Nov 14 1947

From The Space Library

First complete Aerobee rocket was fired to a height of 190,000 feet from White Sands Proving Ground, N. Mex.

A massive explosion occurs at the Rocket Propulsion Establishment in Westcott England, when a Walter 109/501 rocket engine explodes on the test stand. The blast injured eleven people and killed three scientists including Johannes Schmidt the head of the German team brought to England after the war. As a result of the explosion new safety protocols were put in place at Westcott.