FIRST STEPS TOWARD SPACE - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

20
The British Interplanetary Society's Astronautical Studies, 1937-39
The British Interplanetary Society was founded
by Mr. Philip E. Cleator, a contracting engineer, in
October 1933.* A Journal and a Bulletin were published
from Liverpool, lectures were given, and
articles written to stimulate interest whenever opportunities
arose. Membership (though never more
than about one hundred until after 1945) soon became
international, attracting such well-known
pioneers and personalities as Ing. Baron Guido von
Pirquet (Austria), Robert Esnault-Pelterie (France),
Willy Ley, Dr. Otto Steinitz, and the Count and
Countess von Zeppelin (Germany), G. Edward
Pendray (USA), and Dr. Yakov Perelman and
Professor Nikolai Rynin (USSR). Correspondence
with other astronautically-minded societies was
maintained, and during 1934 Cleator visited Germany
and contacted members of the then disbanded
VfR. 2 In 1936 Cleator's Rockets Through
Space awakened general interest in Britain, and
paved the way to a better understanding of astronautical
possibilities. 3
By 1936, however, the numerically strong London
branch of the Society dominated affairs. 4 As a result,
headquarters were officially transferred to the
metropolis early in 1937, and Professor A. M. Low
was elected the new president. 5 A Technical Committee
then began work under the direction of
J. Happian Edwards. 6 Members of this committee,
with their nominal assignments, were: H. Bramhill
(draftsman), A. C. Clarke (astronomer), A. V.
Cleaver (aircraft engineer), M. K. Hanson (mathematician),
Arthur Janser (chemist), S. Klemantaski
(biologist), H. E. Ross (electrical engineer), and
R. A. Smith (turbine engineer). Aid was also provided
from time to time by Richard Cox Abel, J. G.
Strong, and C. S. Cowper-Essex. An Experimental
Committee was formed a little later to develop
H. E. Ross, F.B.I.S., United Kingdom
209
certain concepts. 7 Most active in this capacity were
Smith, Edwards, and Cowper-Essex. A number of
the members are shown in Figure 1, a photo I took
in July 1938 during the visit of, then, Midshipman
Robert C. Truax.
The main project undertaken by the Technical
Committee was a feasibility study of a manned
vehicle designed for a round trip to the Moon,
projected in terms of then-existing techniques and
materials, or reasonable extrapolations of them. In
other words, the requirements of such a mission
would be surveyed, outstanding problems exposed,
and solutions attempted. The function of the Experimental
Committee was to deal in a practical
way with such proposed solutions as might be
developed within the limit of a minute research
fund which had been established.
Credit for rapid progress in overall design must
be given chiefly to Edwards and Smith, who had
been close friends and interested in the possibility
of space travel since schooldays. In fact, the idea of
cellular-step construction was Edwards' and the
engineering embodiment Smith's. 8 It will be convenient
to describe the vessel after recounting certain
supporting work done by members of the two
Committees.
Since the feasibility of space flight rests primarily
with a sufficiently powerful means of propulsion,
a survey of between 80 and 120 possible propellant
combinations was made by Janser (an Austrian research
chemist) and Edwards, working in collaboration.
9 It is interesting to note that the possibilities
considered included colloids with metallic additives,
and that evidence was given for the development
of solid propellants competing, systemwise, with
liquid combinations. A small rocket proving stand
was later designed and made by Smith to conduct