Propellants, solid history

The earliest solid propellant was Black Powder, also known as Gun Powder. Its history is de-... 

Throughout the history of industrial development man has generally adopted a new invention, process, or product and attempted quickly to adapt it to a particular need for which adequate data are unavailable. In aerospace propulsion many of the prior arts and processes were those of the explosives industry, an industry characterized by intensive employee training and considerable reluctance toward change. In the expansion caused by utilization of many of the processes in solid propellant manufacture, adaptation was necessarily performed by personnel not experienced in the rationale of the prior art, occasionally leading to disastrous results. 

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