Daniel Bernoulli

Daniel Bernoulli was another important influence in the development of airplanes. He developed what is called the Bernoulli Principle that is used by engineers today in the creation of an airfoil- the wing in an airplane- which keeps the plane aloft in the sky.

Sir Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton was an important influence to the inventors of aircraft and rockets. He discovered the three laws of motion and published them in Principia Mathematica. To put them in simple terms they are:

First Law: "An object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force" or "A body persists in a state of uniform motion or of rest unless acted upon by an external force."
Second Law: "Force equals mass times acceleration" or "F = ma."
Third Law: "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

OK, this basically means that if I have a rocket, it is just going to stay on the ground unless I apply a force to it (First law). I use the Second law in order to know how much force the rocket needs to use based upon its mass. The less the mass, the less force is necessary to propel it. The Third law says that I need to design the rocket to propel that force in the opposite direction that it needs to go and it will go in the right direction (hopefully up).

Sincerely, Space Cadet

Founding of the US Military

In 1775, before the Declaration of Independence was signed, 13 British colonies in the New World decided they needed to create a military force in order to successfully rebel against Britain, and create a new nation. They created the Continental Army, Continental Navy, and the Continental Marine Corps. With those military powers, they successfully overthrew the British Empire and created a nation of their own, the United States of America. Later in 1790 they made a new branch, called the US Coast Guard. The Air Force is the most recent branch of the US Military. It was originally a branch of the Army, the Army Air Force, but was officially made into its own separate branch in 1947. Because of its military forces, the United States of America has grown into the powerful nation that it is today.

In order for a military force to be effective, there has to be order. This is accomplished through a chain of command. That basically means there is one person, the president, who is in charge of several others, who in turn are in charge of several more people, etc., until you get to the bottom. There is also rank, which is a title you earn, starting from the bottom (E-0) and working your way up. This often determines your position in the chain of command.

Sincerely, Space Cadet