ignition

Author: John D Clark

Chapter 1 - How It Started
- Exploration of Space with Reactive Devices - Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsikolkovsky
  1. Space travel is possible
  2. This can be accomplished only by means of rocket propulsion, since rocket is the only propulsive device that will work in empty space
  3. Gunpowder rockets canot be used, since gunpowder simply does not have the energy
  4. Certain liquids do possess the necessary energy
  5. Liquid hydrogen would be a good fuel and liquid oxygen a good oxidizer, and the pair would make the nearly ideal propellent combination
- Specific Impulse (seconds): Obtained by dividing the thrust of a rocket in punds, by the consumption of propellants in pounds per second
- Monopropellants - a liquid which contains in itelf, both the fuel and oxidizer either a a molecule or as a mixture.
  - Any intimate mixture of fuel and oxidizer is a potential explosive and a molecule with one reducing and one oxidiing end, is an invitation to disaster
Chapter 2 - Peenemunde and JPL
- Peenemunde and had made C-Stoff and T-Stoff
  - Codename for Nitric Acid was “Ignol”, and other fuels “Ergol” (Noeggerath made these names)
  - Certain fluids (mostly aniline and turpentine) ignited spontaneously when in contact with Nitric Acid. These were dubbed “Hypergol”, a name that stuck
  - “Visols” - fuels based on vinyl ethers
  - Monopropellants were called “Monergols” at this point
- Meanwhile, GALCIT’s first job in the US was to get a JATO produced for its armed forces to help get its bombers off the ground
- JATO - Jet Assisted Take Off
- Hypergols were independently discovered, though a lot of work went into lowering their freezing point. Lots of research to find eutectic mixtures

This book has a very quirky tone and humor, with the author occasionally cracking a joke or taking a jab at the scientists plight while descibing their research (often in disarray). This makes for a very interesting narrative of the history of rocket propellants