THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND! SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 21, 1921.
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Mboh-Rbcket Show That the jGiant
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An Imaginative Reconstruction of
Professor R H. Goddard's Pro
posed Multiple - Explosive $ky
Rocket for Reaching : the Moon.
The Sky Rocket Js Shown in Posi
tion to Begin Its Flight, From the
Roof of a New. York Skyscraper.
WORCESTER, Mass Aug. 8.
rHE only- -way to c6nvlnce those
who are skeptical ot my rocket
reaching the moon Is to show
them," Professor Robert H. Goddard. pro
fessor ot physics at Clark University, de
clared to-day -When asked It he had aban
doned his plans for making that famous
trip. . --i :. ; :,.-rv -
While nothing new has been announced
about the experiment for several months.
Professor Goddar&sald that does not mean
he has not been doing anything. On the
contrary, he is Just as enthusiastic over
the project as ever. He explained that
things are at a standstill Just at present,
principally for lack of funds for experi
mental Work, but that he intended to go
ahead with the work In the Fall after the
Summer vacation.
The $5,000 granted him for experiments
tion by the Smithsonian Institute ot Wash
ington is practically gone, he said, and
tin til additional funds are forthcoming lit
tle can be accomplished. ' Professor God- ,
dard said funds had, not come in from any
ether source, and he had not considered
asking for public subscriptions to help the
enterprise. Rather than be obliged to
abandon the project this may be resorted
to eventually, he said, j Asked why it
should cost practically $5,000 to make a
model ot a rocket and parts for the mech
anism. Professor Goddard. said that labor
costs entered largely Into the expense.
No fuH-sl2e projectile or machinery has
teen built, and the only thing to show Is
the model of the projectile, work on which
was done at the Worcester Polytechnic
, institute in this city and at Clark Uni
versity. Whether a'ctual work on the pro
jectile will go ahead this year will depend
to some extent on the receipt ot more
money. :i;V;';, -. :.'!: ',;.-v:
t Professor Goddard's plan of sending a
rocket to the moon is upon the principle
ot the operation of a skyrocket and de
pends upon a series of explosions. Just
how many explosions will be necessary to
reach the moon has not been stated, but
the professor believes a rocket can be
made large enough to hold. sufficient force
to attain the distance. Although Captain
; Charles N. Fitzgerald, of the New York
air police, asked permission to be the first
passenger on the rocket. Professor God
dard declares he cannot consider any such
Offpr at present .
"Ever since, a year ago, announcement
was made that a rocket was under develop-
The Goddard Moon Rocket Shown in the Course of Its Mighty Flight Through
the Sky to the Moon. According to This Imaginative Treatment of the
Scientist's Invention, the Rocket Has Started on Its Voyage with a Large
Crew of Scientists Who Have Actually Announced Their Eagerness to
Test This Method of Reaching Our Satellite. If This Project Is Carried
Out Jules Verne's ''Trip to the Moon" Will Be.CompIetely Realized
ment which should. In principle, be capabloVighteen) return?
..V . . .1.11 3 . . . .
densities that very likely hold at Ugh ele
vations, shows that if instruments sup
ported by a small parachute fall from a
Jieight of 100 miles,' the velocity would be
reduced to. and maintained at, a sate value",
even before the twenty-mile leTel had been
reached. Attention la called to the first,
successful sounding-balloon .ascension In
America, at St. Louis, 1904, In which In
etruments tell 10.4 miles without damage,
even without a parachute.
' "But, even if this could not be done; the -suggestion
made in the original paper of
leaving a tew charges in the rocket to be
used after a considerable drop had been
made, in order to check the descent, would
eliminate any question as to the possibil
ity of checking the speed.
"The value of the multiple-charge rocket
for high -altitude research is obvious when
it is realized that, save for a projectile
fired from a gun, which would produce
forces too seat to be withstood by a deli
' cate'appararas, thl3 method is the only one
that does not require the presence of air.
Thus the record for aeroplanes Is 6.8 miles,
for. sounding-balloons 2L7 miles, and tot
pilot-balloons (without Instruments) ' 24.3
miles. . --w.-- f
"As ; la vreH understood by the United :
States Weather Bureau, the balloon is 11m
ited to but a few miles farther, and if the,
region above this height is to be explored
it must be by rockets of the type that has
been described. Already the Bureau has
suggested certain ; recording Instruments '
for the purpose.
"Next, as to the Question ot propulsion
beyond the predominating gravitational In-
fiuence of the earthlhe question that has
- given rise to xoost discussion Is, perhaps,
What is the value of such a performance,
even granted that It Is physically possible r
"This question suggests ethers: How
are you ever going, to recover anything
V & I & - 4. . - mm m S
uuii u buii vu ia uui waj i xiow can any -"volunteers",
(of which there have been
jy'JrJ IZh ? during
!
An Interior . View of the Moon Rocket, Showing Sleeping Quarters, Driving Mechanism, Gyroscope, Com
pressed Food Cabinets, Oxygen Tanks, Water, Tanks, Lighting Systems and Heaters This Picture and the
.Other Two Upon This Page Reproduced by Courtesy pi the Bray Pictures Corporation, New York.
of reaching great altitudes, even as great
as interplanetary distances, there have
been numerous articles in magazines and
papers of more or less authenticity," said
Professor Goddard. "It la worth while
stating the puryssea and possibilities cf
the investigation, although I prefer work-
tug quietly rather than Issuing statements.
, "First, regarding the possible study ot
conditions at -a great height in the atmos
phere. It has been said that it is unlikely
that any instruments could survive a fall
from so great a height. The important
point Is that the Instruments end rocket
fall from rest, and that under-this condi
tion even a small parachute must be suftt
"la reply to all these questions I wish to
say, first, that X have asked for no volun
teers. While I realise the absurdity of
some of the suggestions, when they are
viewed in the light ot what has so far been
published regarding the realization of these
suggestions, I wish to say that there are
other principles Just as fundamental as the
multiple-charge - rocket principle, which X
believe can be applied, concerning which
experiments have already been performed
in some cases, and which I further believe
wlU lead to results ot a nature sufficiently
sensational to satisfy anyone.
"If these matters were not to be kept
confidential, at least until the work had
been put upon a substantial basis, many
dent to maintain the velocity at a sate .who are either not famiii itwhT.u.i
2!t , , . V Principles, or who do not take the trouble
- "Thus, in the original Smithsonian pub- to look into the matter sufficiently, would
liutuuuf a wubuiauuii . uhi ujga uio mui Bring xorwara au sorts CI cruiaimm.
would result In much talk and little actual
accomplishment.
"A recent critic, Mr. Morrell, states that
bodies when they speed through the air
are subject to friction against the air, which.
Is sufficient to generate tremendous heat,'
and that the rocket will generate a red
heat tor most ot the first hundred miles.'
This is what would happen It a high speed
were maintained throughout this distance,
and the air had the same density as at sea
level. As a matter of fact. In the Smith
sonian publication in which the experi
ment is suggested, the velocity is chosea
at each part of the path, such as to make
the mass of the rocket at the start a mini
mum, taking Into account both, air resis
tance and gravity. .,
"This velocity must of necessity, ' be
small' where the air is dense being under
1,000 feet per second for the first twenty
miles, at which height the pressure be
comes but. 1. per cent thatf&t sea-leveL
Even at a ntnety-flve-mile elevation the
velocity would be but slightly over two
miles per second, where the airvhas an
estimated density ot but four one hundred
millionth that at sea4evel
. "The speed ot 6.4 miles per second, of
which Mr. Morrell speaka as causing the
rocket to vanish in an incandescent wisp
of flame and smoke, would not be reached
. until an altitude ot over 700 miles had been
attained, at which height there must exist
practically a complete vacuum. The case
is entirely different from that of meteors,
which enter the earth's atmosphere with.
an initial speed ot over eight miles per
second. . , 6
"'Concerning next the possibility of strik
ing the moon with a rocket, granting the
possibility of attaining, that distance, the
further comment Is made that the earth
and moon are moving in different dlreo- '
tio'ns at, high speeds, the gravitational pull
ot the earth is complex, and there are un- ;
known air currents. In reply . to these
criticisms it may be said that although the
speeds ot the two bodies are high and dif
ferent they are known, at least sufficiently
well to make possible the accurate predic
tion of eclipses years in advance. Also
any Incalculable vagaries of air currents,
above twenty miles, occur In air of practi
cally negligible density. v
"Further, as I have already suggested,
'there is the obvious possibility ot using
the rocket method of propulsion to correct
the flight by transverse impulses, and also
if necessary by the aid of photo-sensitive
cells, such as the selenium or the thaloflde
cell, which latter Increases greatly In sen
sitiveness at low temperatures.
- "In conclusion, not only do I "believe
that the multiple charge rocket principle
is correct, as- well as the further principles
to which allusion has been made, but the
experiments so tar performed on the small
model under test demonstrate clearly the
; practicability of the idea. This work Is
proceeding slowly because of the lack of
really adequate support, although' the
- Smithsonian Institution is doing-as much
as It can. on a work on this kind. But,
nevertheless, widespread Interest Is being
taken in the work. To my mind, the whole
problem is one of the most fascinating la
the field of applied physics that could be "
imagined." -
At least one of the -mysteries of the
moon which Professor Goddard's rocket
would solve has been theoretically ex
plained recently. We now know by evi
dence that amounts to conclusive proof
the reason of the strange formation of the
moon's . surface, ' with its multitudes of
"craters" and other weird features. .
The so-called craters are not ot volcanic
origin. The newer theory, that they were
made by the Impact of myriads of moon
lets originally composing aring (like that
of Saturn) around the earth, and which
coalesced to form the. moon, is rejected as
an absurdity. ,
Why. then, the vast craters thousands ot
feet deep, the tremendous ravines and
gorges and the mountain ranges miles in
s height? Because the mountains are not
really mountains at all. " but enormous
' heaps xf snow.k The ravines and gorges
are empty river-beds lying between snow
piled banks. The craters, which are of
' all shapes and sizes, are dried -up beds of
lakes walled by lofty cliffs of snow.
Ia a word, all the wonderful features ot
the lunar landscape observable through
the telescope are nothing more nor less
than the fantastic sculpturing of Jack
Frost! . !
How has the marvel come about? '
. simply through the fact that the lunar.
ess. lakes and streams, evaporated and
transformed Into snow, hsve risen from
their beds and taken up their permanent
abode on dry laud, j
It will presently be shown how this has
come to pass, and sufficient proof will be .
given, pausing only to say that this re
markable discovery must be credited to a
distinguished - scientist ot Pittsburgh,
George Henry Lepper.
Grasp, to -start with, the simple facts
that the moon always turns the same face
to the earth i that we have never seen Its
other hemisphere, and that it does not
revolve in front of the sun' every twenty
four hours as our planet does. Day on any
given part of its surface is two weeks
long, and is followed by a night of equal
length. In effect, it has, all the year -round,
a fortnight of Summer succeeded
by a fortnight of Winter. Its days and
nights are seasons.
let us suppose that, long ages ago. the
moon had. relatively to its size, as much
air and water as the earth possesses. .
. There came a .
thne when it re
ceived less heat
from the sun than
previously, which
has, science tells
'us, undoubtedly
been the case
with the earth
'also.
During the
fourteen-day Win
ter snows accu
mulated on the
land surfaces, to
b e melted' -b y
the continuously
shining sun of
.the succeeding
fourteen - day
Summer.
. But at ter a
while, - with in
' creased cool
mmer sun could no longer
11 of the scows accumulated
rtnight of Winter. There wss
a residue, to which the next Winter added
a little more, the following cold season a
little more, and so on, .
Where did the snow come from? Neces
sarily from the seas and other .water
spaces. The Summer sun evaporated the
water, and, when. Winter came, the vapor-,
laden air deposited its moisture in the
form ot snow.
Of the total quantity of enow deposited
each Winter upon the land there was al
ways a remainder, the sun ot the succeed
ing Summer 'not being able to melt quite
all of it. Thus, with the recurring sea
sons, the accumulations ot snow on the
land surfaces became steadily greater anl
greater. '-.;,
Inasmuch as the water that made the
enow could be derived only from the seas,
lakes, etc it Is obvious that a continua
tion of the process must In the course of
time drain all bodies of water dry and re
sult In the transfer of their fluid. to" the
lsad, in the form of snow. Or, let us
rsther say, snow and Ice. -
This- Incidentally involved the disap
pearance ot the moon's atmosphere, which
was literally swallowed up by the snow.
We know that a single Inch of rainfall is.
equivalent to a ten-inch snowfall. Why?
Because, in changing from water to snow
flakes, a cubic foot of water absorbs sbout
nine cubic feet of air. Snow on the earth
swallows air in that proportion. It did
the same thing on the moon, until all of
the lunar, atmosphere was buried In snow.
Bo far, these ideas might be described
as purely theoretical, being based upon
assertions that are unproved. But wait a
bit. and we shall see that the alleged facts
are proved by plain evidence which the
moon herself offers to the telescopic ob-
i.rraf -
server.
In the meantime, content to follow the '
theory, let uS assume that aires ago the
moon had an atmosphere as dense ss our
own. -There must then have been winds
to scatter the snows widely over its con
tinental plains.
But as the atmosphere wss progressive
ly swallowed up, ' becoming thinner and
thinner, the winds on the moon lost their
carrying power and the snowfalls were
correspondingly restricted to the near,
neighborhood of the water-spaces from
which the vapor, converted into snow, was
derived.
It matters not how slow the process of
snow accumulation and air-swallowing
-was. Time has nothing to, do with the
-proposition. The point is that (according
to the theory) conditions were such as to
bring about, steadily and inexorably, a
Continued, on Next fagtl
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