[AR] Re: Happy Liquid Rocket Day!
- From: Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Arocket List <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2019 15:24:24 -0400 (EDT)
On Sun, 17 Mar 2019, Anthony Cesaroni wrote:
...after his death -- by which time, both Wernher
von Braun's team at Peenemuende and Frank Malina's team at JPL had
independently reinvented most of them. (Malina actively tried to get
collaboration established, but Goddard would have none of it.)
Have none of it in general or with Von Braun's team specifically?
Willy Ley says that the VfR's attempts to open correspondence were "curtly
declined" by Goddard. When the Army started what became the V-2 project
and put von Braun in charge, I don't think any attempt was made to pursue
the matter. They were certainly interested in Goddard's work, but their
effort (unlike the VfR's) was secret. (One thing that accelerated the
demise of what was left of the VfR was that the Gestapo started to take an
interest in their ties to experimenter groups in other countries.)
As for the JPL team, all attempts to inveigle Goddard into even technical
correspondence failed. Malina actually visited Goddard's facility once,
and got a friendly but unhelpful reception: Goddard showed him around the
shop, where a long thin object was covered by drop cloths... and stayed
covered throughout the visit. (Two months after Goddard's death in 1945,
Malina's group flew the first complete WAC Corporal -- roughly the size of
one of Goddard's rockets -- to 70km altitude. Goddard's record was 2.5km.)
Henry
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