This
week SPACE.com takes a look at five great rocketeers who helped spur humanity’s
race into space:
China launched its second manned spacecraft Shenzhou 6 on Oct. 12, 2005. Credit: AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhao Jianwei. Click to enlarge.
| Humanity’s
race into space began in ancient China, where the invention of gunpowder led to
the first rockets.
According to
one legend, the first attempted human spaceflight followed thereafter with
Chinese official Wan Hoo’s infamous rocket chair. Forty-seven rockets, each
with their own dedicated assistant, were attached to a wicker chair to form a
vehicle intended on carrying Wan Hoo to the Moon. As the story goes, Wan Hoo
and his chair disappeared in a cloud of smoke and a thunderous roar.
Legend or
not, Wan Hoo’s story touches off a series of events and research that
ultimately sent human explorers to the Moon and Earth orbit, where astronauts
still reside aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Rockets
have become much more complicated than the humble origins as gunpowder-filled
bamboo tubes. Solid and liquid propellants now power mankind’s reach toward
space, though fundamental attributes – an engine at the aft of a fuel-filled
cylinder – have remained the same.
Despite its
early lead in rocketry, China has been a rather latecomer to human spaceflight.
The country successfully launched
its second crewed mission – Shenzhou
6 – into orbit in October 2005 and is pushing forward with plans for future flights, spacewalks
and ultimately a space
station.
-- SPACE.com Staff
Credit: NASA/U.S. Civilian Air Patrol
Return each weekday for a new SPACE.com Image of the Day.
| 
