And still we reach out to space. The easiest way to begin to understand just how a rocket works is to compare itto a balloon with the air suddenly let out. If you blow up a balloon and then let go of it without securing the open end, the balloon will fly wildly around the room as the air inside forces its way out. The force moving the balloon is the reaction to the air leaving the balloon and it is called thrust. Thrust operates in the opposite direction of the air leaving the balloon.
Rockets fly pretty much the same way.
A rocket is equipped with a combustion chamber and a nozzle. The combustion chamber is where gas is generated by burning fuel. Since oxygen is required for burning fuel, and there is no air in space, the rocket must generate its own oxygen. For this, a rocket uses a material called an oxidizer, which must be carried by the rocket in addition to the rocket's fuel. That is one of the big differences between a rocket and a jet airplane.