Does hydrogen ignite when it meets oxygen in a rocket engine?

[Ki Man]

okay in my textbook in the section where it gives examples of chemical changes, it shows a space shuttle and says that when the hydrogen and oxygen meet and create hot water vapors which propel it foreward. this goes agaist almost everything I've learned and thought so far, and i always thought that the hydrogen was ignited when it met with the oxygen to create a blast that will propell the rocket foreward, which one is right, me or the science book.

 

[Pengwuino]

The book is right. The chemical reaction is 2H2 + 02 = H20 + heat i believe. the "blast" is basically the chemical reaction.

 

[Ki Man]

i thought the hydrogen was ignited instead of turned into vapors

 

[Tide]

What, exactly, do you think combustion means?