V-2 rocket

Unlike the V-1 flying bomb, the V-2's speed and trajectory made it practically invulnerable to anti-aircraft guns and fighters, as it dropped from an altitude of 100–110 km (62–68 mi) at up to three times the speed of sound at sea level (approximately 3,550 km/h [2,206 mph]).

The German V-2 rocket (German: Vergeltungswaffe 2, "Retribution Weapon 2", officially Aggregat 4 or A-4) was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. The V-2 rocket also became the first man-made object to travel into space. It was used as a "retribution weapon" for the inhuman bombing of Germany during World War II.

History

Rudolf Nebel (left) with club comrades (Vereinskameraden des Vereins für Raumschiffahrt) in the middle stands Hermann Oberth (to the right of the large rocket), in the middle Klaus Riedel (with the small staff rocket), to the right behind Riedel the young Wernher von Braun, 1930.

Earlier ballistic missile designs started in the 1930s.

It all began in the 1920’s. While Germany was banned from researching or producing any military technology by the Versaille Treaty after World War I, surprisingly enough, rocket science was not part of that ban. Thus, many German scientists engaged in the fruitful exploration of rocket technology. In the so-called “Golden Twenties”, rocket science and the idea of space travel quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Large-scale public experiments were accompanied by fiction and non-fiction literature, movies and the foundations of space travel associations. With the dawn of the Third Reich, aerospace research was practically completely militarized and declared a secret state matter. The scientists simultaneously worked on space flight as well as the weaponization of rocket technology. Unbeknownst to me, German scientists actually were the first ones to shoot a rocket into space in 1942. Less than two years later, rockets of the same type are used as enormously destructive weapons in World War II, now infamously known as V2. After the war, Germany is banned from military research once more, this time including rocket science. Further, remaining technology, as well as numerous scientists, are brought to the USA and the USSR.

As Germany collapsed, teams from the Allied forces — the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union — raced to capture key German manufacturing sites, technology and especially scientists (Operation Paperclip). Wernher von Braun and over 100 key V-2 personnel surrendered to the Americans and many of the original V-2 team ended up working for the United States. The US also captured enough V-2 hardware to build approximately 80 of the missiles. The Soviets gained possession of the V-2 manufacturing facilities after the war, re-established V-2 production, and moved it to the Soviet Union. It was this German technology that formed the basis for human space flight and space robotic both in the west and the east.

Production

Period of production	Production
Up to 15 September 1944	1,900
15 September to 29 October 1944	900
29 October to 24 November 1944	600
24 November to 15 January 1945	1,100
15 January to 15 February 1945	700
Total	5200

See also

• Wunderwaffe
• Fieseler Fi 103 (V-1 flying bomb)

External links

In German

• Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde