ROCKETS, MISSILES, & LAUNCH VEHICLES
HISTORY OF ROCKETRY
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    "A" series of German rockets

    A4-b rocet
    The A-4b, a winged V-2 of 1945
    A family of liquid-propellant rockets built in Germany immediately before and during World War II. With the "A" (Aggregate) rockets came technology that could be used either as a destructive weapon or to begin the exploration of space. Key to this development was Wernher von Braun and his team of scientists and engineers.

    The series began with the A-1, a static, test-bed engine that, in common with all of the "A" rockets, used alcohol as a fuel and liquid oxygen as an oxidizer. Located at Kummersdorf, it enabled various designs and components to be tried out.

    The A-2 was essentially a flight-capable version of the A-1. In December 1934, two A-2s were launched from the North Sea island of Borkum and reached a height of about 2 km. The development effort then shifted to Peenemünde.

    In 1937, the new A-3 rocket was launched from an island in the Baltic Sea. Measuring 7.6 m in length and weighing 748 kg, it was powered by an engine that produced 14,700 newtons (N) of thrust. Three flights were made, none completely successful because the A-3's gyroscopic control system was too weak to give adequate steering. Consequently, a new test rocket was developed with the designation A-5 – the name A-4 having been reserved for a future military rocket.

    The A-5 was built with most of the components from the A-3 but with a larger diameter airframe, a tapered boat-tail, and a new steering control system that was incorporated into larger, redesigned fins. Measuring 7.6 m in length and 0.76 m in diameter, it used the same 14,700-N motor as the A-3 and was test-flown from the island of Greifswalder Oie on the Baltic coast. The first flights, conducted in 1938 without gyroscopic control, came close to the speed of sound and reached an altitude of around 8 km. The new guidance system was installed in 1939, enabling the A-5 to maneuver into a ballistic arc, and by the end of its testing the rocket had been launched 25 times, reaching altitudes of nearly 13.5 km. The stage was set for the arrival of the remarkable A-4 – better known as the V-2.


    Reference
    1. Piskiewicz, Dennis. The Nazi Rocketeers: Dreams of Space and Crimes of War. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 1995.

    Related categories

       • ROCKETS, MISSILES, AND LAUNCH VEHICLES
       • HISTORY OF ROCKETRY



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