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History of Rocketry: Ancient times to the 17th Century (1725 words) |
 | These fire arrows were traditional feathered arrows propelled by ignited gunpowder housed in a tube tied to the arrow. |
| Once it was discovered that the fire arrows flew a straight path even after their feathers were burned up by the gunpowder exhaust, the feathers were completely removed. |
| At the same time gunpowder propelled fire arrows were blazing in battle, scientific papers on the subject of the preparation of gunpowder and its application in weaponry were being published in Europe. |
| Chinese fire-arrows (539 words) |
| Doubtless some of these tubes failed to explode and instead skittered out of the fires, propelled by the gases and sparks produced by the burning gunpowder. |
| Eventually, it was found that the gunpowder tubes could launch themselves just by the power produced from the escaping gas, and the true rocket was born. |
| During the battle of Kai-Keng, the Chinese repelled their enemy with a barrage of arrows of flying fire – the first solid-propellant rockets. |
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