Comments on: Happy Birthday, Sputnik

By: sergey

sergey — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:10:52 +0000

Ideological differences between American and Russian cultures were reflected in policy of looting Germany: Americans hunted for scientists and engineers, while Russians took all machinery. US got von Braun, Soviets rocket parts. This was instrumental in USSR losing race for the Moon. R-7 rocket that launched Sputnik, was almost exact copy of V-2, with the second stage added; on the rocket that launched Gagarin 20 rocket engines were mounted, each slightly modernized V-2 engine. Even lunar rocket for manned mission was built, but four launches in a row got botched, and the program was cancelled. This was a blind alley, to add more old V-2 engines, it was impossible to synchronize them. But Von Braun designed a new engine for Saturn rocket, much more large, while Russian experiments with large engines failed.

By: Donald Wolberg

Donald Wolberg — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 13:08:23 +0000

Of course, it would be Tom Lehrer..thanks…my last functioning brain cell was busy chewing gum

By: neo-neocon

neo-neocon — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 05:24:46 +0000

Follow the link—it’s Tom Lehrer.

By: Donald Wolberg

Donald Wolberg — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 02:13:34 +0000

This is the second time I have seen this excellent rendition on Von Braun although in a slightly different version–what is the source? I recall as a kid, seeing Von Braun highlighted on the old Disney show, speaking of our dreams to get into space as humanity’s destiny. it was very heady stuff, and of course Walt Disney made no mention of the V-2 or Werner’s membership in the SS. Of course the Soviets never acknowledged their debt to German (Nazi) rocket experts either. And just about everyone has forgotten the American Robert Goddard’s early work making it all possible.

By: neo-neocon

neo-neocon — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:11:47 +0000

Werner Von Braun:

Gather ’round while I sing you of Wernher von Braun,
A man whose allegiance
Is ruled by expedience.
Call him a Nazi, he won’t even frown,
“Ha, Nazi, Schmazi,” says Wernher von Braun.

Don’t say that he’s hypocritical,
Say rather that he’s apolitical.
“Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
That’s not my department,” says Wernher von Braun.

Some have harsh words for this man of renown,
But some think our attitude
Should be one of gratitude,
Like the widows and cripples in old London town,
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.

You too may be a big hero,
Once you’ve learned to count backwards to zero.
“In German oder English I know how to count down,
Und I’m learning Chinese!” says Wernher von Braun.

By: Donald Wolberg

Donald Wolberg — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:20:50 +0000

Just an aside: I think Sergey means Richard Feynman. Feynman was a New Yorker–Far Rockaway I believe, and MIT educated. He went to work with Oppenheimer at Los Alamos. Oppenheimer was also an American and Harvard educated.Other key bomb players were Ross Lominetz and Sterling Colgate, more of the American who complimented Teller and Szilard, etc.
Fermi was not at Los Alamos and was the product of an Italian edcuation, and Einstein too was not a part of the bomb team.

By: Donald Wolberg

Donald Wolberg — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:05:12 +0000

The problem with Von Braun of course was his “ethical challenges” such as targeting innocents in Poland to test the destructive power of the 1 ton V-2 warhead on undamaged areas such as sleeping towns, as well as his SS membership, later ignored. When he and as I recall Hermann Oberth and others founded the Rocket Society, with early work largely based on the American Robert Goddard’s designs of liquid fuel rocket engines, the basis of all later liquid fueld work, the new Nazi inspired Army officials provided funds and facilities. Of note is the fact that the co-founder, Willy Ley, chose to denounce the Nazis as well as Von Braun and left Germany for America. In the U.S. Ley became a well known science writer and popularizer with several best sellers, and a style later emulated by Steve Gould.

By: sergey

sergey — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 08:35:55 +0000

Most of advances in military technology were based on superb education system of German and Austrian gymnasia. Not only Von Braun team, but the whole team of Manhattan Project consisted primary of European educated scientists (Teller, Fermi, Dirac, Feinman, Einstein, etc.). This system existed in Old Russia, too, and Soviet nuclear scientists like Tamm, Zeldovitch, Budker, Kikoin were educated in such gimnasia. Second generation of theorists (Landau, Sakharov, Abrikosov) were their disciples and retained some marvelous traits of this school. But this system was irreparably destroyed by Nazis and Bolsheviks, so this pipeline of geniuses is empty now.

By: Donald Wolberg

Donald Wolberg — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:15:17 +0000

Does everyone remeber that Yeager himself did a cameo as athe janitor at the bar in the movie? Yeager was testing the first Bel X-1 and X-1A rocket planes and it was the X-1 that first went supersonic. Of course, the entire Redstone (putting the chimp and then Shepard into space) was based on Von Braun and his friends from his V-2 days for Hitler. The Russians also used their captured Germans, of course.

By: david foster

david foster — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 23:37:36 +0000

Sputnik provided the rationale for a vast increase in the money going to education. Ironically, much of the expansion of academia–justified for “national defense” reasons–has resulted in a large stable of professors who are hostile not only to science and technology, but to our civilization itself.