My name is Robert A. Braeunig and I am the creator of Rocket and Space Technology. After viewing my webpage you may come to the conclusion that I may be some sort of 'rocket scientist' or perhaps a model rocketry enthusiast. Both of these assumption would be incorrect. My education is in the field of civil engineering and I currently work for a construction company in Dayton, Ohio. I have never designed, built or launched a rocket of any kind. I am simply an average guy who is fascinated by rocketry and space flight.

With that said, let me make a disclaimer before I go any further. Throughout the creation of Rocket and Space Technology I have always strove to provide information that is scientifically and factually correct. However, please be aware that this is not my profession and, as such, I can not guarantee 100% accuracy of all information contained therein.

I was in my mother's womb when the space age began on October 4, 1957 with the launch of Sputnik 1. My earliest memory of the space program came during the summer of 1965 when I recall hearing talk of Ed White's historic 'walk in space'. I remember little else until January 27, 1967 when astronaut White along with Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee were tragically killed as fire swept through their Apollo 1 spacecraft during a ground test. It would be nearly two years before America would re-enter the 'space race' with the launch of Apollo 7 in October 1968. By this time I was hooked. I closely followed every step in America's race to the Moon including Apollo 8's historic flight around the Moon in December 1968, the triumphant first Moon landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, the near disaster of Apollo 13, and concluding with the final lunar landing by the crew of Apollo 17 in December 1972.

Sadly, many of the details and images of those historic missions have faded from my memory, but I still vividly recall the excitement felt during those pioneering days. I still marvel at the great technological achievement of the Apollo program. My webpage Rocket and Space Technology is dedicated to the scientists, engineers and pilots who made man's first journey to our closest celestial neighbor a reality.

Rocket and Space Technology had its earliest beginnings in 1995. During the summer of that year the movie Apollo 13 was released. Seeing that film started me thinking back to those days as a child. When the events in the movie actually took place I was just eleven years old, which was much too young to fully appreciate the complexity of space flight. However, in 1995 I was 37 years old and had a degree in engineering. Understanding the physics behind such an undertaking should be within my grasp. I decided I would attempt to write a computer program to simulate the launch of a spacecraft into Earth orbit.

I knew the project would not be an easy one, but little did I know the undertaking would grow so large in scope. I would find the answer to one problem, but that would lead to two or three new questions. Not only did I need to teach myself the necessary physics, but I needed to obtain technical specifications for the launch vehicles and spacecraft. I needed to know the mass of the major components, the mass of fuel, the thrust of the engines, the rate of fuel consumption, along with other data. I also found myself researching such things as how atmospheric pressure and density vary with increasing altitude and how ambient conditions affect the thrust output of the engines. These are just a few of the obstacles that stood in my way.

My research began with the use of my college Physics and Mechanics books as well as several trips to the local library. Since I was living in Birmingham, Alabama at the time I was able to make the drive to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery for a visit to the Air University Library. I also placed a call to Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville which resulted in my obtaining facts sheets on the Saturn 5. By early 1996 I gained my first access to the Internet and I suddenly found myself with an extensive new source of information. After several months I had learned enough to have written a working simulation. It was far from polished, but my initial results were very encouraging.

I was now faced with a new problem. I had gathered so much information that is was becoming difficult to find my way through the stacks of notes and bookmarked pages. It became apparent that I needed to get things organized. That's when it occured to me that HTML programming would be the perfect way to link all this information together. It was also clear that if I were to take the time to enter all this data into my computer, I ought to put the it on the Internet to share with others. Thus Rocket and Space Technology was born (initially titled Space Technology Home Page).

I have actually authored only a small part of the information found in Rocket and Space Technology. My role was that of an editor. I would take a paragraph from this book, a snippet from that book and put it all together in what I hope is a comprehensive and well organized final product. I am particularly proud of my sections on Orbital Mechanics and Rocket Propulsion. By going that extra step and providing a discussion of the physics and mathematics necessary for solving problems in these disciplines, I believe I have helped fill a gap that was previously lacking on the World Wide Web.

Something else you might notice about Rocket and Space Technology is that the design is quite simple. There are no advertisements, no animation and few graphics. This was done by choice as I wanted to emphasis content. I want the user to be able to navigate easily and quickly from one page to another without his or her focus being distracted by some graphic that serves no real purpose.

I have given credit to all sources of information used during the creation of Rocket and Space Technology on my Acknowledgements page, however, there are a few sources that proved particularly valuable to which I want to give special recognition and thanks. These are ...

Vector Mechanics for Engineers, Statics & Dynamics, 3rd Ed.; F.P.Beer & E.R.Johnston Jr., McGraw-Hill, 1977.
Engineering Mechanics, Statics & Intro. to Dynamics, 2nd Ed.; D.J.McGill & W.W.King, PWS-Kent Publishing, 1989.
Fundamentals of Physics, David Halliday & Robert Resnick, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1974.
Jane's Space Directory, 12th Edition, 1996-97, Edited by Andrew Wilson, Janes's Information Group, 1996.
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Space, Cambridge University Press, 1990.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Space Technology, Kenneth Gatland, Orion Books, 1989.
Basics of Space Flight Learners' Workbook, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/
Liquid-Fueled Rocket Engines, http://www.im.lcs.mit.edu/rocket/
Mark Wade's Encyclopedia Astronautica, http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/~mwade/spaceflt.htm

I hope that you like Rocket and Space Technology and find it an useful tool. As always, user comments and suggestions are welcomed. You can contact me at braeunig@commkey.net.