Like all facets of current technology, astronautics has its origins and foundations in several pioneers who, with the knowledge of their time, developed the first theories and hypotheses, performed experiments that determined the possibility of space travel, and opened the way for the scientific community, supported by state research, to undertake the costly task of enabling human ingenuity, sometimes with people inside, to leave the atmosphere of our planet.

The first to propose scientific theories about interplanetary flight was the Russian Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935). Deaf since childhood, he was a self-taught individual formed through reading any scientific book he could find. He proposed that the ideal propulsion system for space travel is a rocket powered by liquid hydrogen and oxygen, for which he designed various mixing systems, valves, and ejection nozzles that resemble those used in modern aerospace devices.

Another key figure in rocket design was Werner Von Braun. Since childhood, Von Braun was inspired by the possibilities of space exploration through the novels of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, as well as the scientific works of Hermann Oberth.

Robert Goddard launched the world’s first successful liquid propellant rocket. Before his development, rockets and missiles used solid or powder propellants similar to gunpowder. Goddard’s rocket, named Nell, reached an altitude of 41 feet (12.5 meters) and traveled 184 feet (56 meters) downrange in 2.5 seconds on March 16, 1926. The prototype is on display here.