The phrase "Death Star" is well known to fans of the "Star Wars" series. We are talking about a space combat station equipped with super-powerful laser weapons capable of destroying entire planets. But it turns out that the Nazis already tried to implement something similar during the Third Reich …
Lantern in orbit
It all started with an idea expressed back in 1923 by a physicist and engineer of Austro-Hungarian origin Hermann Obert. He raved about space since childhood, and at the age of 14 he even built the first model of a rocket. Today the name of Obert is mentioned among the names of other scientists who stood at the origins of rocketry and astronautics.
So Obert came up with an original night lighting system. No more dark streets and dim lights! It is enough to put a giant mirror into Earth's orbit, which will reflect sunlight … According to the scientist's plan, the reflector was supposed to rotate at an altitude of 22236 kilometers above the Earth. Obert believed that it would be possible to build it in 15 years, that is, by 1938. The whole undertaking was supposed to cost about 3 million marks.
In 1929 Obert's book "The Way to Space Flight" (Wege zur Raumschiffahrt) was published. It already dealt with the creation of an orbital inhabited station at a distance of 1000 kilometers above the Earth, described the methods of its construction from separate modules. On board such a station, it was supposed to place a concave mirror with a diameter of 100 meters, which was to reflect solar energy and concentrate it at the desired point on the planet's surface. This would allow not only to illuminate dark places, but also to heat water, rotate the turbines of power plants …
At first, however, no one was particularly interested in Obert's project. After all, the conquest of space in those days looked only a distant prospect. And how would the notorious mirror get into orbit?
But the idea carried away the Nazis who came to power in the 30s. True, they planned to use Obert's invention by no means for peaceful purposes.
Promotional video:
Sun Cannon
The fact is that a similar invention was already used by the famous Archimedes to burn down the Persian fleet. Bronze shields were set up against the enemy, reflecting the sun's rays in a special way …
After the war, US military experts got hold of documents from the secret archives of the Third Reich, which detailed the project of the so-called "sun cannon" (Sonnengewehr).
"The entire surface of the mirror - both front and back - had to be made of reflective materials, otherwise the maintenance personnel would have burned at this facility," - such a description was given in 1945 by the American magazine Life.
In addition to the "gun" itself, the system had to include manned space stations, which would point her in the right direction.
How would the process of building a "solar cannon" proceed? It began with the rotation of the Vergeltungswaffe 2 (V-2) rocket, which had arrived in orbit, which at the end of the war they tried to use to bomb London. Rather, its modified version of the A11, designed for space launches. It was developed by the "Rocket Baron" Wernher von Braun in Peenemünde. This rocket would allow a charge to be thrown across the stratosphere from Europe all the way to America itself.
Arriving in orbit, the rocket, as conceived by its developers, began to unwind six cables in the radial direction in such a way that they form a circle. Then modules were taken out there, forming a mirror surface. Metallic sodium was supposed to act as a reflective material. On Earth, this alkaline element is quite rare, since in contact with moisture it enters into an instantaneous reaction and oxidizes. Nevertheless, in the rarefied layers of the exosphere, this is not to be feared.
Electricity at the stations would be generated by steam generators powered by the same solar energy. Inhabitants were required to wear magnetic soled shoes in zero gravity. Oxygen at the station was supposed to be delivered using rockets. At the same time, in the future, it was even possible to plant a hydroponic garden in orbit, and the air that people exhaled could be continuously regenerated using on-board greenhouses. Communication with the Earth would be via encrypted radio signals. Upon receipt of the appropriate order, the launch of rocket boosters was to take place, which would orient the mirror in the right direction. The radiation power would be enough to burn entire cities, evaporate reservoirs and melt military equipment.
Is the Death Star a reality?
It is possible that if the Third Reich had existed for several more decades, it really would have been able to build an "absolute weapon". Fortunately, the Reich collapsed earlier. As for Hermann Obert, he successfully survived the fall of the Reich and in 1957 confidently said that his project would be implemented. And he spoke of it precisely as a weapon.
However, while the "Death Star" remains a fantasy.
Although … In 2005, students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology managed to conduct a successful experiment on burning a boat in the harbor of San Francisco using a special laser technology. Perhaps the creation of the "ultimate weapon" is just a matter of time?
Irina Shlionskaya
