The History of Rockets
Rockets are almost 800 years old. They started as weapons and fireworks, and now they carry people and satellites into space.
- 1232: Chinese soldiers used "fire arrows" in battle. They were arrows with tubes of gunpowder tied to them, and they are the first rockets we know about.
- 1903: A Russian teacher named Konstantin Tsiolkovsky worked out the math that showed rockets could fly in space.
- 1926: Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket in Massachusetts. It flew for about 2.5 seconds and went 41 feet high.
- 1944: The German V-2 became the first rocket to reach space.
- 1957: The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first satellite to orbit the Earth.
- 1961: Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space.
- 1969: A Saturn V rocket sent Apollo 11 to the Moon, and people walked on it for the first time.
- 2015: SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 booster back on the ground after it launched, so rockets could be used more than once.
The History of Model Rockets
- 1954: Orville Carlisle, a shoe salesman from Nebraska, designed the first modern model rocket and the motor to go with it.
- 1957: G. Harry Stine started the first model rocket company, Model Missiles Inc.
- 1958: Vern Estes started Estes Industries and built a machine called "Mabel" that could make model rocket motors quickly. Most of my rockets are made by Estes.
My Rockets That NASA Used
Three of my rockets are models of real rockets that NASA launched.
- Nike Apache: A two-stage research rocket that NASA started launching in 1961. A Nike booster pushed it off the ground, then the smaller Apache stage carried science instruments more than 100 miles up to study the edge of space.
- Nike Smoke: A Nike booster with a long pointed nose that left a trail of smoke as it climbed. In the 1960s NASA took pictures of the smoke trail to measure the winds high in the sky, which helped them design bigger rockets like the Saturn.
- Mercury Redstone: An Army Redstone missile that was changed to carry a Mercury capsule. On May 5, 1961 it launched Alan Shepard, the first American in space. His flight lasted about 15 minutes and went 116 miles high. A chimpanzee named Ham rode one first, and Gus Grissom flew the second crewed one.
