Going Ballistic

Iran launched a series of missile tests last week, escalating tensions with the West again. Iranian officials claimed they were testing new technology, but at least some experts disagreed. Instead, they said, the Iranians simply fired off some of the same scary missiles they've had for years.

Either way, we decided to go back and review our rocket history--with a smattering of rocket science, too. Today, we'll look back at how rockets first went ballistic. Tomorrow, we'll take "Ballistic Missiles 101."

Ancient Chinese Secret

Rocket tech goes back to ancient China, where people began experimenting with gunpowder more than a thousand years ago. By medieval times, the Chinese had developed rockets--basically, bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder and strapped to arrow shafts. The technology spread far and wide, but it couldn't compete with another new technology: guns, which were more accurate and more powerful.

At the end of the 18th century, Indian forces began using iron-cased rockets against the British. That inspired a British inventor, Sir William Congreve, to develop his own metal rockets (complete with "red glare"). Congreve rockets were effective weapons for their time, but they still relied on guide sticks to stabilize their flight.

In the 1840s, British engineer William Hale developed a more accurate "stickless" rocket that stabilized its flight by spinning. Yet no one used rockets much in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as even Hale's were outclassed by artillery. To take the next step, rocketeers would have to stop aiming for the enemy and start shooting for the moon.

Aiming Higher

In 1903, a Russian math teacher, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, published The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices, effectively launching what would become the Soviet space program. Tsiolkovsky proposed to reach space using rockets powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen--the combination the space shuttle now uses.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Robert Goddard was experimenting with exhaust nozzles that vastly improved efficiency and thrust. In 1919, his booklet, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes, helped launch the U.S. space program. And in 1926, he launched the world's first liquid-propellant rocket.

In Germany, another math teacher, Hermann Oberth, published The Rocket into Interplanetary Space, which spawned rocketry clubs both abroad and at home, including Germany's "Society for Spaceship Travel." In 1932, the German army hired one of the society's leading members, Wernher von Braun, to head up a top-secret rocket program.

Rockets of Mass Destruction

The use of rocket weapons took off during World War II. Both sides developed increasingly sophisticated ship-to-shore, anti-aircraft, and handheld rocket weapons (like the bazooka). Yet the most striking development came with the world's first rocket-powered ballistic missile: Germany's Vergeltungswaffen-2 ("Vengeance Weapon-2").

Developed by Wernher von Braun's team, the V-2 could slam 1,600 pounds (725 kg) of high explosives into a city 200 miles (320 km) away. Once it was launched, there was no defense against it. First used in September 1944, its strategic impact on the war was minimal. But it was the forerunner of today's space rockets and long-range ballistic missiles.

After the war, the United States and Soviet Union snapped up the remaining V-2 rockets and rocket scientists, and then used them to rapidly improve their own missile programs--and to produce the world's most terrifying weapons: nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles. We'll take a closer look at today's ballistic missiles tomorrow.