History of Rocket Science

First steam powered rocket

400 BCE

A Greek mathematician named Archytas made a rocket that was shaped like a bird. It was propelled forward when steam escaped from the inside.

Aeolipile

100 BCE

Another Greek mathematician named Hero of Alexandria invented the first aeolipile. It was powered by steam and used many of the same principles that are used in modern rockets

First gunpowder rockets

100

The first gunpowder rocket was created by the Chinese in the first century AD. The gunpowder was made of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal dust. They filled bamboo tubes with this mixture and lit the tube on fire. Later, they attached these tubes to arrows and launched the rockets using bows or crossbows.

First time rockets are used in war

Mar 29, 1232

The Chinese first used their gunpowder rockets during a war against the Mongols. These rockets didn't do much damage but still caused a lot of fear among the Mongolian soldiers.

Mongols create their own rockets

Mar 29, 1299

In response to the Chinese attacking them with rockets, the Mongols created their own rockets. They also spread the rockets to Europe.

Improvements are made to the original gunpowder rocket

Mar 29, 1399

Scientists, mathematicians, and engineers in Europe (England, France, Italy) made several improvements to the original gunpowder rocket that was created by the Chinese.

First multistage rocket

Mar 29, 1599

A German fireworks maker named Johann Schmidlap created a rocket that had two separate pieces: a large rocket and a smaller rocket. The large rocket carried the small rocket up into the air and fell back to earth. Then, the small rocket continued to fly higher into the atmosphere. This design is very similar to what NASA uses today.