Page 61 - All About History - Issue 08-14

Hitler’s astronauts
CONTRACT 422-4593

A-10 rocket

The A-10 was to be a rocket capable of
attacking the United States from across the
Atlantic. Hitler was intent on conquering the
globe and being able use rockets to strike the
US would have greatly helped the Nazi cause.
Under the codename Projekt Amerika,
the rocket scientists at Peenemünde were
responsible for researching and testing this
planned rocket. It would have used a huge
engine to reach space, comparable to the
engine that was ultimately used on NASA’s
Saturn V rocket to go to the Moon, in order
to drop down and travel at speeds of up to
4,300km/h (2,700mph). A-10
However, without a sufficient guiding
system the rocket was considered impractical Conceived 1940
for long-range use against the US. Thus, Piloted ballistic missile with
there were supposedly some discussions to total thrust of 180 tons
attach a smaller manned version of the A-9
rocket on top of the A-10, allowing a pilot to
guide the rocket in order to strike a target
more than 5,000km (3,100mi) away. The
entire A-10 rocket would have been about

20m (65ft) tall, but when focus was shifted
towards the V-2 rocket toward the end of the
war, development of the A-10 was halted.
Ironically enough, some of its key features
were incorporated into later US rockets.

showed that if they had attempted such missions, had been enlisted to build so-called ‘miracle strike against their foes. The
they would have likely ended in disaster. For one weapons’ by Hitler, von Braun and his team still Nazi rocketeers’ dreams of space
thing, they had vastly underestimated the forces maintained the belief that if Germany won the war exploration would have to be shelved until
of re-entry that would be experienced by the they might be given the opportunity to fly rockets after the war’s conclusion.
A-9 rocket as it returned from space and passed with more peaceful aims. The brains at Peenemünde were not just
through Earth’s atmosphere. Based on what we Thus the next phases in the Aggregate rocket working on rockets. By February 1936, an Austrian
know today, and the primitive design of the A-9 family were put on paper but never developed. known as Dr. Eugen Sänger had published two
that did not include a sufficient heat shield (a Following the A-10 von Braun and his team had articles on rocket-powered aircraft, similar to the
necessary component of modern spacecraft), the visions of the world’s first three-stage rocket, the modified Heinkel HE 112 von Braun and his team
rocket would have been torn apart long before it A-11, and later the four-stage A-12. Whereas the V-2 would fly a year later. Known as the Silbervogel
reached its target. and other Aggregate rockets were intended only (‘Silver Bird’), Sänger’s design was for a plane
There are some suggestions, however, that von for suborbital flights, ie those that ‘hop’ into space that made hops into sub-orbital space in order to
Braun and his team did not want to stop here. “It but don’t have the required velocity to stay there, travel vast distances in a short amount of time. He
was von Braun’s dream to build rockets and launch these latter two would be true orbital rockets. piqued the interest of German High Command,
them into space as a way to explore the cosmos,” As the war dragged on and defeat for Germany who enlisted him to further his research in the
says Teitel. “I’m of the opinion that he used the seemed all but inevitable these ambitious plans hope he could devise a vehicle capable of striking
Nazi war machine as a way to further his research were shelved in favour of ramped-up production the US. The Nazi leaders didn’t want any work
with nearly bottomless funding.” Although they and development of the V-2 rocket in order to to be done on rockets for exploration – for them

● 6. Manned rocket ● 7. Space plane ● 8. Space station ● 9. Space mirror ● 10. Moon mission
Once the obstacle of The Silbervogel Austro-Hungarian German engineer The ultimate
automated rockets was a further engineer Herman Hermann Oberth dream of the
had been overcome, development that Potočnik was fascinated was supposedly rocket scientists at
the next step would would allow a pilot by the idea of space intrigued by the idea Peenemünde was to
be to place a pilot to skirt Earth’s stations, and in 1928 of building a giant land humans on the
inside the rocket plane atmosphere and published a book mirror in space to Moon through the
and have them eject remain in space outlining the need harness the power use of the technology
before reaching their for extended for such a station for of the Sun and beam they would have
designated target. periods of time. extended space travel. it to Earth. previously perfected.

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