On this day, October 2 in 1942 – Spaceflight: The first successful launch of a V-2 /A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany. It is the first man-made object to reach space.
[The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 311ppm. At time of writing it was 421ishppm- but for what it is now,well, see here for the latest.]
The context was this – the war!! And there is nothing like a war to get the state to fund research and development and deployment of novel technologies…. If only we’d put such determination into not wiping ourselves out. Oh well, so it goes.
Why this matters.
Being able to put objects in space (including meatsacks, I guess) made studying the world’s climates and systems “doable”. See “The Vast Machine” by Paul Edwards…
What happened next?
After the war the Soviets and Americans tussled over who got which Nazis and technology. Operation Paperclip and all that.
And you know
“Once the rockets are up
Who cares where they come down?
That’s not my department
Says Wernher von Braun”…
See also – Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.
And V2 by Robert Harris