Posts Tagged ‘blast’
VENGEANCE FROM THE SKIES: V-2 ROCKET
A video I made on Nazi Germany’s WWII weapon of mass destruction: the V-2 rocket.
The V-2 “Vengeance” Rocket (German: Vergeltungswaffe 2) was the first ballistic missile and first man-made object to achieve sub-orbital spaceflight. It was developed by German scientist Wernher von Braun, who built it only for money and his love of Germany. Over 3,000 V-2 rockets were launched by Wehrmacht agains Allied forces. 20,000 slaves were used to build those rockets, which only killed about 7,000.
The V-2 rocket was the world’s first ballistic missile, and it was actually guided. It was SO POWERFUL, a single V-2 hit could completely wipe out an ENTIRE city block. It was a liquid-fueled rocket using ethanol (fermented sugar) as the rocket fuel. The four external rudders guided it to its target. The early versions of the missile utilized the LEV-3 guidance systems, while later versions used radar-guidance. The rocket was tipped with a 2,150-pound amatol warhead. The rockets would reach an altitude of 80 kilometers before the engine stalls. The V-2 was a SUPERSONIC weapon, so the target would be demolished BEFORE they could hear a rocket motor coming. Here are the specifications:
-Engine: 8,380 lb (3,810 kg) of 75% ethanol and 25% water + 10,800 lb (4,910 kg) liquid oxygen
-Launch mass: 27576 lb (12508 kg)[5] (12,535 kg)
-Length: 46 ft (14 m)[6] (14 m)
-Diameter: 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
-Wingspan: 11 ft 8 in (3.56 m)
-Speed maximum: 1.6 km/s (about 3,580 mph); at impact 800 m/s (about 1,780 mph)
-Range: 200 miles (322 km)
-Flying altitude: 55 miles (88.5 km) maximum
-Warhead: 2150 lb (977 kg) Amatol
-Guidance: Gyroscopes for attitude control Müller-type pendulous gyroscopic accelerometer for engine cutoff on most production rockets (10% of the Mittelwerk rockets used a guide beam for cutoff.)
-Launch platform: Mobile (Meillerwagen)
One disadvantage the V-2 had was that it did not have a proximity detonator that could initiate an AIR-BLAST. An air-blast from a V-2 rocket would do some even more SERIOUS damage than impact.
BY THE WAY, if you are a nuclear-bomb fanatic, you might recognize the music I used…
Duration : 0:2:25
