/begin/ STS 497I : SPACE COLONIZATION SPACE FLIGHT: THUNDER IN THE SKY A history of rocketry The following are short reviews by selected students of a documentary entitled "Space Flight: Thunder in the Sky". The student ID's have been withheld. No corrections have been made to the essays; they may contain some mispellings and/or factual errors. Edited and compiled by Dr. Chris Churchill for STS 497I, Spring 2001 Date: February 8, 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rocketry started with a man named Constantine Silkovski talking about how even back in 1883 they knew that space travel was possible. He is often times called the father of cosmonautics. Next Robert Goddard was mentioned. He though that the answer to space travel was rockets. He designed and launched the worlds first liquid propelled rocket, it went 184 feet and flew for 2.5 seconds. Few people knew of his research until Herman Hobart made a movie of firing a rocket. This made the German's interest in rockets increase. In the 1930's the military saw it as a weapon. A rocket enthusiast named Dornberger was instructed to build the rocket. An amateur named Verner Von Bron helped change rockets from a hobby to a weapon. He also helped to build a rocket for the military. This is where a guidance system was added to it. The first one was tested in 1942. It was a failure, but the second one broke the sound barrier and the third one worked perfectly. This is the so-called beginning of the space age. The government saw it as weapon though, in 1944 it was granted priority status. It was named the V2. Eventually the SS troops got a hold of the V2, but it was too late to change the outcome of the war. Dornberger was eventually arrested for war crimes. Dornberger and some of his colleagues were invited to come to America and help us with rocket development. We were dreaming of space travel. At Edwards Air Force base they were getting close to manned rockets which was the next step in space travel. Here is where the first jet was tested. They needed to get a plane that would break the sound barrier. The X1 was the first jet made to break the sound barrier. Chuck Yeager was chosen to fly it because of his maintenance background, he was disciplined and he could fly. They broke the sound barrier but didn't classify the project until after people talked about it. New planes were made to keep trying to go even faster. One flight in 1956 named the X3 was aimed at hitting mach 3. The mission was successful but it crashed because the pilot, Mel Apt, left the flight in plan. The military is struggling for control at this point. In 1958 is when the space age began. Americans were afraid of the Soviet Union putting a warhead into space on top of America. The U.S. is already behind with rockets and the H-bomb so we developed lighter warheads which we called ICBMs (InterContinental Ballistic Missiles). After this Ike decides that we need a civilian based space program. This is when NASA was started. NASA needed test pilots for their first manned rocket space flights. This began the selection process for the first American Astronauts. After this men were sent into space and the rest is history. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The early days of the space program were a mix a skepticism and fantasy. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1887-1935) from Russia is known as the "father of Cosmonautics." In his writings, he considers every problem to be encountered in space travel. Later, an American named Robert Goddard publishes an article inspired by the science fiction of H.G. Wells about a rocket launched to the moon. After being ridiculed for his publication, he decided to keep his ideas to himself. Goddard eventually goes on to launch the world's first liquid propellant rocket. German military begins envisioning the rocket as a form of weapons during the 1920s and 1930s. Rocket societies were formed in Germany, as well as, Russia. Werner Von Braun was a leading German scientist who changed rocketry to a dangerous sport. During WWII, the German used V-2 (Vengeance 2) supersonic rockets as weapons against Britain. The U.S. was trying to advance itself in this new technology and enter themselves in the Space Age. A lot of flight-testing was done at Edwards Air Force Base, north of L.A., in the Mojave Desert. Here, Chuck Yeager flew the X-1, the plane that breaks the sound barrier. Russia had launched the first rocket Sputnik into space and then Sputnik II with a dog named Laika onboard both in 1957. This was the dawn of the Space Age and a time of fear that our Cold War enemy Russia could be a threat from space. After the failure of Vanguard (a rocket), the U.S. used German rocket engineers such as Werner Von Braun who helped us launch Explorer I. President Eisenhower was wary of this new space technology held in the military's hands. He forms NASA(National Agency for Space and Aeronautics). Project Mercury began to get the first man on the moon. Seven astronauts were chosen and are well-publicized and are featured on the cover of Time/Life Magazine in a campaign to boost patriotism. In 1969, American, Neil Armstrong aboard an Apollo shuttle was the first man to step on the moon. The movie shows the science fiction roots of the space program turned into a military focused one. Countries such as America and Russia internalized the challenge of the Space Race to a Cold War competition. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This one is mostly opnion. -Ed. I personally thought that the movie emphasized a few major ideas, however one of them aroused my curiosity and interest. Scientists in general are some of the most intelligent group of people we interact with. The wonders and marvels that have come so far out of their research and hard work has paid off in ways that the human mind can not even percieve. We have advances in medicine, technology, transportation, housing, electrical power, and the list goes on and on. Before those "scientists" invented these marvels or set off to improve them, they obviously had a general perception as to what this thing that they are working on will accomplish. The full potential of anything they worked on was always in sight, only they never thought it would be used in such a way. The best example, which happens to be the theme of the movie, is rocket science. It is very naive to think that those people who worked on rockets didn't know that the technology they are introducing will be used for the lesser good of man. I thought that the movie was some sort of justification to what the "noble" scientists set out to achieve. Sure, some say they were forced into it. But I personally think that if by signing my own death warrant, I can save millions, and perhaps billions of lives, then I don't see the reason not to sacrifice my life for the purpose of saving humanity. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is unbelievable to see how far out technology, especially regarding space travel, had progressed in only 125 years. Starting in the year 1883, when Silkoski first envisioned space travel using a rocket. Although his contributions and ideologies were never really recognized, it started a space revolution. Years later, Robert Goddard published a proposal for a rocket launcher, but like Silkoski, his ideas were thought to be unorthodox and were shot down. However, Goddard eventually was the first person to launch a liquid propelled rocket, its flight reached 184 ft and lasted 2.5 seconds.....although not extremely encouraging, it was a start. In the 1930s, a small group of German rocket enthusiasts were hard at work developing rockets, although depression was widespread and Hitler was coming into power. A decade later, the German army was having trouble building rockets, due to the fact that most of their top scientists were lost at war. The small groups were needed to add a helping hand, and A-4 was built. On the third launch of this rocket in 1942, massive damage was caused by the Germans. The rocket was now a tool of destruction. The space age is born! Hitler orders more missiles to be built and eventually the V-2 is built. It has a range of 200 miles and can fly at speeds of up to 3,000 mph, a vast improvement from Goddard's first rocket only decades before. Over at Edward's Air Force base, a flight training area, plans are being made for the first human in history to break the speed barrier, 700 mph. The plane that would revolutionize rocket travel would be the X-1. With liquid oxygen boosters, the Chuck Yeager flown plane, which was shaped like a .50 caliber bullet, broke the speed barrier. Although Yeager broke Mach 1, soon after, Scott Crossfield was the first man to break Mach 2 and in 1956, Mach 3 was exceeded, but not without casualty. The pilot, Mel Apt, died in a horrific crash after he lost control at 2100 mph. In concluding, our aviation technology has grown at a rate that is hard to believe. Who would have ever expected a satellite (Sputnik) to be launched into space less than 60 years after the Wright Brothers flew the first plane at Kitty Hawk? As exciting as the past century has been, the next one promises to be even better. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The pioneers of rocketry like Goddard and Tsiolkovsky, and others like Werner von Braun, led the way to larger rockets and more powerful fuel systems. In the case of von Braun and many others (some of whom, like in the case of Russian rocket science teams, remain nameless), rockets were designed for war. Still, the leading pioneers went about designing missiles against the spirit of their true ambitions. These men wanted to see rockets carry humans into space. Jet powered aircraft arrived on the scene later, with the historic first supersonic airplane flight done by Chuck Yeager in the X-1. Later X models would reach up to 3 times the speed of sound. There were accidents, same as with rocket tests, but the brave individuals who flew these record-breaking missions knew the risks and felt any sacrifice was in service to a higher goal. They say it over and over in this and similar films, but it is still impressive when you consider that the history of modern rocketry, aviation, and jet power only go back to about a century ago - the history of space flight only about half that. Human space travel has reached a temporary (we can only hope) limit with the Space Shuttle, as newer models for reusable launch vehicles remain in their infant stages. With the rate things were developing, you'd have thought we'd have a base on Mars by now, or at the least the Moon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ominous news of the Russian launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first satellite, is announced on Oct. 4, 1957, which is heralded as "America's technological Pearl Harbor." The film then explores the history of spaceflight, beginning with the work of three icons in the field: Konstatin Tsiolkovsky (Russia); Robert Goddard (US); and Wernher Von Braun (German-born, American Emigre). In 1883, Tsiolkovsky, the "father of cosmonautics," argues that spaceflight is possible despite the vacuum of space. Before he dies in 1935, he considers almost every problem that humans will face in space. However, his work goes largely unknown. In 1919, Goddard publishes an article, which theorizes that rockets could be landed on the moon. The ridicule his article receives turns Goddard away from seeking further public recognition. However, in 1926, Goddard launches the world's first liquid fuel rocket to a height of 184 ft. This attracts the attention of the famous American aviator, Charles Lindbergh, who helps garner financial support for Goddard's rocketry experiments. In 1923, German physicist Hermann Oberth publishes a paper on space travel, which receives enthusiastic support in his country especially from the military, which schemes to use rockets as weapons of war. Von Braun develops the V-2 Rocket, which the Nazis use to bomb Britain in 1944. After the war, Von Braun and many of his fellow rocket scientists immigrate to the US and pioneer America's early space program. The film then documents the development of the space program through the eyes of space luminaries such as German rocket scientist Kraft Ehrike, author TomWolf (The Right Stuff), space policy expert John Logsdon, and Mercury astronauts Deke Slayton, Alan Shepard, and Jim Lovell. They recount how America's space program moved swiftly from risky and sometimes fatal flights of experimental aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base in the 1950s through the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs to the landing of the first man on the moon in 1969. All this happens less than 100 years after Tsiolkovsky's precognitive visions of spaceflight. The film ends on a downbeat by reminding us that after the Apollo program ended, manned spaceflight has been limited to Earth orbit, at about the same distance of the first manned flight around the Earth by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin nearly 40 years ago. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Modern rocketry was born when Dr. Robert Goddard tested the first liquid propelled rocket is Massachusetts, in 1926. However, the government supported rocketry program appeared in Germany, over a decade later. In the years between WWI and WWII, Germany was living under the strict rules of the Versailles Treaty. When Ober proposed the idea of a rocket program he received and enthusiastic response. The German military saw the rocket as a potential weapon and put Dornbergher in charge of the military rocket program. The program was located at Penemunda. In the late 1930's, the Germans had built the A-4, which could carry a 1 ton payload. After two test rockets exploded, the third test flight produced the successful rocket launch. By 1944, Hitler had decided that the rocket could provide a turning point in a war going badly for Germans, particularly in the air raids against Britain. The first V-2 rocket was launched from Germany to Britain in the fall of 1944. Despite Hitler's hopes, rockets could not turn the tide of the war. With the Russians advancing on Panumbra, the scientists there fled, and surrendered to the American army. They were brought to America by Operation Paper Clip, to study the V-2 rocket. In the United States, at the Edwards AFB test flight site, the race was underway to break the sound barrier. It had been discovered in WWII, the planes could not be controlled as they approached the speed of sound. It was finally broken by Chuck Yeager, flying a plane called the X-1. In 1958, the Space Age began, when the Russians put the first satellite, Sputnik, into orbit around the Earth. The Russians had "blindsided the world" with their success, and Americans were terrified by the tactical advantages orbital craft could give the Russians. By 1959, the Americans had started their own space program with Project Mercury. The first Mercury astronaut, Alan Shepard, went into space in 1961. Soon after, President Kennedy made the decision that within the decade, the USA would put a man on the moon. This decision was prompted more by political factors than the desire for scientific exploration. It was felt that if we could have a man land on the moon before the Russians, it would motivate the American public and clearly prove American superiority. In 1969, during the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. This historic event marks the peak of the "glory days" of the American space program. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our movement towards space flight and exploration has largely been fueled by two, often opposing, stimuli: scientists driven by a desire for knowledge, and politicians and leaders driven by a need for better weapons technology. Rocket technology started with the theoretical musings of Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky, dubbed the father of cosmonautics, and the privately-funded experimentation of Robert Goddard, but was not seriously pursued or funded until weapons applications became evident. The first largely functional rockets were developed by the Germans towards the end of WWII with their V-2 rocket, which fell into American hands after the war. The Americans continued with this research with the X-1 program, working to break the sound barrier. However, the Russians were the first to launch a sattelite into space with Sputnik, and the Americans soon followed with the Mercury space flights. /end/