History of Rocket Propulsion

By Jamesboy678
  • 400 BCE

    Wooden Bird

    Wooden Bird
    The Wooden Bird was created around 400 B.C. Archytas created a flying pigeon made of wood. The pigeon used the action-reaction principle, and the bird was suspended on wires, escaping steam.
  • Jan 1, 1232

    First Use of True Rockets

    First Use of True Rockets
    While at war with the Mongols, the Chinese repelled them using "arrows of flying fire". The arrows were solid-propellant rockets. It involved a tube, capped at one end, which contained gunpowder. A stick was attached to it to help guide it in the air.
  • Mar 21, 1500

    Step Rocket

    Step Rocket
    Johann Schmidlap invents the step rocket, a multi staged rocket that lifted fireworks into higher altitudes. It consisted of a large rocket carrying a smaller rocket, where the smaller rockeurt would continue to fly after the larger rocket got burnt out

  • Space Exploration with Rockets

    Space Exploration with Rockets
    In 1903, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proposes space exploration with rockets. He suggested the use of liquid propellants for rockets and stated that speed and range of rockets were only limited by the exhaust velocity from escaping gases.

  • V-2 Rocket

    V-2 Rocket
    The V-2 rocket was created by Germany. The rocket is small in comparison to today's rockets, but it achieved great thrust by the burning of both liquid oxygen and alcohol. It was a weapon that could completely destroy cities.

  • RTV-G-4 Bumper

    RTV-G-4 Bumper
    On this day, the seventh RTV-G-4 Bumper rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral. The rocket was a combination of the V-2 Rocket and WAC corporal rocket.

  • Sputnik I

    Sputnik I
    It was the first successful entry in the race for space. The Soviet Union launched it, and it had a braking nozzle on the rocket which employed gas. It also pressurized an oxidizer tank during the flight.

  • Explorer 1

    Explorer 1
    This satelite was launched atop the Juno 1, and was a modified Jupiter-C booster. It was also much smaller than Sputnik

  • Apollo 17

    Apollo 17
    Final mission of NASA's apollo missions. It was the first night launch of a U.S. human spaceflight.

  • SpaceShipOne

    SpaceShipOne
    It was the first private space vehicle, capable of climbing above an altitude 100 km twice in a 14-day period. It contains a crew cabin, oxidizer tank, fuel casing, and rocket nozzle. It has short, wide wings.