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LS1: Introduction to liquid propulsion
Lecture Zoom Recording
Originally AuthorContact: Matt Morningstar '21, matt_m@mit.edu
- Note: There are many, many good introductory resources online for learning about rockets and rocket engines. This introductory packet is not meant to replace them, but to supplement them w/ concise descriptions and example problems.
- Great links (these both go beyond what this learning set covers, but they are terrific resources in general):
- NASA Glenn research guided ‘tours’: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/rocket/guided.htm.
- Really good powerpoint PowerPoint summarizing LRE (liquid rocket engine) basics: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20140002716
What is a rocket?
Put simply, a rocket is a vehicle used to launch people or things into space. Rockets propel themselves by expelling exhaust at a high velocity. This is, at its core, the same way that many propulsive devices work for a variety of vehicles. Aircraft/submarine propellers accelerate the surrounding fluid, leading to the production of thrust. Jet engines intake air, mix it with fuel, burn it, and expel the exhaust at a high velocity. Contrary to popular misconception, you do not need to push “against” anything to produce thrust! Rocket engines work perfectly well in the vacuum of space (in fact, they work even better there than they do on the ground! We’ll talk about why that is in a later LSET).
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