5.5 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V-2 rocket | 3/10 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2_rocket | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:12:26.817016+00:00 | kb-cron |
Dr. Friedrich Kirchstein of Siemens of Berlin developed the V-2 radio control for motor cutoff (German: Brennschluss). For velocity measurement, Professor Wolman of Dresden created an alternative of his Doppler tracking system in 1940–41, which used a ground signal transponded by the A-4 to measure the velocity of the missile. By 9 February 1942, Peenemünde engineer Gerd deBeek had documented the radio interference area of a V-2 as 10,000 metres (33,000 feet) around the "Firing Point", and the first successful A-4 flight on 3 October 1942 used radio control to command motor cutoff. Although Hitler commented on 22 September 1943 that "It is a great load off our minds that we have dispensed with the radio guiding-beam; now no opening remains for the British to interfere technically with the missile in flight", about 20% of the operational V-2 launches were beam-guided. The Operation Pinguin V-2 offensive began on 8 September 1944, when Lehr- und Versuchsbatterie No. 444 (English: 'Training and Testing Battery 444') launched a single rocket guided by a radio beam directed at Paris. Wreckage of combat V-2s occasionally contained the transponder for velocity and fuel cutoff. The painting of the operational V-2s was mostly a ragged-edged pattern with several variations, but at the end of the war a plain olive green rocket was also used. During tests the rocket was painted in a characteristic black-and-white chessboard pattern, which aided in determining if the rocket was spinning around its longitudinal axis.
The original German designation of the rocket was "V2", unhyphenated – exactly as used for any Third Reich-era "second prototype" example of an RLM-registered German aircraft design – but U.S. publications such as Life magazine were using the hyphenated form "V-2" as early as December 1944.
=== Testing ===
The first successful test flight was on 3 October 1942, reaching an altitude of 84.5 kilometres (52.5 miles). On that day, Walter Dornberger declared in a meeting at Peenemünde:
This third day of October, 1942, is the first of a new era in transportation, that of space travel...17
Two test launches were recovered by the Allies: the Bäckebo rocket, the remnants of which landed in Sweden on 13 June 1944, and one recovered by the Polish resistance on 30 May 1944 from the Blizna V-2 missile launch site and transported to the UK during Operation Most III. The highest altitude reached during the war was 174.6 kilometres (108.5 miles) (20 June 1944). Test launches of V-2 rockets were made at Peenemünde, Blizna and Tuchola Forest, and after the war, at Cuxhaven by the British, White Sands Proving Grounds and Cape Canaveral by the U.S., and Kapustin Yar by the USSR. Various design issues were identified and solved during V-2 development and testing:
To reduce tank pressure and weight, rapid flow turbopumps were used to increase pressure. A short and lighter combustion chamber without burn-through was developed by using centrifugal injection nozzles, a mixing compartment, and a converging nozzle to the throat for homogeneous combustion. Film cooling was used to prevent burn-through at the nozzle throat. Relay contacts were made more durable to withstand vibration and prevent thrust cut-off just after lift-off. Ensuring that the fuel pipes had tension-free curves reduced the likelihood of explosions at 1,200–1,800 m (4,000–6,000 ft). Fins were shaped with clearance to prevent damage as the exhaust jet expanded with altitude. To control trajectory at liftoff and supersonic speeds, heat-resistant graphite vanes were used as rudders in the exhaust jet.
==== Air burst problem ==== Through mid-March 1944, only four of the 26 successful Blizna launches had satisfactorily reached the Sarnaki target area due to in-flight breakup (Luftzerleger) on re-entry into the atmosphere. (As mentioned above, one rocket was collected by the Polish Home Army, with parts of it transported to London for tests.) Initially, the German developers suspected excessive alcohol tank pressure, but by April 1944, after five months of test firings, the cause was still not determined. Major-General Rossmann, the Army Weapons Office department chief, recommended stationing observers in the target area – c. May/June, Dornberger and von Braun set up a camp at the centre of the Poland target zone. After moving to the Heidekraut, SS Mortar Battery 500 of the 836th Artillery Battalion (Motorized) was ordered on 30 August to begin test launches of eighty 'sleeved' rockets. Testing confirmed that the so-called 'tin trousers' – a tube designed to strengthen the forward end of the rocket cladding – reduced the likelihood of air bursts.
==== Alcohol consumption issues ==== Due to its ethanol fuel, testing of the V-2 was hampered on several occasions due to technicians stealing and consuming the alcohol, which was palatable enough to drink. Initial attempts at preventing the theft of alcohol included adding a pink dye to the fuel to make it less appealing, but this failed when it was found that the dye could easily be filtered out of the alcohol using potatoes. A purgative was added to the fuel, but technicians continued to consume it, resulting in launch tests being delayed due to the effects of the purgative. Finally, methanol (methyl alcohol) was mixed into the fuel to make it toxic, resulting in one man suffering from vision loss and at least one death.
== Production ==