The history of the rocket can be traced back to the invention of
gunpowder in Ancient China, as the availability of gunpowder to
propel projectiles was a precursor to the development of the first
solid rocket.
Ninth century Taoist Alchemists discovered black powder while
searching for the elixer of life; this accidental discovery led to
experiments as weapons such as bomb, cannons, incendiary fire
arrows and rocket-propelled fire arrows. The discovery of gunpowder
was probably the product of centuries of alchemical
experimentation.
Exactly when the first flights of rockets occurred is contested.
A common claim is that the first recorded use of a rocket in battle
was by the Chinese in 1232 against the Mongol hordes at Kai Feng
Fu. This is based on an old Mandarin civil service examination
question which reads "Is the defense of Kai Feng Fu against the
Mongols (1232) the first recorded use of cannon?". Another question
from the examinations read "Fire-arms began with the use of rockets
in the dynasty of Chou (B. C. 1122-255)--in what book do we first
meet with the word p'ao, now used for cannon?".
The first reliable scholarly reference to rockets in China
occurs in the Ko Chieh Ching Yuan (The Mirror of Research) which
states that in 998 A.D. a man named Tang Fu invented a rocket of a
new kind having an iron head. There were reports of fire arrows and
'iron pots' that could be heard for 5 leagues (25 km, or 15 miles)
when they exploded upon impact, causing devastation for a radius of
600 meters (2,000 feet), apparently due to shrapnel. The lowering
of the iron pots may have been a way for a besieged army to blow up
invaders. The fire arrows were either arrows with explosives
attached, or arrows propelled by gunpowder, such as the Korean
Hwacha.
Less controversially, one of the earliest devices recorded that
used internal-combustion rocket propulsion, was the 'ground-rat,' a
type of fireworks recorded in 1264 as having frightened the
Empress-Mother Kung Sheng at a feast held in her honor by her son
the Emperor Lizong
Subsequently, one of the earliest texts to mention the use of
rockets was the Huolongjingm written by the Chinese artillery
officer Jiao Yu in the mid-14th century. This text also mentioned
the use of the first known multistage rocket, the 'fire-dragon
issuing from the water' (huo long chu shui), used mostly by the
Chinese navy
Various version of this kind of rocket were used as weapons and
fireworks until in the early twentieth century. Robert Goddard
created and launched the first liquid fueled rocket on March 16,
1926. This was the origin of rocketry as we know it today. For this
he is called the father of modern rocketry.
The first rocket to reach space was the German V2, created
largely by Wernher von Braun to deliver bombs during World War 2.
It was launched October 3, 1942
The first rocket to carry a human into space was Soyuz, which
carried the Vostok 1 spacecraft with Yuri Gagarin.
