3.2 Ideas and Technologies of Ancient Space Flights
97
Fig. 3.4 Shape of fire-arrow “Fire-Dragon out of the Water” recorded in Wubei Zhi
In the thirteenth century, with the rise of the Mongolian Empire and its Western
Expedition, the rocket technology of ancient China was introduced to Arabian Countries through India, and then to European countries. Italy was the first European
country to develop and utilize rocket weapons. Later, many countries such as France,
Germany, Poland, Britain and Russia all mastered the rocket weapon technology
successively and made significant improvements in rocket’s shape, size, guidance,
material and gunpowder proportioning, which greatly enhanced operational effectiveness. Particularly, a British man William Congreve (1670−1829) made a great
contribution to the development of rocket technology, making it rise to a new position and expanding its application. Congreve was born in a military family and had
a strong interest in rocket weapons. From 1792 to 1799, the Indian army heavily
attacked the British army by using rocket weapons in the region of Seringa-Patam,
which made Congreve strongly touched and shocked. Since then, Congreve began to
concentrate on the studies on rocket weapons, and successfully developed the famous
Congreve rocket. From 1806 to 1807, the British army widely used the Congreve
rockets in the battles of Sicily, Naples and Bologna against the French army and
in the attacks on Copenhagen, Denmark. The Congreve rockets have a long-range,
high hitting accuracy, and greatly enhanced warhead explosion efficiency, which has
achieved remarkable combat results.
The performance of the Congreve rocket almost reaches the limit level of the
jet rockets. With the rapid improvement of artillery range and accuracy, rocket
weapons were gradually replaced in the mid-nineteenth century. Until 1890, the
ignition system and launch way of rockets were improved, and a rocket weapon
97
Fig. 3.4 Shape of fire-arrow “Fire-Dragon out of the Water” recorded in Wubei Zhi
In the thirteenth century, with the rise of the Mongolian Empire and its Western
Expedition, the rocket technology of ancient China was introduced to Arabian Countries through India, and then to European countries. Italy was the first European
country to develop and utilize rocket weapons. Later, many countries such as France,
Germany, Poland, Britain and Russia all mastered the rocket weapon technology
successively and made significant improvements in rocket’s shape, size, guidance,
material and gunpowder proportioning, which greatly enhanced operational effectiveness. Particularly, a British man William Congreve (1670−1829) made a great
contribution to the development of rocket technology, making it rise to a new position and expanding its application. Congreve was born in a military family and had
a strong interest in rocket weapons. From 1792 to 1799, the Indian army heavily
attacked the British army by using rocket weapons in the region of Seringa-Patam,
which made Congreve strongly touched and shocked. Since then, Congreve began to
concentrate on the studies on rocket weapons, and successfully developed the famous
Congreve rocket. From 1806 to 1807, the British army widely used the Congreve
rockets in the battles of Sicily, Naples and Bologna against the French army and
in the attacks on Copenhagen, Denmark. The Congreve rockets have a long-range,
high hitting accuracy, and greatly enhanced warhead explosion efficiency, which has
achieved remarkable combat results.
The performance of the Congreve rocket almost reaches the limit level of the
jet rockets. With the rapid improvement of artillery range and accuracy, rocket
weapons were gradually replaced in the mid-nineteenth century. Until 1890, the
ignition system and launch way of rockets were improved, and a rocket weapon