The First Rocket Launch from Cape Canaveral

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The First Rocket Launch from Cape Canaveral

bumper2_nasa.jpg


The First Rocket Launch from Cape Canaveral
Credit: GRIN, NASA

Explanation: A new chapter in space flight began on 1950 July with the launch of the first rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida: the Bumper 2. Shown above, the Bumper 2 was an ambitious two-stage rocket program that topped a V-2 missile base with a WAC Corporal rocket. The upper stage was able to reach then-record altitudes of almost 400 kilometers, higher than even modern Space Shuttles fly today. Launched under the direction of the General Electric Company, the Bumper 2 was used primarily for testing rocket systems and for research on the upper atmosphere. Bumper 2 rockets carried small payloads that allowed them to measure attributes including air temperature and cosmic ray impacts. Seven years later, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I and Sputnik II, the first satellites into Earth orbit. In response in 1958, 50 years ago today, the US created NASA.



(Via NASA)
 
I'd be even more curious as to who was on hand for the launch when it is considered how many German scientists from WWII found themselves working for the US Government in 1950.
 
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