en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile
2 corrections found
American Robert Goddard and German Hermann Oberth developed early rockets propelled by jet engines.
Goddard and Oberth are documented as pioneers of liquid-fueled rocketry, not of rockets propelled by jet engines.
Full reasoning
This sentence conflates rocket engines with jet engines. NASA’s history of Robert Goddard says he "began experimenting with liquid-fueled rocket engines" and that he launched the first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926. NASA material on Hermann Oberth likewise describes him as concluding that liquid-fueled rockets could be developed and proposing liquid propellants. Those sources contradict the article’s claim that these pioneers developed early rockets "propelled by jet engines." Jet engines and rocket engines are different propulsion systems; the cited sources place both men in the history of rocket propulsion.
2 sources
- 95 Years Ago: Goddard's First Liquid-Fueled Rocket - NASA
Goddard began experimenting with liquid-fueled rocket engines in September 1921... [and] successfully launched the first liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926.
- Hermann Oberth - NASA biography (as quoted in NASA search result)
Hermann Oberth... concluded that liquid-fueled rockets could be developed... [and] taught himself while he tested his theories.
A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft, other missiles or flying objects.
SAMs are not limited to ground launch; many are ship-launched surface-to-air missiles.
Full reasoning
This definition is too narrow because "surface-to-air missile" includes missiles launched from surface platforms, including ships, not only from the ground.
Examples from U.S. Navy sources:
- The Navy’s Sea Sparrow material describes a surface-to-air missile launched from ships.
- The Navy also describes the Standard Missile family as its primary surface-to-air air-defense weapon aboard cruisers and destroyers.
So saying a SAM is designed to be launched only "from the ground" is incorrect; ship-launched SAMs are a standard and well-documented category.
3 sources
- USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) Sea Sparrow missile launch
Amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) fires a NATO Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile to intercept a remote-controlled drone...
- About USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53)
John Paul Jones executed the longest range surface to air intercept in naval history, successfully engaging a target with a Standard Missile (SM) 6...
- Standard Missile > United States Navy > Display-FactFiles
Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) is the U.S Navy's primary surface-to-air air defense weapon... aboard Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.