|
early Robert Esnault-Pelterie
Then, due to the paucity of on-line sources...
From History of Rocketry & Space Travel, Third Revised Edition, 1975, Werhner Von Braun & Frederick I. Ordway III, Thomas Y. Crowell Company -- publishers.
(Pg. 74 & 75)
"Esnault-Pelterie launched his public campaign in February 1912 when he delivered a major lecture in St. Petersburg, repeated back home in Paris to the Societe Francaise de Physique in November. The Societe was the most prestigious organization to provide a forum up to that time for what many people still considered a fantastic subject. Only Esnault-Pelterie's reputation in other fields permitted him to lecture, albeit cautiously, on the "Consideratons sur les resultats d'un allegement indefini des moteurs" ("Considerations on the Results of an Unlimited Lightening of Motors"--a title refering to the fact that as a rocket uses up its propellants it becomes progressively lighter).
Fifteen years later, on 8 June 1927, he appeared before the Societe Astronomique de France to tell astronomers about the results of his further theoretical research in astronautics. The Society subsequently published the written text as a 98-page book, L'exploration par fusees de la tres haute atmospher et la possibilite des voyages interplanetaires (Rocket Explosion of the Very High Atmosphere and the Possibility of Interplanetary Travel). This title, more audacious than the 1912 delivery, combines Goddard's conservatism and Oberth's optimism. At the same meeting Esnault-Pelterie revealed that he and a banker friend, Andre Louis-Hirsch, had established a 5,000-franc prize to be awarded annually to the author of the most outstanding work on astronautics. Called the Prix REP-Hirsch (REP-Hirsch Award), it was awarded by the Astronautical Committee of the Societe Astronomique de France. T%he first recipient in 1928 was Hermann Oberth, who was so highly esteemed that the prize was doubled to 10,000 francs.
Esnault-Pelterie's greatest contribution was the pubication in 1930 of a book entitled L'Astronautique (Astronautics), which, together with its 1934 supplement, L'Astronautique-Complement, covered virtually all that was then known of rocketry and space flight.
Although Esnault-Pelterie's major interest was theoretical astronautics, he was well aware of the military implications of rocketry.On 20 May 1929, he proposed to French army general Ferrie a plan for the development of ballistic bombardment missles against which he could imagine no defense. We wrote such weapons could deliver "over several hundreds of kilometers...thousands of tons" of destructive payload, all within a few hours. (He was obviously thinking in terms of salvo firings like the World War II V-1 and V-2 offensives) "Moreover." he added, "the necessary ground installations would not entail great expense and would doubtles be infinitly less burdensome than if it were a question of delivering the same load by aeroplanes."
His propsal resulted in the appointment of ingenieur general J.J. Barre to his laboratories in 1931, which in turn led to work approved by the Commission des Poudres de Guerre at Versailles first on liquid-oxygen-gasoline motors, then on nitrogen peroxide-benzene motors, and one powered by liquid oxygen and tetranitromethane. In October 1931 (during) tests of the last, an accident occured, causing Esnault-Pelterie to lose four fingers.
In 1934 a study contract was let to Esnault-Pelterie by the Direction des Etudes et Fabrications d'Armement under the general supervision of ingenieur general Desmazieres. There, in addition to liquid rocket work, 80-mm solid-fuel rockets were developed whose application was to have been to accelerate bombs. Elsewhere, the Services de l'Armement Fracaise studied, in 1939, the use of 1,000-pound-thrust JATO units for assisting heavy bombers to take off. Air Liquide, a private concern, worked for a short period of time on a 100-pound-thrust test motor under Air Ministry contract at Champigny and at Seyne. French rocketry continued sporadically, and without conclusive results, until the outbreak of war."
------------
Also, in 1929, Esnault-Pelterie proposed aero-braking: using atmospheric drag to slow a spacecraft for gravitational capture by a planet.
------------
Also do some searching on (early) "inertial navigation".
__________________
I am Dyslexic of Borg. Your ass will be laminated. -ym
|