Adolf Oberth

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Adolf Eduard Oberth (born December 29, 1928 in Mediasch , Transylvania , † October 24, 2007 near Sacramento , California ) was a Transylvanian chemist and inventor in the field of rocket-related fuel chemistry. He was the youngest child of Hermann Oberth .

Live and act

Adolf Oberth's family moved to Vienna in 1938 and to Dresden in 1940 , where Hermann Oberth had received a research professorship. In 1943 the mother and sister Erna moved to Feucht near Nuremberg, where Adolf Oberth followed them after the Second World War . There he graduated from high school. He studied chemistry and was in 1955 with the work of photographic contribution to the problem of sensitization and supersensitization emulsions at the Technical University of Munich doctorate . He then became a scientific assistant at the Technical University of Munich and then went to La Spezia , Italy, where he helped his father develop a solid rocket for the Italian Navy. He developed a method of pouring the fuel mixture into molds without explosive air bubbles, so that the technical difficulties that had existed until then could be overcome. Since then, rocket-related fuel chemistry has become his specialty.

After his father went to Wernher von Braun in Huntsville , Alabama, in 1955 , Adolf Oberth followed him to the USA in 1957 . Trying to find a job in the private sector, he went to Sacramento in 1960 to work for Aerojet , a manufacturer of rocket propulsion systems and propellants. There he worked in the research and development department until his retirement and was still active as a consultant and appraiser for the company afterwards.

During his time at Aerojet, he wrote over 30 specialist publications and the book Principles of Solid Propellant Development , published in 1986 , which is regarded as the standard work for solid propulsion systems in rocket technology. He received 30 patents for fuel combinations and fuel binders for solid rocket rockets. In 1985, he received the Wyld Propulsion Award, the highest honor awarded by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, for his achievements in developing binding materials for solid rocket propulsion devices .

From 1952 Adolf Oberth was born with the dental technician Helga. Mattejat (1929–1990) married and had a son and two daughters with her. In 2001 he married Valentina Krymova of Russian descent.

Adolf Oberth died in 2007 after suffering from cancer at the age of 78.

Awards

Fonts

  • Contribution to the problem of sensitization and oversensitization of photographic emulsions. Dissertation. Technical University of Munich 1955.
  • with Edmund J. Mastrolia: Ambient Temperature Binder Cure Catalysts for Hydroxy Terminated Systems. Ft. Belvoir Defense Technical Information Center, July 1971.
  • with Rolf S. Bruenner: Curing System for Carboxy Terminated Polybutadiene Propellants. Ft. Belvoir Defense Technical Information Center, June 18, 1974.
  • Principles of solid propellant development. Chemical Propulsion Information Agency, Laurel, MD 1987.
  • Boris Rauschenbach : Hermann Oberth: 1894–1989. Beyond the earth. A biography. With a foreword by Ernst Stuhlinger . Translated from Russian and edited by Erna Roth-Oberth and Adolf Oberth. Böttiger, Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 3-925725-23-7 .

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personal data
SURNAME Oberth, Adolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Oberth, Adolf Eduard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German chemist and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH December 29, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Medias , Transylvania
DATE OF DEATH October 24, 2007
Place of death near Sacramento , California