Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-25
BY H. H. SHELDON.

DI
Professor of Physics, New York University.
THERE are still those who look
upon any kind of rocket flight
as an absurdity. Perhaps we
L have to thank Jules Verne for
this, for, because of his fictional
flight to the moon, it seems to be i'm
possible for some people to think of a
rocket as being used for any other pur-
pose. One has only to mention rockets
and he is Immediately suspected by his
friends of having ambitions to reach
this satellite. So much is this the case
that If some pioneer were to traverse
the Atlantic by rocket power he would
still be likely to be regarded as a failure
unless he were subsequently to make q
successful trip to the moon and return.
When so many of Verne's fantasies have
been realized in practice it is bit sur
prising that this particular one has
been singled out as evidence of insanity,
however much it may SAVIOR of lunacy-
the word being used in a somewhat Diff
ferent sense from the usual.
However, conditions are changing
rapidly, and 1t is already possible for
engineers to seriously discuss this new
science, which has come to be called
astronautics, without danger of i'm
pairing their credit at the bank or their
regulations as men Of science. In talk
ing with DR.. Pelterie at dinner recently
the author asked him If he were not
frequently regarded as some kind of q
nut" The answer was, Not so much
so as when I attempted my first air
plane flight in 1903" You will see that
DR.. Pelterie Is no novice at things aero
nautical.
A Personality Sketch.
Perhaps it would be of interest, be-
fore discussing DR.. Pelterie's ideas on
rockets. to describe briefly the manner
of man that he is. Passing DR.. Pelterie
on the street one would unquestionably
place him in the class of American
business men.
He appears not over As, an age which
necessitates that his first attempt at
flying a heavier -than-air machine in
1903 must have been made at very
early age. Possibly he Is more than As,
but he looks even younger. He has black
hair, no evidence of grayneSs, a small
black mustache and very dark brown
eyes. His facial expression is that of q
man of affairs; his jaw Is determined.
He is a little more than average height.
When interviewed he wore quiet brown
suit with a brown tie in harmony with
it.
When reading he wears glasses of the
horn trimmed variety. DR.. Pelterie
speaks English fluently and with very
little accent. When converSing in Eng
lish he finds it necessary to give rather
strict attention, however, which makes
him appear bit more serious than he
would obviously be If the conversation
were in his own language.
An Aviation Pioneer.
His rocket research has the support
OF many OF the members of the French
Academy of Science. including the en-
thusiastic support Of the noted French
physicist Perrin, now a very old man
DR.. Pelterie is at his best when telling
anecdotes Of such people. His gradual
winning over Of such minds to the sup
port Of his beliefs holds many interest
ing and frequently amusing stories.
DR.. Pelterie Is the inventor of the
joy-stick, the device which is now mi
versally used for the guidance of air
planes. He tells an interesting stcrS
Of the translation of his early papers
by a young lady, translator. Every
piece of wood mentioned in the text
which could be moved was translated
as "joy-stick." When the text was
completed the plane described was
found to have more than 100 joy-
sticks in its makeup; it fairly bristled
with them.
Pelterie's Rocket Plans.
1t would have sufflced merely to have
said that there was nothing unusual
about M. Pelterie than to have gone on
with description Of his plans for de-
veloping rocket power. Let us do so
now.
First of all DR.. Pelterie plans to
make a thorough study of fuels Every
one who has given any attention to the
study of rockets realizes that, as yet,
We have no fuel that is satisfactory for
this purpose. Ordinary explosives have
far too much weight in proportion to
their energy content to be even re-
motely feasible. Gasoline, benzine and
the like are also far too insufficient.
Fuels like liquid oxygen. while being
very desirable in some respects, are at
the same time far too dangerous.
Liquid oxygen has been used in some