Abstract
THE prospect of propelling a body from our earth to one of the heavenly bodies, notably the moon, has excited certain types of individuals for some time, and many romances have been built up round the idea. Scientific attention has been given to the matter in recent years, and in particular Prof. Goddard, of Clark University, in the United States, has examined the question theoretically and experimentally. His plan is to send a rocket to the moon, more or less as suggested by Jules Verne, with the important difference that the rocket is not to be left to the mercies of air resistance and gravitational forces, but is to be propelled continuously by means of firing successive charges of smokeless nitrocellulose. Herr Oberth claims to have obtained the results given in the present volume quite independently of Prof. Goddard. He says that he commenced working at the problem in 1907, and that the main ideas were evolved in 1909: the calculations and proposals of this book were made during the years 1920-22.
Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen.
Von Hermann Oberth. Pp. 92 + 2 Tafeln. (München und Berlin: R. Oldenbourg, 1923.) 1s. 6d.
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B., S. Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen. Nature 114, 270 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/114270a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/114270a0