Gaetano Arturo Crocco

Infobox Engineer


image_size = 150px
caption = Gaetano Arturo Crocco
name = Gaetano Arturo Crocco
nationality = Italy
birth_date = 1877
birth_place =
death_date = 1968
death_place =
education =
spouse =
parents =
children =
discipline =
institutions =University of Rome
practice_name =
significant_projects =
significant_design =
significant_advance = Aeronautics rocket propulsion
significant_awards =

Gaetano Arturo Crocco (1877-1968) was the founder of the Italian Rocket Society, and went on to become Italy's leading space scientist.

In 1927, Crocco begun working with solid-propellant rockets and, in 1929, designed and built the first liquid-propellant rocket motors in Italy. He began work with monopropellants (fuel and oxidizer combined in one chemical liquid) in 1932, making him one of the first researchers in this field.

As head of the School of Aeronautics of the University of Rome, he performed research on flight mechanics, structural design, and high altitude flight in addition to his work in rocket propulsion.

Because of his early efforts in aeronautics, Italy orbited its own satellites starting in the 1960s.

External links

* [http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/C/Crocco.html Brief bio of Crocco]
* [http://www.dm.unito.it/sism/m_italiani/biografie/nastasi/crocco.html Longer bio (in Italian)]
* [http://www.aeronautica.difesa.it/SitoAM/Default.asp?idnot=5617&idsez=1&idarg=7&idente=1394 Bio that mentions his spaceflight work (Italian)]