Image of space shuttle Columbia launch. Courtesy of Aris Multimedia Entertainment, Inc. 1994.

Rockets burn fuel and expel it through a small opening, pushing the rocket in the opposite direction. They are able to reach the high speeds needed to leave Earth and travel into space.

As the U.S. and the Soviet Union created their space programs, research continued on building more and more powerful rockets. Eventually, rockets were able to take man into space and to the Moon.