First model rocket to fly in space lands on display at Seattle museumHistory records that 88 rockets launched to space in 1991. That count, it would seem, is off by one.
Granted, it was a really small rocket.
The world's first model rocket to enter into space did so on April 5, 1991. Standing just 7 inches tall (18 centimeters), the one-stage rocket lifted off, not by the thrust of a black powder engine, but rather on the space shuttle Atlantis.
Now, nearly a quarter of a century later, that model rocket has landed at The Museum of Flight in Seattle just in time for NARCON 2015, the National Association of Rocketry's annual convention. On Feb. 21, the man behind the rocket and the astronaut who flew it to space will be in Seattle for the meeting and to help dedicate an exhibit on the history of model rocketry.