| During the 19th century, rocket enthusiasts and inventors
began to appear in almost every country. Some people thought these early
rocket pioneers were geniuses, and others thought they were crazy. Claude
Ruggieri, an Italian living in Paris, apparently rocketed small animals
into space as early as 1806. The payloads were recovered by parachute.
As depicted here by artist Larry Toschik, French authorities were not
always impressed with rocket research. They halted Ruggieri's plans to
launch a small boy using a rocket cluster. (Reproduced from a drawing
by Larry Toschik and presented here courtesy of the artist and Motorola
Inc.) |
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