Mohr Rocket

The Mohr Rocket

The Mohr rocket was constructed by engineer Ernst Mohr from Wuppertal. Ernst Mohr, under auspices of the German Rocket Society, constructed the Mohr Rocket which was designed to reach altitudes of 50 kilometers. The Mohr Rocket had a solid motor with 7,800 kgf that would take separable payload sections 1,200 m/s. The Mohr Rocket’s boosters were 0.30 meters in diameter, they were 1.7 meters in length, and had a mass of 135 kilograms of solid propellent. Also the Mohr Rocket’s payload dart was 56 millimeters in diameter, 1.25 meters in length and had a mass of 15 kilograms.
Flight Day 1957
On August 24,1957, the town of Cuxhaven saw its first use as the “Gateway to space”. The German Rocket Society had this event in bad weather so they could demonstrate the function admirably. After the “oilspray” rockets came rockets that ranged between 100-2,000 miles in altitude. Then next came a winged rocket built by Koschmieder, which reached an altitude of 3,000 miles. (The rocket was recovered by a parachute). After that was a 20 kilogram meteorologic rocket that used solid propellent that was developed by Deutshe Dynamite. (This rocket produced 1,500 kgf. and reached Mach 1.5). The rocket rose 4,000 miles, but the recovery parachute deployed early and unfortunately the meteorologic instruments could not be recovered. Finally the test for Ernst Mohr’s rocket was planned. The rocket had 50 kilograms of propellent, it would produce 5 tons of thrust, and would reach Mach 1.5 at burnout, an altitude of 20,000 miles. However, the launch was canceled due to severe weather. The Mohr Rocket’s first launch came on June 8th, 1958.