready. Liquid fuels are so combustible and dangerous to handle that the)' must be pumped in at the last moment. This means a delay of many minutes or even hours between an alert and firing time, also involves costly storage tanks and pumps. In contrast, Minuteman should be able to wait quietly, year after year, in a cylindrical hole in the ground, then take off on a 6,000-mile flight on a few seconds' notice...