Early Missiles

The starting factor of the Sputnik-1 launch was the V-2 rocket made in Germany during WWll originally used to bomb London. The creator, Wernher von Braun, proved rockets are the future of technology. After the Axis Powers lost WWII, America invited V-2 rocket designers including Wernher von Braun, the head creator of the V-2, to help them recreate their own missiles and parts for nearly one hundred V-2s.

Wernher von Braun's family encouraged his interest in astronomy as a young boy, yet Wernher von Braun wasn’t good with mathematics and physics. In 1925 Werhner von Bruan acquired the book, “Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (The Rocket into Interplanetary Space),” by rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth. Wernher von Bruan became frustrated that he couldn't understand the book's mathematics, so he forced himself back to school, improving on math. Wernher von Bruan joined the Berlin Institute of Technology to test liquid fuel rockets. By 1934, Hitler was incharge of Germany, Von Bruan couldn’t make missiles unless for military use. Von Bruan created the V-2, “Vengeance missile,” and gave it its first successful launch on October 3, 1942.

After Von Bruan surrendered to America. The Soviet Union began testing and reconstructing V-2s. Sergei Korolev, a Soviet Rocket engineer, started work modeling the R-1 missile, laying the foundation for all Soviet rockets made for the Space Race. During the 1950s the Soviet Union successfully developed an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) known as the R-7, capable of launching halfway across the planet. The Soviet Union used this missile to put Sputnik-1 into orbit.

Wehrner Von Braun, Wikimedia Commons, Unknown

Adolf Hitler/ Brittanica.com/Unkown

Early Missles