History of Rocket Propulsion

By hcps-kempja
  • 400 BCE

    The Wooden Pigeon

    The Wooden Pigeon
    Archytas, a Greek philosopher and mathematician, showed off a wooden pigeon that was suspended on wires. The pigeon was pushed around by escaping steam.
  • 100 BCE

    The Aeolipile

    The Aeolipile
    The Hero of Alexandria is said to have used the aeolipile at around 100 BC. The sphere-shaped device sat on top of a boiling pool of water. Gas from the steaming water went inside of the sphere, and escaped through two L-shaped tubes on opposite sides. The thrust created made the sphere rotate.
  • 100

    The First REAL Rockets

    The First REAL Rockets
    The Chinese are recorded as using the first real rockets around the first century A.D. They were used for colorful displays during religious festivals, sort of like today's fireworks.
  • Jan 1, 1300

    Rocket Propulsion Systems

    Rocket Propulsion Systems
    First used between the years 1200 and 1300 in Asia, using a propellant that included a mix of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal. These rockets were used during the war between the Chinese and the Mongols.

  • Congreve Rocket

    Congreve Rocket
    For the next few hundred years, rockets were mainly used for military purposes, including a version called the Congreve rocket in the early 1800s.

  • V-2 Rocket

    V-2 Rocket
    As guns became more effective, the use of rockets was reduced until World War II, when the Germans used their V-2 rockets routinely to bombard Britain from the safety of their own country.

  • Diamant Rocket

    Diamant Rocket
    This was the first French expendable launch system was also the first one to be made by neither the US or USSR. the Diamant was used to put the first French satellite, Astérix, into orbit on November 26, 1965.

  • Space Shuttle Challenger (and the Accident)

    Space Shuttle Challenger (and the Accident)
    First designed by NASA. This orbiter that had failed due to one of the O-Rings sealing in its right solid rocket booster. This led to the destruction of the Challenger.

  • Falcon 1 Rocket

    Falcon 1 Rocket
    An expendable launch system that became the first privately-developed liquid-fuel launch vehicle to go into orbit around the Earth. It has been succeeded by the Falcon 9.

  • Falcon 9

    Falcon 9
    A rocket where the first stage of it is designed to be reusable. It has been able to transport medium to heavy cargo into low Earth orbit.