Science: Solid Progress

At last week's Washington meeting of the American Rocket Society, a 90-ft. Titan missile stood outside the building; often discussed at the meeting were other liquid-fuel rockets. These types are dominant in the U.S. and probably in Russia. Their great advantage: they work. But also discussed at the meeting was the progress being made in solid-fuel rockets.

The solid-fuel rocket is like the monoplane in the early years of aviation. Biplanes were then the established type. They were easy to build because their double wings, braced by crisscrossed wire and struts, strengthened each...

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