ROCKETS AND MISSILES: THE LIFE STORY OF A TECHNOLOGY A. Bowdoin Van Riper GREENWOOD PRESS ROCKETS AND MISSILES Recent Titles in Greenwood Technographies Sound Recording: The Life Story of a Technology David L. Morton Jr. Firearms: The Life Story of a Technology Roger Pauly Cars and Culture: The Life Story of a Technology Rudi Volti Electronics: The Life Story of a Technology David L. Morton Jr. ROCKETS AND MISSILES 1 THE LIFE STORY OF A TECHNOLOGY A. Bowdoin Van Riper GREENWOOD TECHNOGRAPHIES GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Van Riper, A. Bowdoin. Rockets and missiles : the life story of a technology / A. Bowdoin Van Riper. p. cm.—(Greenwood technographies, ISSN 1549–7321) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–313–32795–5 (alk. paper) 1. Rocketry (Aeronautics)—History. 2. Ballistic missiles—History. I. Title. II. Series. TL781.V36 2004 621.43'56—dc22 2004053045 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2004 by A. Bowdoin Van Riper All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004053045 ISBN: 0–313–32795–5 ISSN: 1549–7321 First published in 2004 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West,Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 For Janice P. Van Riper who let a starstruck kid stay up long past his bedtime to watch Neil Armstrong take “one small step” Contents Series Foreword ix Acknowledgments xi Timeline xiii 1. Introduction 1 2. The Age of Black Powder, 1000–1900 7 3. The Birth of Modern Rocketry,1900–1942 25 4. Rockets in World War II, 1939–1945 41 5. Rockets for Research, 1945–1960 57 6. Ballistic Missiles and the Cold War, 1945–1990 71 7. Rockets to the Moon, 1960–1975 93 8. Tactical Missiles in the Cold War, 1950–1990 111 9. Spaceflight Becomes Routine, 1970–Present 125 10. Missiles after the Cold War, 1990–Present 139 11. Conclusion:What Next? 155 viii Contents Glossary 161 Further Reading 165 Index 169 Series Foreword In today’s world, technology plays an integral role in the daily life of peo- ple of all ages. It affects where we live, how we work, how we interact with each other, and what we aspire to accomplish. To help students and the general public better understand how technology and society interact, Greenwood has developed Greenwood Technographies, a series of short, acces- sible books that trace the histories of these technologies while document- ing how these technologies have become so vital to our lives. Each volume of the Greenwood Technographies series tells the biography or “life story” of a particularly important technology. Each life story traces the technology from its “ancestors” (or antecedent technologies), through its early years (either its invention or development) and rise to prominence, to its final decline, obsolescence, or ubiquity. Just as a good biography combines an analysis of an individual’s personal life with a description of the subject’s impact on the broader world, each volume in the Greenwood Technographies se- ries combines a discussion of technical developments with a description of the technology’s effect on the broader fabric of society and culture—and vice versa. The technologies covered in the series run the gamut from those that have been around for centuries—firearms and the printed book, for example—to recent inventions that have rapidly taken over the mod- ern world, such as electronics and the computer. While the emphasis is on a factual discussion of the development of x Series Foreword the technology,these books are also fun to read. The history of technology is full of fascinating tales that both entertain and illuminate. The authors— all experts in their fields—make the life story of technology come alive, while also providing readers with a profound understanding of the rela- tionship of science, technology,and society. Acknowledgments The greatest debt I have incurred in writing this book is, unfortunately,one that I cannot fully acknowledge. Rockets and Missiles is a brief introduction to a sprawling topic. It is, therefore, a synthesis of knowledge gathered and conclusions drawn by others. It is also part of a series that, by design, uses formal references only to acknowledge direct quotations. I have turned, in the course of researching and writing Rockets and Missiles, to the published work of countless other scholars. The books, articles, and web sites on which I relied most heavily are noted—along with selected others—in the Further Reading section at the end of this book. A heartfelt “thank you” is all I can offer to the authors of the rest. Other debts are, happily,more easily acknowledged. The staff of the Lawrence V. Johnson Library of Southern Polytechnic State University was cheerfully unflappable in the face of my frequent re- quests for obscure materials. Leigh Hall of the Interlibrary Loan Depart- ment deserves special thanks. The staffs of the Cobb County Public Library System and the libraries of Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology also aided my search for “just the right material” on countless rocket-related topics. Many times in the course of this project I benefited from informal in- put from fellow scholars. I am especially grateful—for references suggested, opinions critiqued, experience shared, and misunderstandings clarified—to xii Acknowledgments Amy Foster, Slava Guerevich, John Krige, Roger Launius, Frederick Ord- way, Asif Siddiqi, and Kristen Starr. Kevin Downing, who conceived the Greenwood Technographies series and invited me to be part of it, played a critical role in the initial shaping of this book. The scope, organization, and approach of Rockets and Missiles all re- flect his valuable input. He is, to paraphrase Gilbert and Sullivan, “the very model of a modern scholarly editor,” and it has been a pleasure to work with him. The editorial and production staffs at Greenwood Press have been both friendly and efficient—a combination of which every writer dreams. Finally,as always, I owe a considerable debt to Julie, Joe, and Katie. Julie cheerfully accepted the domestic chaos that comes with writing a book and, once again, gave me reason to reflect on the joys of being married to a fellow historian of science and technology. Joe and his friends, though they may not have known it, became the faces on the “target audience” I kept in mind as I wrote. Katie buoyed me with her enthusiasm and, with a single sentence—“You’re writing a book about rockets?!”—made it all seem worthwhile. Timeline Before 1100 CE Gunpowder invented in China. Mid-1100s Probable first use of military rockets by the Chinese. Mid-1200s Probable first use of military rockets by Arabs and Europeans. Around 1300 First detailed, written descriptions of rocket technology appear in European and Arabic manuscripts. Around 1400 Rocket technology known and used in all major Eurasian civi- lizations. Mid-1600s Rockets appear in military manuals such as Artis Magnae Ar- tilliae (Europe) and Wu Pei Chih (China). 1780–1799 Indian troops use rockets against the British in the Mysore Wars. 1805 William Congreve adapts Indian rocket technology for European use. 1805–1815 British troops use Congreve rockets against Danes, French, and Americans. 1820s Congreve-type rockets adapted for use in lifesaving and whaling. 1840 William Hale invents the first spin-stabilized (stickless) rocket. xiv Timeline 1870s Black powder rockets begin to decline as “tube” artillery improves. 1903 Konstantin Tsiolkovsky describes multistage, liquid-propellant rockets in his paper “Exploring Space with Reactive Devices.” 1919 Robert Goddard, unaware of Tsiolkovsky’s work, describes liquid-propellant rockets in “On a Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes.” 1923 Hermann Oberth, unaware of Tsiolkovsky or Goddard, describes liquid-propellant rockets in Die Rakete zu den Planetenraum (The Rocket into Planetary Space). 1926 Goddard builds and flies the first liquid-propellant rocket. 1925–1935 Amateur rocket societies founded in the United States, USSR, and Germany. Late 1930s Civilian engineers backed by government funding invent storable liquid propellants, improved solid propellants, and other key technologies. 1939–1945 World War II:revival of rocket artillery,first use of guided missiles. Late 1945 Soviet and American rocket engineers, assisted by German émi- grés, begin building and testing high-altitude research rockets. 1947 Rocket-powered Bell X-1 exceeds the speed of sound in level flight. 1956 First warplane armed only with missiles becomes operational. 1957 Launch of Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth. 1957–1958 First IRBMs become operational. 1958 First successful use of air-to-air missiles in combat (Taiwan ver- sus China). 1958–1960 First ICBMs become operational. China acquires ballistic missile technology from the USSR. 1960 First missile-carrying submarines become operational. 1961 Launch of Vostok I, the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Earth. First successful launch of a silo-based missile. 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis brings United States and USSR close to nuclear war. Timeline xv 1964 First successful test of an antiballistic missile (by the United States). 1964–1973 Vietnam War: first sustained use of surface-to-air, air-to-air, and air-to-surface guided missiles in combat. 1967 (Apr) First manned test flight of the Soyuz spacecraft. 1967 (Nov) First test flight of the Saturn V, the largest space launch vehicle ever built. 1969 (Jan) First manned test flight of the complete Apollo spacecraft. 1969 (Jul) Eagle, an Apollo LM, makes the first manned landing on the moon.