ROCKETS
THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY IN SPACE
A Brief History of Rockets
Rockets as Weapons
The first rockets in the world were said to have been created to be weapons. In the early 13th century, during the Chinese and Mongol war, the first rockets were used to propel arrows. This was due to the fact that the Chinese had discovered a simpler form of gunpowder, which they would fill in bamboo tubes and light on fire. The gunpowder would then combust and produce a gas which propelled the tube forward. The Chinese realized that tying them to arrows helped guide the tubes in the right direction, allowing it to become a more effective and lethal weapon during the war.
From the 13th to 15th centuries, several European scientists helped to improve the 'fire arrow' design to be a more effective weapon in warfare. One French Scientist discovered that putting a fire arrow into a tube helps with the mobility and accuracy of the rocket. This idea was the backbone to the modern bazooka. In Italy, a scientist designed a torpedo that used gunpowder to propel itself and attack enemy ships. Such innovations continued to happen as rockets became an increasingly popular weapon of destruction. This trend did not change until the late 19th century, when a Russian school teacher proposed the use of rockets for space travel.
Liquid is Better than Solid
The Russian teacher, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, first proposed the idea of using rockets for space exploration in 1898, and later wrote a report suggesting the use of liquid propellants for rockets instead of the traditional gunpowder. For these reasons, Tsiolkovsky is known as the father of modern astronautics.
Following Tsiolkovsky's footsteps, Robert Goddard, an American aeronautical engineer, started experimenting with solid and liquid propellants during the early 20th century. During his experiments, Goddard quickly came to realize that liquid propellants far outstripped solid propellants in strength and efficiency. After several years of testing, on March 16, 1926, Goddard launched his first liquid propellant rocket. While the rockets flight itself was relatively unimpressive, it brought upon a new era of space flight and rocketry innovation. Goddard continued his research and experiments on liquid fuel propelled rockets, and each time his rockets became larger and flew higher. Eventually, Goddard even managed to build in a parachute system that allowed the components of the rocket to return safely to the surface.
The next great rocketry pioneering happened during the second World War in Nazi Germany. A German scientist, by the name of Hermann Oberth, helped to build the greatest rocket of its time, the V-2 rocket. The V-2 rocket, also known as the A-4 missile, was a small rocket, used as a weapon during the war. However, the V-2 rocket did become one of the most important rocket designs during the Cold War Space Race. This was because the V-2 rocket employed a mixture of water, alcohol and liquid oxygen as its fuel, making it the fastest and strongest missile at the time. The V-2 rocket also demonstrated the ability to transport a payload, something which was unique and unheard of until then.
The Space Race Begins
Soon after the end of the second World War, both the United States and the USSR that rockets like the V-2 had a lot of potential, both for space travel and military purposes. During the Cold War, both sides started developing more missiles and rockets, and for increasingly longer distances. The United States had the revolutionary rocketeer Goddard on their side, while the USSR had several German scientists who worked with Oberth on the V-2 rocket. Space engineering had become one of the key battlegrounds in the Cold War.
On October 4, 1957, the USSR scored the first victory in this battle by successfully launching the first artificial satellite for Earth, Sputnik I. Soon after, the Soviets launched another spacecraft containing the first living organism in it, a dog named Laika. Laika survived for 7 days in outer space, before being brought back to the Earth.
A few months after the Soviets' space race victories, the United States launched their very first satellite into orbit, named Explorer I. Consequently, the United States government also formally created its own astronautical agency and named it the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA).
There were several other key developments made in space travel during the Cold War. Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go to outer space in 1961 in the Soviet spacecraft named Vostok I. Then, the US retaliated a few years later when Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon in 1969, through the Apollo 11 rocket.
Soon after that, the entire world discovered the potential of space travel and satellites. Artificial satellites have assisted scientists in making key discoveries both on Earth and beyond it. Satellites have also helped in other industries such as broadcasting, telecommunications, meteorology and much more. Space is now an international point of interest, something which all countries have invested significant amounts of money in. And through history, we have realized that rockets are the key to the doorway that is called space.
