Chapter 299: V-2 Missiles
Weiner von Braun was born in Germany in 1912. His mother www.biquge.info an accomplished amateur astronomer, was influenced by Braun to enter the field of astronautics.
He graduated from the Charlottenburg Institute of Technology in 1932 with a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering.
In 1934, the A-2 rocket was developed, and the rocket was successfully tested at the test site near Kummersdorf.
In 1936, he led the design of the A-4 rocket, which was later named the V-2 missile.
Throughout World War II, he was a well-known German rocket expert and played a key role in the creation of the V-1 and V-2 rockets.
At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union received German rocket information, and Braun and his scientific team surrendered to the United States, and the two countries each started a new space program based on Germany.
Braun, on the other hand, became an American citizen and became the father of American astronautics, and almost all of the U.S. space programs were led by Braun, such as the famous Apollo moon landing program, such as the American space shuttle, which also has Braun's credit. And now, Braun got into the groove earlier than in history.
In Europe, it is difficult to find a suitable launch site, but in the vast Libyan desert, it is even easier to study rockets!
It was dark, it was already dawn, it was the second day of Hitler's arrival in Libya, just near the base, and he watched Braun's experiments with great interest.
Last night, Braun didn't explain too much to Hitler, anyway, Hitler didn't know so much professional knowledge at all, but it was Ciric, a general who had nothing to do with astronautics, who put forward many insights that inspired Braun deeply.
Now Braun has completed the full development of the V-2 rocket!
To develop a missile, the most important thing is the engine! Braun's missile engine, designed by him himself, is almost a man tall, and the entire missile, which looks quite smooth on the outside, is 14 meters high.
Standing on the launch pad is the missile that Braun is going to test this time, at this time, the crane arm on the side is busy, and someone is refueling the rocket.
"Our rockets use alcohol and liquid oxygen." Braun said: "At the site here, there are specialized workshops for the production of alcohol and liquid oxygen. ”
The base is large, it has been constantly developed over the years, and now, almost half of the base, is a workshop for rockets.
"Dr. Braun, I don't know if you've ever thought about it, but the combination of alcohol and liquid oxygen isn't actually very suitable for rockets." Ciric couldn't help but say from the side.
Last night, Braun introduced that the total weight of this rocket is 14 tons, which is loaded with 5 tons of liquid oxygen and 3.5 tons of alcohol. It can produce a thrust of 260 kN, has a maximum range of 320 kilometers, a flight duration of about 320 seconds, and a hit accuracy of 5000 meters.
This kind of rocket is already quite advanced, it can be said that a few years in advance, it has reached the level of the historical V-2 missile, but now, Ciric has raised a very acute question, the propellant is not suitable!
First of all, it is the problem of liquid oxygen, which should be stored at low temperatures! Storage at minus 183 degrees Celsius is the biggest problem when using it.
Looking at the present, even when filling liquid oxygen, you can see that a thick layer of frost has formed on the outside of the filling tube, and at the same time, the filling personnel are also very dangerous.
On the other hand, the cost of alcohol is very low, but the energy of this thing is low, and if you look at later generations, there is almost no alcohol used as fuel.
If liquid oxygen is used, then simply use liquid hydrogen and directly engage in liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engines, and this is only used in the highest stage of the rocket, with the highest specific impulse and the greatest technical difficulty.
The next level, more commonly used, is the liquid oxygen kerosene engine, but unfortunately, the difficulty of this thing is not ordinary, only Lao Maozi has conquered it, and it will be many years later.
So, it's time to look for a more common one.
What fuel?
Metamethylhydrazine and nitrous tetroxide, of course, or nitric acid!
Metamethylhydrazine, although highly toxic and carcinogenic, can be stored at room temperature after all, and nitrogen tetroxide is a common fuel for rockets in later generations! As soon as the two come into contact, they don't need to be ignited, they can be ignited directly!
So, when Braun asked what was more appropriate, Ciric of course directly stated this common plan.
"You don't need to store at low temperatures, just wear a gas mask when you fill it, I think my plan is more suitable, if you think it's feasible, you might as well try it." Ciric said.
In fact, Braun, of course, also felt that the liquid oxygen scheme was not suitable, this kind of rocket, the preparation before each launch, not only dangerous, but also very complicated, if there was a room temperature propellant, it should be much easier, but he has not thought about this aspect.
Metamethylhydrazine, nitrous tetroxide? Well, it seems that it could be the focus of the next aspect.
"In addition to the engine, another focus of improvement is the inertial navigation system." "Our domestic electronic technology is constantly improving, using our advanced electronic technology to transform our inertial navigation system to make this missile have higher accuracy," Seerick continued. ”
In World War II, Germany fired thousands of V-2 missiles at Britain, of which only more than 70 percent fell within 30 kilometers of the target, and about 40 percent of them fell within 10 kilometers.
What is this concept? Almost none of them hit the target! Therefore, although Germany looks aggressive, in fact, this missile is useless, and the main reason is that the accuracy is too poor!
Unless it is equipped with a nuclear warhead, it can only be used as a deterrent, and of course, in a sense, this effect has also been achieved, and Britain has no choice but to intercept this kind of missile.
This contributed to the frenzied development of missiles after World War II.
Improve accuracy! Let this missile really have use value!
Braun agrees with Ciric's proposal, and Ciric is right!
"Refueling is complete, it's time to launch!" Just then, an assistant said.
At this time, there are not so many programs, start the gyro, the target data is set before, and now, you can ignite!
Ignition!
As Braun gave the order, the bottom of this black missile emitted a fierce flame!
The turbine blew fuel and oxidizer into the engine inside, ignited, and the high temperature of more than 2,000 degrees gushed out from behind!
In the blazing flames, the missile, from the launch pad on the ground, took off! Hitler's gaze, watching the missiles rise, as if his empire were taking off!