In 1926, an American scientist Robert Goddard developed an experiment which marked the birth of modern rocketry. Rockets had already been in use for many hundreds of years. They were used for entertainment purposes, in the form of fireworks, and then more seriously in warfare. All of these forms of rocket were powered by the use of solid fuels such as gunpowder. Goddard used liquid fuel for his rockets. The initial device he created led to the development of the Saturn V moon rocket. The pioneering work of Robert Goddard carried on until close to his death in 1945. He was the first person to attach gyroscopes to flexible vanes which were positioned within the exhaust. This allowed the rocket to be steered. In addition, he was the first to create propellants from liquefied gases, and also the first to utilise the rocket as a carrier for scientific instruments. The US Government gave no attention to Robert Goddard's work, and his contributions to rocketry had very little effect on the rocket development going on in Germany at that time.
In 1942, the very first V-2 rocket was launched. The V-2 was very important as it brought about the possibilities of long-range rockets. The development and production of the intercontinental ballistic missile was inevitable, but without the V-2's creation it probably would have been disregarded until many years later.
One of the best known nuclear rockets is NERVA, the abbreviation for Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application. NERVA is part of a shared nuclear rocket programme involving both National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the US Atomic Energy Commission. The theory behind the rocket is simple. The nuclear rocket engine pumps liquid hydrogen around a nuclear reactor. The hydrogen vaporises in the intense heat and expands rapidly. It is then expelled from a nozzle at the rear generating tremendous thrust.
