Aren't shuttle launches exciting? Well, all the launches you see today would not be possible if it weren't for the founders of rocketry. We hope this will give you an idea of how it all started.

The earliest trace of rockets that we know about goes back to the 11th century in China. When sulfur, charcoal and salt peter were mixed together they would explode when burned. This  was called black powder. Then someone in China applied this mixture to arrows and the first rocket was born.These arrows were called "fire arrows" and could be used in battle. 

In the 13th century, Mongolian invaders used rockets mounted in boxes to fire on enemy defenses. 

In the 1600's and 1700's, Sir Isaac Newton contemplated the laws of gravity and motion. Newton's laws are now used by scientist all over the world when they need to conduct space flight.

On March 16, 1926, Dr. Robert Goddard launched the first successful liquid-fuel rocket. By doing this, Goddard had set the stage for modern rocketry. Most rockets today use liquid fuel (mainly liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen). 

From the Mercury program to the shuttle missions, they all had to start somewhere. Now that you've read about how rocketry began, please proceed to one of our rocket sections on the right.