1,000 Years of Rockets!

 
The rocket probably originated in China 1,000 years ago.  The gunpowder rocket spread throughout Asia, then reached Europe by the late 1200s.  It served mainly as a firework or signal rocket, although Congreve, Hale, and other war rockets became widely used in the 1800's.


In the 1880s, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky of Russia realized that rockets could function in a vacuum and began formulating his theories of space rockets.  American Robert H. Goddard had similar ideas and undertook the first modern experiments.  He started with solid fuels in 1915, then switched to more powerful liquid fuels in 1921.  Goddard continued experimenting until his death in 1945.


Goddard established many firsts, but due to his secrecy, his actual influence upon modern rocket technology is questionable.  Other independent experimenters appeared in the 1930s and laid some groundwork.  However, modern rocket technology owes more to World War II developments -- especially Germany's V-2, the world's first large-scale, liquid-fuel rocket.


After the war, both the United States and Soviet Union developed large-scale rockets based on the V-2.  The Space Age began in 1957 with the launch of Russia's Sputnik 1, and since then rocketry has undergone enormous technological revolution including nuclear, electric, and other forms of rocket propulsion.

Nike-Cajun Sounding Rockets,

Regulus I Cruise Missiles, Nike-Ajax Missles, Orbital rockets, Titan rocket engines, Navaho rocket engines

And the always fun Rocket Man!!

There are hundreds more rockets and one-of-a-kind planes here.  Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, Virginia is an absolute MUST SEE for yourself!