The entire world will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik on Thursday. On October 4, 1957, Sputnik became the first artificial satellite of our earth.
On October 3, 1942, a V2 rocket fired from Peenemunde in Germany touched space
The entire world will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik on Thursday. On October 4, 1957, Sputnik became the first artificial satellite of our earth. However, it was not the first time that a man-made object had reached space.
That feat was achieved by Germany exactly 65 years ago, on October 3, 1942. Though the space programme has been dominated by Russians and Americans for the past 50 years, it was Germany which had pioneered the concept of reaching space.
“65 years ago, a V2 rocket, fired from Peenemunde, created history when it reached an altitude of 100 km and touched space,” said Niklas Reinke, an expert on German space politics.
Reinke, who is from the German Space Agency (DLR), spoke to DNA on Germany’s contribution to the space programme.
“Before World War 2, compared to Russia and America, Germany was far ahead in the area of rocket development,” he said.
There were a number of reasons why Germany had taken a lead in this field.
“After World War 1, the treaty of Versailles prohibited Germany from using airplanes with motors. Also a lot of existing technology was forbidden to Germany. In 1923, Hermann Oberth, the father of German rocketry, presented his thesis which showed how rockets could carry man into space,” Reinke said.
Following Versailles treaty and Oberth’s groundbreaking work, German military started concentrating on tapping the potential of rocketry.
“In 1932, the German Army launched its rocket programme. It was during these times that the rocket wizard Werner Von Braun, who later became the father of American space programme, got involved with the German project.
“The fact that the German military realised the potential of rockets resulted it in being ahead of America and Soviet Union, where rocketry was restricted to individual efforts,” said Reinke.
The big boost for the German rocketry came when the Nazis took over power in 1933. Hitler’s ascent to power brought a big turnaround for the German rocket programme since the Nazis poured unprecedented amount of money into it. In fact, it was one of the two most expensive military programmes — (the other being the Manhattan project)
“In today’s terms, the amount of money spent by Nazis on the rocket programme in those 10 years would be more than 2 billion euros,” Reinke said.
The result of the money and effort by scientists led by von Braun was V2 (Vergeltungswaffe or the revenge weapon), the first Ballistic missile that was launched successfully into space on October 3, 1942.
The Americans and Russians knew the worth of the German space programme and after the end of World War 2, both tried to reach the unused rockets. “The Americans took the V2 rockets and blueprints of rocket design while the Russians reached Peenemunde first and started building their rockets in Germany,” Reinke added.
According to Reinke, World War 2 had left a big scar on the Germans mindset. “The Germans refused to identify with V2, since it was a weapon unleashed by a cruel regime.” Though it was a great technological achievement, it was a taboo, he added.
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