GOMANN Walter

Years of life

1880, March 18 - in the city Gardheyme (Odenwald) in the family physician was born Walter Gomann.

1886 - move to Africa (Port Elizabeth), together with parents.

1891 - end of a private elementary school in the same. For a classical education boy sent his parents in Germany.

1891-1900 - studying in high school in Wurzburg.

1900-04 - Munich, Technische Hochschule. End with an engineering degree in civil engineering. Along with the disciplines, . had a direct bearing on the future of the specialty - mathematics, . Theoretical Mechanics, . building objects directly Walter listened to a special course on ballistics (this was caused by his own interest in astronomy),
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Later Gomann write that it is interested in astronomy and ballistics led him to study the problems of mechanics of space flight.

After graduating from high school Gomann working in various industry organizations: 1904-06 - Vienna, 1906-08 - Berlin, 1908-09 - Hanover, in dealing with the construction of buildings, structures and bridges. Scientific activities in this period - the study of the statics of reinforced concrete structures.

1909-11 - Gomann lectured at the Technical University of Hanover.

1911 - work in a construction company in Breslau (now Wroclaw) But the work in the construction field is not brought Gomannu meet.

1912 - an engineer in civil structures of the Main Construction Directorate of the city of Essen. In Essen will involve whole future life of Walter Gomanna. Simultaneously Gomann works at the statics of structures and Materials Research Laboratory. He leads the detailed research in the field of static structures (mainly of reinforced concrete structures).

1911 - introduction to the work in. Traberta "Fundamentals of Space Physics".

1914 - beginning of independent research in the field of interplanetary communications. Gomann, like many other pioneers of rocketry and astronautics, became interested in issues of space flight as early as adolescence under the influence of science fiction novels F. Verne and K. Lassvittsa.

1916 - Gomann is in Aachen Technical University doctoral dissertation on the problems of combining old and new materials in reinforced concrete structures.

1920 - award of the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences (the delay was due to the First World War).

1923 - Gomann sends his manuscript on space in the house of Franco in Stuttgart. A month later she returned to him. Gomann sends the manuscript to the publisher Oldenburg (Munich and Berlin), which had recently published two books: D. Obert - "Rocket into outer space" M. Valle - "Breakthrough in Space"

1925 - Book Gomanna, receiving positive responses to these authors, was published under the title "Die Erreichbarkeit der Himmelskoerper" ( "Attainability of Celestial Bodies"). It consists of five sections:

1. "Overcoming the forces of gravity". In it, with a fairly rough approximation, we consider the motion of a material point of variable mass in a radial direction from the center of the Earth.
2. "Returning to Earth". We investigate the problem of the return trajectory missiles (a material point of constant weight) to the Earth.
3. "Free flight in outer space". We study the classical problem of celestial mechanics.
4. "The flight of other celestial bodies".
5. "Landing on other celestial bodies".
The last two chapters the most interesting, since the calculations are the most stringent. Gomann found in these sections in terms of optimal fuel consumption trajectory of the flight: "... The ellipse on the orbits of both planets ... is the best option for the flight path between them ".

In the calculations Gomann examines press inquiries solid rocket, but also permits the use of liquid fuel.

Besides Gomann considering other types of elliptical trajectories, for example, an ellipse on the orbit of one planet, and crossing each. The fact that the elliptical trajectory, the optimal in energy terms, is most unfortunate from the standpoint of travel times. Touching one orbit and crossing the other can dramatically reduce the time of flight, although it requires additional fuel to change the velocity vector of the apparatus when approaching a planet's orbit, which is the purpose of disembarkation.

These trajectories were later called "trajectories Gomanna" (although Zander received a similar and even more advanced results of some earlier, but time did not publish them).

In addition, Gomann calculated the required amount of fuel to fly to the moon, Venus and Mars, determine the initial weight of the apparatus and calculated the duration of the flight taking into account the need to return to Earth.

After the book the name of Walter Gomanna becomes known specialists. With many of them will enter into correspondence.

1927 October - Gomann enter the Society of space flight, created in the summer of that year in Breslau, and is included in the governing structure of the society.

1928 - second job Gomanna - "Ways and time of flights, the possibility of planting", published in the possibility of space flight ". Field research extended, . considered flights to Mercury and Jupiter, . Several new trajectories, . particularly, . trajectory, . "passing by the three planets (Earth-Mars-Venus-Mercury-Earth), . which made it possible to reduce travel times nearly doubled,
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Then Gomann not publish more papers on space, but is interested in these issues before the end of life. He repeatedly stressed that he was not a mathematician, and engineer. But in space all of his works were associated with the theoretical problems. There are no experimental and practical work in this area Gomann not produced.

1931 - Gomann elected an honorary member of the Austrian Society for the exploration of outer space.

1945, March 11 - the death of Walter Gomanna in Essen at the age of 65.

1946 - in Essen message comes on the election Gomanna a corresponding member of the French section of Astronautics.

Theoretical heritage Gomanna - the concept of "ellipse Gomanna", "trajectory Gomanna", "landing maneuver Gomanna". His name is given to a crater on the side of the moon, the observatory and one of the streets in Essen, where he lived for the past thirty-odd years of life. In his native Gardheyme a memorial plaque

. By decision of the International Academy of Astronautics, the name of Walter Gomanna included among the world's leading scientists, . played a most significant role in the development of rocket and space science and technology and to the International Space Hall of Fame in Alamogordo (U.S.) in 1976,
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Bibliography:

1. Kosmodem'yanskii AA, VN Sokolsky, Walter Gomann "," Earth and Universe ", N 3 / 1980.
2. Mel'kumov T.M. (coct.) "Pioneers of missile technology" Moscow, Nauka, 1977