CONTENTS

Introduction

Rockets versus Aircraft

First Principles of Rocket Propulsion

Why It Works

Propellent Storage Tanks

Types of Propellent

The Propellent Pumps

Valves and Injectors

Combustion Chambers and Igniters

Cooling the Combustion Chamber

How a Rocket Motor Works

Different Kinds of Rockets

More Rockets

Ground Stations

Payload

The Force of Gravity

Escaping from the Earth

Principle of the Step-Rocket

Problems of the Step-Rocket

Into Orbit around the Earth

Movement in Space

Tracking Satellites

Messages from Space

The End of the Beginning

Vocabulary