"Sun Gun" - a huge orbital mirror Bashny.Net

Among the many truly unique technologies developed by German scientists during World War II, and found quite a few absurd. Otherwise, do not call the project "Sun Gun" - a huge orbital mirror, its beam burn whole town, the river and the volatile fusing armor.

During World War II, a German village Hillersleben was an important training ground, where he developed the newest and long-term service. The research center employs more than 150 engineers and physicists to create all kinds of experimental methods of warfare, a significant proportion of which was adopted by the Wehrmacht.



But perhaps the most ambitious project remained non-embodied cyclopean Sonnengewehr - «Solar Gun" - the orbital weapon, the perfect "weapon of retaliation", which dreamed of in his last years Hitler.



The idea Sonnengewehr filed "Pope" of rocketry Hermann Oberth (Hermann Oberth). Back in 1929 in the book "The Road to Space Missions» (Wege zur Raumschiffahrt) he offered a hypothetical manned station orbiting about a thousand kilometers above the Earth's surface. Obert fairly detailed description of the possible ways of construction of predefined modules (as a whole is going well today, and the ISS), proposed to use the rotation to create an artificial gravitational field, the whole concept worked periodic support missions to deliver cargo and crew change. However, in the conception of physics it was nothing particularly bloodthirsty, he intended to use this station as an astronomical observatory and a radio repeater for Geosciences, rescue missions, meteorology, and only then mentioned the defense perspective. But they are interested functionaries of the Reich.



It was assumed that on board a space station will be placed concave mirror 100 m in diameter, which can reflect and collect the sunlight to a point on the Earth's surface. Oberth believed that this energy can heat water and turn the turbine power stations - but the generals prefer to use it just to burn everything in your path such hot lucha.Ispolzuya sketches made Oberth, physics Hillersleben working for the military order, substantially broadened the concept of orbital mirrors . They carried out the necessary calculations, showing that their goals will need a parabolic mirror area of ​​at least 3 square meters. km, located at an altitude of 8200 km. For the realization of the project was given Cyclopean let.Vesnoy 50, 1945, against the background of increasingly apparent victory of the USSR and its allies the project was abandoned.