The boards of KIVI Department of the History of Technology and Association Histechnica have the pleasure to invite you to attend a lecture on Saturday 9 March 2019 to be given by ir. M. van Pelt, with title:

Rocket planes: history and future...?

Lecture summary:

In the 1930s, daredevils made the first short flights in gliders equipped with rocket engines, but even earlier space pioneers like Tsiolkovsky, Oberth and Goddard saw rocket planes as the key to space.

During World War II, several military rocket planes were rapidly developed, especially in Germany, but also in Russia and Japan. Only the Messerschmitt 163 'Komet' was actually deployed; it posed a greater danger to its own pilots than to the enemy, but demonstrated the promising capabilities of this type of aircraft. Shortly afterwards, the rocket-powered X-1 broke the sound barrier. Speed and altitude records followed quickly with further developed machines, culminating in the hypersonic speeds and extreme altitudes the X-15 managed to achieve in the 1960s. However, the first astronauts were launched on non-reusable rockets; the X-15 proved to be both the most successful and, for now, the last true rocket plane.

The Space Shuttle used wings and rocket engines, but was a vertically launched glider rather than a full-fledged rocket plane. Nor did it turn out to be the relatively cheap and easy-to-use "space freighter" originally promised. Many plans for advanced space planes to replace the Shuttle were scrapped because of astronomical development costs and high technical and economic risks. Today, however, the rocket plane is experiencing a resurgence as a vehicle for suborbital flight, and there is renewed interest in hypersonic aircraft and reusable launch vehicles with advanced propulsion combining rockets and jet engines. So will the real space plane come one day?

This lecture covers the entire history of the rocket plane, analyses the various trends and records, and looks into the possible future of the space plane.

Information about the speaker, ir. M. van Pelt:

Michel van Pelt works in ESTEC as Cost Engineer and Concurrent Design Facility Team Leader. He is an editorial board member of the NVR magazine "Ruimtevaart" and has many articles and several space books to his credit, including "Rocketing into the Future; the History and Technology of Rocket Planes".

You and your guests are welcome to attend this talk. KIVI members can register via the KIVI website. You are kindly requested to register in advance, no later than Saturday 2 March next.

Upcoming activities:

- saturday 13 April 2018: General Members' Meeting of the association Histechnica; followed by the presentation"Life and works of Cornelis Drebbel (1572 - 1633)". Lecture by Mr H. van Onna, chairman of the Second Drebbel Society

- tuesday 7 to Thursday 9 May 2019: Study trip to Hamburg

- saturday 7 September 2019: Presentation "Delft Weaving City". Lecture by Ms E. Kloppers.

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