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,I Q. .AR&ED FORCES STAF'F COLLEGE NORFOLK ll, VIRGINIA

T R A N S C R I P T O F P R O C E E D I N G S

DXrE: Thursday, October 20, 1955 Irr*arvw

PLACES: Anacostia, Maryland

ARlED FORCES STAFF' C O D G E

Norfolk ll, Virginia

Thursday, October 20, 1955

The meeting was convened at 0900, pursuant t o L t r 0 #30, 18 Oct 55,

at Naval Photographic Center, Naval Air Stat ion, Anacostia, Maryland.

The fo:llowing w e r e present:

Rear Admiral Harold M. Briggs, USN, 61082, Moderator Colonel Charles T. Homer, 023530, USA Colonel Richard W. E t t e r , 5386A, USAF' Captain Isador J. Schwartz, USN, 71635 Lieutenant Colonel Edwin 14. Sayre, 033220, USA Commander W i l l i a m S. Finn, USN, 81182 Colonel Donald R. Ward, 033646, USA Lieutenant Colonel James V, Sanden, 024213, USA Lieutenant Colonel John W. Callaway, 024081, USA Lieutenant Colonel John R. O s w a l t , 023690, USA Lieutenant Colonel George C. Fairbanks, 03314.5, USA Lieutenant Colonel William E. Abblitt, USNC, 06986 Commander Chester D. Rogers, USN, 104864 Commander Dale C. Reed, USN, 123668 Colonel Travis Hoover, @+&LA, USAF Colonel Joseph E. Habeger, 5012A, USAF Lieutenant Colonel Charles H. Bird, 7892A, USAF' Lieutenant Colonel Jack C. White, 7816A, USAF Lieutenant Colonel Thomas M. Love, 10129A, US@

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ADMIRAL BRIGGS: I am Admiral ?3riggs, Deputy Commandant a t t he Armed I ah happy to,welcome you t o another of f icers ' confer&ce,

' Forces Staff College, another cliscussion of a timely and important subject,

can we reasonably expect it? What w i l l men gain by i t ? What military advantage will be won by the first nation t o conquer space?

Our subject today i s the b 2hdllenge of Outer Space. Is space t r a v e l real ly possible? If sos how soon

To an8wer these questions we have a s m w guest today D r , Wernher von Braun, widely known author i ty on rockets and space. . A native of Germany, he played a leading role i n t he development of the V-2 Rocket. Since the end of World Cfar.11 he has been a leading rockat and guided missile s c i e n t i s t of the Department of the A m y . He is now Director 0: the Guided Missile Division a t Redstone Arsenal., Huntsville, Alabama.

The members of our axdience today are f r o m the Armed Forces S taf f Colldge a t Norfolk, Virginia. 6taf.if %allege have been caref.ully selected f r o m all t he armed services to - ' kecefve t r a in ing i n jo in t and combined operations and planning i n order t o prepare them fo:r future high command and s t a f f assignments.

upon j o i n t operations is an important par t of t h e i r course of study.

They and others who attended the Armed Forces- ..

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Naturally s c i e n t i f i c .developments and' new weapons and t h e i r e f f e c t s

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' Nbts-1: ' think WB should begin today's of f ice 'rsf conference. 1 ,

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AINIRAL'BRIGGS: He is now Direstor of the D&vision of the Guided Missiles Divisi.on of Redstone Arsenal, Hmtsville, Alabama.

Members of our conference audience today are from the Armed Forces Staff College a t Norfolk, Virginia. - . They and others who at tend the .Armed Forces Staff College have been dareful ly selected from all the finned Services t o receive trajLning i n j o i n t ana combined operations and planning i n order ta prepare them f o r f'uture high command and s t a f f assignments.

upon joint operations is an important part of t h e i r course of study. *And now I think we should begin todayfs o f f i ce r s ' conference.

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Naturally s c i e n t i f i c developments and new weapons and t h e i r , e f fec ts

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.ADMIRAL BRIGGS: And with t h a t we have concluded another e f f i ce r s ' conference, 'a discussion of a current and important problem.

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Our guest.today m s Dr. Wernber'voA Braun, the noted guided missile and space t r a v e l au+,hority.

today is noe.1iecc3!:sar&~~rnearlt t o 'be eon'clusive since it i s < concEtioned by A . '

. . : I I t,, - . . . . - _ I :- I' I n cloSSng.1 willd ' l ike to pemind you that what we have said here '

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. I 3 t r . _ . I * 'f I . i t . ,I take a g k a t dpal o f glea I . t I 3 5 . . i n presenting t~ YOU today as our a, .. . 3- 1 we&' spyaker I . -Dr . Wernher von , 1 ) '

I . !, I Dr. Brhun. .

DR. EiRAUN: Gentlemen, the ,conquest of , ,buter space .is t h e greatcst t e c h n o l o b e d c h d e n g e bf the age i n which we l jve . The f irst decisive. s t e p 7 i i n the conque'st, of space w i l l be t h e p l jc ing of an object i n t o an o r b i t whereirt it wi l l i nde f in i t e ly c i r c l e the earth. 18,000 miles pc?'r'h&ur t o accomplish thi's. t he grea tes t speed ever a t ta ined by rockets today.

It takes a. speed of approximtely This i s 'approximately three times

How can we e a c h such a speed?' F i r s t of all, of course, one could think oif inproying propellants u s e d , i n present-day rockets.. Secondly, we could"sh&e sbme1kd$t8"'.off of Our designs. it does not appear pos6i%le to-gi i in more thcn approximately 40 or 50 'per

But with. both those methods , i . s:L ::,

cent of t he ' speeds , , ,.. ,. . , the - '1, I rpckets . reach today. . !',;

4 , having t rave l led a ce r t a in dista-nce the bu l l e t will gradually lose veloci ty

and h i t the earth. fu r the r before it i s pulled doim by ' the 'g rav i ta t iona l pull of the ea r th jmtil gravi ty b d l s t he -bul le t d o h so hS t o exactly ma%ch the curvature of the' earth. The bullet w i l l then keep on f ly ing around the e a r t h EL* w i l l f & and fill., never being able t o reach the .surface of the ear th ur i t i l i't f i n a l l y hits the breech of the guri'fmrn thc'rear.'. 'r

As we "nc&iz'se'",e muzzle velocity, the b d l c t w i l l travel:'

'. . ! , - ' + , -, You can establ ish 's&ch o r b i t s tudes. Theoretically . . , '

you could es tab l i sh one imcdictely ab of courso in to r - * , , . ference with t h e atmosphere m d d sl be s tab le so we have t o go o s ide of the atrosphere we higher we go the slower w i l l be the velocity'we require t o balance t h e grav i ta t iona l pu l l of the e a r t h ' f o r t he centr i fdgal fprce i n the curved o r b i t

%he o r b i t wouldn' t ide of the atmosphere, but once we #ire out-

f r e e choice of any a l t i tude 'we want and the '

c that cancels the grav i ta t iona l pull of the earl%.

nature 's pcttern of things. * I

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. The..niobn has been doing this a nunber'of nlimon years and thd earth i s orb i t ihg archid t : : e 1 sun, so the pr inciple i's w e l l @6Wn and proven'

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With such a rocket of course w e couldn't re turn back from t&d'&rbit and i f we a re thinking of shooting people i n t o an o r b i t we have t o p.r and means of ruturning t h e m sa fe ly t o the surface of t he earth.

winged airplnnc: t p stage which would car ry personnel t o the orbi t .

version you SAW i n the previous s l i de , but with the help of these wings t h e ' . top stage wdulci bo able t o re turn t d t h e earth,

(Slide) Here we have replaced the Cop stage of the rocket by a . . T h i s

winged top stage would attain the same o r b i t a l conditions as the non-winged . - : ..

(Slide) This picture here shows the pa t te rn of the t r x k of ascent of such a 3-stage rocket ship. The ship w u l d take off v e r t i c a l l y and'soon a f t e r take-off it is t i l t e d i n t o a s l an t ing f l i g h t path so t h a t a f t e r t h e one minute o r 80 seconds of burning time of the f i r s t stage i s over, the rocket would f l y on an angle of approximately 20 degree6 against the horizon, this point t h e f irst s t a t e i s dropped and the second stage takes over.

Frill be a h s t horizontcal. We drop the second stage a t an a l t i t u d e of npproximtely 60 t o 80 miles, the p c k e t hasL+owTattained a speed of 12,000 miles per hour and the t h i r d stage ~ Q N tnkx.3 cvor ut iki l tt\Ll (\f l$$CYW T:~I\>S pc'r hcur tms bcon . , .

A t A t .- burn-out of the second stage, approximately two minutes l s t e r , t he rocket '.

The travel of the rocket w i l l be almost horizontalo

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During this powered f l i g h t path of t he t h i r d stage the rocket wouid , ' - ' 1 hardly gain any a l t i t u d e so t h a t t h e rocket i s s t i l l on ly about 60 miles up

reach exactly c i r cu la r o r b i t a l conditions defined by the simple condition tha t t he centr i fugal force which matched the gravi ta t ionnl p u l l and t k x e f c r e

stago would then s t a y i n a c i r cu la r o r b i t 60 m i l k s up, but i f we provided a l i t t l e more speed f o r the th i rd ' s t age we have some oxc$?ss veloci ty and excess centr i fugal force which would carry the upper stage, t he stop stage, even

a t the t i m c of cut-off of t hc l a s t stage i s reached. I f the t h i r d stage would

curvature of the o r b i t would exactly mitch curvature of t h c cnrth, thc t?lLr.i

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\ fu r the r from the ear th , a f t e r go;% hal.f--wELy around the ea r th would reach an apogee whose e l t i t u d e depends on ly on the excess Velocity o r excess o r b i t a l speed we hhd a t moment

The rocket t;rould $hen 'go i n t o an e l i p t i c o r b i t which ' r

of cut-offi f . I

tfe'hilow the rocket' t o go through this and go back t o the perigee,' . which i s the lowest point, I d m t i c h l with the cuboff point of t hz l a s t stage, and s tay i n such e l i p t i c o r b i t foreveru When I say forever, I h v c t o qualify this, it w i l l be retarded s l i g h t l y byathe aerodynamic drag czuscd by t h e t r aces of the ctmosphere s t i l l found at t h c t a l t i tudo, Every t im it gees through the, perigee it would lose a l i t t l e b i t of the excess speed and 2s a r e s u l t the next apogee would be somewhat lower 2nd t h i s graclud. l o s s i n excess speed wnuld gradually lead t o diminishing of Zl t i tude down t o t h e atnosphere. this has been o.ccorn?l.ished, the ship muld be subjected t o atmosphwic drag throughout the e n t i r e f l i g h t around the ear th and from then on would lose speed rapidly, but with the help of t h e wings it would be able t o land again. I f it had no t.AfkGr the f irst peak the cccelerat ion w i l l go down t o about 1-1/2 G again wh&pthc s m l l e r motcrs of the second stage take over and of course the second s tage tanks a re s t i l l ful l . cut-off of thc: second stage, again approxi i i te ly 9 G, Finally, ancther t h i r d peak of the accelerat ion curve w i l l be reached a t cut-off of t he t h i r d stage, but it won't be qui te t h a t high because the t h i r d stage c a r r i e s the payload and i n addition, if it i s m e a r t h ' r e t u n a b l e winged type, the propellant required f o r the return f l igh t .

ships will be to' make this crew work a s h 'team under these harsh accelerat ion conditions,' The-tool t o t-rain teams f o r this condition is the centrifuge, Centriftlge l i k e the one you h c - i n this picture here a r e i n use i n the armed

pr inciple and j u s t making t h e nacel le a t the time of t ha t centrifuge larger,

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The second peak will then be reached a t

'One of the most important'knsks ih' preparing the crew f o r such rocket

.! forces t o check people f o r their 'blackout limits. By adopting the same ' i

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we can place an e n t i r e crew i n t o the nacelle and t r a i n them as a team. shown i n t h e next picture. attached to the boom of the centrifuge, and we cannot only w h i r l it around and expose the nien to acceleration, we can even m t a t e the nacelle as it swings amund t o simulate e r r a t i c f l i g h t conditions under which the crew must l i k e - wise take the necessary emergency Theasures.

T h i s i s We b v e an . en t i r e rep l ica of the passenger nacelle

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Let 1 x 3 take a look at t h inside of this rep l ica of

the crew compartment during a centrifuge t e s t . s i t t i n g one behind the other exposed t o t h e e ight o r nine "Gtf accelera- t i o n and supposed t o take the necessary emergency measures a f t e r an outside operator has portrayed a cer ta in emergency s i tua t ion on t h e i r dash board panels.

Here you pee the men

(Slide) High accelerat ions a r e only one pa r t of t h e problems t o which t h e ere* is subjected. Weightlessness, the opposite of high acceleration, i s another. What causes weightlanowoe and when does it occur i n rocket ships? You often hear t h a t weightlessness i s encountered only a f t e r a ship has l e f t the g r a w t i o n a l f i e l d of t h e ear th . This is not t rue . Wer!.ght;Lossu03s i n a rocket sh ip ac tua l ly occurs the moment the engines a r e cut o f f and the sh ip is coasting f r e e l y and outside of the atmosphere through any t ra jec tory , on o r b i t f o r that matter. What causes weightlessness? Weight, a s we know it, is a c t u a l l y t h e cause not only of' gravi ty but a l s o of the f loo r on which we stand and which prevents uf; from f r ee ly following the p u l l of gravity. it always takes gravi ty and a r i g i d support t o create the sensation of weight. the pul l of gravity, that body becomes weightless. If you drop from a diving board i n t o the water you are weightless a second o r so u n t i l you h i t the water and i f you a r e f ly ing i n a rocket ship t h a t i s not powered, your body i s subjected t o the same l a m s of motion that t h e ship i s subjected t o i n which you t ravel . As a resu l t , there can be:m d i f f e r e n t i a l forces between you and the sh ip and you w i l l Moat f r e e l y within the cabin of t he ship. on the ground? condition is always terminated by an impact because the build-up speed i f we do it i n the grav i ta t iona l f i e l d of t he ea r th but there is ono poss ib i l i t y of simulating it. i n the l e f t lower corner the t r a j ec to ry of an airplane t h a t comes down i n an incl ined dive and pulls out of a dive and goes through a b a l l i s t i c t ra jectory. l h i s b a l l i s t i c t r a j e c t o r j is e s sen t i a l ly a parabola wherein the aerodynamic drag is compensated by the t h r u s t of t he jet engine of t h e plane. If you can s teer the plane through t h i s t r a j ec to ry a t zero l i f t and a t the same time keap it on a proper course and j u s t componsate t h e drag withyour engine, you go through such a parabola,

I n other arords,

A53 you withdraw t h a t support and permit a body t o f r ee ly follow

Can we simulate weightless conditions It is very d i f f i c u l t because usually any weightless

If you look a t t h i s char t you will see

On t h e descending leg of the parabola t h e plane picks up speed and you have t o p u l l the plane out of t he parabola again but during t h a t p r i o d which, i n a modern j e t f igh ter , can be efiadded approxi- mately 4.0 seconds, you can simulate a weightless condition. If you would do the same thing with an advanced rocket plane such a s thesd modern rocket research planos, it appears possible t o extend t h i s condition f o r approximately three minutes.

Under t h i s f l i g h t condition through the b a l l i s t i c t r a j ec to ry you have weightlessness. is shown i n the upper p a r t of the picture.

Such a long 3-minute weightless b a l l i s t i c parabola

The next s l i d e shows what happens inside a n airplane flown through such a b a l l i s t i c t ra jec tory . the &eft upper corner of tho canopy. the passenger i n f l i g h t and photographed by him t o show the match- box f loa t ing f roe ly i n the canopy and it f loa ted the re approximately

You see a l i t t l e matchbox f loa t ing i n This matchbox was re leased by

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40 seconds. ballistit! t r a j ee td r i a s u9e duch free float&l?g .objects ,to,make.. sure

t i v e l i f t .the matkhbox w i l l corn0 up o r doam with too. l i i t l e or overthds't;' as they -e i ther under o r over componsat+ the- aerodyriandc

In f ac t , p i l o t s who have repeatedly flown through such 7

i * they are*'fn the r i g h t eondition. If they:-apply a posi t ive o r neg;l- '

. - 4 drag t h e matchbox w i l l move fore o r a f t .

advanced rockst ships welghtlessnosa w i l l be a permanent experience As I .say,- this 2s 40 secohds ~ Q S V apd maybe, three minutes,with

q , t. i n orbit'ifig rocket ships. t h i s condition? horizontal' pos i t ion and if ybu. t r y it you f ind you can eat upside d m . A r

Whnt p r i l l happen whon men are suhject ha -, ' We knah t h a t a man caneeat and drink even i n a

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Iood'circulati-air Be affected? Medical doctors think , tha6 it w i i r hot'-becaum t h e most important -factor i n the blood c i r t r l culat!%d is' 'the drag; t'hcr'resistancs of the blood i n the veins and arte?i&'and g*vity.plays &y.a minor p a r t . in it. 4.tr\" f ac t , you can . lie horizontally i n your bed and you can get up and-your hear t c i r - culation i s hardly affected. But nobody knows today how extended weightlessness w i l l aSf0c.b people. c r i t i c a l question wl l l ' be the sense of equilibrium i n the inner ear. There i s a l f t t l e pebble i n the inner ear, both inner ears, cal led the o to l i t h s , which r e s t , o n some hairs, on whichever ha i r s they r e s t .

pebblb'moves on another s e t of ha i r s and you have a d i f f e ren t indica- . , t i o n of the plumb bob direction.

floats: d t h o u t , touching, any h a i r o r may e r r a t i c a l l y touch a h a i r here and the're and the question i s how would we react. people! may g8t, seasick.

In' these f l i g h t s through b a l l i s t i c t r a jec tor iks people have b,een ;, t ra ined $0 dram l i t t l e sketches and the sketches .improved a f t e r going repeatedly through the experience. 1% can say the re i s reasonable hope people can be t ra ined and accustomed t o t h i s unique condition of weightld$sne'$s.

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some doctors believe tht the most

i s%nr 3mdication t h i s is down. As you move your head forward that 1 I , -. +

4. - A . . . . "'hdel- w6i ghtless. conditions t h i s pebble i s disoriented and simply

The fee l ing Ys Some * Ihybe they can get used t o it.

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- . 1 ' DR;~'~WUN: So ydu see t h i s weightless condition ac tua l ly ex i s t s .' in a rocket f l y ing unpowered outside ef the atmosphere. . . I

Nowwhat happens when our sh ip gets i n t o the o rb i t ?

On t h i s p2cture.we haw assumed t h a t t h e ship took off from an ,

Island i n the Pacif ic and climbs i n t o an o r b i t which i s incl ined about

Shortly a f t e r having l e f t the .island, i n f a c t about a thousand miles down range, the l a s t - s t a g e has reached terminal ve loc i ty but since it has an excess ve loc i ty over and above c i r cu la r o r b i t a l speed a t t h a t a l t i t u d e ' i t now rQcedes fur ther atmy from the earth'unpowered and reaches the apogee j u s t 1 8 0 degrees on the r i g h t upper corner o f t h i s - globe. "If be want t o es tab l i sh our rocket i n a c i r cu la r o r b i t +% t h i s a l t i t u d e l,O',K) miles up, we have t o provide a 1 i t t l e " e x t r a kick i n

- ' ,65 degrees t o the equator. So t h e ascent l a on a northeaster ly course.

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. . t h i s apogee t o prevent the rocket from going down t o the perigee a1t.i-, . r . . *

tude of 60 miles again. + . This - is avminor maneuver req'uiring only . about . 15 seconds of power appl icat ion. this extra kick it is now pormaner$ly established i n the c i r cu la r o r b i t

After we have given 6he t h i r d stage' I

, . / . . . . 1,075 miles up. . I < - . . r . '.: . I ,, ' :. I. . . .

May I have t h e next ' s l ide, please. This .pfcture here sh'ms $he"' interact ion between such an o r b i t and the ro t a t ion of the earth. . In a thousand seventy-five .mile o r b i t tho ,ship m i l l go around"the ear th onco

a r a t e of one revolution i n .24 hours.

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every two hours, %t. the ear th i t s e l f w i l l r o t a t e insfde' t he o r b i t a t . r i '-: , ' - ;- As a re su l t , the orb i t ing s t a t i o n

' In ' fact , v i t h i n a period of 24 hours he w i l l have

' . : . .. ... w i l l pass tho oquator each time a t a d i f fe ren t meridian and an observer ,, . ; ' : , d ; l . ; > i . ,. i n the ship w i l l see d i f fe ren t portions of the e a r t h overflown during b . a period of 24 hours. the opportunity t o see every point on ea r th a t l e a s t once. of t h e reasons why .I bel ie .ve. that such a manned o r b i t a l s t a t i o n wiU,&ve

And t h i s i s one i , , .. ..,, ._ , . . .... '

t i o n and 1 . P S S i - C' , 1, ::'. ; . , . . a t e r r i f i c rnilitary,:importance both as a reconnaissance .,

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** Next d i d o , please. ki th such equipment we could ser iously think of assembling an o r b i t a l s ta t ion. look l i ke? small ones, maybe we want t a cram a l o t o f equipment i n t o a la rge station.

..': On tha r i g h t s ide of t h i s picture you see a large wheel-shape*d space

Now what w i l l such an o r i b t a l s t a t ion I don't know. lllaybe i t i s smarter t o build a number of

This i s immaterial. . . \

s t a t ion which should be construed more or h s s . a s a proposal as t o wh2% you could possibly dn yi$-h a space s t a t ion and it is not nec5:;sarily a proposal t h a t a space s t a t ion must look par t i i$Lar ly l i k e it and must be tha t large. equipment sboard o r +prefer t o have several s m a l l o r ones.

In f ac t , it can be a l o t smaller i f you want t o reduce the

The wheel-shcpe has been chosen f o r the purpose of doing away with B y putt ing the pbrmanent weightless condition prevail ing i n the orbit .

a spin on such a ivheel you could provide an a r t i f i c i a l o r synthetic gravi ty i n the r i m . can simulate one 'IG1' accelerat ionin tho r i m or one-third *'GI1 if t h a t is considered suf f ic ien t .

The rrheel v~ould spin slowly around i t s hub and gob' ,

I A t ar.y ra t s , you c8n give people t h e i r weight back: The people of 6curse i -ou ld l i v e i n - t h e r i m . H c p vould ,it be possible te build such 8 l a rge s t a t ion i n an o rb i t and how could me build the equ4pmcnt up t o do th i s? The cargo holds i n each h r g e rocket sh ip ~5.11 alt;;ays be l imited sn one of the most important things w i l l be you can ship the par t s up *small enough t o be s t a i d away i n the cargo holds. One m y of doing it -is fiJldinr; them together and i n t h i s par t icu lar proposal I had envisioned t o bui ld the space s t q t i o n o f ten or f i f t e e n segments 7 f rubber impregnated

: fkber , g l a s s o r sqme mater ia l s imilar t q that used i n rubber f l a t s or , rubber rafts and put the ring sheet spacc s t a t ion tognther f r o m t h e s e

&ions.

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c , - A f t e i - the assembly has! beenl completed and, 2.11 sections joined to-

gether, the en t i r e un i t can be in f l a t ed liki hn automobile-tirG and t h i s would provide not on ly the necessary r i g i d i t y tvthe s t ruc ture but a1s04' the atmosphere within the t i r e i n rh ich people couldl l i ve .

.Of a>urse f o r an extendbd s t a y it would be necessary t o replenish the a i r and provide an a i r cnnd4tioning system and oxygen replenishing system and C02 removal system i n the s ta t ion.

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May I have t h e next s l i de , please? Inside such a space s t a t i o n may contain a l l sorts o f equipment. There wmld be mom f o r s c i e n t i f i c labokatories wherein the e f f e c t s nf vacuum, cosmic r ad ia t ion . botannicnl and zoological l i f e i n ou ter spaco, and so-forth; could be siudied.

,DR. &l?$'iUN: There i w u l d can be studied which a re not Such expcrimcn'ts m q y include

SOTJhl) #4

be inboixttories i n the r i m where phenomena accessible t o experimentati on o n the mound. u questions i n n l v i n g b iGog ica l and zoological

l i f e under cnnditions of outer spice, c n ) m i c radiation, q+orobogiral re- search whereby the ear th can be observed from the outside, astronomical laboratories, e t cstcra. Close t o t he space s t a t ion there will be a poqGrful telescope. If you aim t h i s telescope a t the heavens you can see the planets unblurred by atmospheric e f f ec t s and we can expect t o be able t o take photographs of planots l i k e Mars o r Jupi ter with unprecedented clarity. . .

I /

\ , I . ! -

If you turn the same telescope t o the ground it would be able t o d is t inguish 'as much d e t a i l as you can see from a plane, say, four o r f ive thousand f e e t up. t o reconnaissance and both reconnaissance i n t h e , c i v i l i a n sense a s i n &he m i l i t a r y sex&,, could be flashed t o ships, ex$editions could be observed as they proceed over the Arctic plains and mi l i ta ry reconnaissance of course means you could keep a watchful-eye on countries not accessible t o a e r i a l reconnais- sance a i r c r a f t . concerned, I t .seems even feas ib le t o use such a platform i n space a s a base f o r t he bombing of obdectives on the ground. t ha t such bombing could be car r ied out with an unpreqedented accuracy from such a s ta t ion .

This of course o f f e r s tremendous p o s s i b i l i t i e s

By the c i v i l i a n reconnaissance X mean iceberg warnings

As f a r a s the mi l i t a ry appl icat ion of the s t a t i o n i s

And it is my opinion ,

f ' * h

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C

May I have the next slide, please. The most important appl icat ion of a space s ta t ion , however, w i l l be t h a t it can serve a s a jump off place f o r t r i p s i n t o deeper space.

orbi t .

s ide ai' t h e atmosphere.

Once we a r e i n the o r b i t we can disregard a l o t of the requirements required f o r rockets capable of ascending t o an

drag and streamlining because any f l i g h t s i n t o deeper space w % l l be out-

1 a:.

'I In %he first place we can completely forget about aerodynamic 0 :

Secondly, once we have a t t a ined o r b i t a l f l i g h t we can break away from The

The weight of any ship i n t h e o r b i t i s sustained by the such o r b i t and go out i n t o deeper spac3 with very low t h r u s t ra t ings. reason is simple. centr i fugal force i n the orbi t .

fa r ther from earth. "his is a great d i f f e ren t from take-off from the ground where it i s obvious

l i f t it off the ground.

Any pound of t h rus t you apply t o an orb i t ing a r t i c l e i n t h e r igh t d i rec t ion w i l l enhance the speed and carry the object

you have t o have a thrus t %hat exceeds the weight of the ship simply t o

. .*4 It can be varied out with micro G ' s of acceleration.

..

For example; a t r i p from a spade s t a t i o n around the moon and back t o the space s t a t i o n vrould look something l i k e th i s . Wingless hu l l made up of a n upper stage of a three-stage surface-to-orbit rocket ship and it would be surrounded with a s t r i n g of seven peripheral ' tanks which simply add f u e l t o t h i s vehicle and wi th one l i t t l e Freak

space s t a t i o n around the moon and induce it back i n t o the space s t a t i o n ' s

It would simply be a ,

engine i n the r e a r we. can power t h i s ship t o f l y a l l the way from the .. .

We w i l l got used. t o forms l i k e t h i s i n the fu tu re when we a r e ta lking

May I have t h e n e k s l ide , please.

about deep :space ships. ; . - ,

O f course before we can fly people t o tho o r b i t it would be necessary t o provide ways and means of returning

formidable than attainment of o r b i t a l m g h t i t s e l f . problem of hurling ,a s m a l l object o r even an 3nstrumented object inCo a s a t t e l i t o o rb i t t h a t is nbt ea r th returnable i s e s sen t i a l ly a question' ' . of brute force, bbt t o re turn poople,safely from an orbit; is a question t h a t involves a l l faenl);ieu:*'of I :'&odern physical science. The reason or t h i s i s simple. 'ire can not .afford t o land a space ship .from an o r b i t by slowing it down frm i t s o r b i t a l speed with propellants. , The reason f o r t h i s is easy t o see. .. yye.have t o destroy the sama energy on tho m y d m we impartod on tho pbject ta bring it up,thera i n the f i r o t place. This

6 people and it i s my opinion t h a t tho re turn from an o r b i t i s a task: More .: . In 'other words, tho 4 - I. -

. j. ,,' . I : 8 ,

. .. 3 .

. - , :* ,:- ' .

* /

12

.,. ' + w u l d Ecjvrn we would r2bugbly naFd ,the . .same, . . . u t . mountlpf. pro$ellsnC t o land

i n i t i a l l y the ' hip :must b+ ;much larger : if: it .\?ere t o carry enuigh fuel ;a s h i p mitb.;Fca:ket pcr;er' alcnz' t%t ms.ngeess'ary. t o , bring it up th&e an%- of codf-se %hi$ qe l : ; . ; .~u ld csns,tltutF. paylcad ' f z r . , t h e ascent, so

i- f c . ! ' V ! . . ' ' * .

: . f& t h e descent,':b$t tfiere '.is a, shortcut '$0 tQs..problern. , . . . . .1 I , , * v . . ? : , ' i t s 1 ' If we depend on aerodynamic deo3loration during the descent we can

put the atrncsphere t o use tc- , s low us dgwn, but t h i s means the sh ip must re-enter the atmosphere a t 18,000 miles an hour and from t h i s speed we must gradually slow it down again. heating pr3blcm. If we descend a t these high speeds d i r e c t l y in to the deeper layers of the atmosphere our ship wcjuld obviously burn up and we wouldn't have a chance t o build it sturdy enclugh a d i n such fashion t h a t the pecrplo could survive the t r i p , but i f we equip the sh ip with winds we can g l ide it out, re ta rd the ship a t very high a l t i t udes where the density i s n ' t high enough t o create much heat f luctuat ion and rad ia te heat through the wings. We can keep it a t the high a l t i t u d e provided our wings are la rge enough. This is the upper s tage of an o r b i t a l ship as wsuld be required t o come down. The amazing th ing about such ear th returnable winged In f a c t , t h i s ship would land a t sQmethj,fig 3.lk-e 60 miles an hour. not t h a t we ccmldn't maRe it land f a s t e r k t we have t o provide it with r e l a t ive ly l a rge wings i n order t o be able tr, decelerate it a t su f f i c i en t ly high a l t i h d e s so 9% is t he heating problem that governs wtng s ize and not landing speed. %en you f igure it out B t hanpens t h a t the wing load- ing must be s o low t o achieve t h i s t h a t the landing spoed of t h i s mp3y can with 1x1 f u e l aboard, j u s t passengers aboard, trpould be so l ~ w t h a t t h e landing speed is ac tua l ly i n the order o f 60 miles an hour. This m u l d terminate the t r i p t o the orbi t .

%is croates a formidablo aerodynamic

upperstages is that t h e i r landing speed would be extremely low. It is

On %he approach t 9 tho landing field t he sh ip would run out tricycle landing gear and finally land on the s t r i p l i k e a normal airplaaed.

ADMIRAL BRIGGS: Gentlemen, Dr. Von Braun has kindly consented t o a n m r any questions you may have, and I presume t h a t you w i l l have l o t s of them.

Colonel Abblitt, would you l i k e t o take t h e first question.

XOLONEL ABBLITT: I n the book lfAcross the Spsce Fromkier" of which you are co-author, it s t a t e s t h a t a powerful telescope can keep under observation a l l the oceans, cnuntries, and cities. (Cut)

In another place it states that t o t he naked eye the day side of the ear th appears as glaring white patches of overcast resdtiw fmm t he l i g h t of the sun.

It appears t h a t an inspection of military value is most questionable a t 1000 miles and above. Would you comment on t h i s capability, please?

DR. BRAUN: I think the emphasis of your question i s on the word llovercastll. Photographic reconnaissance through overcast is impossible with opt ica l means from an aircraft as much as from a space s ta t ion, and the glaring white patches refer t o ChQ overcast and not the c l e a r areas, As far a.s photographing through the atmosphere from a thousand miles i s

- -. _, .......

e. concerned+rrrcvUhink that you will get a very high quality photograph. ;. , The reason is the followings

I n astkonomical telescopes have t o photograph through the atmos- ' phere but their atmosphere..ia within and i n a very short distance, frbm

the telescope so that l i t t l e atmospheric turbulence is right i n the vlcinity or even within the.instnunent itself and therefore really blurs the picture. When you W e photographs with a sindlar optical system

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from- outer apace - 1

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, . . . .

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. . .

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. -

. . . . . i , :.

. , . t . - . . .\ I . I

. . ,. . ' . . . I . . . . . . . . . . .

. .

,. .. . . . . . . .

w-. .. . . . * .

' . . . * r e . '

inside the atmosphere,, .thGze Zifimospherie disturbances and turbulences

than underneath. paper. If you hold it close i n f ron t of your face it is opaque, whereas i f yc~u hold it on a pjece of newsprint i s per fec t ly transparent.

of the photographic p ic tures takBn with powerful optical' systems from an o & i t w i l l ac tua l ly be qu i t e good,

b a re f a r away and the atmofphere i s far more transpareht from optside You can compare the s i tuat ion,with a piece of o i l

'

# You have very much the same s i tua t idn here, -90 I believe the qua l i ty *

fiDMIkALtBRIGQSt.,,., F o m n d e r k 1 . Finn, do you have.,a question? ," ~

CQMifANDFR FINN: Dr. von Pram; it bs..been said t&t you could bomb frgm'a spdce, sa teTl i te with devastating *accuracy: using guided m i s s Ue.s, I presump,,., . Would you, within the c lass i f ica t iun , indicate why it would b e easier .%'&'bomb, say, S'city U,ke New York from a, space s a t e l l i t e than f roT la plane o r land-launched guided missixe? - I

Suppose t h i s here i s the ear th qnd t h i s is an orbit . around the e a r t h through which the space station-3,s t rave l l ing i n t h i s direction. If p u fire a guided miss i le backwards from a space s ta t ion, imparting upon it something &ike 400 meters per secmd o r approximately a thousand p e r second, i n the opposite direction, then ' the t o t a l speed of t h i s missile w i l l be 18,000 .piles.pcr hour minus t h a t l i t t l E veloci ty you imparted i n the opposite dLrection and a s a result your gvided missile w i l l s t i l l go $hrough aq e l i p t i c a l o r b i t snd you can choose a

"?melocity here where t h i s perigee point 'here j u s t f r inges the upper ' layer's, ,of t h e atmosphere; 'entire f l i g h t .through this ' ,Blipse of descent o f the guided rmss i le - - h space:station and miss i le w i l l ,alwayi b'e very c l~ 's( , together because

, . ' . they a r e both going along like this . *

_ .

DR. REAm Let me make a - l i t t l e sketch t o e e l a i n the pro(1em. .

I t i p $mportant t o note tha t duripg t h i s

4-

I . , 4%' t h i s point .he& wheh t he perigee isrreached the missile -, .+ - w i l l be'a' l i t t l e b i t ahead of . t he space s t a t ion because i t s per iod 4,

of half revolution, the t i m e required 'ti0 travel. ,,from here t o here, ' i s shorter than f o r the space s ta t iof i going frofi 'here t o here. resu l t , i t w i l l be i n s l i g h t angularity ahcad-of the space station.

The missi le now begins a gl ide through the atmosphere, it i's winded and w i l l descend deeper in to .the atmosphere, f l i g h t t he space s t a t i o n w i l l stay overhead ~o,~.$.:,can keep t rack of the missile even during this-s tage, and s i m e ' t h e missile loses speed here, where the space s t a t ion does 'not, --th$ space s ta t ion catches up angularly d t h t h e missile again,

$9 a

? . A t t h i s po in t th& statim w i l l be here and the missile here.

. During t h i s en t i r e

'

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As the target comes i n v i e w the space s t a t i o n i s here and the missil-e here. maintain l i n e of s igh t betwcen space s t a t ion and mis'sil-e an$..so as you approach the t a rge t f i n a l l y even t h e t z rge t comes within l i n e o f sfght. You can see the t a rge t and missile simultaneously, w i l l carry a radar beacon and e i t h e r op t ica l telescope o r radar telescope bracketed a t the t a rge t and with a l i t t l e computer a t the space s ta t ion comparable to ant i -a i rc raf t missile you can make these two l incs of s igh t match a t the moment of impact. This i s a method

During the en t i r e f l i g h t of the missile you

The missile

h

that can not be used with intercont jnental b a l l i s t i c missiles,. have the 3dvantage of seeing the ta rge t , Here you have t h a t advantage, So it is even feas ib le t o fiF_ a t qov.' g t a rge t s .such as ships on the *

e i t h e r i n which some of t h e people ,on $he qkher s8ide o f t h e I r o n Curtain do not publish, usually,, go. as'long, as , you see the object and can keep t rack of your missile by means ,of a radar beacon you can shoot a t it even ' i f yon don't know"its exact lbca t ion o r even if it is a movlng '

You never J

I V

I seas by using th tS 'pr inc ip lc . Pop ne,e 3 slcxt .know the geographic coordinate ' r

i

. I

1 ' . a . , , ' .. . t a r g e t . . . .

I hope t h i s answers your question.

RDMI R4L BRIGGS: Colonel Sapden.,

COLONEL SAMIEN: rocket attrtck frbm t h e ear th ' s surface?

Doctor,' w i l l the space platform be.vulnerable t o

DR, BRhUN: I n pr inciple , yes, b u t I think it would be a l o t more

You canr t apply

To bui ld a

d i f f i c u l t t o accomplish than m y appear a t the surface. forge t that the major por t ion of the ascent of a rocket whether manned or unmanned t o a space' s t a t i o n i s an unpowered f l i g h t . a t a rge t seeking system t o an unpowsred rocket. You have t o power it. That is an i n e f f i c i e n t wqy t o go up to t h e space station. target-secking rocket t o knock out a space s t a t ion i s n ' t simple when you have a. manned ship approaching a space s ta t ion, you can carry out a c t i v e navigation in which t h e space s t a t i o n itself with its radio and radar gear can support your rendezvous maneuver. If you don't g e t t h a t cooperation from the space s t a t i o n and have t o depend on target- seeking mc%hods you have t o apply power and a l l necessary correction$" i n the unnianned missile and this i s qui te a formidable problem.

L e t US w t

I wouldn't say it can't be done, but it i s very d i f f i c u l t . has been Suggested t o f i r e a rocket i n t o t h e opposite direct ion, opposite o r b i t a l d i rec t ion of the space s t a t i o n and simply c lu t te r up the orbit with l i t t l e s lugs o f steel o r some mass t h a t would hit the space s t a t i o n l i k e l i t t l e meteors. because a space s t a t i o n wbuld s t a y i n t h i s o r b i t and so would the p a r t i c l e s scat tered i n the orb i t . platform as a po ten t i a l bombing platform I am not necessarily re fer r ing t o a l a rge well-shaped apace s t a t i o n l i k e the research s t a t i o n I discussed before,

It

This seems to b e a somewhat more promising method

However, when I t a l k about using such a space

SOUND #7

ADMIRAL BFUGGS; Commander Rogers.

COMMANDER ROGERS; Doc to r ,wha t system of communications w i l l be

Db you mean communication between the e a r t h and t he . rl

used i n outer space?

DR. BRAUN: space platform?

, l b

0

r , . .. 0 COWiYDEb ROGERS: Ye$, - between ear th and space' piatform. ., ' -

, * ~ ~ DR. BRAUN': Essent ia l ly rzdio.. There is only one complication * "

i n this radio system, t h a t l i e s i n the f a c t thalt.the space s t a t iop t rave ls over substant ia l portinn of Lbe e a r t h a l l the time and ybu can. not communicate with any po5ht on ear th all t he time wi th a space statton. It require? a network of h d i o s t a t ions on the ground and only a. fkw' s ta t ions can.be id 'contac t w i th a s t s t i o n a t oqe time. the ionosphere quitk easily and it i s an established fac t a,nd we kpTe ~. l o t s of experience i n b a l l i s t i c missiles today t o know we 'can penetrat'e - 1

( I

Shor t waves c ross ,

t he ionospQere 'quite eas i ly with radio, ' 7

. / * - 4 A t - _ . . 4DMIRAL BRIGGS: Commander Reed. COMMANDER RED: .Doctor, what system of navigation'would b e used

to locate a space ship? ,. ' I ;. 1 : ' I - r

--, : 1

DR. BRAUN: Do you hean navigation' f o r the crew'of the"shgp?, 5 -

I n othcr wc'rds, .hoW*'wotild the crew navigate i t s ship? . . I ' COFlM4NPFR' kPD: How would you navigate. a space sNp. from point

;i. . :. -. * . i

0 t o point B i n 'space. * .., 1 . .

cpt ical ly .

- . 9 .

DR. RR4UN: If these poin ts are close together .ym could do it , . You' determine the posi t ion of point B. ta. wNch ypu 'are c . . t ravel ing again'st background of stars, determine i t s pos i t ion and motion

and then feed the necessary correction i n t o your speed s o as t o match t h i s point a t the pre-determined time. of over greater distance such qs, s h a l l we say, the rende%vous problem of the arr5ving space ship with a space strition, you would apply techniques l i k e taking radar o r op t ica l bearings and if the questiqn, i s , t o set up the ship f o r re turn maneuver a t e a r t h if you w a n t t o land 'a t a pre- determined spot on the earth, the emphasis would be t o put,.rigM a t t i t ude on tHe sh ip f o r i n i t i a l landing maneuver and also time it properly. This

posi t ion above the ground simply by measuring w h t po in t ycu a r e j u s t - passing ovler o n the' surface of the earth. For grea$er distances f r o m - .

an effective way of maneuvering. with d$!$erent means; bu t most of them would be optic'ally and by means

Now i f it is a navigation pl40blem.

I

can be done with clocks, s igna ls from t h e ground and also detcrming y6ur

the 'earth,' star measurements behind t h e r i m of the ea r th and moon' are

. ' ' 1. .I L . I

. . I th ink navigation would be ca&ied ou t 2' . 8 3 of radar'. . -, ., . . I ADMfRqL BRIGGS; Colonel Habeger. . .

b .

COaNJ3L HABEGER: Doctor, what would be ihe expe'cted l i f e span .. of a space ship, ' considerfng ' i t might co l l i de with meteorites o r dus t p a r t i c l e s i n space and could'arly protect ive means be devised * t o increase this l i f e span? . .

c

I

DR. SRtUN:' together, It i s and

a

',. 'f. ^ I b 'Cbl!,oWM;'FAiRBA.NKS: -;..Do~;tor, i s there any significance i n your

selectic-n n f the 1075 mile ' radius $h''&&cvrfoP the;.pstablishment of t h i s ,[

., . * . 1 I ." S' i.'! ,; ..; I , ,

'.pJa@@& ' . . 2 i , ' ' .I.. '-": i . . ,. ' , < ' _ ( . . . . . . I . 6 . ' .' -,i.< ., I . + *. . ::+# I.,.,.' .

Jks t he poss ib i l i t y of continuous c o n k k t with a ground. bqse whlch would '',,quppc?rt'' t h O '%pace @a$$~fi .J$ is e n t i r e l y unnecessary f o r a q a c e *ship

* ' ' D R I " ' B R ~ ~ ; ~ , :*ere i s g,nl;Jtcone p rac t i ca l reason f a r ,it and t h a t

..e'+ ~ i . t&%' , goes 'dp occasiopaljr:, iii:$;ah' orbYt'nr.?foy: an unmanned o?$iter t o ?!s. " * ., g a t h e r . i ~ o n h a t j o n ' f r o m ! the:.g?hund'.

,ff' '7 ~ ' J . O ~ ~ - , m t b ' ' 6'hi . t i s tb.t the,,'$;eriod:'bf evolution i n , mch , an orbit w i l l be PI-& *601e reason'for t he choice of the

- exac%ly two hot~rs and the3e,:tyot hoursaare a n even f r a c t i n bf the 24 hours a.t which the e a r t h . ' r o t a t ~ S ^ , " ~ b ~ . ~ t . d ~ s ~wn;ax&s ,so y p csn.,rsach the space s t a t i o n from one given base on the ground once pe.rxI'5f;"l.f you have t h a t c c n d i t i m t h a t t h e -perir,d , [ I , e: of revolution i s an'even :Pra&%ion of 24, hours. . .

:1. .'I . ..-

If i t were not, an,kvcn fmc!hicn you may have-,to wait a, few days before you can make physjxal' ccnta'kt with t h e space. s t a t ion again Kith another asceticling rFke . te

e: ' Colonel Hooever, you look kind of Sgstless with

c: , I 4.

ADMI:R!L BRIGGS: a question,

COLONEL HOOVER: Dr4,.tvop,sBrraun, I am not completely'clear on tt-ds business of orbit ing here and"th5s apogeeo

a circular o r b i t and I dont t ~ui'fd&stnrid why t h i s : i s b . e c a s g i t seems t o

p u l l would be ' grea.$est: ,. , Q n s , $kvILaOi-6nal..pul ving addifference a t v a r i m s times i n the orbit" wc$Ld., &t%%I~ 'tendenGy, to, ulz&alance o r upset

It has been s ta ted t h a t t h i s f i r s t s a t e l l i t e vanguard w i t 1 be, put i n t o an e l i p t i c a l o r b i t ra ther than

me tht as the sateA3,ite i s nearest the ear th a t t h a t point gravi ta t ional

.. , p' .. . .

I , 'I . ' $.! ;!-,- .;

. t c L ? " . .., ,. .+ ,$he .; satelylite orbit . Could ycu explain t h a t a lkLt$e''m@,r~e, ' L . please. ' 8 . . ~ L - 0

I .

DR, BRNJN: Gladly,, A &.rcu&W b r b i t c'an y t u a l l y be considered 3P.j tr.

Qen the earthts o r b i t amund j.ffti+Pf * ) ' . c r b i t hfionnd the e a r t h a r e s l i g h t l y e l ip t i c , but ec,;

;* * a-, ,' ..,

. as a ,special case of an e lypt ic .or6it i n t h a t a. c i rc le 4s a n e l ip se where I the two'foct-coincide a@ ?ll '$rbits i n the,glanet.a,ry WGrld a re ac tua l ly

?;,#*I ., 'mcre I dr ' less e l i p t i c . I

he sun and moonfs t r i c i t y & these

e l i p s e s 5s mall. o r b i t requfres very scc,Y?te. ,velocity c?m%rol. ,a& cut-off of the 'la st

,!e . . stage and i n the minimum s a t k l l ' i t e 'such c1abora.b equipment -is is would be neces-Sqy t o -control

veldcity a t cut-off of t he , l ag t stage which puts it automatically i n an e l l i p t i c ' o rb i t because you, b v e ' excess bf centr i fugal forceo

Such e l l i p t i c o r b i t is j u s t is stable as c-ircuiar o r b i t , , The only thing, t h a t my make the minQbm*orbiter . s a n e w h a t unstable l i e s i n the f a c t t h a t the lowest p*oints' of t h e ox'bit, the peeigee; s t i l l f r inges the atmosphere and may lose some ve loc i ty . a s it msses through the upper layers of the atmosphere,

The establishment of 'a rocketl i'n an exact c i r cu la r

j, !,I.' eds with exactitude would impose burdens on - 1 s a t e l l i t e vehicles. It shier t s ' g i v e the satel l i te a s l i g h t excess

,-'. . 3; . ",

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e.

ADMIRAL BRIGGS: Colonel Homer, do p u have aqy mare questions? d J

, COLONFL HORNER: Doctor, j u s t how far, within the c l a s s i f i c a t i o q - , v of this conference, of course, how f a r do you .thi%k that the Russians o r other nations of the world have gotten i n this space travel program?,,

of t h e capab i l i t i e s of rackets, both f o r long rabge and an t i - a i r c ra f t ,

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1 - c

DR. I3R4I.INt Well, i t looks l i k e t h e Russians a re very w e l l aware * I *

I . purposes, ..and ce r t a in ly real i -ze the f e a s i b i l i t y of an orb i te r . I be l ieve ~ ,.:< they are working hard a t it and I still hope we w i l l b e . f i r s t up t b r e ' o f , , . course, bu't I think w e have no t i m e t o lo se i f we w a n t t o be first ,In an . ! . orbit . ( cu t ) , 1 - < '. \..>

SOUND #9 -1 ,:, ...... . . . . "

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ADNIXAX., BIUGGS: I am afraid t i m e has caught up with -us and y e . ..:. , L a- are going t o have t o terminate this conference, , L

DR. von BRAUN, I ce r t a in ly thank you f o r a very in t e re s t ing presentation.

. . . I. DR. B R A h t Thank you very much. (cu t )

SOUND #lo I ,,. ,'V. 1- . . . .

C$PTA&N SCdW4R'E: Doctor, would you care t o comment on th relat ionship of pro jec t Vanguard, t h e sa te l l i t e program, t o the geophysical year? ' :

DR. BRtUN: The geophysical year k5 an internat ional p ro jec t which

The United S ta tes Government has announced i t s par t ic ipa t ion

is scheduled f o r 1957 and 1958 under which a great number o f nations

of the earth. i n t h i s internat ional geophysical yew not only with a satellite, b u t with a 10,t of o the r pro jec ts and the satel l i te has been t i e d i n because it is real ized tha t a s a t e l l i t e , even a very small satel l i te can contributle a l o t to men's basic knowledge on the proper t ies of the earth.

survey of sucli sa te l l i te from various poin ts on earth simultaneously would' ,_ . , ~ improve our knowledge on the loca t ion of t h e cont inents with respect t o .. , , e each other 'and I understand t h a t so far the relative loca t ion of the Eurasian land mass compared : t ~ ,the. llmerican con t inen t ' i s known with an' accuracy of only:500 yards, .with a close satell i te a t - l& ' a l t i tudes a f e w .. : hundred miles up it is felt th ia could be impmfmd to'wi'thin t e ~ or

have agreed t o make... publ ic(?) ... of anything known .. the proper t ies J . ,' - 1.. : i \

Them are other p ieces of information, f o r example, the geodetic * r - ! ,

l . ' : .

. . , ' 9 . . . . . . .

........ . , i . L : . ' . . , . . . . twenty yards. ~. , . - 8 . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . - .>:a . , ................ I ' . . .

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, . , .. I - . . : , ; ; '< ' \ ' ; . I ' . - ! ( ' ' , . . ' .

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....

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. . . . : . I ,) . ', . . , . . . - * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -.

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ADMIRAL BRIGGS: Colonel White. 0

0 COLONFL WHTTF: Doctor, my question has t o do with maximum ve loc i t i e s i n space. t h a t theore t ica l ly there i s no l i m i t t o the speed t h a t man can a t t a i n i n

From w h t I h v c read and from your discussion today, I understand

a space. bo you care t o comment on t h i s area? DB. ERAUN: fis far a s rockets a r e concerned- and they arc? probably

the only conceivable vehtclks to build .up very great spee.ds i n -out& space- there i s no pract ical , no thcore t ica l l i m i t i n sight. There i s a very def in i te p rac t i ca l l imi ta t ion s e t by the amount of fue l t h a t such a rocket can carry. w i l l be colicentrated upon put t ing something in to qn o r b i t t hq t t h i s l imi ta t ion exists; second, the low orb i t , and t h i s i s about the maximum we think we can g e t with chemical f u e l rockets.

Tnd i t i s one o f the reasons that the first endeavor

The speed i n an o r b i t is approximtely four miles per ,J

Of course, it is coneeivable to bui ld rockets tbt b u i l t up higher speeds, b u t the r a t i o between f u e l consumed and payload it w i l l carry becomes l e s s and less and f ina l ly . payload becomes insignif icant .

Now, a t the other end of the ledger there i s def in i te theo rc t i ca l limits f o r speed you can a t t a i n a t a l l , physical l i m i t imposed by the laws of nature and tht i s the speed of l ight . That specd i s 160,000 m i l e s per second so w e s t i l l have a long way t o go before thi.s w i 3 , l ever be of any p rac t i ca l significance. The theory of re la t ivi ty of Dr . Einstein decrees that no object can exceed the speed o f l i g h t , The i n e r t i a of mass approaches i n f i n i t y 3s you approach the speedof l i g h t and, therefore, it would t ske an i n f i n i t y t h r u s t t o accelerate anything beyond t k a t speed. That i s a theoret ical l i m i t , b u t a s I said, w e a r e s t i l l a long way off.

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SCFNEX-6, T l I C E 1

COLONEL SAYRE: Dr. Braun, i n view o f our rapid advances in the f i e l d of atomic power, do you f ee l there i s a poss ib i l i t y o f utilia,ing a se r i e s of small atomic Fxplosions t o propel this rocket out in to outer space?

SCFNE X-7, TIKE 1

COMMAWDFR FINN: Dr . von Emun, it has been sa id t k a t you could bomb the e a r t h with extreme accuracy f r o m a space satell i te, say, with guided missiles. Wnuld you, within t h e c lass i f ica t ion , explain w h y it would be easier t o bomb New York fmm a satel l i te than from, say, a plane o r land-launched guided missile? (cu t )

SCENE X-8, T4KF 1

COLOWL WHITE: Dr. Braun, my question has t o do with ve loc i t i e s i n space. I k v e formulated an opinion tht t h i s theory man can t t possibly reach the maximum veloci ty i n space. point, please?

From what I have read and what you k v e had to say today,

Would you care t o comment on t h i s

(Repeat)

'4 SCFNE X-7, T4KE 1

B COLONFL QBPLITT: Dmtor, i n t h e %ook f'4cross t h e Space Frontier" of which you are co-author, it sta tes t t - a t a powerful telescope can keep under in spec thn a l l oceans, countr ies and citi,es j u s t as a n observation plane a t 4000 feet.

* m

I n anotherp lace it states that (cut). , -

SCENE x-9, TA& 2

COLONEL ABBIJTTr In-another place it states tht t o the nabd eye the day s i d e of the ear th appears as a g lar ing white patch of overcast which i s due t o the re f lec t ion of t h e l i g h t of the sun.

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resu l t ing fmm the re f lec t ion of t h e sun. I t q p e a r s tha t t h e inspection ' _. _. o f mi l i ta ry value, . is .most questionahle. Would you care t o comment on 4 y .

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