The sun gun or heliobeam was a theoretical orbital weapon that was researched by Nazi Germany during World War II.
History[]
In 1929, the German physicist Hermann Oberth developed plans for a space station from which a 100 metre-wide concave mirror could be used to reflect sunlight onto a concentrated point on the earth.[1]
Development[]
Later during World War II, a group of German scientists at a research centre in Hillersleben began to expand on Oberth's idea of creating a superweapon that could utilize the sun's energy. This so-called "sun gun" would be part of a space station 5,100 miles above Earth. The scientists calculated that a huge reflector, made of metallic sodium and with an area of 3.5 square miles, could produce enough focused heat to make an ocean boil or burn a city.[1] After being questioned by Allied officers, the Germans claimed that the sun gun could be completed within 50 or 100 years.[1][2]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Science: Sun Gun". Time Magazine. July 9, 1945. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,852344-1,00.html.
- ↑ "The German Space Mirror". Life Magazine. July 23, 1945. http://books.google.ru/books?id=30kEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA78&hl=ru&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false.
The original article can be found at Sun gun and the edit history here.