It is widely accepted by most historians that the Chinese produced a solid fueled rocket around 1045 AD. This rocket was then used against the Mongols during the defense of a Kai-fung-fu, a city in China, in 1232. It was a solid fuel arrow powered by gunpowder. These very early rockets probably contained black powder as the propellant (fuel).
A form of gunpowder was the earliest solid rocket fuel. China, in the late second century BC provides us with the earliest recorded mention of gunpowder. Bamboo tubes, filled with saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal, were the first form of solid rocket fuel. The bamboo tubes were tossed into ceremonial fires during religious festivals. It was hoped that the noise of the explosion would frighten evil spirits. …show more content…
In it he tells a tale of a Confederate attempt to fire a ballistic missile at Washington, D.C. The missile was fired from just outside Richmond, Va. The missile, 12-foot-long, solid-fueled rocket, carried a 10-pound gunpowder warhead in a brass case engraved with the letters C.S.A. It was ignited and seen to roar rapidly up and out of sight. However, no one ever saw the rocket land. It is interesting to speculate whether a satellite marked with the initials of the Confederate States of America might have been launched into orbit. This occurred over 100 years before …show more content…
Robert Goddard is commonly referred to as “the father of modern rocketry”. He was responsible for the advent of space exploration in the United States. Most of his accomplishments in rocket science were in a somewhat autonomous effort. In 1909, he began his study of liquid-propellant rockets. In 1912, he proved that rockets would work in a vacuum. 1919 saw World War I come to an end. It also brought the publication of Dr. Goddard’s book A Method of Attining Extreme Altitude. This text, which laid the theoretical foundation for American rocket developments, such as staging, would turn out to be critical for the quest to land on the