stars may be similarly identified by some peculiarity in their radio
emanations. If so, these could be used as check points in long-range
space travel.

Escape from the earth's gravity is possible even now,

{p. 101}

according to Francis H. Clauser, an authority on space travel plans.
But the cost would be prohibitive, with our present rocket motors, and
practical operations must wait for higher velocity rocket power,
atomic or otherwise. ("Flight beyond the Earth's Atmosphere, "S.A.E.
Quarterly Transactions, Vol. 2, No, 4, October 1948.)

Already, a two-stage rocket has gone more than 250 miles above the
earth. This is the V-2-Wac Corporal combination. The V-2 rocket is
used to power the first part of the flight, dropping off when its fuel
is exhausted. The Wac Corporal then proceeds on its own fuel, reaching
a fantastic speed in the thin air higher up.

Hundreds of technical problems must be licked before the first
satellite vehicle can be launched successfully. Records on our V-2
rockets indicate some of the obstacles. On the take-off, their present
swift acceleration would undoubtedly kill anyone inside. When
re-entering the earth's atmosphere the nose of a V-2 gets red-hot.

Both the acceleration and deceleration must be controlled before the
first volunteers will be allowed to hazard their lives in manned
rockets. Willi Ley, noted authority on space-travel problems, believes
that pilots may have to accept temporary blackout as a necessity on