The History of Rocketry

Rockets are not a new invention. People have been making rockets for about 800 years. The first rockets were made in China and were used as fireworks and weapons. Over the centuries, rockets got bigger and more powerful. Today, they are our only way to reach space.

Early Rockets

The Chinese invented the first rockets around the year 1200. These were tubes filled with gunpowder that shot into the air. For hundreds of years, rockets were mainly used as weapons and fireworks. In the early 1900s, scientists like Robert Goddard and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky began dreaming of using rockets to reach space.

The Space Age

Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926. It flew for only 2.5 seconds. During World War II, Germany built the V-2 rocket, the first to reach the edge of space. After the war, both the United States and the Soviet Union used rocket technology to start the Space Age. The Saturn V rocket eventually carried humans to the Moon.

Fun Facts

• Robert Goddard's first liquid-fueled rocket flew for only 2.5 seconds and reached a height of 41 feet.
• The Chinese used rockets in battle as early as the 1200s.
• Konstantin Tsiolkovsky figured out the math for space travel in 1903, the same year the Wright brothers first flew an airplane.

Did You Know?

Robert Goddard was laughed at by newspapers for saying rockets could one day reach the Moon. After the Apollo 11 Moon landing, The New York Times printed a correction apologizing to him.