Although the first rockets reached space less than 80 years ago, people have known how to launch rockets over shorter distances for millennia. In 400 BC, the Greek mathematician Archytas astounded spectators by making a steam-propelled wooden bird fly. Already in the 13th century, the Chinese knew how to launch rockets full of gunpowder – a stratagem soon adopted by the Mongols, whose conquests helped spread the knowledge elsewhere. At the invention factory, you can test how accurate you are at launching rockets. Pump air into the rocket and aim it straight into outer space using the target made of planets. Perhaps a large scientific discovery is waiting for you on a planet somewhere? Fly the spaceship there and find out.