Word: braune
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When working on rockets in Germany, Von Braun fired a V-2 on a clear day 15 minutes after the sun had set. The stars were already coming out, and as the great rocket climbed upward, the flame of its exhaust diminished to a shining pinpoint and disappeared. Then the rocket broke into the sunlight above the shadow of the earth and gleamed, brilliantly visible, against the darkening sky. He watched it through its full course, like a bright, climbing star, and followed it down again into the shadow...
...important point Von Braun agrees with Rosen and his other critics: that the first step toward space should be to set up a special commission to study the entire matter. Its members should be scientists, engineers and economists of the highest type. They should be "cleared" to receive all the latest news of guided missile progress, and they should be above interservice rivalries and the self-seeking pressure of missile manufacturers. After making their decision on the feasibility and value of all types of space vehicles, they should lay down a practical program for the U.S. to follow...
...practical rocket men fear that their gradual march toward space may disappoint the oversold public. All the necessary, cautious first steps (a small missile shot into an orbit, a hit on the moon with a small payload. etc.) are a long way from manned space ships. But Dr. von Braun (of the V-2s), who would hurry the cautious missile men along, says that manned space flight "is as sure as the rising of the sun." He tells just how the U.S. military can establish a "satellite space station" in an orbit around the earth, and he insists that such...
...popular and "unclassified" version of Wernher von Braun's proposal can be found in Across the Space Frontier (Viking $3.95). Von Braun, who wrote one chapter, leads off with the statement: "Within the next 10 or 15 years, the earth can have a new companion in the skies, a man-made satellite which will be man's first foothold in space...
...raise the satellite station into its orbit 1,075 miles above the earth, Von Braun proposes to build a fleet of three-stage rockets, each standing 265 feet high and weighing 7,000 tons when fueled. The 51 motors in the first stage will have a thrust of 14,000 tons. The second stage will be smaller, and the third, containing the crew, control apparatus and final payload, will be a winged vehicle rather like an airplane...