Preludes to U.S. Space-Launch Vehicle Technology

Goddard Rockets to Minuteman III

J. D. Hunley

• Publisher: University Press of Florida
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9780813031774
• eBook ISBN:
  9780813075655
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: Technology & Engineering

A two-volume overview of U.S. missile and rocket technology

For nearly fifty years, a wide range of missiles and rockets has propelled U.S. satellites and spacecraft into the sky. J. D. Hunley's two-volume work traces the evolution of this technology, from Robert Goddard's research in the 1920s through the development of the Titan missiles and launch vehicles in the 1960s to the refinement of the space shuttle in the 1980s.

With the first book devoted primarily to military hardware and the second to launch vehicle hardware, Hunley offers a sweeping overview of these impressive engineering innovations as well as insights into the dynamic personalities responsible for them. Together, the two volumes offer a unique, invaluable history of rocketry that should appeal to a wide range of scholars and space buffs.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. The Beginnings: Goddard and Oberth, 1926–1945
• 2. Peenemünde and the A-4 (V-2), 1932–1945
• 3. JPL: From JATO to the Corporal, 1936–1957
• 4. From Pompton Lakes to White Sands: Other Liquid-Propellant Rocket Developments, 1930–1954
• 5. From Eaton Canyon to the Sergeant Missile: Solid-Propellant Rocket Developments, 1940–1962
• 6. Redstone, Jupiter C, and Juno I, 1946–1961
• 7. The Atlas, Thor, and Jupiter Missiles, 1954–1959
• 8. The Titan I and II, 1955–1966
• 9. Polaris and Minuteman: The Solid-Propellant Breakthrough, 1955–1970
• Conclusion
• Appendix: Chronology
• Notes
• Glossary of Terms, Acronyms, and Abbreviations
• Sources
• Index