Time Travel Research Center © 2005 Cetin BAL - GSM:+90 05366063183 - Turkey / Denizli The V-2 (A4) Ballistic Missile Technology
The V-2 was the first ballistic missile used in warfare and a significant advancement in rocket technology. Also known as the A4, it was developed by Nazi Germany during World War II and used against the Allies, primarily as a terror weapon. Because it was so inaccurate (it could barely hit a city-size target), it could not be used against specific military targets and was instead used against civilians who had no defense against it as it came screaming down from the upper atmosphere. Adolf Hitler named it his "Vengeance Weapon 2"or "V-2" because it wreaked vengeance upon a helpless population. (The "Vengeance Weapon 1," or "V-1", was a cruise missile.) Despite its relative inaccuracy, the V-2 incorporated several major technological advances in rocketry. Its engine was 17 times more powerful than the largest rocket motor constructed up to that time; it flew at five times the speed of sound; and it could still fly relatively accurately to targets nearly 190 miles (306 kilometers) away. Work began on the A4 in 1940 but proceeded slowly at first. The rocket team employed some of the best aerodynamicists in Germany, who conducted systematic tests on subscale models. In August 1941, Hitler ordered the completion of development of the A4 and the production of several hundred test and pre-production vehicles. Testing occurred during 1941, when tests of the large engine required for the rocket kept ending in explosions.
The rocket engine was fueled by an alcohol and water combination, with liquid oxygen serving as an oxidizer that enabled the fuel to burn, just as oxygen enables wood to burn. The fuel and oxidizer were pumped into a main combustion chamber where they mixed and then ignited, producing 56,000 pounds (249,100 newtons) of thrust, which escaped out of the rocket nozzle at the tail of the vehicle. The engine contained a number of key technological innovations that enabled it to achieve significantly higher thrust. First, it had a new type of fuel nozzle for injecting the watered alcohol into the engine. These nozzles sprayed the fuel out in a rotational pattern that caused it to atomize better (in other words, create very small fuel droplets that had more surface area, like the water coming out of a spray bottle) so that it mixed better with the oxidizer and therefore burned more efficiently. A second innovation was the use of a pre-chamber system that mixed the propellant and oxidizer in small chambers above the main combustion chamber. This produced better mixing before burning and kept the flames farther from the nozzles, preventing heat damage to the nozzles. A third innovation was the use of a shorter, rounder combustion chamber, which mixed the propellants better than an earlier design with a longer chamber. The final innovation was the rocket exhaust nozzle. Previous nozzles had a 10-12-degree angle of opening between the sides of the cone, resulting in a long, thin cone. But the A4 engine had a nozzle with an angle of 30 degrees. This reduced friction between the exhaust gases and the wall and also resulted in a shorter nozzle. Because the rocket would travel so fast—faster than any other object at that time—its aerodynamic shape was very important, particularly the fins for controlling the rocket. But determining the proper shape was difficult because no wind tunnel existed at the time that could test objects at such high speeds. The Germans built a world-class aerodynamic institute at their rocket test center at Peenemünde, with several supersonic wind tunnels. These tunnels were not ready in time, however, and many of the key decisions concerning the A4's shape were made from educated guesses and confirmed later. For instance, the unusual rounded shape of the A4 (when compared with modern rockets) was due to the fact that it was based on the shape of a rifle bullet. Designers figured that since a rifle bullet flew through the air without tumbling, a rocket using the same shape would do the same.
The A4 was 46 feet (14 meters) long and five feet (1.5 meters) in diameter at its thickest spot. Its fins spanned nearly 12 feet (3.7 meters) at the base of the rocket, and it weighed 45,000 pounds (20,412 kilograms). It had a 2,000-pound (907-kilogram) warhead that stayed attached to the rocket throughout flight, and the entire missile crashed down on its target. Its first successful flight was on October 3, 1942. Thousands of A4/V-2 rockets were fired during the war. After the war ended, many members of the rocket team that developed the A4, including Wernher von Braun, went to the United States or the Soviet Union and assisted in the development of these countries' ballistic missile programs. --Dwayne A. Day Sources and Further Reading: Hölsken Dieter. V-Missiles of the Third Reich, The V-1 and V-2. Hong Kong: Monogram Aviation Publications, 1994. Johnson, David. V-1, V-2: Hitler's Vengeance on London. Chelsea, Mich.: Scarborough House, 1991. Longmate, Norman. Hitler's Rockets: the Story of the V-2s. London: Hutchinson, 1985. Neufeld, Michael, The Rocket and the Reich. New York: The Free Press, 1995. Winter, Frank H. Rockets Into Space. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990. On-Line References: "The Evolution of the Rocket." http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Srockhis.htm "V-2 Rocket." White Sands Missile Range. Public Affairs Office. http://www.wsmr.army.mil/paopage/Pages/V-2.htm Alıntı: http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Evolution_of_Technology/V-2/Tech26.htm H içbir yazı/ resim izinsiz olarak kullanılamaz!! Telif hakları uyarınca bu bir suçtur..! Tüm hakları Çetin BAL' a aittir. Kaynak gösterilmek şartıyla siteden alıntı yapılabilir.The Time Machine Project © 2005 Cetin BAL - GSM:+90 05366063183 -Turkiye/Denizli
Ana Sayfa /index /Roket bilimi / Time Travel Technology /Ziyaretçi Defteri /UFO Technology/Duyuru |