Fabrication of the orbital vehicle
- Paper ID
IAK-53-14
- author
- company
- country
England
- year
1953
- abstract
The history of astronautics is marked by four major turning points. The first was the work of such pioneers as Oberth and Esnault-Pelterie which laid the theoretical basis for space-flight in the 1920's. Secondly was the development of the German A-4 rocket, the culmulation of original research having its beginning in the early days of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt e.V. (VfR) with the Mirak and Repulsor bi-propellant rockets. Thirdly was the recognition of Orbital Technique as a means of overcoming, to some degree, the limitations of «chemical» propellants by providing a resting and refuelling stage partway up the gravitational slope, and finally, the conception of «ion-drive» which, in making use of micro-«g» accelerations applied over long periods (and in conjunction with Orbital Technique) appears to offer a major solution to the problem of interplanetary propulsion.