From early 20th-century ballistics to the shape of tomorrow The V2 rocket is instantly recognisable by its extraordinary shape. But where did this revolutionary body shape come from, and why has it not been seen again in missile design since the 1950s? And yet, paradoxically, the shape in stylised formRead on
A rocket engine hidden inside the V2’s rocket engine? We continue exploring the A4 / V2 rocket in detail, and in this video, we dissect a real steam generator used to drive the missile’s steam-powered turbopumps. The relic was discovered in Germany a few years ago and recovered from aRead on
Comparative anatomy: the power plant of A4 and A-7 LPRE (Redstone) During WWII, the urgency of Germany’s V2 rocket program did not allow the technology to mature beyond the prototype stage. The A4/V2 missile employed in combat operations was essentially an early research prototype placed in series production due toRead on
From the ground up We use an accurate and ultra-detailed V2 rocket engine model to demonstrate the building the V2’s 25 ton thrust engine from the ground up. And we examine the relationship between key parts and some of the manufacturing and functional problems of the ancestor of all largeRead on
Switching on the V2 at the instant of lift-off Rightly called a robot bomb during WWII, the V2 rocket was the world’s first fully cybernetic weapon—a war robot. Nothing illustrates the V2 robot’s autonomous character better than the A72 launch switch. It’s a small, almost invisible part of the missile,Read on
