Futurist slidecast presentation for History of Future course, McMaster University, Hamilton

1. Hermann Potočnik Noordung
Futurist’s Ideas about Rocket and Space
Station Developments
By: Mirko Nikolic
H3UA3: The History of the Future

2. Noordung as Futurist
• Among the first theorists on
rocket and space travel
technology
• Influenced:
– Further scientific research on
space technology
– Popularization of space travel
• His predictions and ideas became
reality

3. About Noordung
• Slovenian
• born 22 December 1892 in Pola
(Pula)
• died 27 August 1929, Vienna
• Education:
– Technical Military Academy, Vienna
– Technical Institute in Vienna (19181922)
• Served in Austro-Hungarian Army
and WWI
• Left the army in 1919, due to
tuberculoses
Pula
Vienna

4. About Noordung II
• Later Years:
– Worked as civil engineer,
becoming spaceflight
enthusiast
– Correspondence with Hermann Guido von Pirquet
Oberth and Guido von Pirquet
• Das Problem der Befahrung
des Weltraums,1929, Berlin
Hermann Oberth

5. Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums
(The Problem of Space Travel)
• Outline:
1. General problems
surrounding leaving the Earth
-Earth’s gravity and rocket
development
2. Space station and problems in
Space (Gravity,
Weightlessness, Airlessness,
Cold)
3. Space station design and
usages

6. Noordung and Building of Argument
• Evidence:
– Calculations
– Graphs
– Work of others in fields
of physics,
aerodynamics and
astronautics
(Tsiolkovsky, Goddard
and Oberth)
Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky
(1857-1935), Russian
Robert H. Goddard
(1882-1945), USA
Hermann Oberth (1894-1989)
Romanian-German

7. Noordung’s Forcasts
• Suggestions and ideas about the
space technology developments.
• Three groups:
– Rockets
– Space station
– Others

8. Rocket Forecasts
• Refuting the cannon as vehicle for
putting the rocket into space
• Arguing for the usage of liquid
hydrocarbon compounds fuel
• Envisioning rockets that would
behave as aeroplanes

9. Space Station Forecasts
•
•
•
•
•
Orbit of space station
Usage of solar power
Radio communication
Partitioning of space station
Creation of artificial gravity

10. Other Forecasts
• Space suit
• Space station’s purposes:
– Space and Earth observations
and research
– Military purposes

11. Initial Criticism
• Dreaming nonsense
• Die Rakete: “paid too little
attention to recent
contributions to the topic [of
space flight]”
• Critiques by Willy Ley and
Guido von Pirquet

12. Positive Reactions to the Book
• Hermann Oberth Ways to
Spaceflight, 1929
• young Werhner von Braun
• Willy Ley’s later work

13. Early Influence on Popular Culture
• Pop Culture
– Germany
• Von Braun’s story “Lunetta”
from 1929
– Australia
• J.M. Walsh “Vandals of the Void”
From 1931
– US
• Hugo Gernsback’s
Science Wonder Stories, 1929

14. Subsequent Translations and
Influence
• USSR translation 1930s
• US (complete) translation
1993
• British connection
– Harry E. Rose and Ralph
Andrew Smith

15. Noordung and Arthur C. Clarke
• Arthur’s C. Clarke 1945 article
“Extra-terrestrial relays”
• The 1982 novel 2010: Odyssey Two
• Clarke on Potocnik: “What an
incredible man Potocnik must have
been, perhaps in some way quite as
remarkable as Oberth.”
Arthur C. Clarke

16. Noordung’s Ideas Realised – Radio
Communication
• Arthur C. Clarke credited Noordung for
envisioning the use of short waves in
communication between Earth and space.
• Today communication between the Earth and
space is based on using radio waves
• Mars’ rovers communicate with Earth using
radio waves

17. Noordung’s Ideas Realised – Space
Station Design
• Noordung’s idea of multiple
components with separate
functions
• International Space Station
• NASA’s recognition

18. Noordung’s Ideas Realised – Space
Station Usage
• Solar studies
• Space Physics
• Zero-gravity studies
• Space telescope Hubble
Hubble Space Telescope

19. Noordung’s Ideas Realised – Space
Suit, and Space Shuttle
• Flexible metal components in
space suit
– Apollo space suit
• Rockets that would land like
aircrafts
– Space Shuttle

20. Noordung as Futurist
• His ideas were ahead of his time
• Influenced many rocket scientists and SF
writers
• Some of his ideas became reality