DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Rocket, v. 1, issue 1, March 1940

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Rocket, v. 1, issue 1, March 1940

Page 27

37

First there are some well know, simple facts or problems which confront the rocket engineer. Primarily it would cost approximately $100,000,000 to launch a ship into space at the present time. Next --- in order to break free of the earth's gravitational field a speed of seven miles per second must be attained, this being the accepted velocity of escape. It is plain to see that a terrific amount of energy would be required to accomplish this because our ship would have to be large enough to store enough fuel for it's return trip.

The best known fuel mixture so far developed are oxygen and gasoline or oxygen and hydrogen. This fuel when ignited creates a terrific heat ----- far more than any metal known today can withstand for any length of time. Here also lies the danger of explosion.

At this point attention is brought to the fact that the moon will play it's part by acting as a stepping stone for the rocket ship on it's way to Mars or Venus. As planetary distances amount far into the millions of miles and the moon not even being a quarter of a million miles from the earth this seems very impractical. Better that one should attempt to cross a river a hundred feet wide by stepping to a stone two feet from the banks.

The means necessary for this new theory of flight was found by Sir Isaac Newton in 1682. We are all familiar with the story of how Newton formulated the law of gravitation by noting the action of an apple as it fell from a tree.

Now supposing we decide to journey to Mars. Judging from it's publicity Mars seems the most popular and favorite destination at the time. Our ship, which we shall call a gravity cruiser for want of a better name, leaves in thirty minutes. Therefore we hurry to the Los Angeles Municipal Airport for our departure. Unlike a rocket ship, which would require a special launching cradle and equipment away from congested districts, our ship is safely and economically launched from any modern, present-day airport.

We present our credentials and tickets to the captain who greets us with a cheerful smile. He then instructs a well dressed, well groomed steward to show us to our comfortable, spacious quarters. Before unpacking we decide to go to the solarium to watch the take off. There we find a member of the crew explaining to some of the other passengers who our ship is operated.

Our ship is equipped with an attractional field and a repulsion field. This will of course surround the ship with an invisible field of energy which will neutralize or double the force of gravity as the pilot wishes. Using earth's gravitational field as a standard we shall call this a force of one gravity. Double the force -- two gravities, etc. Power for generating the fields will probably be by electric motors operated from huge storage batteries or by atomic motors.

Seated at a complicated control board sits the pilot who follows the orders of the captain, standing directly behind him. On either side of the pilot are radiomen, navigators and assistants seated at their controls, instruments and charts. The flight crew have a practically unlimited field of vision out the clear quartz windows which form in part, the nose of the ship.

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37 First there are some well know, simple facts or problems which confront the rocket engineer. Primarily it would cost approximately $100,000,000 to launch a ship into space at the present time. Next --- in order to break free of the earth's gravitational field a speed of seven miles per second must be attained, this being the accepted velocity of escape. It is plain to see that a terrific amount of energy would be required to accomplish this because our ship would have to be large enough to store enough fuel for it's return trip. The best known fuel mixture so far developed are oxygen and gasoline or oxygen and hydrogen. This fuel when ignited creates a terrific heat ----- far more than any metal known today can withstand for any length of time. Here also lies the danger of explosion. At this point attention is brought to the fact that the moon will play it's part by acting as a stepping stone for the rocket ship on it's way to Mars or Venus. As planetary distances amount far into the millions of miles and the moon not even being a quarter of a million miles from the earth this seems very impractical. Better that one should attempt to cross a river a hundred feet wide by stepping to a stone two feet from the banks. The means necessary for this new theory of flight was found by Sir Isaac Newton in 1682. We are all familiar with the story of how Newton formulated the law of gravitation by noting the action of an apple as it fell from a tree. Now supposing we decide to journey to Mars. Judging from it's publicity Mars seems the most popular and favorite destination at the time. Our ship, which we shall call a gravity cruiser for want of a better name, leaves in thirty minutes. Therefore we hurry to the Los Angeles Municipal Airport for our departure. Unlike a rocket ship, which would require a special launching cradle and equipment away from congested districts, our ship is safely and economically launched from any modern, present-day airport. We present our credentials and tickets to the captain who greets us with a cheerful smile. He then instructs a well dressed, well groomed steward to show us to our comfortable, spacious quarters. Before unpacking we decide to go to the solarium to watch the take off. There we find a member of the crew explaining to some of the other passengers who our ship is operated. Our ship is equipped with an attractional field and a repulsion field. This will of course surround the ship with an invisible field of energy which will neutralize or double the force of gravity as the pilot wishes. Using earth's gravitational field as a standard we shall call this a force of one gravity. Double the force -- two gravities, etc. Power for generating the fields will probably be by electric motors operated from huge storage batteries or by atomic motors. Seated at a complicated control board sits the pilot who follows the orders of the captain, standing directly behind him. On either side of the pilot are radiomen, navigators and assistants seated at their controls, instruments and charts. The flight crew have a practically unlimited field of vision out the clear quartz windows which form in part, the nose of the ship.