History of Rocketry Research Questions

1. What do we mean when we say "rocket"? What kinds of things qualify as rockets?

2. What were some of the very first rockets? Who invented them and when? What were they used for? How do these early rockets differ from modern rockets used by NASA?

3. Robert Goddard is sometimes called the "Father of Modern Rocketry." Describe some of the specific contributions made by Goddard and other famous rocket scientists like Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Hermann Oberth and Wernher von Braun. How do current rocket designs differ from the rockets developed by Goddard, Tsiolkovsky, and von Braun?

4. There are hundreds of different types of rockets, from a simple fire cracker to a full-scale Delta IV! What specific types of rockets are used today for space exploration?  Describe at least two different kinds of rockets and explain how their use affects their design. What design characteristics or structures do they have in common? How are they different?

5. When and why was NASA first organized? What are some of the significant milestones of NASA's rocketry and space exploration program(s)? What types of rockets have served as the "workhorse" for rocket missions today and in the past?

6. What is a multi-stage rocket?  What are the benefits to using multstage rockets? What are some of the disadvantages? Differentiate between parallel and tandem (a.k.a. serial or stacked) multistage rockets. Be sure to provide images of each kind. What kind of multistage rocket is the STS (the shuttle)?

7. Research each of the NASA space programs: Mercury Program, Gemini Program, Apollo Program, Space Shuttle Program, Constellation Program. Give the time frame for each program and describe the purpose or overall mission of each, includig some of the most notable accomplishments and people associated with each program.  Describe the rocket(s) that were used to carry ou the missions for each program.

8. FIRSTS: What was the first object to orbit the Earth? What was the first organism to orbit the Earth? Who was the first person to orbit the Earth? Who was the first person to leave Earth's orbit?  Who was the first person to walk on the moon? Who was the first person to walk in space? Research some of the "firsts" in space exploration. Get details about these individuals, how they got involved in space exploration, what happened to them after they made history, etc. Don't limit yourself to just these questions. Try to come up with at least 3 or four of your own "firsts" to research as well.

Gifted Science with Mrs. Flynt
Gifford Middle School - Indian River County, Florida
Phone: 772-564-3586

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