Newton's 3rd Law: The Rocket & Ground Reaction Force

[bland]

I notice on http://teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/louviere/Newton/law3.html at Rice University that regarding Newton's 3rd law it says that...

The rocket's action is to push down on the ground with the force of its powerful engines, and the reaction is that the ground pushes the rocket upwards with an equal force.

Surely this is a fundamental error. Isn't the rocket pushing against the ejected particles?

 

[A.T.]

Yes you are right. Some people actually thought that rockets cannot work in space, because there is nothing to push against. But even the NYT corrected its previous errors decades ago:

http://www.popsci.com/military-avia...-times-nasa-youre-right-rockets-do-work-space