Chronology - Quarter 2 1931 home
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Spring 1931 - Launch Site: Raketenflugplatz. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: Mirak.
  • Second Mirak explodes Nation: Germany. Nebel and the other designers realise that using liquid oxygen to cool the combustion chamber simply would not work - it turned to gas, and the excessive pressure eventually burst the oxygen tank. They turn to a water-cooled combustion chamber. The end result was an aluminium pressure-fed engine that weighed 85 g but produced 32 kgf while burning 160 g of liquid oxygen and gasoline per second - a specific impulse of 200 seconds. The new design proves reliable and is demonstrated to visitors from the American Rocket Society in April 1931. References: 47.
April 1931 - Launch Vehicle: V-2.
  • VfR/AIS meeting. Nation: Germany. Raktenflugplatz in Germany was visited by Mr. and Mrs. G. Edward Pendray as official representatives of the American Interplanetary Society, who upon their return organized the experimental program of the society. References: 17.
1931 April 15 - Launch Vehicle: Tiling.
  • Tiling rocket Nation: Germany. Apogee: 0.80 km (0.50 mi). Reinhold Tiling, financed by Baron von Ledebour, publicly demonstrates his compressed black powder rocket design at Osnabrueck. The 1.8 m long rocket uses flip-out wings for recovery, and reach altitudes of 800 m. References: 47.
1931 May 3 - Launch Vehicle: Valier.
  • Heyland motor Nation: Germany. Heyland completes development testing of the rocket motor intended for Valier's rocket car. It weighs 18 kg and is capable of producing 160 kgf for several minutes. Although powerful, the specific impulse is thought to be fairly low. References: 47.
1931 May 10 - Launch Site: Raketenflugplatz. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: Mirak. LV Configuration: Repulsor.
  • Mirak II / Repulsor Nation: Germany. Apogee: 0.0020 km (0.0012 mi). Riedel improvises a rocket, using the thrust chamber developed for the Mirak, fed by two long tanks containing liquid oxygen and gasoline, which would form guiding sticks for the forward-mounted engine. The lashed-together rocket rises to 20 m on its first 'static' test. References: 47.
1931 May 14 - Launch Site: Raketenflugplatz. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: Mirak. LV Configuration: Repulsor 1.
  • Mirak II / Repulsor I rocket reaches 60 m. Nation: Germany. Apogee: 0.0060 km (0.0037 mi). First official test flight of the Mirak (Minimum Rakete) II. A flight-weight version of Riedel's 'flying test stand' takes off into a looping trajectory, sending the VfR experimenters running for cover, but reaching 60 m altitude in the process. Attending were Wernher Von Braun, Klaus Riedel und Kurt Heinisch (Rudolf Nebel, the chief engineer, was in Kiel at the time). References: 693.
1931 May 23 - Launch Site: Raketenflugplatz. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: Mirak.
  • Mirak II / Repulsor 2 Nation: Germany. Apogee: 0.0060 km (0.0037 mi). The rocket reaches 60 m before heading off horizontally over the Raketenflugplatz, ending up in a tree outside the perimeter, 600 m from the launch point. References: 47.
Early June 1931 - Launch Site: Raketenflugplatz. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: Mirak.
  • Mirak II / Repulsor 3 Nation: Germany. Apogee: 0.18 km (0.11 mi). This is the first Repulsor equipped with a recovery parachute. It reaches 180 m, but then the parachute deploys early, and it falls into the same clump of trees as Repulsor 2, 600 m from the launch point. References: 47.

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