SPACE FLIGHT, ENVIRONMENTAL AND CELESTIAL MECHANICS, PRINCIPLES OG GUIDED MISSLE DESIGN

Dr. Krafft Arnold Ehricke was a space visionary. Born in Berlin he believed in space travel from a very young age, influenced by his viewing of the Fritz Lang film Woman in the Moon He attended Berlin Technical University and studied celestial mechanics & nuclear physics attaining his degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He worked as a propulsion engineer then went to the US under "Operation Paperclip" in 1947. He worked for a short time with the Von Braun Rocket Team at Huntsvil In 1948 he wrote a story, called "Expedition Ares," about a manned mission to Mars. It anticipated the many challenges that still face explorers who will make the journey in the future. He worked at Bell Aircraft, and then for Convair in 1952. While at Convair, he designed the D-1 Centaur, the world's first upper-stage-booster that used liquid hydrogen and oxygen. He also created an early space station design, based on launch by Convair's Atlas rocket. The NEXUS reusable rocket was a 1960s concept design by a group at General Dynamics led by Krafft Ehricke. Krafft Ehricke undertook a major, multi-decade study of the industrial development of the Moon, which he described as Earth's "seventh continent." His lunar industrialization concept was based on the most advanced technologies, such as nuclear-powered freight transporters, and using fusion energy to power his city, Selenopolis, on the Moon. His most enduring contribution was the philosophical concept of the "Extraterrestrial Imperative." This states that it is mankind's responsibility to explore space and exploit the resources of the Solar System, because it is necessary for the continued development of mankind. There are no external "limits to growth," Ehricke insisted, because while the Earth is a "closed system," the exploration of space opens the universe to mankind. Human creativity has no limits. In February 2009, the first biography of Krafft Ehricke Ehricke received a Space Burial IN 1997 by being launched to earth orbit.