Happy B-day Walter

[(B/T)uttle & Sam]

Dave Monroe wrote:
> 
> ... Walter R. Dornberger!  Just thought y'all'd be interested, is all
> ...

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http://www.donaldedavis.com/PARTS/V-2.html


Fritz Lang's 'Frau Im Mond' ('Girl on the Moon') had
appeared in Theaters as among the last of the silent
films in 1928. 

   This influential film introduced to the screen many of
the elements familiar to space enthusiasts, such as the
stage rocket, and the effects of acceleration and
weightlessness. The most enduring legacy of this film
was the dramatic device of the countdown of the last
seconds before the ignition of the rocket. This was later
adopted as actual practice for launches as well as for
nuclear explosions! German rocket pioneer Hermann
Oberth was sought out as technical advisor on the film,
and he tried unsuccessfully to build a liquid fuel rocket
for the premier of the movie.

   The German Rocketeers, with networking between
them facilitated by Willy Ley, actually built small but
functioning liquid fuel rockets which relied on
combining fuel elements through pipes to create a
controlled combustion. This is fundamentally different
from the ancient powder filled tubes invented by the
Chinese.
   One of these new rockets climbed over 1000 feet in
October 1931.
   The next year the German Army showed interest in
their work with Captain Walter Dornberger, head of
powder rocket development, visiting their facilities.
In 1929 Dornberger had been assigned the task, by
Army Ordinance development, of developing a rocket
capable of greater range than the most powerful gun,
Germany's legendary 'Big Bertha' cannon which lobbed
shells 65 miles during the World War. What
Dornberger saw led to his offer to key personnel to
work for him in an Army development program. Among
them was Werner Von Braun, most gifted of that
generation of German rocketeers.