Please inform me of any broken links. Apollo 11 Moon launch Chemical rockets will almost certainly play a major role in space operations for the foreseeable future. The impulse , I , given to a rocket is the thrust force integrated over the burn time. In English units, I sp is thus measured in seconds and is a force per weight flow.
Chemical rocket fuels Two main classes of chemical-rocket fuels exist, liquid and solid.
A good introductory discussion of chemical-rocket fuels can be found by clicking here . When the total kinetic energy of the rocket and its exhaust are taken into consideration, the highest efficiency occurs when the exhaust is equal to the instantaneous rocket velocity, as shown in the figure at right. See Sutton for a discussion. Ascent from planetary surfaces Effect Key effects that come into play during launch from planetary surfaces are shown at right. Gravity reduces the effective acceleration, and it is generally the most important force.