Fireworks and Weapons

The first rockets, fired by gun powder, were made over seven hundred years ago by the Chinese. They were simply fireworks, just like the Guy Fawkes rockets which light up our skies every year on November 5th.

Rockets were later used for carrying life-lines to rescue sailors from wrecks or from the water. Some people thought rockets might be used in place of guns in time of war, but it was found that guns were far more accurate than any rocket which could then be made.

After the war of 1914-18 a new interest was taken in development of rockets. The chief reason for this was that men had now learned how to fly. But space-flight is very different from flying an aeroplane.

An aircraft must have oxygen to burn its fuel and provide power to drive it. Air must flow over and under its wings to support it. How could anything hope to fly without air? The foundations of rocket-flight were laid by a Roumanian scientist and mathematician, Hermann Oberth.

Other experiments were made in America and Germany at this time. A leading German rocket-scientist, Wernher Von Braun, led experimental work in Europe. He now helps America's plans for exploring space, but during the last war it was his skill which enabled Germany to build her powerful rocket weapon known as the V2. It caused terrible loss of life and destruction to our cities, especially London.