Historical fact that Britain might have made the world's first manned space flight successful by Nazi · German technology turned out

BySteve Jurvetson

Human being put on a rocket and reaching spaceIn manned space flight developmentIn 1961, the former Soviet Union sent the astronaut Yuri Gagarin into space for the first time and set up a big monument in the universe, but the UK may have made manned space flight successful 10 years earlier than that I know that. Britain, the victorious country of World War II, is a military missile developed by Nazi Germany, one of the defeated countriesV2 rocket"The technology was acquired and it was studying to divert to the space rocket.

BBC - Future - How a Nazi rocket could have put a Briton in space
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150824-how-a-nazi-rocket-could-have-put-a-briton-in-space

◆ Until military weapons "V2 rocket" turns into a space development rocket
In the summer of 1945 World War II ended and in Europe the whole team of missile weapons "V2 rocket" developed by Nazi Germany by the Allied troops who won the war was advanced rapidly. V2 rocket is a famous scientist leading the initial rocket technology, later led the development of rockets asylum in the United StatesWerner von BrownA military rocket that was developed mainly by Mr. et al., A state-of-the-art technology was put into practical use at the time such as a compact and powerful rocket engine and advanced flight trajectory control device using a vacuum tube circuit It was.

V2 rocket - Wikipedia


The V2 rocket was launched from the Hague, The Netherlands, which was a controlling area of ​​Nazi · Germany, towards London and succeeded in damaging the city of London. It seems that the magnitude of the damage itself was not quite large, but it is said that London citizens trembled at an invisible fear that supersonic no fear of flying and causing damage.

Although it is such a mysterious terror weapon, it is a V2 rocket, but from around 1945 when the war comes to its end, the Allied Promotion will gradually advance the elucidation of the truth. Located in LondonScience MuseumMr. John Becklake explains the state of the time that "an unsightly struggle against the United States, the Soviet Union, France, and us Britain was fought over". In May 1945, from Nazi · Germany where the defeat became rich, Dr. Fong Brown, who was the development director, exiled to the United States, and at the same time, many technologies are handed over to the hands of the United States. Immediately after that the Soviet Union is located in northern GermanyPuneemunde Army Weapons Test SiteI will put it in my hand. France acquired 40 scientists and technicians engaged in development and the UK got the materials and know-how necessary to manufacture the V2 rocket in the hand, left in the research facility where the US carried away a lot. It was.

ByMitch Barrie

UK has successfully launched the V2 rocket in "Operation · Backfire (Operation · Backfire Strategy)" which was carried out during the war from after the war. The V2 rocket launched by the German engineer from the city of Cuxhaven in northern Germany has reached the boundary with outer space and has fallen to the water spot set in the North Sea and succeeded . The destination accuracy at this time was higher than the time Nazis · Germany was developing. The British who engaged in the experiment are said to be surprised at the height of technology of the V2 rocket, and Beck Lake, director of the V2 rocket later, who was involved in the restoration of the V2 rocket said, "V2 rocket is packed with high technology, It was not a thing. "

And I heard this result "British Interplanetary Society(British Interplanetary Association) 'Technician is convinced that' this is the technology to build a spaceship. ' Mr. Ralph Smith, a member of the Association, a designer / artist, has created a detailed proposal to divert V2 rocket to "human transport rocket".

◆ "Megaroc plan" based on V2 rocket
Mr. Smith's planMegaroc"In the rocket, the concept of replacing the warhead part of 1 ton in weight with the capsule on which the crew ride while increasing the size of the outer shell by increasing the size from the base V 2 rocket is included . However, this specification also knows that it does not have sufficient performance to put humans in orbit around the Earth, Mr. Smith puts man into the parabolic trajectory instead of 300 km (300 thousand meters) of the earth's surface It was said that the goal was to reach it.

As for Megaroc, the details of the Megaroc are explained also on the website of the British Interplanetary Society, but from the illustration it is clearly understood that the appearance was V2 rocket itself. The British Interplanetary Association is a science fiction writerArthur C. ClarkIt is also known that Mr. served as president.

Megaroc


Megaroc, launched from the ground, when it reaches outer space, segregates the capsule containing the crew. Two windows for observation were installed in the capsule, and it was planned that a crewmember wearing a space suit would conduct the observation of the earth's surface, the atmosphere and the sun. And, of course, it is said that it was incorporated into the idea of ​​using for reconnaissance activities as if it conforms to the speculation of Western countries that had strengthened the Soviet Union at that time.

After zero gravity flight of about 5 minutes, the capsule enters the falling trajectory by the attraction force of the earth. A crew protected by heat resistant material rushes into the atmosphere and finally soft landing on the ground with a parachute. At the same time, it was said that planning to reuse the rocket body with a parachute also included in the plan.

Mr. David Baker, a space history researcher who is researching Megaroc and an editor of Spaceflight magazine, said, "Megaroc was a practical design, all made with existing technology, three to five years It was possible to put the plan into practice in the period of the plan, "he says about the concrete nature of the plan. Mr. Baker is a person who was involved in the space shuttle program at NASA in the US, but Megaroc evaluated that he had a design that goes back 10 years ahead of that time. "By 1951, the UK would have been able to deliver humankind regularly to ballistic orbit and deliver it to outer space."

◆ Stopped by Megaroc plan, and ...
Mr. Smith submitted a proposal for the Megaroc project to the Ministry of Municipal Damage that was responsible for supply of military supplies, but after several months the proposal will be rejected. At that time, the UK had already carried out operations and backfires, but decided that a policy to concentrate domestic limited human resources on the field of aviation technology and nuclear technology rather than space development was. Mr. Smith then abandoned the Megaroc project and put more emphasis on the planning of the spacecraft and the huge space station.

Mr. Baker said, "In order to protect the freedom of the world, Britain was in a state of bankruptcy due to excessive investment in World War II, around 1946 to 47 when the plan was proposed, the state of the country is the most It was a bad timing, "he says that was an unfaithful period.

BySmabs Sputzer

On the other hand, in the United States across the Atlantic Ocean, a completely opposite policy was laid out. The United States plans to give all the resources necessary for development to Dr. Von Brown, the developer of the V2 rocket exiled to the country, and will push the development of the next generation rocket into cooperation. As a result, in May 1961, about a month to be late for the Soviet UnionMercury · Redstone 3Successfully launched and succeeded in delivering astronaut Alan Shepard to outer space. Beck Lake, director of the project who knows the plan, said, "Red Stone No. 3 was the V2 rocket itself with a longer overall length.In a true sense there was nothing new, but it succeeded in delivering humankind to space I did it. "

"Tanba" in the history is meaningless, but if the Department of Military Demand of England had put out a go-ahead in the Megaroc plan, the UK may have delivered mankind to the universe earlier than the Soviet Union and the United States. Mr. Baker said, "It makes me feel very depressed, but even if the situation in the UK at that time was inferior to other countries on a social, financial, or life level basis, the technology that goes ahead to other countries is It is wonderful to inform you that you existed, "he says comments that make us feel British.

ByAlice

Since entering the 2000s, the competition of space development by the private sector has been overheating in the world. Several space development companies such as the Virgin Governor of the UK and Richard Branson 's "Virgin Galactic" company are in a hurry to develop. Mr. Baker says, "The spirit of Megaroc is still alive and now Britain needs a politician who understands the importance of investing in these technologies and does the whole thing.When we I proved that I can do it, and now I have to prove that we can do it once more. "

◆ bonus
In addition, it seems that rocket development using V2 rocket was done also in the United States. The following movie was published in 1947 in New Mexico State, USA: "White Sands - Performance Test Site (Current ·White Sands Missile Test Site), Which shows the state of the launch experiment carried out at about 20 minutes.

V2 Rocket - Assembling and Launching (1947) - YouTube