Falling with Style: Zero Gravity in Early Spaceflight Thought

Article

“Falling with Style: Zero Gravity in Early Spaceflight Thought” by Samuel Goldberg
Published in Quest Volume: 29 #3 (2022)

Abstract

This article centers weightlessness as the primary subject in the work of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Hermann Oberth, and Hermann Noordung. After a brief look at the subject in contemporary literature, including the importance of environmental space history, I treat all three theorists as case studies in understanding how the construction of weightlessness and the physiology of spaceflight were not purely experimental but deeply interdisciplinary. Grounded in primary sources, this article explores sections of works that have otherwise not been sufficiently evaluated. The work, though far from complete, is the beginning of a longer and more encompassing project on the history of weightlessness, both from the early modern period to the contemporary day.

Citation

Goldberg, Samuel. “Falling with Style: Zero Gravity in Early Spaceflight Thought.” Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly 29, no. 3 (2022): 35-47.