Titre du document / Document title

Early experimental programs of the American Rocket Society 1930-1941

Auteur(s) / Author(s)

SPRINGER Anthony M. ;

Résumé / Abstract

This paper discusses the evolution of the American Rocket Society and its experimental programs from the early liquid rocket launches, through static firings of engines, to the experimental aerodynamic development of rocket shapes. The American Rocket Society was founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society by a small group of science-fiction writers who were intrigued by the concept of interplanetary travel or space flight. A short time after its forming, the interplanetary society had become a more down-to-Earth organization. Within a matter of months, a "program of research on the rocket and its possibilities" had been undertaken. Out of this initiative and a trip by one of the founding members to visit the German Interplanetary Society, the Verein fur Rauinschiffahrt E. V. Geschaftsstelle Berlin in 1931, the experimental committee of the American Interplanetary Society was born. The experimental committee would develop five rockets, of which three would actually fly. Their most important contribution to rocketry at the time was the development of an experimental test stand, later used by one of America's first rocket manufacturing companies, Reaction Motors Inc. Four members of the American Rocket Society's experimental committee would be the founders of this company. The experimental phase of the American Interplanetary Society and later the American Rocket Society lasted only about 10 years but led to the advancement of rocket science. American Interplanetary Society's scope had moved far from its origins as group of space enthusiasts to amateur experimenters to the country's leading technical society for rocketry and jet propulsion.

Revue / Journal Title

Journal of spacecraft and rockets   ISSN 0022-4650   CODEN JSCRAG 

Source / Source

2003, vol. 40, n^o4, pp. 475-490 [16 page(s) (article)]

Langue / Language

Anglais

Editeur / Publisher

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Easton, PA, ETATS-UNIS  (1964) (Revue)

Localisation / Location

INIST-CNRS, Cote INIST : 11416, 35400011267789.0040