During WWII, the urgency of Germany's V2 rocket program did not allow the technology to mature beyond the prototype stage. The A4/V2 missile employed in combat operations was essentially an early research prototype placed in series production due to the exigencies of war (contrary to popular conception, the V2 was never 'mass-produced'). The engineers tasked with addressing the issues of the fledgling missile were presented with a daunting challenge. They needed to rectify multiple flaws and malfunctions while also keeping up with the demand for increased missile production for the front lines. After the war and the dispersal of Germany's rocket specialists among the Allies, with the bulk going voluntarily to the USA, the group's understanding of these problem areas provided the spur for the rapid and successful evolution of liquid propellant rocket engines (LPRE) in the first post-war decade. To hunt down the ghost of the V2, Robert briefly examines some of the more noticeable shortcomings of the A4/V2 LPRE and ties them to corresponding but improved details in the NAA/Rocketdyne A-7 LPRE of 1951.
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00:00 Start
00:53 Introduction
01:33 Data on V2 and A-7
02:20 A-7 from the ground up
02:41 Dannenberg fuel manifold
03:35 Flat injector head
04:26 A4 thrust chamber 1943
04:50 A4 intentions
05:45 A-7 thrust frame
06:00 Turbopumps
06:23 Closer coupling
07:12 Bellows not bends
08:00 Heat exchanger
08:28 Steam generation
09:40 Thrust control
10:19 US V2 LPRE hybrid
11:23 Thrust frame woes
12:18 Legacy of the V2
13:08 End credits
13:28 Final statement

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Although Turbopump Part 2 was three years in the making, very little of that time was spent in front of a camera. Most of the time and effort was spent in research, and you can see the culmination in the hour-and-three-quarter video presented here.

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Presented by Robert J Dalby

Produced by Astronomy and Nature TV