From time immemorial, we have wanted to leave the Earth and explore space. Learn about the rockets and engines that enabled us to do it. Trace the development of the concepts of spaceflight from legend and science fiction to reality. The historical artifacts and models exhibited here tell the story of the development of vehicles capable of spaceflight, and highlight some of the major contributions to this field.

As you enter the gallery, you encounter the history of rocket propulsion. The first rockets may have originated in China as early as the 12th or 13th centuries. These were probably used as weapons.

A Rocket Torpedo Model

This rocket-propelled "self-moving and combusting egg" was first described by Syrian scholar Hassan-er-Rammah in 1280.

Congreve rockets
Hale rockets
Goddard rockets
Engines
RL-10
JATO
Jules Verne
Orion Nuclear Pulse
Cesium Ion
Space Suits

Englishman William Hale's rockets (developed from the 1840s) eventually replaced the Congreve rockets. Hale eliminated the cumbersome wooden guidesticks, used previously, by designing his rockets to rotate, which somewhat improved its stability and performance.

The British began to use Hale's rockets during the Crimean War (1853-1856); both Union and Confederate troops used them during the Civil War, although not extensively. More powerfull and accurate rifled guns ultimately forced the Hale rocket into retirement in the late 19th century.

From 1920, Robert H. Goddard of Massachusetts developed the first liquid-fuel rockets, which were potentially more powerfull than solid-fuel types. He recognized that they could eventually be used for upper atmospheric and spacecraft exploration.

On March 16, 1926, Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fuel rocket; a replica of this rocket is displayed in the Museums's Milestones of Flight gallery.

On May 4, 1926, Goddard launched an improved version of the first rocket. The model displayed in this gallery may contain some parts that Goddard used in his March 16, 1926, rocket. Extremely modest by today's standards, these early Goddard rockets may have inspired the development of modern liquid-fuel rockets.

The vistor can trace the history of rocket engine technology through the historic objects on display--from early small liquid propellant powerplanets to the modern engines that boost today's spacecraft into orbit.

95k GIF -- 51k JPEG
Smithsonian Institution photograph.
Do not use without permission.

RL-10
A cut-away of the RL-10 engine is here-- first hydrogen/oxygen engine to be flown in space. You can examine the engine types used in Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1 and the V-2 rocket.

Early JATO (Jet-Assisted-Takeoff) engines are on display, including the first U.S. JATO, which was used in 1941. You will also find more exotic engines here, such as the Orion Nuclear Pulse and the Cesium Ion rocket engines. Along with the many facts about spaceflight in this gallery, you will also learn about the dream of spaceflight-- and the often fantastic forms these dreams took.

Verne's craft

In the late 19th century, French novelist Jules Verne wrote two books entitled From the Earth to the Moon, and Around the Moon; these works inspired scientists to take the first steps towards space travel. Verne's heroes, three post-Civil War American artillerists, journey to the Moon in a space capsule that was shot from a cannon. The fanciful craft exhibited to the right of the gallery's entrance was based on Verne's description of his craft. Flying on top of the craft is the American flag, which has as many star s as there were states at the time Verne's books were written.

185k GIF - 67k JPEG
Smithsonian Institution photograph.
Do not use without permission.

Space Suits

The flight suits exhibited in this gallery trace the development of the pressurized suit. Requirements for pressurized suits began with deep sea diver's suits like the late-19th-century Mark V suit exhibited here; the factors involved in safe ascension from the depths of the seas are similar to those that apply to survival at high altitudes. These early studies resulted in the suits for projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. The Apollo suit is easily recognized by its life-support system, carried as a backpack.