Michael G. Smith 
The Rocket Lab 
Maurice Zucrow, Purdue University, and America’s Race to Space

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.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction: A Study in Professional Biography

1. Moishe Zucrow: An Emigrant’s Life

2. Prime Movers: Purdue University and Its Power Plants

3. Research and Development: American Rockets for War

4. Jet Propulsion: The New Science of Rocket Engines

5. Project State: Guided Missiles for the Cold War

6. Satellite Visions: The Dilemmas of Space Exploration

7. Rocket Lab: Doc Zucrow and His Boys

8. Moon Race: Purdue’s Pathways to Outer Space

Epilogue: The Enduring Life of a Consultant

Appendix 1: Zucrow Ph D Students (as of 1965), With Graduation Dates and Positions

Appendix 2: Career Paths and Contributions of Select Zucrow Students

Appendix 3: Purdue Rocket Laboratory Courses Between 1946 and 1971

Notes

Archival Sources

Index

Über den Autor

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.