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A rocket (from Italian: rocchetto, lit. 'bobbin/spool') is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely from propellant carried within the vehicle; therefore a rocket can fly in the vacuum of space. Rockets work more efficiently in a vacuum and incur a loss of thrust due to the opposing pressure of the atmosphere.

Multistage rockets are capable of attaining escape velocity from Earth and therefore can achieve unlimited maximum altitude. Compared with airbreathing engines, rockets are lightweight and powerful and capable of generating large accelerations. To control their flight, rockets rely on momentum, airfoils, auxiliary reaction engines, gimballed thrust, momentum wheels, deflection of the exhaust stream, propellant flow, spin, or gravity.

Rockets for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th-century China. Significant scientific, interplanetary and industrial use did not occur until the 20th century, when rocketry was the enabling technology for the Space Age, including setting foot on the Moon. Rockets are now used for fireworks, missiles and other weaponry, ejection seats, launch vehicles for artificial satellites, human spaceflight, and space exploration.

Chemical rockets are the most common type of high power rocket, typically creating a high speed exhaust by the combustion of fuel with an oxidizer. The stored propellant can be a simple pressurized gas or a single liquid 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 most liquid-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 can be very dangerous. However, careful design, testing, construction and use minimizes risks. (Full article...)

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A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket stages, each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A tandem or serial stage is mounted on top of another stage; a parallel stage is attached alongside another stage. The result is effectively two or more rockets stacked on top of or attached next to each other. Two-stage rockets are quite common, but rockets with as many as five separate stages have been successfully launched.

By jettisoning stages when they run out of propellant, the mass of the remaining rocket is decreased. Each successive stage can also be optimized for its specific operating conditions, such as decreased atmospheric pressure at higher altitudes. This staging allows the thrust of the remaining stages to more easily accelerate the rocket to its final speed and height. (Full article...)

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In the news

7 May 2024 – M23 offensive: The death toll from rocket strikes on an IDP camp in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, increases to 18. (Reuters)
5 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war: Israeli air raids in Meiss Ej Jabal, Lebanon, cause "massive destruction" according to a Lebanese state-run agency, killing four civilians and injuring three others. In response, Hezbollah fires dozens of Katyusha and Falaq rockets towards Kiryat Shmona, Israel. (Reuters); Three Israeli soldiers are killed and ten civilians are injured when Hamas launches a rocket barrage at the Kerem Shalom border crossing. (Times of Israel) (Reuters) (Jerusalem Post)
12 April 2024 – Israel–Hezbollah conflict: Hezbollah forces launch dozens of rockets into northern Israel. The militant group says that the missile barrage targeted IDF artillery positions. No casualties are reported. (Al Arabiya)

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The following are images from various rocketry-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1An illustration of fire arrow launchers as depicted in the Wubei Zhi (17th century). The launcher is constructed using basketry. (from History of rockets)
Image 2Simplified diagram of a solid-fuel rocket:
1. Solid fuel–oxidiser mixture (propellant) packed into casing
2. Igniter initiates propellant combustion.
3. Central hole in propellant acts as the combustion chamber.
4. Exhaust nozzle expands and accelerates the gas jet to produce thrust.
5. Exhaust exits nozzle.
(from Rocket engine)
Image 3Robert Goddard (from History of rockets)
Image 4The four expansion regimes of a de Laval nozzle:• under-expanded• perfectly expanded• over-expanded• grossly over-expanded (from Rocket engine)
Image 5Rocket thrust is caused by pressures acting in the combustion chamber and nozzle. From Newton's third law, equal and opposite pressures act on the exhaust, and this accelerates it to high speeds. (from Rocket engine)
Image 6Rocket carts from the Wubei Zhi (17th century) (from History of rockets)
Image 7Robert Anderson suggests using metal for rocket casing (from History of rockets)
Image 8The 'convocation of eagles chasing hare' rocket launcher from the Wubei Zhi (17th century). A double-ended rocket pod that carries 30 small poisoned rockets on each end for a total of 60 rockets. It carries a sling for transport. (from History of rockets)
Image 9Rocket vehicle mechanical efficiency as a function of vehicle instantaneous speed divided by effective exhaust speed. These percentages need to be multiplied by internal engine efficiency to get overall efficiency. (from Rocket engine)
Image 10Robert Esnault-Pelterie (1909). (from History of rockets)
Image 11RS-68 being tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center (from Rocket engine)
Image 12A Tomahawk cruise missile in flight (from Missile)
Image 13Robert Goddard and the first liquid-fueled rocket. (from History of rockets)
Image 14Typical ballistic missile sequence:
- 1. Launches by firing motor1(A)
- 2. Stage1 drops, motor2(B) ignites & shroud(E) ejects
- 3. Motor3(C) ignites and separates
- 4. Stage3 terminates and post-boost vehicle(D) separates
- 5. Vehicle maneuvers itself and prepares re-entry vehicle (RV)
- 6. RV with decoys and chaffs deploys
- 7. RV re-enters the atmosphere
- 8. Warhead(s) detonate on target
(from Missile)
Image 15A battery of Katyusha launchers fires at German forces during the Battle of Stalingrad, 6 October 1942 (from History of rockets)
Image 16The Congreve rocket (from History of rockets)
Image 17Simplified diagram of a liquid-fuel rocket:
1. Liquid fuel tank
2. Liquid oxidiser tank
3. Pumps feed fuel and oxidiser under high pressure.
4. Combustion chamber mixes and burns the propellants.
5. Exhaust nozzle expands and accelerates the gas jet to produce thrust.
6. Exhaust exits nozzle.
(from Rocket engine)
Image 18A semi-active missile homing system (from Missile)
Image 19Layout of a V-2 rocket. (from History of rockets)
Image 20A V-1 flying bomb, amongst the first guided missiles (from Missile)
Image 21Armadillo Aerospace's quad vehicle showing visible banding (shock diamonds) in the exhaust jet (from Rocket engine)
Image 22Opel RAK.1 - World's first public manned flight of a rocket plane on September 30, 1929. (from History of rockets)
Image 23Viking 5C rocket engine used on Ariane 1 through Ariane 4 (from Rocket engine)
Image 24A German V-2 rocket on a Meillerwagen. (from History of rockets)
Image 25French Diamant rocket, the second French rocket program, developed from 1961 (from History of rockets)
Image 26A simplified diagram of a solid-fuel rocket.
1. A propellant is packed with a hole in the middle
2. An igniter combusts the propellant
3. The hole acts as a combustion chamber
4. The hot exhaust is choked at the throat
5. Exhaust exits the rocket
(from Missile)
Image 27Von Braun's rocket team in 1961 (from History of rockets)
Image 28A "long serpent enemy breaking" fire arrow launcher as depicted in the Wubei Zhi (17th century). It carries 32 medium small poisoned rockets and comes with a sling to carry on the back. (from History of rockets)