.........................................................................
Wernher Von Braun
by
Mary Bellis
Rockets and missiles can
serve as weapons systems that deliver explosive warheads to targets by
means of rocket propulsion.
"Rocket" is a
general term that describes any jet-propelled missile which is thrust forward
from the rearward ejection of matter like hot gases.
Rocketry was originally developed in China when firework displays and gunpowder
were invented.
Hyder Ali, prince of Mysore,
India, developed the first war rockets in the 18thcentury,
using metal cylinders to hold the combustion powder needed for propulsion.
The First A-4 Rocket
Then,
eventually, came the A-4 rocket. Later called the V-2, the A-4 was a
single-stage rocket developed by the Germans and fueled by alcohol and
liquid oxygen.
It stood 46.1 feet high and
had a thrust of 56,000 pounds. The A-4 had a payload capacity of 2,200 pounds
and could reach a velocity of 3,500 miles per hour.
The
first A-4 was launched from Peenemunde, Germany on October 3, 1942. It reached
an altitude of 60 miles, breaking the sound barrier.
It was the world's first
launch of a ballistic missile and the first rocket ever to go into the fringes
of space.
The Rocket’s Beginnings
Rocket
clubs were springing up all over Germany in the early 1930’s.
A young engineer named
Wernher von Braun joined one of them, the Verein fur Raumschiffarht or
Rocket Society.
The German military was searching for a weapon at the time that would not
violate the Versailles Treaty of World War I but would defend its country.
Artillery captain Walter
Dornberger was assigned to investigate the feasibility of
using rockets. Dornberger visited the Rocket Society.
Impressed with the club’s
enthusiasm, he offered its members the equivalent of $400 to build a
rocket.
Von
Braun worked on the project through the spring and summer of 1932 only to have
the rocket fail when it was tested by the military.
But Dornberger was impressed
with von Braun and hired him to lead the military's rocket artillery unit.
Von Braun's natural talents
as a leader shined, as well as his ability to assimilate great quantities of
data while keeping the big picture in mind.
By 1934, von Braun and
Dornberger had a team of 80 engineers in place, building rockets in
Kummersdorf, about 60 miles south of Berlin.
A New Facility
With
the successful launch of two rockets, Max and Moritz, in 1934, von Braun's
proposal to work on a jet-assisted take-off device for heavy bombers and
all-rocket fighters was granted.
But Kummersdorf was too small
for the task. A new facility had to be built.
Peenemunde, located on the Baltic coast, was chosen as the new site.
Peenemunde was large enough
to launch and monitor rockets over ranges up to about 200 miles with optical
and electric observing instruments along the trajectory.
Its location posed no risk of
harming people or property.
The A-4 Becomes the A-2
By
now, Hitler had taken over Germany and Herman Goering ruled the Luftwaffe.
Dornberger held a public test
of the A-2 and it was successful. Funding continued to flow in to von Braun's
team, and they went on to develop the A-3 and, finally, the A-4.
Hitler
decided to use the A-4 as a "vengeance weapon" in 1943, and the group
found themselves developing the A-4 to rain explosives on London.
Fourteen months after Hitler
ordered it into production, on September 7, 1944, the first combat A-4 -- now
called the V-2 -- was launched toward Western Europe.
When the first V-2 hit
London, von Braun remarked to his colleagues, "The rocket worked perfectly
except for landing on the wrong planet."
The Team's Fate
The
SS and the Gestapo ultimately arrested von Braun for crimes against the state
because he persisted in talking about building rockets that would orbit the
earth and perhaps even go to the moon.
His crime was indulging in
frivolous dreams when he should have been concentrating on building bigger
rocket bombs for the Nazi war machine.
Dornberger convinced the SS
and the Gestapo to release von Braun because there would be no V-2 without him
and Hitler would have them all shot.
When
he arrived back at Peenemunde, von Braun immediately assembled his planning
staff. He asked them to decide how and to whom they should surrender.
Most of the scientists were
frightened of the Russians. They felt the French would treat them like slaves,
and the British did not have enough money to fund a rocket program. That left
the Americans.
Von
Braun stole a train with forged papers and ultimately led 500 people through
war-torn Germany to surrender to the Americans.
The SS was issued orders to
kill the German engineers, who hid their notes in a mine shaft and evaded their
own army while searching for the Americans. Finally, the team found an American
private and surrendered to him.
The
Americans immediately went to Peenemunde and Nordhausen and captured all the
remaining V-2s and V-2 parts.
They destroyed both places
with explosives. The Americans brought over 300 train cars loaded with spare
V-2 parts to the U.S.
Many
of von Braun's production team were captured by the Russians.
Mary Bellis
· New
York-based film producer and director
· Singled
out by Forbes magazine for her writing on inventors.
· Known in
art and independent film circles by the name CalmX
· Creator of
computer-generated art
Experience
Mary
Bellis was a former writer for ThoughtCo, where she covered inventors for 18
years. She was a freelance writer, film producer, and director. In
addition, Forbes Best of the Web credited her for creating the number one
online destination for information about inventors and inventions. Her
writing has been reprinted and referenced in numerous educational books and
articles. She was known for her short independent films and
documentaries, including one on Alexander Graham Bell. She specialized in
making and exhibiting computer-generated art, while working as an animator,
journalist and an independent video game developer. She died on March 28, 2015.
Education
Mary
Bellis held a Master of Fine Arts in film and animation from the San
Francisco Art Institute.
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