Space technology and rockets existed in antiquity and the Middle Ages

It is well known that the first flights of earthlings into space took place in the twentieth century. But this is the official version. Meanwhile, there is evidence that space exploration could have started much earlier. For example, at the time of ancient Egypt or the Renaissance.

Imitation control panel

The Leiden Museum of Antiquities acquired a certain ancient Egyptian artifact in 1828, the age of which is 4500 years, which makes it possible to attribute it to the time of the fifth dynasty of the pharaohs.

Unfortunately, the exact location where the object was found is not known. But Egyptologists claim that it is unique and completely different from anything produced at that time by the Egyptians.

It is a massive alabaster tablet, measuring approximately 49 centimeters in diameter and 13 centimeters in height. She weighs about 75 kilograms. It has round holes and raised protuberances.

On the surface of the tablet are hieroglyphic inscriptions, but only one of the messages has been deciphered so far. Experts believe the artifact was used in funerary rituals when high-ranking Egyptians were buried.

But in appearance, the object is very similar to the control panel of a modern aircraft.

Some researchers suggest that it is a copy of an even older technological object, made either much earlier or having belonged to another civilization. After all, there are many myths about deities descending to Earth.

There is a version that it was extraterrestrials who flew to our planet in spaceships. And, perhaps, the representatives of the earth civilization of that time had a chance to see the internal structure of these spaceships. However, this is only a hypothesis, not a statement.

The first rocket was launched in the 16th century?

The Sibiu Manuscript, or Haas Manuscript, is also of considerable interest. This 450-page document was accidentally discovered in 1961 in the archives of the Romanian city of Sibiu by Doru Toderichiu, a professor at the University of Bucharest.

It turned out that this manuscript in German was written in the 16th century. It described rocket science in detail, with drawings and calculations. In particular, how to build a three-stage rocket, as well as a manned space rocket. It was mentioned that rockets require the use of liquid fuel.

The authorship of this work is attributed to the military engineer Konrad Haas (1509 – 1576) of Austrian or Transylvanian origin.

It is believed that it was he who invented the first rocket engine. And perhaps his work was not purely theoretical: there is evidence that an event similar to the launch of a space rocket occurred in Sibiu in 1550. Alas, no documentary information about this has been retained.

A prince’s money and a gunsmith’s life

Before the story of the Haas manuscript, it was believed that the idea of ​​​​creating a three-stage rocket belonged to the Polish expert in the field of artillery Kazimir Semenovich, who in 1650 published a book called Artis Magnae Artilleriae Pars Prima , which also described the construction of rockets.

At the same time, the images of space technology looked suspiciously like the drawings in the Sibiu manuscript. It can therefore be assumed that either Semenovich plagiarized, or he and his predecessor Haas drew information from the same sources.

By the way, the design of a cylindrical thrust chamber filled with powder fuel, with a conical hole for a gradual increase in the combustion area, described in both books, continues to be used in rocket technology today. today.

At the same time, the descriptions of Haas and Semenovich are completely devoid of any means of stabilizing the flight of a rocket, which suggests that after all we have only a concept, and not an actual guide to the rocket science.

It is possible that Haas knew how to build rockets in practice, but did not really want to, since they could be used for military purposes. The manuscript contains the following lines:

“But my advice is more peace than war, leave your guns under the roof, the bullets do not fire, the gunpowder does not burn wet, so that the prince keeps his money, the gunsmith his life; this is the advice given to you by Konrad Haas. »