Wang Ku

Wang Ku

 

According to legend, the Chinese inventor (around 1500) of a piloted gunpowder rocket-powered flying machine.

Wang Ku joined two box kites with a truss and supplied them with seats. On the bottom part of the kites he set 47 gunpowder rockets, which 47 people were supposed to light simultaneously in order to start the machine. He died in an attempt to perform a flight, as a result of rocket explosions. One of the craters on the far side of the moon is named for Wang Ku.