Ming Dynasty Astronaut

In another instance of serendipity, today while I was observing a summer camp class on rocketry, to help illustrate her point instructor Jenny Parker of Davidson High School showed an episode of Mythbusters entitled "Ming Dynasty Astronaut." Now it seems everywhere I go China connections pop up. Maybe they were always there or maybe I'm just more aware of them since our trip to China.

In the 16th century, Wan Hu, a Chinese official, tried to launch himself into the air on a chair using 47 rockets lit simultaneously by assistants. It didn't work, in fact it was disasterous, but he did get a crater on the moon named after him. Wan Hu is the first attempted astronaut recorded in history.

I wasn't able to find a free video of the Mythbusters episode where the legend is recreated, but you can learn more about Wan Hu here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wan_Hu

Peggy

Illustration courtesy of Civil Air Patrol portraying Wan Hu