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Beginning in the late 1920s, spaceflight enthusiasts banded together into groups to advance their cause. Known as “rocket societies,” these groups of enthusiasts especially flourished in the Soviet Union, Germany, and the United States. 

Many of Robert H. Goddard's early rockets are part of the National Air and Space Museum’s permanent collection, some of which are on display at the Museum in Washington, D.C., and at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. 

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is fortunate to care for and display examples of some of the most historically significant human spacecraft, from NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo capsules, to Space Shuttle Discovery and Scaled Composite’s SpaceShipOne. Soon, the Museum will welcome another important vehicle, which represents a new way of accessing space for non-professional astronauts.

Rockoons—combinations of rockets and balloons—launched notable atmospheric experiments in the mid-20th century. Some rocket clubs and private companies are beginning to try using them again today.

In the 1930s, rocketry was basically a joke among the scientific establishment in the US, but that didn't stop a rag tag group out of Pasadena from trying to build rockets. 

One of the icons of the Museum was the black-and-white German V-2 ballistic missile. Ever since the building opened in July 1976, it stood in Space Hall, which in 1997 was revised to become Space Race. That rocket will return in a new guise, with green camouflage paint, when the hall reopens in a few years as RTX Living in the Space Age.

Rockets launched the Space Age. They provided the power needed to take spacecraft and people on flights beyond the Earth.

The recent launch of VA261 closes out the Ariane 5 rocket’s 117 launches. Take a look back at Europe’s workhorse launcher and the next generation in Ariane 6. 

Picture the Earth from above. In your mind's eye, what do you see? Today, we have access to air and space technology that lets us see various views of the Earth with ease. 

Project Paperclip was a program that brought German and Austrian engineers, scientists, and technicians to the United States after the end of World War II in Europe.