Page 19 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

Other countries did not have such launchers and so were not able to join in the space race.
The first launch vehicles used by the Soviet Union had two stages with four drop-away booster pods. Each booster pod contained four rocket engines. The main launcher core also had four engines. That gave the launcher a total of 20 engines. The pods also contained the tanks for the propellant (fuel), which used liquid oxygen and kerosene.
The first American launchers, Jupiter and Vanguard, also used liquid fuels in the lower part of the launcher and solid propellant in the upper stages.
In the 1960s another ICBM was modified for use, called Titan. Another reused ICBM was called Thor, and yet another was called Atlas.
 The wide variety of launchers now on display at the Kennedy Space Centre.
atomic weapons Weapons that rely on the violent explosive force achieved when radioactive materials are made to go into an uncontrollable chain reaction.
booster pod A form of housing that stands outside the main body of the launcher.
space race The period from the 1950s to the 1970s when the United States and the Soviet Union competed to be first in achievements in space.
19