As the cold war in the 1950s between the US and the USSR heated up on the technological front, the two most significant inventions of World War II -- rockets and the atomic bomb -- were brought together in a terrifying combination. Success in reducing the size of the hydrogen bomb made it possible for rocket missiles to be fitted with atomic warheads. Nuclear-tipped Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) became a reality.
Sergei Korolev, the Soviet rocket master, developed the first true ICBM, the Semyorka or R-7 rocket. The US Air Force soon followed with the Atlas and Titan ICBM designs. Although such missiles were specifically created as weapons, their designs were modified to allow them to launch non-military payloads into orbit and on towards interplanetary exploration.
