PREFACE: "ADVANCED ENERGETIC MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES FOR ROCKET PROPULSION" IN HONOR OF PROF. KENNETH KUAN-YUN KUO

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Energetic Materials and Chemical Propulsion (IJEMCP) is the first of a sequel of three Memorial Issues mean t to honor Professor Kenneth (Ken) Kuan-Yun Kuo, founder and editor-in-chief of IJEMCP, who passed away on July 31, 2016. The co-editors considered it appropriate to open this issue with a paper, unpublished in the open literature, by Ken and his former students, Dr. Heat h T. Martin and Dr. Andrew C. Cortopassi. The original paper was modified and downgraded t o public release thanks to the cooperation of the NASA security office; it proudly shows ano ther great technical achievement by Ken and his research team at Pennsylvania State Universit y (PSU). All memorial issues will include six papers, and this 1st Mem orial Issue also makes room for a special sectionThanks for the Memories fully dedicated to the person of Ken (as detailed hereunder). To stress the vast scope and the worldwide influe nce of Ken’s professional activities, in addition to the opening paper by Ken and his coworkers, five papers were selected for publication from different countries carrying out advanced re search activities in energetic materials and chemical propulsion: