Blast Off! Rocket Science Is your child a rocket scientist in
the making? Here's a fun activity that illustrates the basic
principles behind what makes rockets rock! What You Need to Know
Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering concerned
with the design, manufacture, and operation of launch vehicles,
satellites, spacecraft, and ground-support facilities for the
exploration of outer space. One type of spacecraft is a rocket,
which is powered by gases that are forced out of one end.
Rocket-like devices were demonstrated about 360 B.C. By the
Greek mathematician and scientist Archytas (428-350 B.C.). So
while some form of a rocket has been in existence for many
years, the science of how a rocket works was first described by
the British scientist Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) in 1687.
Newton stated three important scientific principles that govern
the motion of all objects, whether on Earth or in space. These
principles, now called Newton's laws of motion, provided
engineers with the basic knowledge nec