| Victorious powers took over the rocket scientists |
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The German experts who created the German super-weapon V2 rocket was later career in both the Soviet and the U.S..The term V2 accounted for Vergeltungswaffe 2, a "reprisal weapon". It was the world's first ballistic missile, and the first machine that made a suborbital spaceflight. It was created for the terror bombing against Belgium and southeast England, as retaliation for the Allied air raids against German cities.
One reason why Germany went for rocket weapons in the 1930s was that
they were not covered by the restrictions of the Versailles peace.
Rocket genius Werner Von Braun was recruited early to the Army's
research department for long-range weapons. The drawings for unit 4,
the codename for the V2, was ready already 1937th 1941 was the
necessary and revolutionary technology developed: a large rocket engine
using liquid fuel, aerodynamics for supersonic speed, gyroscopic
steering and rudder in the jet stream. The manufacture of the
components came, however long.
In August 1943, production lines for the V2 rockets almost done. The
British intelligence had received a warning from Polish slave workers on
the site. Royal Air Force performed two nightly bombing raids by 600
aircraft. Large parts of the plant, particularly housing, was
destroyed. 815 people were killed; most of them forcibly recruited
workers. Rocket propulsion expert Walter Thiel was killed also.
Production was moved to the underground Mittelwerk plant. The work was
done in 1944 by prisoners from the concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora.
It has been said that V2 killed more during manufacturing than it did as
a weapon.
From September 8, 1944 and until the end of the war were fired 3225 V2
rockets against Holland and England. They killed about 7200 people,
mostly civilians.
V2 had no effect on the war, and was a failure as a weapon. The
development program was one of the most expensive in the Third Reich and
devoured resources from the rest of the military production. Each of
the 6048-made rockets costing 100,000 Reich mark, as much as a fighter.
Furthermore, one third of the total production of fuel ethanol to the
fuel for the weapon.
After the war, was awarded the German rocket scientists up between the
U.S. and the Soviet Union. V2 program's military boss, Walter
Dornberger, developed the U.S. guided missile. Despite his background
in the Nazi party and SS was Werner von Braun to the final head of
NASA. His V2 design was modeled for the first rockets in both the
American and Soviet space programs, and not least for the first
nuclear-armed rockets.
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 August 2011 ) |
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