August 1944
From The Space Library
German Me-163B Komet rocket-powered fighters first attacked American bomber formations over Europe. The Me-163 had sweptback wings, Walther liquid-fuel rocket motor, speed of 500 mph, and powered flight duration of 8-10 minutes.
Sergei P. Korolev is released after serving six years of his ten year sentence. In October 1939 he had been at Kolyma in Siberia. By September 1940 he was moved to a minimum security prison which became Central Design Bureau 29 in Moscow.