The Military Utility Of German Rocketry During World War II

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Publisher : Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1786250616
Total Pages : 51 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (862 download)

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Book Synopsis The Military Utility Of German Rocketry During World War II by : Major Kirk M. Kloeppel

Download or read book The Military Utility Of German Rocketry During World War II written by Major Kirk M. Kloeppel and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Tomahawk cruise missile, the conventional Air Launched Cruise missile, and the SCUD surface-to-surface missile each made an impact during the Gulf War. The cruise missiles were instrumental in incapacitating the Iraqi electrical network. The SCUD missile was not as successful, but did divert the coalition air campaign. Although never utilized, the sister of the SCUD missile, the intercontinental ballistic missile, was pivotal during the Cold War. Each of these weapons can trace their initiation to the development of the German V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket during World War II. The German weapons were not as successful as their antecedents. This paper will inspect the military utility of the weapons during World War II. Initially, the paper will define the actors behind the development, and describe the resulting weapons. Next, the essay will examine the strategy in weapon utilization. The paper will quantify the damage caused by both weapons. Then, the document will describe offensive and defensive countermeasures employed by the Allies. The question of the weapons’ military utility will be addressed. Finally, alternatives to the weapons development, production, and employment will be presented.

The Military Utility of German Rocketry During World War II.

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 52 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (227 download)

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Book Synopsis The Military Utility of German Rocketry During World War II. by :

Download or read book The Military Utility of German Rocketry During World War II. written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Tomahawk cruise missile, the conventional Air Launched Cruise missile, and the SCUD surface-to-surface missile each made an impact during the Gulf War. The cruise missiles were instrumental in incapacitating the Iraqi electrical network. The SCUD missile was not as successful, but did divert the coalition air campaign. Although never utilized, the sister of the SCUD missile, the intercontinental ballistic missile, was pivotal during the Cold War. Each of these weapons can trace their initiation to the development of the German V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket during World War II. The German weapons were not as successful as their antecedents. This paper will inspect the military utility of the weapons during World War II. Initially, the paper will define the actors behind the development, and describe the resulting weapons. Next, the essay will examine the strategy in weapon utilization. The paper will quantify the damage caused by both weapons. Then, the document will describe offensive and defensive countermeasures employed by the Allies. The question of the weapons' military utility will be addressed. Finally, alternatives to the weapons development, production, and employment will be presented.

The Rocket and the Reich

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Author :
Publisher : Smithsonian Institution
ISBN 13 : 1588344665
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (883 download)

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Book Synopsis The Rocket and the Reich by : Michael J. Neufeld

Download or read book The Rocket and the Reich written by Michael J. Neufeld and published by Smithsonian Institution. This book was released on 2013-09-10 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINNER OF THE DEXTER PRIZE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY Launched by the Third Reich in late 1944, the first ballistic missile, the V-2, fell on London, Paris, and Antwerp after covering nearly two hundred miles in five minutes. It was a stunning achievement, one that heralded a new age of ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles. Michael J. Neufeld gives the first comprehensive and accurate account of the story behind one of the greatest engineering feats of World War II. At a time when rockets were minor battlefield weapons, Germany ushered in a new form of warfare that would bequeath a long legacy of terror to the Cold War, as well as the means to go into space. Both the US and USSR's rocket programs had their origins in the Nazi state.

Rocket Development

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781494067243
Total Pages : 270 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (672 download)

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Book Synopsis Rocket Development by : Robert H. Goddard

Download or read book Rocket Development written by Robert H. Goddard and published by . This book was released on 2013-10 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a new release of the original 1960 edition.

Nazi Germany's Rocket Science

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Author :
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781983756764
Total Pages : 82 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (567 download)

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Book Synopsis Nazi Germany's Rocket Science by : Charles River Charles River Editors

Download or read book Nazi Germany's Rocket Science written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-01-11 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of Nazi Germany's experiments written by its scientists *Profiles famous scientists like Wernher von Braun and their accomplishments *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents After the last shots of World War II were fired and the process of rebuilding Germany and Europe began, the Western Allies and the Soviet Union each tried to obtain the services of the Third Reich's leading scientists, especially those involved in rocketry, missile technology, and aerospace research. Naturally, this was a delicate affair due to the fact many of the German scientists were not only active Nazis but had helped the Nazi war machine terrorize the world. At the same time, by the late war period, the Anglo-American Allies formed a clear picture of the Soviet state. Though forced to ally with the USSR's dictator, Josef Stalin, the West came to understand Communist Russia represented yet another hungry totalitarian power, and thus a very real threat to an independent Europe. Both the Western Allies and the Soviets knew of Adolf Hitler's V-2 rocket program, the forerunner of ballistic missiles and the space race. Each recognized the immense strategic value of these technologies and wished to secure their benefits for themselves. As the Soviets contemplated additional expansion following the "Great Patriotic War" and the U.S. military came to understand the putative allies of today would emerge as the enemies of tomorrow, the men possessing knowledge of the V-2 rockets and other Third Reich military technology programs became seen as crucial pieces in the incipient NATO versus Warsaw Pact standoff. The result was the American-led "Operation Paperclip" on the Western side, which resulted in German scientists putting their expertise at the disposal of the U.S. and other NATO members. Operation Paperclip aimed not only to obtain the benefits of German scientific advances for the United States but also to deny them to the potentially hostile Soviets. The Western approach, however self-interested, typically met with voluntary compliance on the German scientists' parts. In contrast, the Soviet answer to Paperclip, Operation Osoaviakhim, used the implied threat of imprisonment, torture, and death, the characteristic tools of Stalinist Russia, to coerce assistance from German scientists and engineers following the war. These men yielded rich dividends to the Soviet state in terms of achieving at least temporary technical parity with the USSR's western rivals. To say Operation Paperclip had a profound impact on the Cold War and American history would be an understatement. The most well known example of the operation's "success" is Wernher von Braun, who was once a member of a branch of the SS involved in the Holocaust, would become known as the "father of rocket science" and fascinate the world with visions of winged rockets and space stations as a "new" Manhattan Project, one that NASA would eventually adopt. And in addition to the weaponization of ballistic missiles that progressed throughout the Cold War, von Braun's expertise was used for America's most historic space missions. Nazi Germany's Rocket Science: The History of the Third Reich's Experimental Weapons Technology and Research during World War II analyzes the Nazis' technological advances and the covert attempts to import Nazi scientists after the fall of the Third Reich. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Germany's rocket science like never before, in no time at all.

Germany's V-2 Rocket

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Author :
Publisher : Schiffer Pub Limited
ISBN 13 : 9780764324529
Total Pages : 134 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (245 download)

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Book Synopsis Germany's V-2 Rocket by : Gregory P. Kennedy

Download or read book Germany's V-2 Rocket written by Gregory P. Kennedy and published by Schiffer Pub Limited. This book was released on 2006 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Germanys V-2 looks at one of the major technological advances of the Second World War, the V-2 ballistic missile. Although dwarfed by todays giant rockets, the V-2 represented a quantum leap beyond anything previously built. During the last six months of the war in Europe, Germany launched thousands of these missiles against the Allies. This book traces the origins and development of the V-2, from groups of individual experimenters in the 1930s to its use as a weapon system. Particular emphasis is paid to such topics as the structure and components of the missile, its ground support equipment, and field procedures. After the war, the V-2 formed the foundation for the space programs of the Soviet Union and United States. Information is included on previously ignored V-2 launches in the United States.

The Mars Project

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Publisher : University of Illinois Press
ISBN 13 : 9780252062278
Total Pages : 116 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (622 download)

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Book Synopsis The Mars Project by : Wernher Von Braun

Download or read book The Mars Project written by Wernher Von Braun and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 1953 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This classic on space travel was first published in 1953, when interplanetary space flight was considered science fiction by most of those who considered it at all. Here the German-born scientist Wernher von Braun detailed what he believed were the problems and possibilities inherent in a projected expedition to Mars. Today von Braun is recognized as the person most responsible for laying the groundwork for public acceptance of America's space program. When President Bush directed NASA in 1989 to prepare plans for an orbiting space station, lunar research bases, and human exploration of Mars, he was largely echoing what von Braun proposed in The Mars Project.

U.S. Rocket Ordnance Development and Use in World War II.

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 70 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (42 download)

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Book Synopsis U.S. Rocket Ordnance Development and Use in World War II. by : Joint Board on Scientific Information Policy (U.S.)

Download or read book U.S. Rocket Ordnance Development and Use in World War II. written by Joint Board on Scientific Information Policy (U.S.) and published by . This book was released on 1946 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

German V-Weapon Sites 1943–45

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Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1782002154
Total Pages : 159 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (82 download)

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Book Synopsis German V-Weapon Sites 1943–45 by : Steven J. Zaloga

Download or read book German V-Weapon Sites 1943–45 written by Steven J. Zaloga and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-08-20 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed to change the course of the war, the V weapons required ambitious plans to defend their expensive and complicated launch sites. Steven J Zaloga describes the configuration and planned deployment of heavy missile sites, as well as the unique Allied tactics developed to counter this threat, including a remote-control version of the B-17 bomber. From the V-1 ski sites to the mobile basing employed by the V-2 units and the other secret weapons bases like the 'V-3' high-pressure gun at Mimoyeques, this book examines the impact of these weapon systems and defences not only on the war but on modern weaponry. With many of the sites described still surviving today, this is a perfect companion for a tour of the V weapon sites built during World War II.

Operation Crossbow

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 54 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (173 download)

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Book Synopsis Operation Crossbow by : Charles River

Download or read book Operation Crossbow written by Charles River and published by . This book was released on 2021-03-05 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures*Includes a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contentsAfter the last shots of World War II were fired and the process of rebuilding Germany and Europe began, the Western Allies and the Soviet Union each tried to obtain the services of the Third Reich's leading scientists, especially those involved in rocketry, missile technology, and aerospace research. Naturally, this was a delicate affair due to the fact many of the German scientists were not only active Nazis but had helped the Nazi war machine terrorize the world. At the same time, near the end of the war, the Anglo-American Allies formed a clear picture of the Soviet state. Though forced to ally with the USSR's dictator, Joseph Stalin, the West came to understand Communist Russia represented yet another hungry totalitarian power, and thus a very real threat to an independent Europe. Of course, both the Western Allies and the Soviets knew of the Nazis' V-2 rocket program, the forerunner of ballistic missiles and the Space Race. Indeed, the efforts to snatch up Nazi scientists reflected the fact that everyone recognized the immense strategic value of these technologies and wished to secure their benefits for themselves. As the Soviets contemplated additional expansion following the "Great Patriotic War" and the U.S. military came to understand the putative allies of 1945 may emerge as enemies in the future, the men possessing knowledge of the V-2 rockets and other Third Reich military technology programs became seen as crucial pieces in the incipient standoff between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.The British were only too aware of the dangers and potential of the Nazi rockets because the Nazi V-weapon bombardment of London and the south coast of England in 1944 and 1945 involved some of the most frightening attacks on civilians during the war. Not only did the V-1 missiles and V-2 rockets land unpredictably on civilian areas, causing damage and casualties, but they also represented the use of strange new technologies developed by Nazi scientists. After all, if the Nazis could design and develop rockets long before the Allied nations, perhaps they were also working on other, even more devastating new weapons. To counter the V-weapons, the Allies implemented Operation Crossbow, which aimed to find ways to stop or at least reduce the number of V-weapons reaching their targets, and to reassure the population of Allied nations that these terrifying new weapons could be understood and overcome. The importance of Operation Crossbow was high enough that, despite being involved in massive military operations in Sicily and preparing for the Normandy landings, the Allies diverted manpower and resources to counter the V-weapon threat. This decision was made at the highest level, and those in charge were determined to ensure that Operation Crossbow would not fail.Operation Crossbow: The History of the Allied Bombing Missions against Nazi Germany's V-2 Rocket Program during World War II looks at one of the war's most unique operations. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Operation Crossbow like never before.

V2

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Author :
Publisher : Classic
ISBN 13 : 9781906537531
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (375 download)

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Book Synopsis V2 by : Murray Barber

Download or read book V2 written by Murray Barber and published by Classic. This book was released on 2017-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The German A4 rocket, or V2 - 'Vergeltungswaffen Zwei' (Vengeance Weapon 2), was the most sophisticated and advanced weapon developed in Europe during the Second World War. From September 1944 to March 1945, German army launch teams fired more than 3,000 V2 rockets at targets in England, France, Belgium and even within Germany itself. Many V2s were fired from mobile launch sites and from concealed wooded areas, using fleets of transporters and trailers with sophisticated ancillary and support vehicles. Travelling at the edge of space, the V2 rockets fell without warning at supersonic speeds, turning buildings and streets into cratered rubble, and terrorizing the civilians targeted by these attacks. Drawing on a wide range of archive sources, rare personal accounts and interviews conducted with personnel associated with the A4/V2 program, rocketry expert Murray R. Barber traces the origins of the V2 and presents a detailed view of the research conducted at the secret, experimental rocket-testing facility at Kummersdorf West and the vast, infamous base at Peenemunde. This important new work reveals the transformation of the rocket into a weapon of war and describes the A4 in detail as well as the intense and often difficult intelligence effort by the Allies to discover more about this highly secret and unprecedented weapon, and to destroy it. The author also describes the field-testing of the A4 rocket, its reliability problems and the remedies and compromises employed to deal with them. He reveals the activities of the SS and their machinations to gain control of the rocket program from the Wehrmacht, as well as the subsequent operational deployment of the V2 in Operation Penguin, the 'vengeance' offensive against the British Isles. Illustrated throughout with rare and many previously unseen images (including color photographs), technical drawings and maps, this is the most comprehensive book ever on the V2, and includes important new details of the post-war development and testing of the rocket and its role in the dawning of the space age.

Von Braun

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Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0525435913
Total Pages : 626 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (254 download)

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Book Synopsis Von Braun by : Michael Neufeld

Download or read book Von Braun written by Michael Neufeld and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2017-04-12 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Curator and space historian at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum delivers a brilliantly nuanced biography of controversial space pioneer Wernher von Braun. Chief rocket engineer of the Third Reich and one of the fathers of the U.S. space program, Wernher von Braun is a source of consistent fascination. Glorified as a visionary and vilified as a war criminal, he was a man of profound moral complexities, whose intelligence and charisma were coupled with an enormous and, some would say, blinding ambition. Based on new sources, Neufeld's biography delivers a meticulously researched and authoritative portrait of the creator of the V-2 rocket and his times, detailing how he was a man caught between morality and progress, between his dreams of the heavens and the earthbound realities of his life.

Hitler's Miracle Weapons: the Secret History of the Rockets and Flying Crafts of the Third Reich

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 154 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Hitler's Miracle Weapons: the Secret History of the Rockets and Flying Crafts of the Third Reich by : Friedrich Georg

Download or read book Hitler's Miracle Weapons: the Secret History of the Rockets and Flying Crafts of the Third Reich written by Friedrich Georg and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following on from the success of volume 1, Friedrich Georg's second book in the series covers unconventional short- and medium-range weapons. In particular, this volume includes a wealth of information about the V-rocket programme, not just the more familiar V-1 and V-2, but special variants of these two rockets as well as later experimental craft and weaponry. Following a fascinating examination of pre-war efforts to build flying bombs, the author examines the V-1 and V-2 projects in great detail. Particular attention is paid to special variants that have previously received little coverage. These include the V-2 A-4 'America Rocket', and V-2s designed to carry nuclear and radiological warheads. The capability of the Germans to deploy such weapons is also discussed. A large number of weird and wonderful projects that never left the drawing board are examined, including the FR-35, V-6, V-101, Waterfall and Naval EMW A-7 rockets. The fascinating final section examines German plans to utilise such rocketry against London and Paris in 1945, as well as recounting the activities of V-weapons on other fronts, including Italy, Yugoslavia and the Eastern Front. The text is supported by b/w photographs and 16 superb pages of colour artwork, including profiles, computer-generated images of designs that never flew, and pictures of the author's own models.

Evolution of America’s Rocketry & the Participants

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Author :
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
ISBN 13 : 1984567306
Total Pages : 137 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (845 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolution of America’s Rocketry & the Participants by : Charles P. Idler

Download or read book Evolution of America’s Rocketry & the Participants written by Charles P. Idler and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After Germany was defeated in World War II, their German rocket scientists found work in America and Russia. The primary rocket scientist, Wernher Von Braun, chose moving to America, where he and fellow German engineers constructed rockets for defense purposes.

Peenemunde: The German Experimental Rocket Center-Introduction

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Author :
Publisher : RCW Technology & Ebook Publishing
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 102 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Peenemunde: The German Experimental Rocket Center-Introduction by : David Myhra PhD

Download or read book Peenemunde: The German Experimental Rocket Center-Introduction written by David Myhra PhD and published by RCW Technology & Ebook Publishing. This book was released on 2013-09-28 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story and details of Peenemünde, the German military rocket developement and test siteduring World War II. It was one of the most modern technological facilities in the world in the years between 1936 and 1945. The first launch of a missile into space took place here in October 1942. In the nearby air force testing area, rocket engineers tested numerous flight objects equipped with revolutionary technology. From the start this research was directed toward one goal only: achieving military superiority through advanced technology. Slave laborers, concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war provided the work that enabled the construction of the test sites and the later serial production of the rockets, which the Nazi propaganda referred to as "Vergeltungswaffe 2" (or "Vengeance Weapon 2"), in so short a period of time. Both the inhumane labor conditions and the attacks on Belgian, British and French cities using the supposed "wonder weapon" claimed thousands of lives.

V-2

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Author :
Publisher : Westholme Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9781594160127
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (61 download)

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Book Synopsis V-2 by : T. D. Dungan

Download or read book V-2 written by T. D. Dungan and published by Westholme Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In August 1944, Londoners thought the war might be over by Christmas. But on September 8, 1944, in the London suburb of Chiswick, a thunderous double-boom was heard followed by a huge plume of black smoke rising high into the air. Several minutes later another explosion rocked the earth near Epping. There had been no warnings, no drone of aircraft above, just sudden devastation. "Operation Penguin," the V-2 offensive, had begun. The A-4 rocket, better known as the V-2, V"ergeltungswaffen Zwei," or "Vengeance Weapon 2," was the first ballistic missile to be used in combat. Soaring over 50 miles high at supersonic speeds, the V-2 would strike its target within 5 minutes of launching. Once in the air its deadly warhead was unstoppable. The ancestor of all Cold War and modern day ballistic missiles, as well as the rockets used for space exploration, the V-2 could not win the war for Germany it was too expensive, too complicated, too inaccurate, and its warhead was too small but its unprecedented invulnerability and influence on Allied planning made the V-2 and the advancements it represented the ultimate war prize, and British, American, and Soviet forces scrambled to seize German rocket technology along with its scientists and engineers. In" V-2: A Combat History of the First Ballistic Missile," T. D. Dungan relies on an unparalleled collection of original documents, unpublished photographs, and accounts from those who were there to provide a complete description of the V-2 program, the missile's use in combat, and the race to capture its secrets."

Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science

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Author :
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
ISBN 13 : 1493171240
Total Pages : 617 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (931 download)

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Book Synopsis Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science by : Walter Sierra

Download or read book Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science written by Walter Sierra and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2016-12-19 with total page 617 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beyond the Saga of Rocket Science is a series of four closely related books that provide an amplyillustrated, overarching perspective to a broad, nontechnical audience of the entire panorama surrounding the development of rockets, missiles, and space vehicles as we know them today and what the exciting future holds. The books are sequential and form an integrated whole: The Dawn of the Space Age Avoiding Armageddon In Space To Stay The Never-Ending Frontier The Dawn of the Space Age begins with exciting tales of the earliest developers of rudimentary rockets and the deadly battles they fought in China between 228 and 1600 A.D. A historical fiction approach brings longago characters and events to life. Palace intrigues, treachery, and warmongering are interwoven with vivid depictions of courage and bravery to showcase the gradual progression of the science of rocketry from fireworks displays to effective weapons in the battlefield. Readers in the West will learn something about the Eastern mindset, where over half the worlds population lives today. The tremendous achievements of the Wright Brothers Wilbur and Orville in the early 1900s serve as a useful backdrop for showcasing the difficulties in developing completely new technologies for practical use. The Wright Brothers had to go abroad to France before World War I to garner enough support and funding to mature airplane science to the point that the U.S. Army took notice. Building on the Wrights successes, Ludwig Prandtl in Germany and Theodore von Krmn in the United States made pioneering developments in aerodynamics which are crucial to rocket flight. The invention of the airplane inspired early innovators in the 1920s 1930s to lay the foundation for the giant aerospace conglomerates of today; including William Boeing. (Boeing Company), Allan Loughead and Glenn Martin (Lockheed Martin), Jack Northrop and Leroy Grumman (Northrop Grumman), James McDonnell and Donald Douglas (McDonnellDouglas). These stalwarts were very foresighted and willing to take calculated risks. The ingenious Dr. Robert Goddard, inventor of the modern rocket, developed a sound theory and conducted pioneering flight tests in the 1920s - 1930s, while overcoming many failures. However, Goddards rockets were not taken seriously enough in the United States to enable the development of practical missiles and launch vehicles. But Germany sure took notice. World War II gave the biggest impetus ever to advancing rocket science and related technologies. The Nazi war machine funded Dr. Wernher von Braun and his cohorts to develop rocketdriven weapons such as the V1 and V2 which killed thousands during World War II. Fortunately for America, von Braun and key members of his team decided to seek asylum in the United States when the war ended. Now the country took up the engineering of rockets in earnest. Von Braun went on to lead the American space program during the crucial decades of the 1950s 1960s. He did more to advance missiles, rockets, spaceflight, and enable manned landings on the moon than anybody else in America. Six astronauts flew solo on six Project Mercury flights (19611963). Three of them joined another 13 astronauts to orbit Earth on 10 twoperson Project Gemini flights (19651966). Without a single failure. The Soviet Union captured their fair share of German rocketeers, including the influential Helmut Grttrup. They learned everything possible from the German expatriates. Then they cast the Germans aside and undertook rocket and missile development using indigenous experts like Sergei Korolyov and Valentin Glushko. Like von Braun, Korolyov was ingenious in his own right, and led the development of Soviet rocket science until his untimely death in January 1966. Engineers and scientists are todays unsung heroes. They work in the shadows, without any public acclaim or recognition; yet the technologies they develop touch every facet of our daily lives.