FIRST STEPS TOWARD SPACE - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

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Hirsch visited Germany, on behalf of REP, to
witness the first rocket test at Reinickendorf, near
Berlin, and that these tests were in no way held
secret, no doubt because the Germans did not yet
believe in their military possibilities.
Because REP's work was not considered to have
useful applications and since the necessary support
has always been refused, when the war broke out,
REP had, according to his own estimate, gone
about 1/100 of the way. 37 That is, he had conducted
static tests on rocket engines giving thrusts up to
300 kg for 60 seconds: this corresponds to a rocket
of a total mass of 100 kg that could reach an altitude
of 100 km (realized by the Americans after
1945).
REP-Hirsch International Astronautics Prize
On 1 February 1928, together with Andre-Louis
Hirsch, REP founded the REP-Hirsch International
Astronautics Prize, awarded up to 1939 to the best
original theoretical or experimental work capable
of promoting progress in one of the areas permitting
the realization of interstellar navigation or
furthering knowledge in a field related to astronautics.
38 The term "astronautique" which REP
was then introducing into scientific language, had
been pronounced for the first time on 26 December
1927 by the French writer, J. H. Rosny, Sr., then
President of the "Academie Goncourt" and member
of the prize jury (Figure 6). 39
Note that the Society Astronomique de France,
which was daring enough to sponsor the REP-
Hirsch prize, was the first scientific society in the
world to recognize that this new science had a
future.
In the first year, the prize committee received a
manuscript from Hermann Oberth, at the time a
professor in a small city, and awarded him the
prize. 40 This enabled him to find a publisher and,
when his book was published in 1929, Oberth mentioned,
on the last page, that the Soci£t6 Astronomique
de France had awarded him the REP-
Hirsch prize and said:
It is reassuring to see that science and progress suffice
to overcome national prejudices. I can think of no better way
to thank the Societe Astronomique de France than to pledge
myself to work on behalf of science and progress and to judge
people only on their personal merits.
This paragraph survived in later editions, even
during World War II. 41
The Russian, Ary Sternfeld, who won the prize
in 1934, 42 wrote to Andre-Louis Hirsch after the
launching of the first satellite to say that REP's
books, translated by Rynin, 41 had exercised an important
influence and that the Soviets had used
his mathematical theory of astronautics in their
work.
The last winner (1939) was Frank Malina, then a
young student in California. 44
REP's Important Publications on Astronautics
Oberth was the first to demonstrate that it was
technically possible for rockets to eject their gases
at a velocity greater than 4000 meters per second (it
was for this work that he was awarded the REP-
Hirsch prize). As Oberth had only stated the principle
without mathematical demonstration, REP
worked from 1926 to 1930 on the mathematical
physics solution, which he published in his 1930
book. 45 He also computed the temperature in the
combustion chamber and showed that it was much
lower than Oberth had thought, because of the
increase of specific heats with the temperature.
From this he concluded that it would be possible
to construct combustion chambers and nozzles of
highly refractory materials.
Note that REP's theoretical temperature calculations
were resoundingly confirmed during the
stratospheric ascent of Professor Piccard. 46 The
basket was a sphere polished on one side and black
on the other; the black side was exposed to the sun
for a certain time, during which the temperature
inside the cabin rose to 39° C. 47 REP had predicted
a temperature of 42° C.
In 1930, REP gathered his results in his major
work, L'Astronautique, 48 a veritable treatise on
space vehicles that served as a basis for all later
works on this subject. It is a very profound theoretical
study based on the thorough knowledge of
celestial mechanics, astrophysics, and ballistics, as
well as physical chemistry and physiology. Nothing
in it has yet been invalidated.
This book is a basic text for all interested in
astronautics. One needs only to scan the chapter
titles to see that it is both a scientific and technical
document and an encyclopedia of precious practical
knowledge:
—Rocket Motion in Vacuum and in Air
—Density and Composition of the Very High Atmosphere
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