01. Who built the first rocket? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

Rockets were first made in China in the twelfth century AD by tying comet-like fireworks to a bamboo stick. Marco Polo brought this technology to Europe. The exhausting hot gas from the fireworks provided the thrust and the bamboo stick provided a slight aft drag, like the feathers on an arrow, to keep the rocket pointed in the desired direction. The Chinese also played with multi-stage rockets by having each successive stage ignited just as the previous stage burned out. These Chinese rockets were solid rockets because the propellant was a solid until it began to burn. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blrockethistory.htm Robert Goddard, the father of modern rocketry, flew his first liquid fueled rocket from a relative's farm in Massachusetts on March 16, 1926. He then moved to Roswell, New Mexico, where he continued to improve and fly his rocket inventions. He also built solid rockets and the Army developed some of these into the bazooka. http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/service/gallery/fact_sheets/general/go ddard/goddard.htm (See CDROM)

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Answer provided by John W. Cole

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

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