. .- NASA , TT F-640 I V. 1#2 ,"A. Rynin C. 1 INTERPLANETARY FLIGHT iI TRANSLATED FROM RUSSIAN Published for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations L TECH LlBRARY KAFB, NM I18lllll 11111 llllllllll llllllll#11~ .. ... 0Db92L3 N.A. Rynin INTERPLANETARY FLIGHT AND COMMUNICATION (Mezhplanetnye soobshcheniya) Volume I, No. 2 SPACECRAFT IN SCIENCE FICTION (Kosmi c hes kie kor abli) Leningrad 1928 Translated from Russian Israel Program for Scientific Translations Jerusalem 1971 NASA TT F-641 TT 70-50112 Published Pursuant to an Agreement with THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION and THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, WASHINGTON, D. C. Copyright 0 1971 Israel Program for Scientific Translations Ltd. IPST Cat. No. 5813 Translated by R. Lavoott Printed in Jerusalem by Keter Press Available from the U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Technical Information Service Springfield, Va. 22 15 1 HI/ 16 I Table of Contents Page Foreword ......................... 1 Preface ......................... 2 CHAPTER I. From a Gun to the Planets ............. 4 CHAPTER 11. Hurling Machines ................ 31 CHAPTER 111. Flights with the Aid of Minus and Plus Matter ...... 40 CHAPTERIV. Flights with the Aid of Radiation Pressure ....... 60 CHAPTER V. The Use of Radiant Energy ............. 80 CHAPTER VI. Electric Ships ................. 85 CHAPTER VII. Radio Ships .................. 95 CHAPTER VIII. The Use of Intra-Atomic Energy .......... 106 CHAPTER IX. Rocket Ships .................. 127 CHAPTER X. Inhabitants of Celestial Worlds ........... 153 Conclusion ........................ 180 ... 111 I FOREWORD The inquisitive human mind cannot be satisfied by established forms and laws of science, art, and life in general. Mankind constantly craves for new kinds of progress in every possible direction, and in this craving science, art, technology, and fantasy go hand in hand. Things which yesterday appeared unfeasible and today seem doubtful may tomorrow become reality. For example, Jules Verne in his remarkable novels describes sub- marines, dirigible airships, amphibian airplanes, and other products of technology which at that time were considered fantastic. Fact has now far surpassed his imagination. One of the fascinating ideas which has preoccupied man since time immemorial has been the possibility of flight to other planets. Many writers and scientists have examined the question of whether it is possible to fly from Earth into space, whether man will some day reach the Moon, Mars, Venus, and other planets, whether there exist living organisms in worlds other than Earth, and if so what they are like and under what conditions they originate and reproduce, finally, if man himself has to remain earthbound, whether he can establish communication with inhabitants of other worlds by means of radio or light signals. Many scientists, technicians, fiction writers and poets have, each in his own way, tackled this problem and found his own solution. In the course of centuries and millennia many interesting fantasies and ideas have accumulated which at present constitute a vast store of valu- able knowledge. pertaining to the problems of interplanetary communi- cations. At first this was a realm of pure imagination. In the last twenty or thirty years, however, as a result of a series of scientific and technical works, it has become possible to examine not only an imaginary solution to this problem but also a solution capable of realization. In the present book we deal only with the fantasies of recent fiction writers relating to this problem. Although I have dealt with and prepared for publication other questions of scientific and technical nature, with spaceship calculations and designs, it is not possible to publish these at the present time for financial reasons. In conclusion I wish to express deep gratitude to my publisher, P.P. Soikin, who readily agreed to publish this work and, through the large edition, pro- moted circulation among readers of the idea of interplanetary flight and communication which provoked a series of searching questions in the fields of astronomy, physics, mechanics, and technology. Prof. N. Rynin Leningrad, June 17,1928 "Nobody ever traveled through the world unless he hoped some day to tell others what he had seen. " 13. Pascal PREFACE Flights into space, visits to the Moon, the planets of the solar system and even other worlds have long been favorite themes of numerous works of fiction, especially in the last few years in connection with scientific investi- gations which have recently been undertaken. The fantasies of fiction writers offered a new scope unrelated to ordinary conditions. At the same time the possibility arose of a new kind of "scientific" work of fiction in which the author, skillfully interweaving scientific ideas with fantasy, could imperceptibly work on the imagination of the reader and carry him away to a new horizon, at the same time arousing in him curiosity and a longing to unravel for himself what is fact and what is invention, and how far it is possible to shift the bounds of human achievement. In the following essays the reader is presented with a series of technical projects proposed by writers in their novels for flight into space. These essays are grouped in the following order, those in each group being linked by a general technical concept: 2 -*A- 1. From a gun to the planets 2. From a volcano to the planets. 3. Missile -hurling centrifugal machines . 4. A take-off run along rails on the Earth. 5. Flights with the aid of minus and plus matter. 6. Flights with the aid of radiation pressure. 7. Application of the vibrational force of the ether. 8. Utilization of solar energy. 9. Electric ships. 10. Radio ships. 11. Utilization of intra-atomic energy. 12. Rocket ships. Finally, we introduce a description of landscapes and portrayals of inhabitants of other worlds, as these are presented by various authors, either coming from the inventions of their imagination or based on reasoning concerning the possible forms of landscapes and living beings originating in physical and chemical conditions of different celestial bodies about which information is provided by modern astronomy, astrophysics, and astrochemistry. Since many fiction writers, while setting out their notion of flight in a fascinating manner,failed to provide drawings and sketches,we have attempted, onthe basis oftheir descriptions, to supply sketches and illustrations which in our opinion help the reader to understand the ideas referred to. In another book, ;:: an account was given of the very first ideas of man since earliest times as to how to reach the heavenly bodies. These ideas were naive, many even absurd from a modern standpoint, but they were born of the contemporary relationship between man and nature. N.A. Rynin. Mezhplanetnye soobshcheniya. Mechty, legendy i pervye fantazii,Vol. I, No. 1 (Interplanetary i Flight and Communication. Dreams, Legends, and Early Fantasies). - Izdatel'stvo "P. P. Soikin. " Leningrad 1928. [English translation by Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem 1970. NASA TT F-640, TT 70-50111.1 3 Chapter I FROM A GUN TO THE PLANETS "The gentle luminary of the night appears to be the first station on the journey to eternity. '' C .Flammarion The idea of transporting the heroes of a novel in an apparatus flung from the Earth by some kind of missile device was proposed by several writers, Jules Verne, Le Faure and Graffigny, Wells, Zulawsky, and others, whereby different authors used different throwing instruments, such as a gun or a volcano, or even designed a special enormous hurling machine. FIGURE 2. Jules Verne (1828-1905) We shall now give a description of these schemes, accompanied by a criticism of the main ideas inherent in each one. The idea itself was expounded most graphically by Jules Verne. 4 JULES VERNE Jules Verne was born on February 8,1828 at Nantes, the only son of rather affluent parents. He received his secondary education in his home- town. In 1847 he moved to Paris, where he studied law until 1852; he completed the studies but never became a lawyer. He made his literary debut with stories, comedies and poems but in the space of ten years wrote nothing outstanding. During this period he made several journeys to North America, Norway, and the Mediterranean area; later he was to draw extensively on his impressions. At the time that the new type of novel he had created brought him literally worldwide recognition, his social life became singularly uneventful. At first he lived almost uninterruptedly in Paris, and only occasionally in summer made brief excursions to the coasts of France. In 1890 he moved to Amiens, where he lived quetly and peace- fully until his death (March 24, 1905), publishing approximately two novels a year. He used the idea of a flight from Earth into space in the following novels: "De la terre & la lune, I' "Autour de la lune, 'I "Gens dessus- dessous, "500 millions de la Be'gum, 'I and "Hector Servadac. 'I We shall now give an account of the ideas of Jules Verne concerning flight to the Moon by means of a shot from a gun. VERNE'S GUN NO.l In his novel "500 millions de la Begum", Jules Verne describes a gun from which a projectile is shot which reaches such a speed that it becomes a satellite of the Earth. This gun (Figure 3) weighed no less than 300 tons and was a kind of siege-gun. It was loaded from the breech and the muzzle was 1.5m in diameter. The instrument stood on a steel gun carriage placed on a steel platform. Even a small child could fire the gun,for it was so easy to maneuver due to a complex system of gear wheels. In the rear part of the carriage was a compensator, which absorbed the gun's recoil or at least counteracted it and automatically reset it in position after each shot.