3.2 Ideas and Technologies of Ancient Space Flights
99
book, that Wan Hu invents and tests a rocket aircraft in 1500 A.D., with quite
spectacular self-sacrifice.
(3) In 1945, Herbert Spencer Zim (1909−1994), an American naturalist and
author, published his monograph, Rockets and Jets. He told a story about Wan
Hu Flying in this book: “Early in the sixteenth century, Wan decided to take
advantage of China’s advanced rocket and fireworks technology to launch
himself into outer space. He supposedly had a chair built with forty-seven
rockets attached. On the day of lift-off, Wan, splendidly attired, climbed into
his rocket chair and forty-seven servants lit the fuses and then hastily ran for
cover. There was a huge explosion. When the smoke cleared, Wan and the chair
were gone, and was said never to have been seen again”.
(4) In 1947, it was described in a poster of Civil Defense Association of America
that: “According to one ancient legend, a Chinese official named Wan-Hu
attempted a flight to the Moon using a large wicker chair to which were
fastened 47 large rockets. Forty-seven assistants, each armed with torches,
rushed forward to light the fuses. In a moment, there was a tremendous roar
accompanied by billowing clouds of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the flying
chair and Wan-Hu were gone”.
(5) In 1956, two Soviet rocket scientists, Theodosiyev (B.I. Xeodocev) and
Sinalev (G.B. Cinnpev), published their book Introduction to Rocket Technology. In this book, they said that the Chinese were not only the inventor of
the rocket but also the first dreamers to try to use the rocket to launch people
into space.
Moreover, a British rocket specialist W. Maxwell said: “The story of Wan Hoo is
an interesting event in the early history of the rocket”. Up to now, only can rockets
based on the principle of jet propulsion transport people into space. According to the
principle, Wan Hu tried to make the activity of space flight early before more than
500 years, and thus became the world’s first astronaut lifted explorationally by using
rockets into outer space. Although a severe flight accident happened, Wan Hu was a
flying hero by first using the thrust of rocket and made an important contribution to
the development for mankind to explore the unknown field. So, it was decided in a
conference of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in the 1970s that a lunar
impact crater located on the Moon’s far side was named “the crater Wan-Hu” in the
honor of Wan Hu.
However, it is puzzling that all documents depicting the Wan-Hu flying legend did
not mark out where the quoted historical materials came from. Some scholars believe
that the historical materials possibly originate from the manuscripts of Chinese,
and thereby it can not be recorded where they come from. A lot of depictions of
Wan Hu are usually paradoxical; and meanwhile, it is very difficult to search the
historical documents about the Wan Hu flying published before 1909. Therefore,
some scholars also believe that the stories of Wan Hu are very possibly fabricated
through the Western scholars’ fantasies about the Oriental civilization. What’s more,
the producers of the program “Rumor terminator” of the U.S. exploration channel
once designed a launch experiment of simulating the Wan Hu flying seat. It was
99
book, that Wan Hu invents and tests a rocket aircraft in 1500 A.D., with quite
spectacular self-sacrifice.
(3) In 1945, Herbert Spencer Zim (1909−1994), an American naturalist and
author, published his monograph, Rockets and Jets. He told a story about Wan
Hu Flying in this book: “Early in the sixteenth century, Wan decided to take
advantage of China’s advanced rocket and fireworks technology to launch
himself into outer space. He supposedly had a chair built with forty-seven
rockets attached. On the day of lift-off, Wan, splendidly attired, climbed into
his rocket chair and forty-seven servants lit the fuses and then hastily ran for
cover. There was a huge explosion. When the smoke cleared, Wan and the chair
were gone, and was said never to have been seen again”.
(4) In 1947, it was described in a poster of Civil Defense Association of America
that: “According to one ancient legend, a Chinese official named Wan-Hu
attempted a flight to the Moon using a large wicker chair to which were
fastened 47 large rockets. Forty-seven assistants, each armed with torches,
rushed forward to light the fuses. In a moment, there was a tremendous roar
accompanied by billowing clouds of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the flying
chair and Wan-Hu were gone”.
(5) In 1956, two Soviet rocket scientists, Theodosiyev (B.I. Xeodocev) and
Sinalev (G.B. Cinnpev), published their book Introduction to Rocket Technology. In this book, they said that the Chinese were not only the inventor of
the rocket but also the first dreamers to try to use the rocket to launch people
into space.
Moreover, a British rocket specialist W. Maxwell said: “The story of Wan Hoo is
an interesting event in the early history of the rocket”. Up to now, only can rockets
based on the principle of jet propulsion transport people into space. According to the
principle, Wan Hu tried to make the activity of space flight early before more than
500 years, and thus became the world’s first astronaut lifted explorationally by using
rockets into outer space. Although a severe flight accident happened, Wan Hu was a
flying hero by first using the thrust of rocket and made an important contribution to
the development for mankind to explore the unknown field. So, it was decided in a
conference of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in the 1970s that a lunar
impact crater located on the Moon’s far side was named “the crater Wan-Hu” in the
honor of Wan Hu.
However, it is puzzling that all documents depicting the Wan-Hu flying legend did
not mark out where the quoted historical materials came from. Some scholars believe
that the historical materials possibly originate from the manuscripts of Chinese,
and thereby it can not be recorded where they come from. A lot of depictions of
Wan Hu are usually paradoxical; and meanwhile, it is very difficult to search the
historical documents about the Wan Hu flying published before 1909. Therefore,
some scholars also believe that the stories of Wan Hu are very possibly fabricated
through the Western scholars’ fantasies about the Oriental civilization. What’s more,
the producers of the program “Rumor terminator” of the U.S. exploration channel
once designed a launch experiment of simulating the Wan Hu flying seat. It was