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The evolution
of the rocket has made it an indispensable tool in the exploration of space.
For centuries, rockets have provided ceremonial and warfare uses for the
ancient Chinese, the first to create rockets. The history of the
rocket is extensive (see Timeline) and the three sub-pages below explore
different aspects of rockets and rocketry. The field of rocket science
is expansive, but one does not need to be a rocket scientist to garner the
understanding of rockets, provided on these sub-pages. Exploration
of space is performed in other ways (observatories, and radio satellite
dishes), but for today, and perhaps many more years, rockets will remain
king of "this new ocean" of space. Rockets, by breaking new frontiers
in this cosmic ocean, have allowed the "dream," that carried such great
explorers as Columbus and Magellan, to materialize in a world absent of
uncharted seas. Science is exploration of the "truth," and by coupling
it with rockets' exploration of space, we receive a product that not
only charts the foreign sea of space, but improves our sense of placement
in the universe. Man was "the measure of all things," but he has
stepped out of this cave of complacency, searching for an understanding.
In 1969, with modern rockets, man made another step, as Neil Armstrong
placed his foot on the moon--breaking the limits of earth--transcending
man to a greater state of being, where he is no longer one with just the
earth, but one with cosmos. The rocket, as evolved through science,
has given us an invaluable understanding of ourselves, as well as the "ocean"
that envelopes us. Where rockets will take us tomorrow is unfathomable,
as their development in dependant on the random discoveries of science.
And to this one might step so far as to say that "rockets are the measure
of all things"--but we will have to wait for time to unfold to ascertain
this.
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 An
Index of Rockets
An Index of Rockets includes a listing of modern (1957 - 1990's) rockets with year of design, designer, dimensions, fuel, and thrust. |
 How
Rockets Work
How Rockets Work contains explanations on how various types of rocket propulsion systems work. |
 Making
Your Own Rockets
Making Your Own Rockets allows you to put the rocket scientist/engineer lab coat on, to design and build rockets of your own, guided by clear and coherent directions for a variety of rockets. |