Oberth, Hermann, << OH behrt, HEHR mahn >> (1894-1989), a German rocket theorist and author, developed and promoted the concept of space flight during the early 1900’s. Oberth published his ideas in several books that stimulated public interest in space exploration. Working independently, the rocket pioneers Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky of Russia and Robert H. Goddard of the United States had arrived at similar ideas about rockets and space travel. Oberth’s work, however, became the first to reach a wide audience.
Like Tsiolkovsky and Goddard, Oberth devised a mathematical formula often called the rocket equation. The rocket equation determines the highest speed a rocket can achieve based on its mass (amount of matter), the mass of propellant (fuel) it carries, and the speed of its exhaust. Oberth’s understanding of the rocket equation led him to propose building rockets consisting of separate sections called stages. Such a rocket can discard stages as they run out of propellant, reducing the rocket’s mass and enabling it to reach greater speeds.
Hermann Julius Oberth was born on June 25, 1894, in Hermannstadt, Austria-Hungary (now Sibiu, Romania). He entered medical school at the University of Munich, Germany, in 1913, and served in the Austro-Hungarian medical corps during World War I (1914-1918). During the war, Oberth spent much of his free time developing detailed plans for a long-range military missile. In 1917, he submitted this plan to German military officials. They rejected his proposal, declaring that it was impossible for rockets to fly long distances.
After the war, Oberth left the medical profession to pursue a degree in physics at the University of Heidelberg. The university rejected his thesis (essay required for a degree), which detailed the mathematics of rocket travel into space, as unrealistic. Oberth returned to his hometown, by then part of Romania, and taught mathematics and physics at a nearby high school.
Oberth continued to publicize his ideas about space travel in books and lectures, becoming the first trained scientist to do so. His thesis, published in 1923 as The Rocket to Interplanetary Space, became a popular sensation across Europe. After several years of public speaking and debating, he published a longer book, Ways to Space Travel (1929).
During World War II (1939-1945), Oberth served as an adviser to the team of German engineers that built the V-2 rocket. He later worked on an unsuccessful project to develop antiaircraft missiles. Following the war, he did some engineering work for Swiss and Italian companies and wrote Men in Outer Space (1954), in which he described plans for a reusable space shuttle. He continued to promote space exploration until his death on Dec. 29, 1989.
See also Rocket .
