Ministry of Space [1] is a what-if short comics series by Warren Ellis, tellsing the very story of Britain being the first to launch into space thanks to V-2 tech. As expected of Ellis, it's full of references to the british culture and customs; even the rocket tech design has semblance to actual british air and space hardware.
Following WWII, a plan to use a Nazi rocket to put a Briton in space
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Re: Following WWII, a plan to use a Nazi rocket to put a Briton in space
#12Totally predictable ending. The potential for this country to get advanced technology well ahead of it's time getting rejected by bureaucrats because of other priorities (or really it serves none of their short term goals). The same thing happened with our fibre network in the early 90's.
"The potential for this country to get advanced technology well ahead of it's time getting rejected by bureaucrats" well I would say that right after the war there really were more important things to do rather than putting people into space.
Re: Following WWII, a plan to use a Nazi rocket to put a Briton in space
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then the BBC article is just as clickbaity so you'll be needing this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/contact_us/making_a_complaint....
It is worth doing this. We pay our license fee specifically so that we get a non-commercial public interest broadcaster (i.e. in this case non-clickbait article titles). (OK we pay our license fee because otherwise some nasty people take us to court with a criminal charge -- but some of use don't mind paying our license fee because of the whole public service broadcaster thing.)
Well personally I believe "Nazi " is an incredibly common phrasing structure and it seems odd to call out this HN topic or the BBC article for using it. Just search Google for "nazi rocket" for example. Or try "nazi weapons".
Re: Following WWII, a plan to use a Nazi rocket to put a Briton in space
#14Totally predictable ending. The potential for this country to get advanced technology well ahead of it's time getting rejected by bureaucrats because of other priorities (or really it serves none of their short term goals). The same thing happened with our fibre network in the early 90's.
To be fair, with limited resources, investing in aviation and nuclear was a better choice
People love to ask for regulation and more bureaucracy then complain when things don't go where they want it
> well ahead of it's time
"its", not "it's"
Re: Following WWII, a plan to use a Nazi rocket to put a Briton in space
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is worth doing this. We pay our license fee specifically so that we get a non-commercial public interest broadcaster (i.e. in this case non-clickbait article titles). (OK we pay our license fee because otherwise some nasty people take us to court with a criminal charge -- but some of use don't mind paying our license fee because of the whole public service broadcaster thing.)
Well personally I believe "Nazi " is an incredibly common phrasing structure and it seems odd to call out this HN topic or the BBC article for using it. Just search Google for "nazi rocket" for example. Or try "nazi weapons".
Try searching google for "awesome facts about".
It is very common. But the quality of the content behind the links is less then optimal.
Re: Following WWII, a plan to use a Nazi rocket to put a Briton in space
#16Totally predictable ending. The potential for this country to get advanced technology well ahead of it's time getting rejected by bureaucrats because of other priorities (or really it serves none of their short term goals). The same thing happened with our fibre network in the early 90's.
To be fair, with limited resources, investing in aviation and nuclear was a better choice People love to ask for regulation and more bureaucracy then complain when things don't go where they want it > well ahead of it's time "its", not "it's"
The BBC did a rather splendid pair of documentaries on the technological lead the UK had in aviation after WW2 - "Cold War, Hot Jets":
Re: Following WWII, a plan to use a Nazi rocket to put a Briton in space
#17Fun thing, some danish guys are trying to do exactly that. They are running a private space program in some sheds in the Copenhagen harbor, using mainly off-the-shelf parts and donations to keep going. As they once stated, they dont want to reinvent the wheel, so they usd freely available plans for rockets - which, incidentially only were the plans for the A4 rocket and engine. With this, they want to put a human in space, making Denmark the fourth country to achieve it worldwide.
Oh, and they also own a submarine.
Re: Following WWII, a plan to use a Nazi rocket to put a Briton in space
#18I was reading "Hitler's Last Day: Minute by Minute" and they mention Von Braun and his biographical movie "I Aim at the Stars" - he claimed that his wartime work was really motivated by a desire to work on space travel.
Some wit thought the movie should perhaps have been called "I Aim at the Stars (But Sometimes I Hit London)".
Re: Following WWII, a plan to use a Nazi rocket to put a Briton in space
#19Totally predictable ending. The potential for this country to get advanced technology well ahead of it's time getting rejected by bureaucrats because of other priorities (or really it serves none of their short term goals). The same thing happened with our fibre network in the early 90's.
Britain was still on war-time food rationing in '47. I really can't blame them.
Re: Following WWII, a plan to use a Nazi rocket to put a Briton in space
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then the BBC article is just as clickbaity so you'll be needing this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/contact_us/making_a_complaint....
The submission rephrases the BBC's title, so there's not even the excuse that it's just quoting it. (And in any case it's not just hyperbolic, it's a lie. A rocket based on a modification of a German design, but designed and built in Britain, cannot be reasonably considered a "German rocket," let alone a "Nazi rocket.")
The article appears to make it pretty clear that the engineering breakthroughs were all part of the V2:
"Engineers overseeing the tests realized that von Braun had solved fundamental problems in rocketry: he had designed a sizeable engine, an advanced pump to get fuel in fast enough and a sophisticated guidance system."