Developments in Rocketry
While rockets were used a great deal for war for a couple centuries starting in the 1200s, they were also examined from a scientific perspective. This was kicked off in the 17th Century by none other than Sir Isaac Newton, a scientist also known for his discovery of universal gravitation as well as his development of calculus. His three laws of motion, which help form the foundation of modern physics, help explain how rockets function, and why they can even function without air in outer space. Newton’s third law of motion would be successfully demonstrated in 1720 when Jacob Willem Gravesande was able to build a model car powered by a steam engine, a method of transportation that would be experimented with but ultimately abandoned as impractical. Other scientists made further developments in rocketry at this time. In Italy, Joanes de Fontana developed the first torpedo, powered by rockets, which provided additional firepower at sea in order to set enemy ships on fire. In Poland, multistage rockets were conceived by an artillery expert, Kazimierz Siemienowicz, while in England in 1696 Robert Anderson published a paper on rocket manufacturing, complete with the calculations for optimal use. In the same country about a century later, Sir William Congreve would develop a form of rocket that had a range of approximately 9,000 feet. These rockets would later be used by the British during the War of 1812, against the United States, though these rockets still suffered from a lack of real accuracy, still using sticks to guide the so-called “Congreve rockets”. In 1846, William Hale, another British inventor, would invent a form of rocket that did not use sticks. Hale’s rockets improved accuracy by applying the idea of rifling to rockets. Taking inspiration from how rifles spun projectiles for added accuracy and range, Hale’s rockets utilized tail fins and secondary exhaust nozzles in order to produce spin-stabilized rockets. These rockets would see usage by the United States against Mexico, and in the Civil War, to an extent. Eventually though, by the end of the 19th Century, advances in artillery would make rockets effectively obsolete.
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