The Rocket Lab

Maurice Zucrow, Purdue University, and America's Race to Space
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-1-61249-840-9
Verlag: Purdue University Press

Buch, Englisch, 370 Seiten, Hardback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Reihe: The Founders Series

The Rocket Lab: Maurice Zucrow, Purdue University, and America's Race to Space focuses on the golden era of space exploration between 1946 and 1966, specifically the life and times of Purdue University's Dr. Maurice J. Zucrow, a pioneering teacher and researcher in aerospace engineering. Zucrow taught America's first university course in jet and rocket propulsion, wrote the field's first textbook, and established the country's first educational Rocket Lab. He was part of a small circle of innovators who transformed Purdue into the country's largest engineering university, which became a cradle of astronauts. Taking a chronological and thematic approach, The Rocket Lab weaves between the local and national, drawing in rival universities, especially Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Caltech. Also covered is Zucrow's role in the national project system of research and development through World War II and the Cold War. At Aerojet, he was one of the country's original project engineers, dedicated to scientific-technical expertise and the stepwise approach. He made vanguard power plant contributions to the Northrop Flying Wing, as well as the Corporal, Nike, and Atlas missiles, among others. Zucrow's work in propulsion helped to improve the country's arsenal of ballistic missiles and space launchers, and as a teacher, he educated the first generation of aerospace engineers. This book elevates Zucrow and the central role he played in getting the United States to space.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technik: Allgemeines
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Regional- & Stadtgeschichte
• Technische Wissenschaften Verkehrstechnik | Transportgewerbe Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik, Luftverkehr

Über Autor(innen)

Michael G. Smith is professor of history at Purdue University, where he has taught Russian history and aerospace history since 1996. He is the author of Rockets and Revolution: A Cultural History of Early Spaceflight and Language and Power in the Creation of the USSR, 1917–1953.