Humanity
has always looked to the stars. Throughout time, people have
dreamed of traveling to the far distant points of light in
our night sky. It is only in the latter half of the twentieth
century, however, that humans have actually left the Earth
and set foot on the Moon or sent robotic spacecraft throughout
the solar system.
The
vehicle that has made such travel possible is the rocket.
Today's rockets are remarkable collections of human ingenuity
that have their roots in the science and technology of the
past. They are natural outgrowths of literally thousands of
years of experimentation and research on rockets and rocket
propulsion.
