Rocket Equations, Throbbing Brain

I picked up two books from Amazon for rocket engine design work. Although the preliminary chapters were very simple, it took a lot longer to wrap my mind around the more elaborate equations. It’s been awhile since I did calculus on a daily basis and my brain’s just not in the habit of doing that type of abstraction. For what it’s worth though, the big take away point is that I will need to do considerably more work in the lab than pounding through equations. My short-term goal is to build a simple cold-gas engine and, using some custom made measuring equipment, calculate its performance. This will give me a better sense of what I will need as I scale up to monoprop and finally biprop.

Space Propulsion Analysis and Design

Rocket Propulsion Elements, 7th Edition