Rocket Guide History Timeline
Rocket Guide History Timeline
Rocket Guide History Timeline
Rockets Go to War
For centuries to come, rockets competed with cannons as the weapon of
choice for war. Each technological development moved one or the other
system into or out of favor. Cannons were more accurate. Rockets could be
fired more quickly. Breech-loading cannons speeded up the firing. Rocket
fins increased accuracy. Cannons had greater range. Rockets had greater
range. And so on. Invention abounded. Invented by Joanes de Fontana of
Italy (1420), a surface-running rocket torpedo was supposed to set enemy
ships on fire.
World War II
Flying Bombs
The necessities of war led to massive technological improvements in aero-
nautics and rocketry. Almost overnight, rockets graduated from novelties and
dream flying machines to sophisticated weapons of destruction. Rockets
propelled nearly unstoppable German fighter planes and Japanese Kamikaze
pilots with bombs into ships. War would never be the same again.
Bumper Project
At the conclusion of the war in Europe, 300 trainloads of V2 rockets and
parts were captured and shipped to the United States along with the
majority of the principal designers, who decided beforehand to surrender
to American troops. The V2 became the basis of the intercontinental bal-
listic missile development program and led directly to the manned space
program. Employing one of the captured V2 rockets with a WAC Corporal
rocket (named for the Women’s Army Corps) at its top, the initial launch of
a “Bumper-WAC” took place on May 13, 1948. During six flights, the largest
two-stage rocket launched to date in the United States eventually reached an
altitude of almost 400 kilometers (250 miles).
Explorer 1
The United States entered the satellite-launching business on January 31,
1958 with the successful launch of Explorer 1. The satellite was launched
atop the Juno 1, a modified Jupiter-C booster. Though much smaller than the
Sputniks, only 13.93 kilograms (30.66 pounds)—Explorer 1’s Geiger counter
made the first important discovery about the space environment. Explorer
1 detected around Earth what would later be called the Van Allen Radiation
Belts.
Freedom 7
On May 5, 1961, American astronaut Alan Shepard, Jr., lifted off from Cape
Canaveral, Florida, inside his Freedom 7 Mercury space capsule, which sat
atop a Redstone rocket. The rocket did not have enough power to send the
craft into orbit, and Shepard made a suborbital flight reaching 187 kilometers
(116 miles) before his capsule returned to Earth in an ocean splashdown 15
minutes 22 seconds later.
Moon Rocket
Just days after Alan Shepard’s flight, President John F. Kennedy addressed
a joint session of Congress and challenged America to send an American
to the Moon and return him safely before the end of the decade. Although it
was a shockingly bold announcement, some of the steps to accomplish this
mission were already underway. NASA had begun work on components of
a rocket capable of a round trip lunar flight. By the next year, the rocket was
named the Saturn V. It would be 110.6 meters or 363 feet tall, dwarfing all
previous rockets. The Saturn V would consist of three stages, a capsule with
a small propulsion unit for the return trip, and a two-stage lunar lander.
Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991), a distinguished World War II bomber pilot
and commercial pilot, began his writing career penning stories about fly-
ing. He began writing for television and developed a concept for a “western”
series set among the stars. For three years (1966–1968), the Star Trek series
explored a wide range of scientific and social issues as humans traveled
across the galaxy. The series became so popular that the first space shuttle
orbiter test vehicle was named Enterprise after the star ship Enterprise. The
original show spawned several companion series and a string of movies.
Roddenberry, a visionary, inspired a generation of space travelers.
Skylab
Using a modified third stage of the Saturn V rocket, the United States
launched its first space station, called Skylab, into Earth orbit in 1973. Rather
than engines and fuel tanks, the interior of the third stage was fitted with
living quarters and laboratories for three astronauts for extended stays in
space. Solar panels provided electric power. Due to a problem during launch,
one of the large panels was lost. Nevertheless, three crews of astronauts
called Skylab home until 1974. The last crew remained in space 84 days.
Smaller Saturn
The Saturn V rocket was capable of launching 117,900 kilograms (260,000
pounds) into low-Earth orbit and 40,800 kilograms (90,000 pounds) to the
Moon. For some Apollo missions, though, a smaller Saturn was called for.
The Saturn IB was 68 meters (224 feet) tall and required a scaffold platform
nicknamed the “milk stool” to be placed on the pad designed for Saturn V
rockets. This enabled the Saturn IB to match up with swing arms from the
launch structure. The Saturn IB carried some of the early Apollo test mis-
sions, the three crews for Skylab, and the American crew for the 1975 historic
Apollo-Soyuz mission, linking astronauts and cosmonauts in orbit.
Deep Space
The Titan rockets (1959–2005), used for launching the Gemini missions,
found wide use in launching unmanned payloads. Upgraded versions of
Titans lofted heavy satellites into Earth orbit and propelled important space-
craft to other planets. The Viking missions to Mars and the Voyager missions
to the outer planets and interstellar space are among its credits.
Delta Family
With roots going back to the early 1960s, the American Delta rocket is one
of the most versatile of the commercial and military payload launch rock-
ets. Delta has many configurations, including multiple stages and heavy-lift
strap-on boosters that increase payload capacity to high orbits. The Delta
family has logged more than 325 launches, with a success rate exceeding 95
percent.
Atlas
Like the Delta rocket, the Atlas has deep roots. Now in its fifth major con-
figuration, the Atlas was created as a missile in the 1950s. It was adapted to
carry John Glenn and three other Mercury astronauts to space and has since
been used for many commercial, scientific, and military satellite launches and
interplanetary missions. The Atlas V rocket (shown) is the latest in the series.
Pegasus
Like the mythological creature, the Pegasus launch vehicle is winged. Lifted
to about 12,000 meters it is then air-launched from under the wing of a
carrier aircraft. This arrangement keeps launch costs low for small orbital
payloads.
Thirty Years
The space shuttle was a new concept for carrying crews and payloads into
low-Earth orbit. It consisted of a central external tank surrounded by two
solid rocket boosters and a winged orbiter. Only the orbiter, a spacecraft/
airplane/space truck, actually reached orbit. It was designed to be reusable
as were the solid rocket boosters. A new external tank was needed for each
mission. Inside a cavernous payload bay were science laboratories, space
probes, telescopes, or Earth-sensing systems. Many shuttle payloads con-
sisted of components for the International Space Station. At the end of a
shuttle mission, the orbiter reentered Earth’s atmosphere and glided to an
unpowered landing on a runway. The first space shuttle flight took place in
1981 and the last of its 135 missions concluded in 2011.
Dream Chaser
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser was selected by NASA to pro-
vide cargo delivery, return, and disposal service for the International Space
Station under the Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract. Dream
Chaser Tenacity will be the first orbital vehicle in the Dream Chaser space-
plane fleet. Dream Chaser will provide a minimum of six cargo missions to
and from the space station carrying critical supplies like food, water, and
science experiments.
Space Tourism
In 2004, SpaceShipOne successfully flew three missions to become the
first privately developed space vehicle to carry a pilot above 100 kilometers
(62.5 miles). Built by Burt Rutan and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul
Allen, it won the $10 million Ansari X Prize. Using the next generation ver-
sion, SpaceShipTwo, Virgin Galactic will offer suborbital flights to tourists and
researchers. SpaceShipTwo flights will originate from Spaceport America in
New Mexico. Soon, spaceflight will belong to all.
“...to seek out new life, new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before.
That’s one step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind.”Neil Armstrong on the Moon.
Who will be the dreamers and doers of tomorrow? Where will they take us?