On this day in space! Sept. 6, 1947: The US Navy launches 1st V-2 rocket at sea in ballistic missile test

On Sept. 6, 1947, a rocket launched from an aircraft carrier for the first time. The V-2 rocket was captured from a German manufacturing site by the Allied forces at the end of World War II. V-2s were the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile . They were designed by German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun , a famous aerospace engineer, invented

The top 3

  1. First Object to Reach Space: A German V-2 rocket, MW 18014, became the first human-made object to reach outer space on June 20, 1944, achieving an apogee of 176 kilometers, well above the Kármán line.
  2. Pioneering Scientific Research: Post-WWII, captured V-2 rockets were used by the US for upper atmosphere research, carrying scientific payloads like cameras to take the first photographs of Earth from space in 1946.
  3. Foundation for Space Race Rockets: V-2 technology and German scientists, including Wernher von Braun, were crucial for developing early US and Soviet space programs, influencing rockets like the Saturn V and R-7.

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