The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

“V” weapons
See article, pages 457–459.
vacuum
In the simplest sense, empty space. However, since a vacuum,
either natural or artificial, is never completely
empty, the term needs a modifier. Thus scientists speak of
a hard vacuum, a quantum vacuum, and so forth. See
also: Casimir effect, energy, vacuum energy drive, and
zero-point energy.
vacuum energy drive
A hypothetical form of propulsion based on the discovery
that a vacuum, far from being a pocket of nothingness,
actually churns and seethes with unseen activity.
This cosmic unrest is caused by quantum fluctuations,
tiny ripples of energy—called zero-points—in the fabric of
space and time. By interfering with these fluctuations, it
may be possible to tap their energy. So far, only relatively
crude demonstrations of the power of quantum fluctuations
have been carried out. In one set of experiments,
carried out by physicists led by the late Nobel prize–winner
Hendrik Casimir, two metal plates were clamped and
held together by zero-point forces. The crucial point is
that the plates were brought together with a force that
heated them up very slightly (see Casimir effect). While
this isn’t enough to run a starship, it showed that it is possible
to tap the energy field of a vacuum and turn it into
power. One proposal for creating a quantum fluctuation
space-drive is based on the idea that these tiny energy ripples
hold objects back as they fly through space; in other
words, they are responsible for inertia. If this effect could
be countered, rockets would need much less fuel to overcome
their own inertia and would fly through space with
58, 99
far less effort.
Valier, Max (1893–1930)
An Austrian amateur rocketeer and space popularizer
who advocated the use of rockets for spaceflight. Educated
in engineering in Berlin, he experimented with
rockets in the 1920s with the Verein für Raumschiffahrt
(Society for Space Travel), of which Wernher von Braun
and Hermann Oberth were prominent members. His
non-technical book Der Vorstoss in den Wltenraum (The
Advance into Space) spread Oberth’s ideas to a wide
audience. Valier was also interested in using rockets to
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propel ground vehicles and, together with Fritz von Opel
and Friedrich Sander, built the world’s first rocketpowered
automobile in 1928. Two years later, aged only
31, Valier was killed when a small, steel-cased LOX/
alcohol engine, designed for use in the Opel-Rak 7 rocket
car, exploded during a test run in his laboratory. 91, 296 See
Valier-Oberth Moon gun.
Valier-Oberth Moon gun
In the 1920s, members of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt
amused themselves by redesigning Jules Verne’s Moon
gun (see Columbiad ). In 1926, the rocket pioneers Max
Valier and Hermann Oberth designed a gun that would
correct Verne’s technical mistakes and be capable of firing
a projectile to the Moon. The projectile would be
made of tungsten steel, practically solid, with a diameter
of 1.2 m and a length of 7.2 m. Even using the latest gun
propellants, a barrel length of 900 m would be necessary.
To eliminate the compression of air in the barrel during
acceleration, it was proposed that the barrel itself be evacuated
to a near-vacuum, with a metal seal at the top of
the barrel. Residual air would provide enough pressure to
blast this seal aside before the shell exited the gun. To
minimize drag losses in getting through the atmosphere,
it was proposed to put the mouth of the gun above most
of Earth’s atmosphere: it would be drilled into a high
mountain of at least 4,900 m altitude.
Van Allen, James Alfred (1914–)
An American space scientist who participated in 24 missions,
including some of the early Explorers and Pioneers.
His research focused on planetary magnetospheres
and the solar wind. He began high-altitude rocket
research in 1945, initially used captured V-2s (see “V”
weapons), and is best remembered for his discovery of
the radiation belts that were subsequently named after
him (see Van Allen Belts). Van Allen received a B.S. from
Iowa Wesleyan College in 1935 and an M.S. (1936) and a
Ph.D. (1939) from the California Institute of Technology.
After a spell with the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, where he
studied photodisintegration, Van Allen moved in 1942 to
the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University,
where he worked to develop a rugged vacuum
tube. He also helped to develop proximity fuses for
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