Britain’s first rocket scientist, George Stephenson, died 150 years in the past
this week. In October 1829, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, then below
building, introduced a £500 prize for a locomotive that would pull 3
instances its personal weight at a pace of 10 miles an hour (16 kilometres according to hour).
George Stephenson designed the Rocket, and the engine used to be constructed by way of his son,
Robert, who entered it for the railway’s trials at Rainhill close to Liverpool.
(George possibly couldn’t input the contest as he used to be the railway’s leader
engineer.)
The Rocket triumphed over its competitors—3 different steam engines, a
horse-powered instrument and one labored by way of two males. You’ll be able to learn how the clicking
lined the Rainhill trials on the time in Mechanics Mag at
http://www.rainhill.com/historical past/trials.htm. You’ll be able to even take the Rocket for a
digital check pressure at Purple Hill Studios’ InventorLabs web site at
http://www.redhillstudios.com/html/steph.html. The animation will best paintings if
you will have the Quicktime plug-in to your browser.
Subjects:
Supply Through https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15921472-800-ahead-of-steam/