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Andrew Anglin
Ms. Bennett
British Literature
7 October 2011
Rockets: The Advancement of the Human Race
Throughout the centuries, man has advanced in many technologies, beginning in ancient
civilizations and expanding through new innovations. Of these technologies, mankind has
created rockets that have lead from a basic flying device to rocket-powered missiles, space crafts,
and other vehicles. Early rockets date back to the thirteenth century when the Chinese packed
gunpowder into a tube and ignited the powder (Robinson). Once the first rocket was created, the
invention spread quickly throughout many countries, and different cultures added their own
expertise to the remarkable invention. Due to new ideas and the discovery of new resources, the
rocket has become a valuable item in the United States and other countries around the world.
One can better understand how rockets have played a major role in the advancement of the
human race by examining the history of the rocket through early rocket inventions;
advancements in rocket technology due to the onset of World War II; the Space Race between
the United States and the Soviet Union, with an increase in the knowledge of space around planet
Earth and other surrounding planets in the universe; and the start of the space shuttle program
and NASA during the space race and NASA’s most recent activities.
First, rockets started as basic tubing that was launched in the air from the ignition of
gunpowder as a fuel source; however, through the exchange of information and technology as
countries were conquered by countries and by the expansion of cultures, stronger and more
durable body styles were formed (Van Riper 10). For example, as the early modern era

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progressed, heavier and more stable body tubes were made from cast iron for military use and a
basic pasteboard for civilian use (Van Riper 11-12); however, in the early nineteenth century,
William Congreve, a colonel in the British army, developed a stronger and accurate rocket that
would carry a warhead almost three miles (Robinson). With the creation of rockets, people were
beginning to see new innovative ways to use this technology, not only for entertainment
purposes, but also as military weapons. Another example of technological innovations would be
from the years 1900 to 1945 when people began to envision rockets that would carry payloads
into space. One of these first people was Konstantin Tsiolkovsky of the USSR, who worked on
rockets that would carry payloads into space, the start of space exploration. At the same time two
men, Robert Hutchings Goddard and Hermann Oberth of the United States, began to create and
envision moon rockets and rockets that could reach higher altitudes for data collection (Van
Riper 28-29). As one can see, not much time passed between early rocket designs and newer
more complicated ideas of what rockets could be used for. Therefore, new designs were tested
and used as a cause of World War II.
In concordance with earlier rocket designs, more creative and useful purposes were about
to be developed at the start of WWII. For instance, the start of World War II brought a sense of
urgency to many nations-- including the United States and Germany-- to create more effective
and accurate long-range rocket-propelled bombs and artillery (Kaplan). Due to the desire of both
nations to be better and more effective in war tactics, new rockets were developed for destructive
reasons. Later during the War, the Germans were able to launch the very first rocket to reach the
lower limits of space with a speed of 3,500 miles per hour and a range of 190 miles. The
Germans then took this technology and applied it to one of the most famous rockets of its time,
the V-2 rocket. The V-2 rocket was designed by a team of German scientists, one of whom being

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Werhner von Braun, one of the best and well known German scientists of his time. The V-2
rocket was fueled with liquid hydrogen or liquid oxygen instead of early propulsion substances
such as gunpowder (Robinson). However, despite the Nazis using the V-2 rocket against
England in 1944 and 1945, the rockets lacked efficient terminal guidance, causing the majority to
miss their intended targets. On the other hand, the rockets were very intimidating and caught the
eyes of the U.S government, and if the Germans would have developed the V-2 rocket earlier
during the War, the rocket’s effects on their victories would have shown (Kaplan). In turn, the
development of the V-2 rocket resulted in many victories by the Nazis. However, the tide would
turn once the United States started to develop its own types of high power military rockets.
The Germans were not the only ones to advance in military rockets; the United States
advanced along as well. For example, the United States developed barrage and direct-fire rockets
that were more accurate compared to ancient and early styles of rockets (Van Riper 42). The
barrage rockets were fired from a simple rail system and mounted to vehicles that needed to be
just bigger than a motorcycle; however, the rockets still had one problem: accuracy. Despite the
rockets not being accurate, the rockets were more accurate than previous designs, and the rockets
provided a continuous cascade of explosions that played a psychological game with German
troops. These barrage rockets came in many varieties of rail systems including the T27
Xylophone, which was an eight tube rail system with a side-by-side arrangement; the T27-E2,
which held a twenty-four tube rail system; the T44, which held a 120 tube rail system; and,
finally, the T34 Calliope, which was a sixty tube launcher mounted on a turret of a Sherman tank
(Van Riper 43-44). The U.S. military also constructed a very accurate direct-fire rocket called
the M1A1 type, better known to soldiers as the "bazooka." The bazooka and other direct-fire
rockets were very light and easy to carry and had very little recoil for the shooter. These direct-

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fire rockets’ targets were mostly stationary vehicles that had very limited mobility and were
located in shorter ranges than targets of barrage and V-2 rockets (Van Riper 45-47). Therefore,
the United States began to level the playing field between U.S troops and Nazi troops. In turn,
due to the advancement in military weapons through rockets and the best military tactics, the
United States helped turn the tide of the war. At the end of World War II, many German
scientists surrendered to the United States and were used for information and knowledge for the
production of military-based rockets and space-destined rocket powered shuttles (Robinson).
Although WWII ended in a German defeat, the Germans’ new rocket technology lead to an
increase in power among two nations: the United States and the USSR.
The United States gained the knowledge for even more advanced rocket designs and
propulsion from German scientists, resulting in a new competition between the United States and
the Soviet Union. For instance, during World War II, the American rocket program's primary
focus was national defense; however, at the end of WWII, the United States and the Soviet
Union became the world's most "formidable powers" when they began to focus on space
exploration (Robinson). Therefore, each nation was in the race to be one step ahead of the other
in its arsenal of weapons. The main goal of both nations was intercontinental ballistic missiles
that could carry nuclear warheads across the world to enemy cities and defense stations. In order
to move the weaponry, these larger rockets would have to make brief flights into space and then
back down into the earth's atmosphere to their designated targets. As both nations began to
develop rockets capable of accomplishing these incredible feats, by the 1950s, both nations
realized that these rockets could be capable of orbiting the Earth and reaching the moon and
other planets (Robinson). These new ideas eventually lead to the space race between the United
States and the Soviet Union and caused both nations to remain enemies for decades to come.

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However, at the start of the space race, the United States was far from the winning side. For
example, the Soviets conquered the first crucial step in the space race when they successfully
launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. Sputnik 1 was a sphere-shaped satellite weighing 184
pounds that became known as the very first artificial satellite launched in space (“technology,
history of”). Sputnik 1 was only the first step in the Soviets’ plan to become the world’s leading
power through the space race.
After Sputnik 1, the United States and the Soviets were in stiff competition on the lunar
exploration program in which both were trying to gather data on the moon via satellite images in
order to eventually send a man to the moon (“technology, history of”). Again the Soviets began
with the lead by launching Luna 1 on January 2, 1959. Luna 1 escaped the gravitational pull of
the earth, passed the moon, and orbited the sun as an artificial planet. The Soviets then launched
Luna 2, which crashed on the moon on September 13, 1959, followed by Luna 3 on October 4,
1959, which orbited the moon and took the first pictures of side of the moon that always faces
away from Earth. However, the Soviets did not make a soft landing on the moon by satellite until
February 3, 1966, with Luna 9. The United States was just a few steps behind, though, because in
early1964 the United States Rangers 7, 8, and 9 had taken successful close-range pictures of the
moon and later crashed into the surface of the moon in late 1964 and early 1965. Finally, on June
2, 1966, the United States soft-landed on the moon with the satellite Surveyor 1, which collected
valuable information about the surface of the moon (“technology, history of”). At this point, both
nations had made great strides towards moon exploration, and even though the Soviets still had
the lead, the United States would soon gain the lead in space exploration.
The Soviets continued to lead the space race on through the manned space program in
which cosmonaut Yury Gagarin was the first man to orbit the earth from the Vostok 1 on April

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12, 1961 (“technology, history of”). However, the United States launched a series of space
flights in which man “walked” in space outside the space craft. Therefore, the Soviets’ lead was
short lived when Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin landed on the moon in the space capsule
Apollo 11 and walked on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969. By sending men, the U.S
caught up and took the lead in the space race. The next stage of development was exploration
beyond Earth and the moon to other planets. The first planet targeted was Venus, to which the
United States launched the space probe Mariner 2 on August 27, 1962. Later, in December of
that year, Mariner 2 relayed information back to Earth about Venus’s hot temperatures and
climate. At this point, the Soviets discovered that their Venera 3 probe crash landed on Venus on
March 1, 1966, and that the Venera 4, which soft landed on the planet on October 18, 1967, had
gathered atmospheric data of the planet. On the other hand, the United States sent the Pioneer
Venus 1, which orbited Venus for eight months in 1978, and later in December of 1978, four
landing probes gathered “quantitative and qualitative analyses of the Venusian atmosphere”
(“technology, history of”). Finally, the United States decided to explore the planet Mars in order
to expand knowledge of planets close to Earth. In the late 1960s photographs taken by Mariner
orbiters showed a resemblance between the surface of the moon and Mars. As a result, the
United States launched Vikings 1 and 2 that landed on Mars and were designed to detect the
presence of organic matter; however, the results were negative (“technology, history of”).
Through great precision, confidence, hard work, and patience, the United States was able to
achieve the amazing feat of sending men to the moon and surpassing the Soviets, thereby
winning the space race and becoming the world's leading power in space exploration. However,
the United States would not have been able to accomplish this victory without the start of the
NASA program.

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The most important part to the United States' success in the space race was the creation of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the late 1950s. NASA was established in
1958 “for the research and development of vehicles and activities for the exploration of space”
(“NASA”). The NASA program was created primarily in response to the Soviets' launching of
Sputnik 1 and the fledgling program thrived during the Kennedy administration. John F.
Kennedy was the president who actually proposed man landing on the moon, and it was he who
set the deadline for NASA and the space program to achieve this feat toward the end of the
1960s (“NASA”). Obviously, without this deadline and determination to defeat the Soviets, the
United States may not have prevailed. However, this success was in part due to NASA's
organized offices and plans to explore space. For example, NASA was and is still organized into
five different program offices including Aeronautics and Space Technology, Space Science and
Application, Space Flight, Space Tracking and Data, and Space Station-- all of which play major
roles in space exploration and technology. The Aeronautics and Space Technology office is
responsible for the “development of equipment” (“NASA”), followed by the Space Science and
Application office, which deals with the understanding of the universe and the solar system. Next
is the Space Flight office, which deals with manned and unmanned space shuttles and
transportation. Then the Space Tracking and Data office takes care of tracking shuttles and
satellites and collecting data, and finally the Space Station office established and controlled the
manned space station that now orbits Earth (“NASA”). Via these main offices, NASA was able
to keep up with the Soviets and finally conquer the Soviets in space technology and knowledge.
However, NASA did not stop there. Rather, from the space race into recent time NASA has
remained a critical part in new technologies in space travel and the leader in space programs
around the world.

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NASA has developed many technological advances through the past decades and is
solely responsible for the United State’s victory over the Soviets in the space race. For instance,
many satellites have been launched through NASA not only in space exploration, but also in in-
orbit data collection around Earth. One of these data collectors, Landsat, was a series of satellites
“designed to collect information on natural resources on Earth," including "communication
satellites, and weather satellites” (“NASA”). However, NASA’s most remarkable developments
were most likely the space capsule that conducted the voyage to the moon, the space shuttle
program, the space station that orbits the earth, and the many other space exploration missions
that have changed the way people view Earth’s solar system and surrounding planets. In the past
thirty years the space shuttle program has sent over “350 astronauts from 20 nations into space,
servicing the Hubble Space Telescope, and finally linking up the Mir Space Station from former
adversaries and building the International Space Station” ("AIA..."). Recently however, NASA’s
space shuttle program has come to an end. As of July 2011, NASA’s space shuttle program was
discontinued, resulting in the loss of jobs of many workers and employees. On the other hand,
NASA intends to develop new systems of space exploration and technology to improve the
United States' continuation in space exploration. Therefore, it is imperative that NASA continues
this research, as 58% of Americans agree that the United States should continue space
exploration ("AIA..."). Obviously, NASA has had a major impact on the development of the
space industry and the United States as a whole, and, hopefully, NASA will continue to lead the
world in space exploration and travel.
Rockets have played an important role in the advancement of the human race. From the
invention of rockets by the ancient Chinese, to the space race between the United States and the
Soviet Union, and finally to explorations of planets and the surrounding solar system, mankind's

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knowledge and understanding of both the solar system and his own potential has grown
exponentially. In turn, mankind's strive for a better understanding of the universe has greatly
affected the growth of the human race and technologies which he possesses. Technology of
space exploration and even technologies used by people everyday would not be here if it were
not for the men and women who strived for a better understanding of life. One also must not
forget that in order for the human race as a whole to advance and grow as a society and a species,
innovated ways of thinking must continue to be promoted along with a strive for success and
happiness. Humans learn through successes and failures throughout history, and the success of
one's achievements and ideas is determined by the initiative of that person to achieve greatness.
Therefore, where will new technologies in space exploration take the human race? Will it be new
planet or a discovery of a new species? Only those who strive to achieve will ever know the
answer.

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Works Cited
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Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 1-4. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 9 Sept.
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“National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).” Encyclopædia Britannica Online
School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 31 Aug. 2011.
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Robinson, Stephen. “Spaceflight, History of.” Mathematics. Ed. Barry Max Brandenberger, Jr.
Vol. 4. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 46-50. Gale Virtual Reference
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“technology, history of.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia
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Van Riper, A. Bowdoin. Rockets and Missles: The Life Story of a Technology. Wesport,
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“AIA Marks End of an Era with Last Shuttle Launch.” Defense & Aerospace Week: n. pag. Gale
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