It's hard to say exactly what a distinguishes a rocket from a non rocket. Lines drawn in the sand might seem completely arbitrary. But the ideas surrounding the field of rocketry were uniformly delineating space travel, escaping earths gravity, traveling among the celestial bodies, the ultimate expression of exploration. When deconstructing a concept, it's purpose and it's definitions matter. What is a rocket capable of, what is it used for?
We know the first rocket capable of escaping earths gravity was the V2, so, I'd say, V2 was the first rocket. I would say what Goddard built was projectiles. What we now recognize as a key component of precise control and power is the Turbopump, and I wouldn't call a rocket without a turbopump a rocket, but more importantly, a rocket without a turbopump can't fulfil it's purpose, or defining characteristics.
Additionally, describing the function of an object is not the same as creating the fully formed object.
[–] HuginnOgMuninn [S] ago
It's hard to say exactly what a distinguishes a rocket from a non rocket. Lines drawn in the sand might seem completely arbitrary. But the ideas surrounding the field of rocketry were uniformly delineating space travel, escaping earths gravity, traveling among the celestial bodies, the ultimate expression of exploration. When deconstructing a concept, it's purpose and it's definitions matter. What is a rocket capable of, what is it used for?
We know the first rocket capable of escaping earths gravity was the V2, so, I'd say, V2 was the first rocket. I would say what Goddard built was projectiles. What we now recognize as a key component of precise control and power is the Turbopump, and I wouldn't call a rocket without a turbopump a rocket, but more importantly, a rocket without a turbopump can't fulfil it's purpose, or defining characteristics.
Additionally, describing the function of an object is not the same as creating the fully formed object.