FIRST STEPS TOWARD SPACE - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

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SMITHSONIAN ANNALS OF FLIGHT
FIGURE 1.—Wilhelm Theodor Unge, 1845-1915. Photo from Kungl. Armemuseum Archives,
Sweden.
fact the conical orifice is the first step to the final
solution to the problem of stabilization by rotating
the rocket.
A few years earlier, in 1888, Gustaf de Laval had
made the first sketches of the later well-known Laval
nozzle, and in 1892 the approved patent was published
in a paper. This new idea, which showed how
to get maximum force out of a high-pressure gas
stream, was obviously soon adopted by Unge. His
efforts to find a way to impart the proper revolution
to the rocket gave excellent results when, in 1896-
97, he finally designed the turbine shown in a drawing
(Figure 3) from Swedish patent 10,257.
The description makes clear Unge's ideas for this
new and unique invention. The gas turbine was
fitted with exhaust outlets so designed that they
would create the most effective pressure for combustion.
The rounded central portion of the turbine
transformed the centered stream of gas from the
combustion chamber into a hollow stream distributed
without shock to the periphery of the turbine
by means of two or more gas canals through the