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Ancient
Rocketry
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It is believed that around the year 600 B.C. the
Chinese had mastered the art of using gunpowder. The Chinese
first demonstrated the explosiveness of gunpowder through the
lighting and detonation of firecrackers. There are not written
records of when they were introduced, but fire arrows launched
by gunpowder are recognized as the first true rockets. These
were regular arrows that were propelled by ignited gunpowder
housed in a tube, which was tied to the arrow itself. The
Chinese would fire these in salvos from an assortment of boxes
and cylinders, and some of them could hold as many as 1,000
fire arrows each!
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Throughout the 13th and 15th
centuries, European countries experimented with rockets. In
England, a monk named Roger Bacon had improved the forms of
gunpowder, which greatly increased the range of rockets. In
France, a man named Jean Froissart had discovered that rockets
flew more accurately if fired from a tube. His idea later
became the stepping-stone for the bazooka.
Sources:
Rockets:
History & Theory.
28 Mar. 2003 http://www.wsmr.army.mil/paopage/Pages/rkhist.htm.
Hamilton,
Calvin J. 'A Brief History of Rocketry'. 2001. 27
Mar. 2003 http://www.solarviews.com/eng/rocket.htm
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