"The Third Reich's Diabolical Orbiting Superweapon" Topic

This is pretty cool:

damninteresting.com/?p=940

Iteresting site thanks for sharing!

Very thought provoking read. Wonder if we could have beaten the Nazi's in a cold war? Seems these sods were always up to something.

Wow! Thanks!

Al | rivetsandsteam.com

We are certainly glad that Hitler had a timetable which did not include waiting for 50 years to build this thing! With the incredible pool of talent and only the limits of state funding they built some of the most unbelievable things in one of the shortest periods of time and under incredible duress. This is probably one of the reasons that Moonraker was written – all one has to do is read between the lines. A pulp game indeed. and to think – all one needs is a old satellite dish to use as the space station!

Did you follow the link to the original 1945 NY Times article? The comments by skeptical US scientists are amusing…

"both men agreed that for practical purposes no air exists at 5,000 and that an artificial atmosphere would have to be supplied within a closed receptacle of some kind"

I wonder if that statement s an indicator of the prevailing US knowledge about space, or whether it is an indicator of the type of "experts" the NY Times manages to find to comment on news!

Wow, wish I found out about this when I was playing Hard Vacuum regulary- would have been an awesome plot device!

-Will

""both men agreed that for practical purposes no air exists at 5,000 and that an artificial atmosphere would have to be supplied within a closed receptacle of some kind"

I wonder if that statement s an indicator of the prevailing US knowledge about space, or whether it is an indicator of the type of "experts" the NY Times manages to find to comment on news!"

What's wrong with their statement? Enlighten us, please do.

The nazis couldn't even build 2,000 Tiger tanks or come up with a decent jet engine but some people think they could build solar death mirrors in orbit?
Where, exactly, would they be building the rockets for this grand plan? Would the Americnas and British give Hitler a time out from bombing Germany flat so that "Operation Solar Thunder" could be implemented?

Just curious.

Pat

The nazis couldn't even build 2,000 Tiger tanks or come up with a decent jet engine but some people think they could build solar death mirrors in orbit?
Where, exactly, would they be building the rockets for this grand plan? Would the Americnas and British give Hitler a time out from bombing Germany flat so that "Operation Solar Thunder" could be implemented?

Note the article stated the scientests thought it take several decades to develop. There is no indication anyone in Germany thought it would be ready in time for the war.

-Will

"What's wrong with their statement? Enlighten us, please do."

My statement did come across as somewhat dense didn't it? :)

To clarify, since the article explained that the Germans had included plans for pumpkin plants to replenish the oxygen, one wonders how much the "experts" actually looked at the plans before dismissing it as impossible rubbish.

Nazi science sneers at mere physical limitations! All of you will burn like ants on the playground under the rays of the Ubermagnifier!

Unless it's a cloudy day, of course…

"The nazis couldn't even build 2,000 Tiger tanks or come up with a decent jet engine but some people think they could build solar death mirrors in orbit?"

Then the Me 262 was powered by Donner and Blitzen I presume.

Greetings, Frans.

Mserafin- You are a freind of 'Dangermouse?'

Dangermouse? Never heard of him, I'm afraid.

The Me-262 engines weren't exactly "Vunderful", the Russians, who relied heavily on captured German tech, had to wait until a very naive British government sold them some Nene engines. They promptly pirated them (who would have thought it?) and then were able to develop the MiG-15. (Which used a Focke-Wulf derived airframe.)

Anyway, all these things are more along the lines of a Nazi wetdream than actual science.

But it does make for cool pictures and "what if" scenarios.

As someone already mentioned, this type of stuff makes for great Pulp game "fodder"!

strange nazi science. just weird.

Mserefin- One of the genres at 'Irregular Webcomic' is an Indiana Jones style pulp, where the bad guys are forever sneering "Nazi Science sneers at your…". On the message boards the writer goes by the handle 'Dangermouse' after the classic british hero (who is a mouse)

"The Me-262 engines weren't exactly "Vunderful", the Russians, who relied heavily on captured German tech, had to wait until a very naive British government sold them some Nene engines. They promptly pirated them (who would have thought it?) and then were able to develop the MiG-15. (Which used a Focke-Wulf derived airframe.)"

All the early jet engines had their problems, and the JuMo 004's were "Vunderful" enough to make the 262 the best interceptor of the war.
In case of the JuMo 004 most of the problems were caused by a lack of the right materials btw, not with a German inability to "come up with a decent jet engine".
Ever wondered how reliable the Welland would have been had the British had the same lack of raw materials the Germans had?
The whole British centrifugal concept was, for fighter engines, a dead-end anyway.

Greetings, Frans.