Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: G-MAN
Yes, and it didn't really get going until after WWII with Werner Von Braun at the helm and a lot of captured V2 rockets. The Redstone rocket that carried the Mercury capsule and our first man into space was nothing more than a slightly modified V2.
Dr. von Braun played an important role...and led the program but you're clearly forgetting all the indigenous "Rocketeers"...Robert Goddard for example...who first flew his rockets in 1926, while Werner von Braun was still in boarding school...
And the V-2 to Redstone connections? Sure...that's like saying the F-4 was just a modified ME-262 because they're both twin engine jets that ran on the same fuel...it's easy to ignore the evolution and improvements between the two...
I'm not forgetting about the nascent US rocket program. But it's clear that the real advancement in US rocketry began when the captured Nazi scientists were brought over after the war.
Your statement about the Redstone is just flat out ridiculous. The F-4 was in no way, shape, or form derived directly from the ME-262. It is well documented that Von Braun developed the Redstone directly from the V2. In fact, operational parameters (max range and altitude) of the first Redstone are almost identical to the V2. Granted, the Redstone that was used for Mercury was a highly advanced iteration (a modified Jupiter C, which was directly developed from the first Redstone), but was still a rocket that was developed and derived from the V2.