Explanation:
A new chapter in space flight began on 1950 July with the
launch of the first rocket from
Cape Canaveral,
Florida: the Bumper V-2.
Shown above, the
Bumper V-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 V-2 was used primarily for
testing rocket systems and for research on the
upper atmosphere.
Bumper V-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.
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