The V-2 rocket that landed on the wrong planet

Although the Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919 dismembered Germany's territory and army, Germany's industrial system and universities were completely preserved, which gave the German military, especially some middle and lower-level officers in the cut departments, the confidence to make a comeback. Captain Walter Dornberger, who returned to the German Army Artillery after the war, was greatly inspired after reading Hermann Oberth's "Rockets to Interstellar Space". He believed that rockets were a super weapon that combined the advantages of air force and artillery, which could not only alleviate the urgent need for long-range firepower delivery of the German army, but also bypass the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, allowing the German Army to reproduce the glory of the "Paris Cannon" in World War I. Therefore, Dornberger and several like-minded officers such as Becker began to conduct in-depth research on Oberth's rocket theory and established a rocket test base at the Kummersdorf artillery range 30 kilometers away from Berlin.

Hermann Oberth and his "Rocket to Interstellar Space"

Establishing a research team

In 1929, Dornberger, Becker and others joined the German Aerospace Association as civilians. They wanted to find some technical talents for the military application of rockets.

After a period of contact, they found that although the backbones of the rocket development in the Astronautical Association were enthusiastic, they lacked the necessary scientific procedures. There was no written record of the previous rocket engine tests, no thrust curve charts, and the development plan seemed very random. Among these people, only a young man named von Braun was willing to keep the data of the rocket test and record it in the form of charts. This was very favored by Dornberger, so he found Braun privately, told him his military identity, and had an in-depth exchange with Braun on rocket technology.

von Braun

Braun was amazed by Dornberger's knowledge and research progress in rocket technology, and realized that if he wanted to make rockets truly conquer gravity, it would be far from enough to rely on personal strength and donations from the public, and he must rely on the power of the country.

Braun soon accepted Dornberger's invitation, joined the Army's rocket research organization as a part-time worker, and went to the University of Berlin to pursue his doctorate. Dornberger helped Braun build an engine test bench in Kummersdorf and assigned him three assistants, but their research progress in rockets was far less rapid than Braun's academic progress. On the one hand, this future weapon had to be kept secret, and on the other hand, since the rocket project was not taken seriously by the Army at the time, the processing tasks submitted by Braun and his team were often ranked last in priority.

From A-1 to A-5

In January 1933, the first water-cooled liquid-fuel rocket they developed was successfully tested and achieved a thrust of 140 kg. The thrust of the alcohol-cooled engine was later increased to 300 kg, but the "Assembly No. 1" rocket (that is, the A-1 rocket, A is the first letter of the word "assembly") equipped with this engine was blown to pieces after ignition.

Through Dornberger, Braun invited more industry experts to improve the design and manufacturing of rocket engines, and soon completed the assembly of two "Combination 2" rockets. Braun named them "Max" and "Moritz".

A-2 rocket structure diagram (brown is the fuel tank, blue is the liquid oxygen tank)

The size of the "Combination 2" was similar to that of the "Combination 1", but it was equipped with a rocket engine with a thrust of 1,000 kg. Braun showed great talent in organizing the integration of rocket systems and arranged the entire development process in an orderly manner. Finally, in December 1934, the conditions for launch were met.

Before that, Braun took time out to return to school to complete his doctoral dissertation defense. In the dissertation, Braun discussed in detail the theoretical and engineering issues in the design, testing and manufacturing of liquid fuel rocket engines. It was a groundbreaking scientific paper. The University of Berlin rated it "excellent", and it still has important reference value in the field of rocket engine technology.

On Christmas Eve in 1934, Braun's rocket team conducted two flight tests of "Combination No. 2". "Max" and "Moritz" performed well and both flew to an altitude of more than 2,000 meters. This not only encouraged the rocket team, but also attracted more attention from the military.

Braun's team expanded to 80 people at once, and the A-3 rocket equipped with gyroscopes and gas rudders officially began to be developed, and Kummersdorf also became crowded. It was very close to Berlin and not suitable for launching larger rockets, so the need to establish a special test base that could launch larger rockets was put on the agenda. Braun suggested that the base be built in Peenemünde on the island of Usedom in northern Germany, which faces the Baltic Sea and is sparsely populated, making it very suitable for the development and launch of rockets. After Dornberger's field investigation, the German Army and Air Force officially approved the construction of the Peenemünde rocket base.

The development of the A-3 rocket was not smooth. Several flight tests failed to control the rolling motion and all of them crashed. Braun and his team tried various methods but could not find the cause of the problem. Braun was determined to completely redesign the control system, but it would take at least a year and a half to process the new system, so he decided to suspend the A-3 and fast forward to the development of the A-5 rocket.

The reason why the A-4 number was skipped was because A-4 was the code name reserved by Dornberger. He required that the A-4 rocket should be able to carry a 1-ton warhead and fly 260 kilometers, with the impact deviation not exceeding 3 meters, and it should also be able to be transported to any place by rail. Such requirements were unattainable for Braun's rocket team in 1937.

The good news is that the rocket base in Peenemünde was finally completed. It has a fully equipped mechanical test bench and assembly workshop, as well as a large wind tunnel that can reach 5 times the speed of sound. The new base needs more technicians, so Braun contacted his former partners in the Astronautics Association and asked them to come to Peenemünde to work with him on developing a larger rocket. The new facilities and a more complete technical team greatly accelerated the development of the rocket. In the summer of 1938, the A-5 rocket, which was improved from the A-3, finally succeeded.

The V-2 was born

The A-4 rocket, which was enlarged from the A-5, encountered difficulties in guidance and control, and Braun's team had to stop to develop a powerful electronic simulation computer and flight program simulator. After two failed improvements, on October 3, 1942, the A-4 rocket soared to an altitude of 85 kilometers in thick smoke and roar, flew 190 kilometers, and reached a maximum speed of 5,600 kilometers per hour. This day was called by Braun's team "the dawn of a new era of space travel, the first day of a new era of human travel and even space flight."

After that, the A-4 rocket began to be mass-produced, but by then Germany had completely lost air superiority on the Western Front, and the entire industrial system was exposed to the sights of Allied bombers, and resources and industrial products began to decline sharply. In August 1943, the Allies focused on bombing Peenemünde, and the production of the A-4 rocket had to go underground, and production was not restored until 1944.

On September 8, 1944, an A-4 rocket launched from The Hague, Netherlands, carrying a ton of high explosives, hit the London suburb of Zichik in just six minutes, causing huge damage. Nazi Propaganda Minister Goebbels named this weapon V-2 (German for "Avenger Weapon 2").

The V-2 rocket was 14 meters high and weighed 13 tons. It was already the prototype of a ballistic missile. Due to its high flying speed, the Allies had no time to warn and intercept it. Moreover, the V-2 chose to attack during the rush hour in London. Its huge destructive power caused great panic among the British people. In the last year of the war, more than 1 million people moved out of the London area, which shows its huge strategic deterrent power.

V-2 rocket at the Peenemünde rocket base

However, due to the immaturity of many V-2 technologies and low reliability, most of them crashed or strayed far from their targets after launch. They only had indiscriminate strategic destructive capabilities but lacked precise tactical strike capabilities, and their actual combat results were disappointing. According to postwar statistics, a total of 1,115 V-2 rockets were launched at Britain, killing 2,724 people and seriously injuring 6,476 people, most of whom were civilians. Braun later commented: "The V-2 is a very good rocket. Its only problem is that it landed on the wrong planet."