How Do They Work?

By: Sam Houff5-5-05

Fuel• Rockets have

lots of fuel• The fuel weighs

twenty times the orbiter.

• The fuel is used up quickly

Fuel • Dr. Robert H. Goddards early rockets used a combination of Gasoline and Liquid Oxygen

• Apollo Boosters- Kerosene and Liquid Oxygen

• Space Shuttles: Liquid Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen.

• Rockets rely on Newton’s 3rd Law. The Law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

• Early rockets were used in combat. The earliest date to China.

• Dr. Robert H. Goddard developed one of the earliest liquid rockets.

• Booster Rockets are the rockets that thrust space shuttles into space. They are needed because of the shuttles lack of thrust power.

Booster Rockets

• A shuttles first stage of rockets are the boosters.

• The booster rockets are dropped back to Earth after there fuel is used up, leaving only the shuttle.

Ion Rockets

• Much more efficient than a normal rocket.• Works by stripping neutrons from the

atoms, therefore harnessing the positive energy.

Obstacles of Flight

• Space debris• Shuttles dump trash in

space• The red areas on the

picture are space debris.

Bibliography

• None. “How Rocket engines work.” Howstuffworks.com 5/02/05. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/rocket>

• Wernher van Braun. “Rockets”. World Book Encyclopedia. 1975. Field Enterprises Educational Corporation. 4/25/05.

• Unknown. Rockets. 2005.

• My Name is Sam Houff. I’m 5’3 and 13 years old. I love the Tar Heels and the Panthers. And I like sports cars.