12 Jul '14 05:33>4 edits
This science forum gets used for cutting-edge topics, but I'll go against the grain this time by putting up as a topic something that is 70 years old.
Last year Paul Allen did the kind of thing I would do if I had a billion dollars lying around collecting dust. He purchased a WW II German V-2 rocket. They ain't making any more of 'em!
The 1940s-era V-2 was a big leap past the German's 1930's A3, which itself was a step up from what Robert Goddard had been doing in the USA.
Here is a broad, shallow documentary look at the V-2--
YouTube
Here are a pair of narrower, deeper looks. The first is on the burner cups at the head of the combustion chamber, and the other is on the guidance gyros--
YouTube
YouTube
Wernher Von Braun and his team of engineers were some really clever people. Even during the war WVB was looking ahead to civilian uses of multi-stage rockets to get people above Earth's atmosphere. (As Mort Sahl used to say in a WVB accent, "I aim for the stars, but sometimes I hit London." )
Last year Paul Allen did the kind of thing I would do if I had a billion dollars lying around collecting dust. He purchased a WW II German V-2 rocket. They ain't making any more of 'em!
The 1940s-era V-2 was a big leap past the German's 1930's A3, which itself was a step up from what Robert Goddard had been doing in the USA.
Here is a broad, shallow documentary look at the V-2--
YouTube
Here are a pair of narrower, deeper looks. The first is on the burner cups at the head of the combustion chamber, and the other is on the guidance gyros--
YouTube
YouTube
Wernher Von Braun and his team of engineers were some really clever people. Even during the war WVB was looking ahead to civilian uses of multi-stage rockets to get people above Earth's atmosphere. (As Mort Sahl used to say in a WVB accent, "I aim for the stars, but sometimes I hit London." )