Rocket propulsion system

There are four major components to any full-scale

rocket; the structural system, or frame, the payload
system, the guidance system, and the propulsion
system. The propulsion of a rocket includes all of the
parts which make up the rocket engine; the tank
pumps, propellants, power head, and rocket nozzle.
The function of the propulsion system is to produce
thrust.

Thrust is the force that moves a rocket through the air

and space. Thrust is generated by the propulsion
system of the rocket. Different propulsion systems
develop thrust in different ways, but all thrust is
generated through some application of Newton's third
law of motion. For every action, there is an equal and
opposite reaction. In any propulsion system, a working
fluid is accelerated by the system and the reaction to
this acceleration produces a force on the system. A
general derivation of the thrust equation shows that
the amount of thrust generated depends on the mass
flow through the engine and the exit velocity of the
gas.
In a rocket engine, fuel and a source of oxygen called
an oxidizer, are mixed and exploded in a combustion
chamber. The combustion produces hot exhaust which
is passed through a nozzle to accelerate the flow and
produce thrust. For a rocket, the accelerated gas, or
working fluid, is the hot exhaust produced during
combustion. This is a different working fluid than you
find in a gas turbine engine or propeller-powered
aircraft. Turbine engines and propellers use air from
the atmosphere as the working fluid, but rockets use
combustion exhaust gases. In outer space, there is no
atmosphere so turbines and propellers can not work
there. This explains why a rocket works in space but a
turbine engine or a propeller does not work.

There are two main categories of rocket engines; liquid

rockets and solid rockets. In a liquid rocket, the
propellants, the fuel and the oxidizer, are stored
separately as liquids and are pumped into the
combustion chamber of the nozzle where burning
occurs. The propellants are mixed together in a solid
rocket and packed into a solid cylinder. Under normal
temperature conditions, the propellants do not burn;
but they will burn when exposed to a source of heat
provided by an igniter. Once the burning starts, it
proceeds until all the propellant is exhausted. With a
liquid rocket, you can stop the thrust by turning off the
flow of propellants; but with a solid rocket, you have to
destroy the casing to stop the engine. Liquid rockets
tend to be heavier and more complex because of the
pumps and storage tanks. The propellants are loaded
into the rocket just before launch. A solid rocket is
much easier to handle and can sit for years before
firing.

On this slide, we show a picture of a Saturn 1B at the

left and a picture of a rocket engine test at the right. In
the picture at the right, we only see the outside of the
rocket nozzle, with the hot gas exiting out the bottom.
The first stage of the Saturn 1B was powered by eight
liquid rocket engines burning hydrocarbon fuel with
liquid oxygen. The second stage used a single liquid
hydrogen and liquid oxygen-powered engine and was
used to place the Apollo spacecraft into low earth
orbit.