Rockets for Research

As man reaches into space, he probes the area close to the earth. This is the important first and last environment of each space trip. Each spacecraft must thrust through the layers of atmosphere which surround its home planet. Each returning astronaut must be shielded from the fiery heat caused by friction as his craft speeds back to the earth.

Sounding rockets are still an important part of the space program. They are exploring conditions of the sky from many launching pads. Picture yourself as a reporter assigned to cover a rocket shoot for your local paper. You join the men in the blockhouse that protects the rocket men who are present in the launching area at the time of a shoot. This rectangle of concrete 12 feet thick has narrow slits for windows with glass that is 4 inches thick. If a rocket should misfire and fall on the pyramid that is the roof of the blockhouse, you would be protected by 27 inches of concrete above your head if you were standing at the center.

No one is outside when zero minus ten minutes is reached, but well before that time a fire engine and ambulance have appeared, for even the fueling process is a dangerous one. The research rockets which zoom hundreds of miles above the earth at speeds of thousands of miles per hour are powered by a number of different kinds of fuels, but in all cases the fuels must burn quickly with a hot flame to produce gases which will expand and shoot through the nozzle of the rocket. A liquid-fuel rocket usually carries the fuel and a form of oxygen is provided by a dangerous chemical known as nitric acid. It is often just oxygen in liquid form, but this, too, is dangerous to handle.

As a reporter, you might watch men in plastic suits, rubber gloves, and transparent helmets piping liquid oxygen into a rocket. This form of oxygen is much different from the oxygen that you breathe. It has been cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit, and in this state it can freeze a rubber ball so that when the ball is thrown to the ground it will shatter into bits. Liquid oxygen can cause severe burns to the human skin and even damage many kinds of metals. And it cannot be put into the fuel tanks until just before firing time because it evaporates quickly.

When fueling crews finish loading liquid oxygen, they stand beneath outdoor showers to wash away any liquid that might have spilled onto their clothing.

Highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide, another chemical that is frequently used in fueling rockets, can explode in the presence of a small amount of impurity. You can see that each one who works with rocket fueling must work with extreme care.

If you are reporting the preparations for a single rocket test, you may spend many weeks watching and waiting. Sometimes the firing is canceled just before the zero time is reached. A rocket flight can be ruined by the failure of one thing in many thousands. Everything must be checked and rechecked. Everything must be in perfect order.

The longer you observe launchings, the more you may realize that each rocket that shimmers through the sunshine with great speed is the product of hard work on the part of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of scientists, engineers, and crews of men who are thoroughly schooled in assembling, launching, and caring for rockets.