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First Rockets
The Chinese first invented rockets in the form of fireworks for religious ceremonies. -
Jan 1, 1232
Fire Arrows
The first recorded rocket was the fire arrow, invented by the Chinese as a way to propel a barrage of flaming arrows. -
Jan 1, 1300
Improvements from the Rennesiance
Multiple improvements were made to rockets by Europeans presumeably because the Mongols created their own and brought them. The most noteable improvements were from Roger Bacon, who increased range, and Jean Froissart, who increased accuracy by launching through tubes. -
Jan 1, 1500
The "Step Rocket" Idea
Johann Schmidlap had the idea of a multi-stage "step rocket" to acheive much higher altitudes, a technique that is now used to get to space. -
Newton's Laws
Newton created his three laws of motion which had a huge impact on the creation of rockets and why they work. -
William Congreve's Rockets
Colonel William Congreve slightly improved previous rocket designs and used them in great numbers for battle, proving to be extremely effective.In fact, his rockets are the ones that are mentioned in "The Star Spangled Banner." -
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's Ideas
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, often called the father of modern astronautics, came up with the thought of using rockets for space exploration, using liquid fuel, and claimed that rockets' speed and range is only determined by the exhaust velocity of gases. -
Robert Goddard's Rockets
Robert Goddard, often called the father of modern rocketry, did many expirements with rockets, his most notable being the first successful liquid-fueled rocket. -
The V2 Rocket
Created by Wernher von Braun, the V2 rocket was the most advanced of its time and was a very effactive weapon, leading to many more advancements in rocketry and realization of how effective rockets can be when weaponized. -
Sputnik I
The Russians stunned the world when they created the very first rocket to get to space and have an artificial sattelite orbiting Earth. -
The Space Race
After Sputnik I was sent to orbit, the U.S. and Russia constantly raced to try and outdo each other in terms of rockets, leading to many advancements. Although Russia beat the US most of the time, the US won when they sent the first man to the moon. -
The Moon Landing
After much effort, the United States was able to successfully land humans on the moon with the Apollo project, becoming not only one of the greatest acheviements in rocketery, but in all of mankind. -
The Space Shuttle
NASA's space shuttle was the first reusable spacecraft, consisting of the shuttle itself for orbit and re-entry, boosters to reach escape velocity, and a fuel tank. The program ended in 2011 due to the extreme costs of the shuttle. -
Rocketry Now
Currently, many private industries like Boeing and SpaceX are helping the science of rocketery progress and become cheaper and more accessable. Steps are also being taken to eventually go back to the moon as well as explore mars.
