From Werner Von Braun’s V2 and Robert Goddard’s liquid fueled rockets, through the X-aircraft like the X-1, the X-15 and the new X-34B, from the origins of the space race, Vostok and Mercury to Apollo and the Shuttle, from Sputnik to the Hubble and the Mars Phoenix, This Day in Space (TDIS) brings you the history and future of Man’s explorations of The Final Frontier.
TDIS features:
- High resolution photos
- Videos and video animations
- Audio presentations
TDIS also includes interesting anecdotes from authors such as the astronauts, NACA/NASA officials, famous historians like James Olberg and Andrew Chaikin, plus unique viewpoints from the author’s own experiences and research.
If you’re a fan of our Final Frontier or just want to see Man’s explorations of Space in a different way, don’t miss this daily feature, only on Cage Match.
Its a theme all like Star Trek or Dick Tracey
Beam me up Scotty – There is no intelligent life here
No mention of Von Braun is not complete without this:
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That von Braun video is great. I thought the feature TDIS interesting as well. Good hires pix. I’d like to fly that X-24B (Aug. 1).
One thing about rockets–especially as they approach 6-7-8 G-force on ascent==remarkable that the rocket structure can support all that force? I get it with jet engines as the force is countered by titanium fan blades–but those rockets seem so much more fragile and I don’t really picture where the thrust is met?
I’m not a rocket scientist by any means, but it’s pretty easy to shoot a paper straw along its longitudinal axis without deformation. Bending it in half is also easy, but that’s not where the thrust is. Maybe it’s not that tough, I just have no idea.
Well there’s just so much mass as fuel, that can be stored inside a rocket. So in order to increase the reaction of its displacement, high energy combustion accelerates it out of the rocket engines. The faster the fuel particles shoot out of the engines, the more of the rocket’s mass they propel. The energy generated amplifies the reaction of simply dumping fuel out the bottom end. They probably couldn’t pump it out fast enough (without burning it) to lift it off the launch pad. Unlike those water filled rocket toys, we all had as kids. The combustion of fuel doesn’t increase its mass. Just it’s effect by moving it away from the rocket, faster. Jet planes do the same trick. But their engines suck air in as the oxidizer. So planes don’t need to carry it. Ok?
Glenn E, it’s a structural question, not one of how rockets generate thrust or breathe. Von Braun’s design of the Saturn V stack is ingenious, utilizing the S1-C main booster with the 5 monster F1 engines generating 7,500,000 pounds of thrust. That’s a lot of stress for a soda straw, which is a good analogy — all the strength of the S-V stack is in the longitudinal axis.