Krafft Arnold Ehricke
Krafft Arnold Ehricke | |
---|---|
La Jolla, California, US | |
Alma mater | Technical University of Berlin |
Occupation | Rocket engineer |
Known for | Centaur Upper Stage |
Spouse | Ingeborg Maria Mattull[1] |
Krafft Arnold Ehricke (March 24, 1917 – December 11, 1984) was a German rocket-propulsion engineer and advocate for space colonization. Ehricke is a co-designer of the first Centaur liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen upper stage.
Biography
Born in Berlin, Ehricke believed in the feasibility of space travel from a very young age, influenced by his viewing of the Fritz Lang film Woman in the Moon. At the age of 12, he formed his own rocket society. He attended the Technical University of Berlin and studied celestial mechanics and nuclear physics under physicists including Hans Geiger and Werner Heisenberg, attaining his degree in Aeronautical Engineering.[2]
He worked at Peenemünde as a propulsion engineer from 1942 to 1945 with Walter Thiel,[1] then went to the United States with other German rocket scientists and technicians under "Operation Paperclip" in 1947. He worked for a short time with the Von Braun Rocket Team at Huntsville.[1]
In 1948, while working for the U.S. Army, Ehricke wrote a story about a crewed mission to Mars called "Expedition Ares". It anticipated the many challenges that still face explorers who will make the journey in the future.[3] In the same year he wrote a book with Wernher von Braun, The Mars Project, which detailed how man could travel to Mars using a ferry system.[4]
Upon leaving government service in 1952, Ehricke worked at
In 1966, Ehricke was inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame for his engineering achievements and his influential ideas on the purpose of space exploration.[6]
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.[7]
He married Ingeborg Ehricke (born 12 September 1922).[8]
Ehricke received a space burial on April 21, 1997, when a rocket sent a small amount of his cremated remains into Earth orbit.[9]
Contributions to space flight dynamics
Ehricke was an accomplished practitioner in the field of
Extraterrestrial Imperative
Ehricke promoted a philosophical concept called the "Extraterrestrial Imperative." This idea refers to Ehricke's belief that it was the responsibility of humanity to explore space and exploit the resources of the Solar System, in order to sustain the development of the species. 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 humanity. For Ehricke, human creativity has no limits.[11][12]
Further reading
- Freeman, Marsha (2009). Krafft Ehricke's extraterrestrial imperative. Burlington Ontario: Apogee Books. ISBN 978-1-894959-91-9.
References
- ^ a b c d "Krafft Arnold Ehricke Papers". National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ a b "Ehricke". Astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 2010-10-19. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
- ^ Marsha Freeman (March 24, 2017). "KRAFFT EHRICKE. The Moral Imperative of Space Exploration" (PDF). George Mason University. p. 29. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ A. A. Jackson (October 21–25, 2019). "Chapter 12. The Mars Project 1948 to 1956" (PDF). Fifty-Third Symposium of the International Academy of Astronautics: 264. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ "Ehricke, Krafft Arnold (1917-1984)". Daviddarling.info. 2007-02-01. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
- ISBN 978-1-57864-397-4.
- ^ Oyang Teng. "Book Review: Krafft Ehricke's Extraterrestrial Imperative". The Schiller Institute. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- IMDb
- ^ Emily Carney. "Krafft A. Ehricke: Remembering a Rocket Visionary". Celestis.com. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- S2CID 220510617.
- ^ Ehricke, Krafft, "The Extraterrestrial Imperative," Archived 2020-02-24 at the Wayback Machine Air University Review, January–February 1978
- ^ "Krafft Ehricke Extraterrestrial Imperative by Marsha Freeman An Apogee Books Publication". Apogeespacebooks.com. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
External links
- www.hq.nasa.gov Archived 2006-08-23 at the Wayback Machine
- www.daviddarling.info
- www.tdf.it Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
- Ehricke, Krafft@ Astrophysics Data System
- Krafft Arnold Ehricke (in German) from the archive of the Österreichische Mediathek