History of Rocketry

Look through the history of rocketry and you will find that humans developed rockets based on various needs. Whether their needs were scientific, entertainment, food or protection, the challenge to control the flight of a rocket made people research and experiment with rockets. Take this journey through history and see how inventors and engineers have developed rockets that allow us to meet our needs.

Early Rockets

Interest in flight started way before ideas of rockets. The first form of a rocket came from the Greeks and was developed by Archytas as a steam powered wooden pigeon that would "fly". Steam escaped from within the pigeon and propelled it along a wire. Over time, different cultures integrated their knowledge into rockets and applied a variety of developments. One thousand years ago, the Chinese transitioned from steam powered rockets to the use of gun powder, creating a move to solid-fuel rockets. The Chinese used the firework style rockets in battle and celebrations. The legend of a Chinese official named Wan-Hoo started the manned rocket flight. Wan-Hoo wanted to travel to the moon using a large wicker chair, 47 large rockets, and 47 assistants with torches. The day of the launch Wan-Hoo sat in the chair and the 47 assistants rushed in to light the fuses. After the smoke cleared, Wan-Hoo and the wicker chair were gone.

As time moved on, humans continued to study how things fly and by the 1600's, a Polish artillery expert, Kazimierz Siemienozicz, had developed drawings for a staged rocket. From 1806 to about 1846, William Congreve's rocket design was used in many battles. Congreve's design was a black powder incendiary rocket with an iron case and a 16 foot guide stick. In the war of 1812, Francis Scott Key took notice of the Congreve rockets being used and wrote the Star-Spangled Banner. The stick rocket led William Hale to invent the stickless rocket. By the end of the 19th century thoughts of using rockets for space travel began to develop.

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  Ancient Rocket

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  Artillery Expert

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  Wan-Hoo

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  Congreve Rocket

Early 20th Century

Rockets had made their way into science fiction with the idea of rocket propelled space travel. However, rockets were really being used in World War I to take down enemy observation balloons. During World War I, there were many developments in aviation. After World War I, aviation advancement continued to be pursued by engineers. Only a few, like Robert H. Goddard focused on improving rocketry. Goddard was the first to launch a rocket using a liquid fuel source. Prior to World War II, American technical societies continued to experiment and make advancements in rocketry. One of these advancements was the rocket motor in 1932.

Scientists around the world were working on building rockets that could lift heavier loads and fly farther distances. One very well-noted rocket was the German V-2 rocket which became the first long-range ballistic missile to see combat use. The V-2 rockets were constructed under the supervision of Wernher von Braun. The V-2 rocket used a liquid fuel consisting of alcohol and liquid oxygen to carry a 1,650 pound load up to 225 miles.

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  Rocket Motor

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  V-2 Rocket

After World War II

At the end of World War II, the United States sent scientists to Europe to collect information on the German's technical capabilities. These explorations triggered "Operation Paperclip"; an initiative which cleared the way for German rocket specialists to come to the United States and help progress American rocketry.

The German rocket specialists reconstructed V-2 rockets that the United States collected in Europe. After years of testing and modifying old V-2 rockets the German rocket specialists started designing new rockets. These new rockets were designed with the idea of making it into space. The new high powered rockets would be a foundation for the American space program. Aside from rockets for space travel the rocket specialists, mostly American now, designed numerous other styles of rockets.

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  Old Reliable

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  Explorer I

  After a successful launch Dr. William H. Pickering - Director of JPL, Dr. James Van Allen - a scientist from University of Iowa, and Dr. Wernher von Braun raise a full-size model of America's first satellite, Explorer I.

Rocket Powered Planes

In October of 1947, a skilled US Air Force pilot by the name of Chuck Yeager flew the Bell X-1 at a speed of 807.2 mph with an altitude of 45,000ft. With the use of a rocket engine the Bell X-1 flight became the first recorded manned supersonic flight. Supersonic flight now meant humans could fly faster than the speed of sound. Versions of the Bell X-1 plane would continue to break air speed records for years to come.

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  Charles E. Yeager, Gus Lundquist and James Fitzgerald

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  Bell X-1

Race to put a man on the moon

Russia was the first to use a rocket to put a satellite into space. The United States was shocked by Russia's achievement with Sputnik and did not want to lose the second race to the moon. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was started on October 1, 1958. NASA would perform research that would allow the U.S. to be the first on the moon. The Marshall Space Flight Center was established as a development center for NASA's research. The Marshall team set out to develop launch vehicles that would allow a man to enter space and return safely. The U.S. and more specifically the Marshall team received devastating news on April 12, 1961; when the Soviet Union was the first to put a man, Yuri Gagarin, into space. On May 5, 1961 Alan B. Shepard was the first American astronaut. Shepard's vehicle was named Freedom 7 propelled by Marshall's Mercury-Redstone rocket. The first major development from the Marshall Center was the Saturn rockets. On November 9, 1967 the Saturn V was first launched. The Saturn V was the most powerful, producing the same power as 85 Hoover Dams. In July 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts - the first humans to walk on the moon - were successfully launched with a Saturn V rocket.

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  Yuri Gagarin

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  Alan Shepard and Freedom 7

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  Saturn V Launch

The End of the Saturn Rocket

After launching Apollo missions and Skylab, America's first space station, Saturn rockets would have their last launch on July 15, 1975. On that day a Russian spacecraft carrying three cosmonauts lifted off seven and a half hours before an Apollo spacecraft was launched carrying American astronauts. The two launch vehicles rendezvoused on July 17 and remained connected for two days conducting joint experiments. The Marshall Center's development of the Shuttle marked a new era in space flight. The shuttle was a way to carry much larger payloads into earth's orbit.

Recent Developments in Rocketry

The X Prize Foundation manages public competitions designed to promote technological growth. One of the largest competitions was the Ansari X Prize challenge to develop a spacecraft. The basic challenge was to launch a privately financed vehicle into space twice within two weeks. A total of 26 teams competed for the grand prize of $10 million. On October 4, 2004 the Ansari X Prize was won by a team and their spacecraft SpaceShipOne. Privately funded space travel is becoming the new endeavor since the Space Shuttle's last launch in July 2011. The privately funded rocket is the future of rocketry.

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  SpaceShipOne

Into the Future

As time has passed, humans have studied and achieved stable rocket flight. Major developments have occurred and have moved society to a modern era of rocketry that was hard to imagine when rocket development first began. Accomplishments are continuously being striven for and achieved. Rocketry is moving forward and is reaching new milestones every day. For example, space tourism is predicted to "take off" as flight into the atmosphere becomes less expensive, due to developing and innovative technologies. Not only will less expensive space flight be available to tourists, but also to researchers and scientists. More and more discoveries will be made possible due to the rapidly developing aviation technologies.