The history of early space exploration.
Episodes
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
Space Rocket History #7 – Inter-service Rivalries – Army, Navy, Air Force
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
It’s important to understand that in the late 1940s within the United States there were three concurrent programs for military rocket development. This was due to continuing inter-service rivalry between the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
Space Rocket History #6 - The Competition
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
“The Americans have unified their forces into a single thrust, and make no secret of their plans to dominate outer space. But we keep our plans secret even to ourselves…” Sergei Korolev the Founder of the Soviet Space Program.
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
Space Rocket History #5 – Escaping the Reich – Von Braun, German Scientists
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
“In 1937, I was officially demanded to join the National Socialist Party. At this time I was already Technical Director at the Army Rocket Center at Peenemünde. The technical work carried out there had, in the meantime, attracted more and more attention in higher levels. Thus, my refusal to join the party would have meant that I would have to abandon the work of my life. Therefore, I decided to join. My membership in the party did not involve any political activity.” Werner von Braun, 1947.
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
Space Rocket History #4 – Vengeance Weapons
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
Thursday Aug 10, 2017
“We are the first to have given a rocket a speed of 3,300 mph. We have thus proved that it is quite possible to build piloted missiles or aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds. We did it with automatic control. Our rocket today reached a height of nearly 60 miles. We have invaded space; we have proved rocket propulsion practical for space travel.” Walter Dornberger
Wednesday Aug 09, 2017
Wednesday Aug 09, 2017
During the late 1920’s and throughout the 1930’s progress progress in rocket design was made in fits and starts with unclear goals. However, many technological advances in liquid fueled rockets were made. The United States Germany, Russia, France, Italy, and Great Britain all had rocket research programs. The most significant advances occurred in Germany, the U.S. and Russia. But, before we proceed with the history, I want to explain how a liquid fueled rocket works.
Wednesday Aug 09, 2017
Space Rocket History #2 - Rocket Pioneers
Wednesday Aug 09, 2017
Wednesday Aug 09, 2017
Mankind has dreamed of traveling into space for centuries, but in the twentieth century, scientific and technical capabilities converged with this dream for the first time. The potential of the rocket was realized independently by three different men, born in different countries, who never met each other in person. These men Tsiolkovski of Russia, Goddard of the U.S. and Oberth of Germany, each derived the same conclusions about the future of space travel. Their conclusions that become the basic working formulas of the space age.
Wednesday Aug 09, 2017
Space Rocket History #1 - Ancient Rocketry: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Wednesday Aug 09, 2017
Wednesday Aug 09, 2017
From our small world we have gazed upon the cosmic ocean for thousands of years. Ancient astronomers observed points of light that appeared to move among the stars. They called these objects planets, meaning wanderers, and named them after Roman deities — Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn, and Jupiter. The stargazers also observed comets with sparkling tails, and meteors or shooting stars apparently falling from the sky.
Often, the early rocket pioneers are lost in the shadows of time. The space rockets of today are the result of more than 2,000 years of invention, experimentation, and discovery. The foundations for modern rocketry were laid, first by observation and inspiration and then by methodical research.