Question:What is the biggest motor I can buy or make?
Answer:The biggest motor that can be bought by a model or high power rocket motor manufacturer is an "O" motor which makes up to about 1500 lbs of thrust (I think). These are extremely expensive motors. You can however get reloadable motors which in the long run save money. Look them up with the search option on my main page. The biggest motor that you can make is unlimited. Because you don't need a permit to make them (if you want to store large amounts of chemicals, you need a license called a LEUP from the BATF), you just need the money, the time, and the tools. When you fly them, you must also contact the FAA and get a waiver to the altitude you believe your rocket might attain, if it is considered a "high power" rocket (see the NAR page for info on waivers and what a high power rocket is). However, using the design I illustrated on my amateur motor page, the biggest rocket you can build is 4 or 5 inches in diameter (the limit on normal PVC piping). You can make probably an "M" motor with this tubing, depending on the amount and type of propellant used.
Question:When was the first rocket launch?
Answer:The very first one was somewhere in China around 1200 AD. The first liquid rocket engine was launched in 1926 by Robert Goddard in the United States. The first organized model rocket launch took place in 1957 shortly after NAR was formed, but rockets were launched for fun by wealthy figures (not just fireworks, but not exactly "model rockets") between 1900 and 1930. German rocket science came out of a group researching rocketry for themselves without being paid, and without original government support in the 1930's.
Question:How fast do rockets go?
Answer:Most model rockets go about 250 mph, I am designing one to go 1200 mph, however. It depends on the aerodynamic efficiency, weight, engine, and other factors of design. The fastest rockets are ICBMs (nuclear missiles) some of which can reach 70,000 mph. Other military rockets range around 1450 mph, to 2500 mph. The space shuttle goes about 18,000 mph under rocket thrust (not orbiting), and the fastest man ever (recognized by Guiness Records) clocked 27,000 mph. I think that was going to the moon, which needs more speed than orbiting, which needs more speed that simply leaving the atmosphere into space, and coming back down.
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