2026.04.22 | How the Vengeance Weapon Two (V-2) first took flight in New Mexico

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 22 April 2026: Turning Back Time 80 years since the first test launch of a V-2 rocket from American soil: At 2:47 on the afternoon of Tuesday, 16 April 1946, a captured Nazi V-2 missile ascended into the sky from the U.S. Army's new White Sands Proving Ground in south-central New Mexico. It didn't get very far. The guidance system failed, a fin came off, and the rocket—after reaching an altitude of only 3.4 miles—crashed in the desert. 65 years since Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space: On 12 April 1961, at 6:07 am UTC, the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1) spacecraft was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Aboard was Yuri Gagarin, the first human to travel into space. 45 Years since the first flight of the Space Shuttle: On 12 April 1981, the world's first reusable spacecraft, the Space Shuttle Columbia, was launched from Kennedy Space Centre, beginning the STS-1 mission. Commander John Young & pilot Robert Crippen strapped into the most complex machine ever built, with no test run or uncrewed test flight, and made history. 35 years since the launch of the Gamma-ray Observatory: On 5 April 1991, the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory (CGRO) was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis from the Kennedy Space Center.