HIST 115 Lecture 17
Early rocketry
The first versions of rockets (solid-fuel) is invented by China in the 13th century AD.
The problem with solid fuel is that it is very powerful and burned rapidly.
You cannot control the rate of thrust of a solid-fuel rocket.
Thus, it is not useful for space travel.
To some extent, these rockets were used for military purposes, but mostly, they were used in festivals.
Keep the evil spirits away – loud bang of fireworks.
The first modern book on rocketry and space travel was published in 1903 (same year the Wright brothers flew their plane)
Written by Konstantin Ciolkowski (1857-1935)
“Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices”
Rocketry was still stuck to the means of solid fuel.
Ciolkowski proposed the use of multi stage rockets (what we use today)
First to propose liquid fuels such as hydrogen and oxygen
First to conceptualize the space station
His book did not have much impact as he was the son of a Polish exile.
Later, the Germans would take over his research.
In the USA, there was Robert Goddard (1882-1945)
Physicist and Mathematician
Did all of the calculations needed to travel to the moon
Published “Method for Reaching Extreme Altitudes” in 1919
Not influential at all…
Not recognized until 1963.
Came to be the laughing stock of the scientific community; nobody took his work seriously.
And in Germany…
Herman Oberth (1894-1989)
Published his PhD thesis “By Rocket into Planetary Space” in 1922
Argued that liquid fuel was needed,
Also became a laughing stock..
But his student (Wernher von Braun) would go on to be very important.
The German connection
Wernher von Braun (1912-1977)
SS officer that pledged allegiance to Hitler and took an influential part in the concentration camps.
Adolf Hitler made him a professor as a ‘birthday present’
Over WWII, designed 12 large rockets for Hitler.
A1 - A12 – but we will only discuss 3.
A10 (1940):
Important because of what happened with it after WWII.
First intercontinental ballistic missile.
Built and tested in Nazi Germany – but in the final stage – the testing facility Peenemunde was bombed.
Team was killed and rocket was destroyed.
But this model would go on to become an American (RED) rocket(?)
A12 (1969):
Designed as a spacecraft.
Hitler had no interest in this rocket.
Saturn rocket?
Moon
A4/V2 (1942):
Would be the first rocket to be mass produced
First man-made object to be sent to space.
In terms of technology, this was the most advanced weapon for the time.
Some argue that atomic bombs were the game-changer in war:
But it was moreso the A4.
Atomic bombs were delivered the same way.
Placed on an aircraft – if your plane is intercepted, you are screwed.
But it perpetuated modern warfare.
Pushbutton warfare/Remote warfare.
At the time, the A4 was unstoppable.
4x the speed of sound (5200km/h)
Could not be intercepted.
Went down in stealth.
No sound.
Put graphite fins inside of the exhaust system to control the rocket exactly.
Internally directed the rocket, and could withstand heat.
Connected to an on-board computer and gyroscopes.
In 1945, The Americans captured the Mittelwork Factory
Manufacturing place of the V2.
“Aladdin’s cave”
But there was a human cost…
But the production of the rocket was dangerous.
On average, each rocket took six lives in making.
This was because the labour was supplied by concentration camps.
Mittelwork was connected to the Dora concentration camp.
(Photo of Himmler (head of SS and conceptualized the Holocaust) and Von Braun)
Von Braun personally came and selected prisoners to die making the rockets.
Braun’s past was erased.
Photos, documents linking Von Braun with the SS were destroyed and hidden by the USA in exchange for his rockets and expertise.
Declassified in 2020.
Famous professor
First head of NASA.
Not many people survived the Dora concentration camp. Some survivors (behind the Iron Curtain) tried to bring Von Braun to justice but the US government refused.
Hailed as a USA hero.
Braun was asked directly about his work for Hitler and the human cost of his program, his response was
“Science does not have a moral dimension.”
I just make the rocket. I’m not involved about where it comes down.
The USA was not able to capture everything.. The USSR got their hands on some things
Russian KGB archives is heavily classified, and is a complete disaster.
Many things are lost in the mass of documents or have been destroyed.
What we think happened was that the Russians got ahold of the same technology and scientists, but treated the scientists differently.
The USA hailed them as heroes
But the USSR took their families prisoner and held them hostage so the scientists would work.
For ex., the Vostok R7 - start of the space race.
Race to oblivion
The Russians did a good job of producing the Vostok in secrecy.
In 1957, the Vostok took off and deployed the first satellite in space (Sputnik 1).
Damaging to American morale because it was visible to the naked eye.
Sputnik was a sphere with radio equipment that would send radio signals to Russia.
The radio equipment had a weight of 50kg. This was not a coincidence… To make an atomic bomb, 50kg of uranium was needed.
One of the many things that came from Sputnik 1 was NASA.
One year later, NASA is established, and Von Braun is placed as it’s head.
Although the Americans had better scientists and technology, the Russians would slam them every time.
For ex., the first man in space was Yuri Gargarin (A Russian man) in 1961.
Vostok 1
The Russians also send the first woman to space in 1963 – Valentina Tereshkova.
The message to the Western world..?
In the 60’s, women in the west were housewives.
In this idealistic Communist society – women and factory workers can do whatever they want!
The Russians built a series of spacecraft made to aid the moon landing.
For ex., in 1966 the Luna 9 lands on the moon.
Nobody knew if landing on the moon was possible.
First craft to land without crashing.
In 1666, the Venera 3 is the first man-made craft to reach another planet.
Image of itself on Venus!
Unfortunately, the craft was destroyed or damaged.
The Russians prove that they can get to the moon and safely land on the moon.
So what was missing?
Can you use the moon’s gravity to get yourself back to Earth?
In 1968, Zond 5 is a Russian craft that was the first to orbit the moon and come back to Earth.
So the Americans see all of this, and send the first man to the moon in 1969.
Neil Armstrong using Braun’s rocket.
The Americans regain some semblance of technological superiority.
Some say the moon landing was faked, but it definitely happened!
If the Russians saw the Americans faked it, they would tell everyone.
After the landing on the moon, nobody cared about the space program.
NASA was forced to cut down on the costs of their program.
As such, reusable spacecraft is implemented.
The first Columbia shuttle is introduced in 1979.
Lower costs of operation.. Etc.
When the Columbia was built, it was seen in the west as a spaceship built solely for peaceful, exploratory purposes.
But in the east, it was understood that the Americans built a new weapon system
You can put a telescope in it, or you can put bombs.
The Russians instantly realized that if the Americans had this technology, they needed it too.
Precisely copied the American space shuttle and unveiled the Russian Buran.
…except it had more powerful rockets.
In 1990, the Soviet union collapsed and definitively ended the government support.
This expensive bit of hardware was left to rot.
The original Buran made only one flight.
Weird places…
In random parking lots,
Tried to move one on the road.
In someones back yard ???
The Cold war period was a quest for technological and ideological supremacy.
East vs. West.
For ex., launching of Sputnik, moon landing… etc.
Once the cold war ended, all of that high-end technology had it’s funding cut.
Buran is an interesting case study of what happens when there is no longer any funding.