Robert Esnault-Pelterie
Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie (born November 8, 1881 in Paris , † December 6, 1957 there ) was a French aviation and rocket pioneer .
biography
The son of a textile industrialist studied physics in Paris after completing his schooling and, after graduating in 1902 as an engineer, gave the aviation industry “heavier than air”, which is emerging in France, a scientific basis. In 1904 he was the first to use ailerons on a non-powered biplane glider . He invented the joystick and had this device patented in Paris on January 22nd, 1907 (patent no. 373818). Esnault-Pelterie built some aircraft, such as the REP 1 , which he flew for the first time on October 22, 1907 near Buc . He developed a light and powerful radial engine . On June 8, 1908, his REP 2 flew for the first time. This machine flew around 8 km on May 22, 1909. The REP he founded to manufacture aircraft and aircraft engines still exists today.
After a crash on June 18, 1908, he turned to rocket technology . Before the French Physical Society he gave a lecture on November 13, 1912 about the possibility of space flight, which was received with skepticism. During the First World War he served in the army and was also awarded.
After the end of the fighting, he proved through experiments that the specific impulse of the rocket engines of that time was sufficient to get into space. He continued to work in the field since his patent for the joystick had made him a rich man. His lecture on the exploration of the high atmosphere with rockets and the possibility of interplanetary flights , given on June 8, 1927 at the French Astronomical Society, attracted international attention. In order to promote rocket technology, he and the banker André-Louis Hirsch founded the international astronautics prize endowed with 10,000 francs . The first award winner was Hermann Oberth .
In 1928 he married Carmen de Quiros while crossing over to New York . He worked on his major work L'Astronautique ( Die Astronautik ), which appeared in 1930. He began experiments on liquid rockets with various fuels. He lost four fingers of his left hand in an accident in his Boulogner laboratory in 1931 .
In 1934 he received a government research contract on the development of rocket propulsion systems. Esnault-Pelterie was one of the first to promote nuclear propulsion for space travel shortly after the possibility of nuclear fission became known. The invasion of the Germans in 1940 caused him to stop working. After the Second World War he made his knowledge available to space travel in conferences, but was more concerned with philosophical topics.
Awards
- 1930 Jules Janssen Prize
- 1936 member of the Académie des Sciences
- 1970 The lunar crater Esnault-Pelterie is named after him
Fonts
- Robert Esnault-Pelterie: Moteur extra léger à explosion. 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 des moteurs. In: Journal de physique théorique et appliquée. 5. Série, 3, Mars 1913, ISSN 0368-3893 , pp. 218-230, (also Separatum 1913).
- Robert Esnault-Pelterie: L′exploration par fusées de la très haute atmosphere et la possibilité des voyages interplanétaires. Conference faite à l'Assemblée générale de la Société astronomique de France , le 8 June 1927. Société Astronomique de France, Paris 1928 (lecture).
- Robert Esnault-Pelterie: L'Astronautique. 2 volumes. Lahure, Paris 1930–35.
Web links
- GC Flammarion: Robert Esnault-Pelterie (1881-1957). L'Astronomie, Vol. 75 (1961), pp. 83-85 (obituary, French)
- http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/rep.html
Individual evidence
- ^ Hermann WL Moedebeck : Flight technology. Henri Farman and R. Esnault-Pelterie . In: Oberrheinischer Verein für Luftschiffahrt (Hrsg.): Illustrated Aeronautical Messages . No. 12 . Braunbeck & Gutenberg, Berlin 1907, p. 446–451 ( IAM on volaticum [accessed April 13, 2019]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Esnault-Pelterie, Robert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Esnault-Pelterie, Robert Albert Charles (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French aerospace and missile pioneer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 8, 1881 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 6, 1957 |
| Place of death | Paris |