Inventors
Rocket
and Missile Systems
By
Mary
Bellis
Rocket and missile systems are a
variety of weapons systems that deliver explosive warheads to their targets
by means of rocket propulsion. A rocket is a general term that describes
a jet-propelled missile which is propelled forward from the rearward ejection
of matter, like hot gases at a high velocity. Rocketry was developed in
China, where firework displays and gunpowder were invented. In the 18th
century, Hyder Ali, prince of Mysore, India, developed the first war rockets
that used metal cylinders to hold the combustion powder needed for propulsion.
Robert
Goddard
Robert Goddard invented liquid-fueled
rockets and a control mechanism for rocket apparatus. During World War
I, Goddard developed a number of designs of small military rockets to be
launched from a lightweight hand launcher, they became the forerunners
of the bazooka of World War II.
Ballistic Missiles
Ballistic
Missiles
Strategic ballistic missiles can
be divided into two general categories according to their basing mode:
those that are launched from land and those launched at sea (from submarines
beneath the surface).
V-2
Missile
The precursor of modern ballistic
missiles was the German V-2, a single-stage, fin-stabilized missile propelled
by liquid oxygen and ethyl alcohol to a maximum range of about 200 miles.
Wernher
von Braun
The V-2 Missile was developed in
Germany from 1936 through the efforts of scientists led by Wernher von
Braun. It was first successfully launched on October 3, 1942, and was fired
against Paris on September 6, 1944.
Wernher
von Braun
Wernher von Braun (1912-1977) was
one of the most important rocket developers and champions of space exploration
during the period between the 1930s and the 1970s.
Walter
Robert Dornberger
Walter Robert Dornberger was the
engineer who directed construction of the German V-2 rocket during World
War II.
Related Information
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and Space Travel Innovation
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Firearms
and Guns
Airplane
Weapons
of Operation Enduring Fredom
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