GALCIT Projects: The Birth of US Rocketry

摘要

Solid propulsion for rockets, guns, and gas-generators enjoys unique properties favoring its use in space exploration and military missions still for decades to come. Black powder (or something very similar) was invented by Chinese alchemists for medical reasons around 220 BC. Nitrocellulose (NC)-based homogeneous propellants were developed in Europe for gun applications during the years 1863-1888. In June 1942 near Pasadena, CA at a site which became later JPL, Parsons succeeded in making the first castable composite solid propellant by combining an organic matrix (asphalt) with a crystalline inorganic oxidizer (KP). Composite propellants eventually replaced black powder and DB propellants in most rocket applications, especially for space exploration missions. The GALCIT Projects carried out at Caltech by the Rocket Research Group can be seen as the most crucial step in the birth of the incredible US rocketry development. This historical survey presents the pioneering projects which started the modern solid rocket propulsion development and also inspired many of the modern liquid rocket propulsion advances. Some hints are also given about the specific contributions and personal destiny of some of the main players of the historical GALCIT Project Number 1.