Eighty-one years ago today, on September 6, 1944 (July 19, 1944 lunar calendar), German V-2 rockets struck London. The V-2 rockets were launched from Penemünde in northeastern Germany and aimed at London. The V-2 rocket was a German ballistic missile during World War II. It was the first supersonic rocket, a precursor to modern space launch vehicles and long-range missiles. Development began in 1936, and in 1944 it was Japan's first launch to Paris. Two days later, it began to attack Britain, launching more than 1,300. Belgium was almost as hard hit. The V-2 rocket was 47 feet long, with a take-off weight of 2.8 to 29,000 pounds, and produced about 60,000 pounds of thrust. The propellant is alcohol and liquid oxygen, the payload is about 2,000 pounds of high explosives, the horizontal range is 200 miles, and the maximum altitude is usually 60 miles. The German army conducts final inspection and commissioning of the V-2 missile that will attack the southern part of England