Robert Esnault-Pelterie

Robert Albert Charles Esnault - Pelterie ( born November 8, 1881 in Paris, † December 6, 1957 ) was a French aviation and rocket pioneer.

Biography

The son of a textile industrialist studied for his physics education in Paris and gave after his graduation in 1902 as engineer of the emerging just in France Aviation " heavier than air " a scientific basis. In 1904 he was the first manufacturer in a non-powered biplane glider ailerons. He invented the stick and let that body on 22 January 1907 in Paris patented ( Patent No. 373818 ). Esnault - Pelterie built some aircraft, such as the REP 1, which he first flew on October 10, 1907. He developed a lightweight and powerful radial engine. On June 8, 1908 flew his R.E.P. 2 for the first time. This machine flew on May 22, 1909 around 8 km. Founded by him REP for the production of aircraft and aircraft engines still exists today.

After a crash on 18 June 1908, he turned to the rocketry. Before the French Physical Society he held on November 13, 1912 a lecture about the possibility of space flight, but this was received with skepticism. During World War II he served in the Army and was also excellent.

After the end of hostilities he proved by experiments that the specific impulse rocket engines at that time was enough to reach into the universe. He continued working in the field, as his patent had made for the stick him a rich man. His lecture on the study of the upper atmosphere with rockets and the possibility of interplanetary flights, held on June 8, 1927 before the French Astronomical Society, attracted international attention. In order to promote rocketry, he founded together with the banker André- Louis Hirsch the 10,000 franc international prize of Astronautics. The first winner was Hermann Oberth.

In 1928 he married during a trip to New York Carmen de Quiros. He worked on his masterpiece L' Astronautique ( The astronautics ), which appeared in 1930. He began with experiments on liquid rocket with various fuels. He lost in 1931 after an accident in his laboratory Boulogne four fingers of his left hand.

In 1934 he received a government research contract on the development of rocket engines. Esnault - Pelterie was one of the first who propagated the nuclear propulsion for space shortly after the possibility of nuclear fission was known. The German invasion of 1940, however, his work let him adjust. After the Second World War, he turned his knowledge in conferences again the space available, but dealt more with philosophical issues.

Awards

Writings

• Robert Esnault - Pelterie: Moteur à explosion extra- Léger. In: Mémoires de la Société des Ingénieurs Civils de France. 2, 1907 ISSN 0371-0203, pp. 610-640, Planche 152, 153, (also Separatum 1908).
• Robert Esnault - Pelterie: Considérations sur les résultats d'un allégement indéfini of moteurs. In: Journal de physique théorique et appliquée. Série 5, 3, Mars 1913, ISSN 0368-3893, pp. 218-230, (also Separatum 1913).
• Robert Esnault - Pelterie: L' exploration de la très haute par fusées atmosphère et la possibilité des voyages interplanétaires. Conférence faite à l' Assemblée générale de la Société Astronomique de France, le 8 juin 1927. Société Astronomique de France, Paris 1928 (Lecture ).
• Robert Esnault - Pelterie: L' Astronautique. 2 vols. Lahure, Paris 1930-35.