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The Germans had copied Goddard's, an American's, liquid rocket design and expanded upon it. These are Von Braun's words when speaking about Goddard: "His rocket
by thekingofh 8y ago
The Germans had copied Goddard's, an American's, liquid rocket design and expanded upon it. These are Von Braun's words when speaking about Goddard: "His rockets ... may have been rather crude by present-day standards, but they blazed the trail and incorporated many features used in our most modern rockets and space vehicles"
also:
"He once recalled that "Goddard's experiments in liquid fuel saved us years of work, and enabled us to perfect the V-2 years before it would have been possible"
And if you don't believe me, here's Goddard's patent for a liquid fueled and a multi-stage rocket. Exactly what put a man on the moon:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US1103503 https://patents.google.com/patent/US1103503
https://patents.google.com/patent/US1102653 https://patents.google.com/patent/US1102653
- avmich 8y agoAgree, the Germans technology was improved to levels which don't allow to call the results the Germans technology.
- thekingofh 8y agoWell it was a continuation that would have happened with or without the Germans, but they had made significant gains that we're a natural fit for the aspirations of the two blossoming superpowers at the time. The difficulty in getting to the moon was so vast that the statement that only Germans did it was just strange. German knowledge was a key part to a very large rocket initiative. It was going to happen, but faster with German help. By the way, it turns out that all the money the Germans spent on the V-2 was wasted since it took money from other programs that might have helped them with the war effort. So one could say that spending it on rockets was a bit premature.