Author Topic: Who was the first person to survive a vertical rocket launch?  (Read 22108 times)

Offline whitelancer64

The first vertical rocket launch with a human on board resulted in a fatality.

Lothar Sieber, a test pilot for Nazi Germany, was launched vertically with booster rockets on an experimental interceptor aircraft, the Natter Ba 349A M23, that was effectively intended to be a short-range human-piloted surface-to-air missile. On the first and only test flight of this aricraft, on March 1, 1945, one of the rocket boosters did not separate as planned and the aircraft inverted and impacted the ground 7 km away from the launch site.

As far as I can tell, the first person to survive a vertical rocket launch was Yuri Gagarin, 16 years later.

The intervening years had several human-piloted rocket-powered aircraft (like the X-15), but these were launched either horizontally or by being dropped from airplanes. There were quite a lot of suborbital (and one orbital, with Laika) rocket flights with animals on board, but I can't find a mention of any with a human on board.

Am I missing out on any sub-orbital yet historical firsts? Does anyone know?
"One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to." - Elon Musk
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Offline Rocket Science

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The first vertical rocket launch with a human on board resulted in a fatality.

Lothar Sieber, a test pilot for Nazi Germany, was launched vertically with booster rockets on an experimental interceptor aircraft, the Natter Ba 349A M23, that was effectively intended to be a short-range human-piloted surface-to-air missile. On the first and only test flight of this aricraft, on March 1, 1945, one of the rocket boosters did not separate as planned and the aircraft inverted and impacted the ground 7 km away from the launch site.

As far as I can tell, the first person to survive a vertical rocket launch was Yuri Gagarin, 16 years later.

The intervening years had several human-piloted rocket-powered aircraft (like the X-15), but these were launched either horizontally or by being dropped from airplanes. There were quite a lot of suborbital (and one orbital, with Laika) rocket flights with animals on board, but I can't find a mention of any with a human on board.

Am I missing out on any sub-orbital yet historical firsts? Does anyone know?
ME-163 Komet

« Last Edit: 04/26/2019 08:51 pm by Rocket Science »
"The laws of physics are unforgiving"
~Rob: Physics instructor, Aviator

Offline whitelancer64


ME-163 Komet
*snip*

That would fall in the horizontal-launched category.
"One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to." - Elon Musk
"There are lies, damned lies, and launch schedules." - Larry J

Offline Rocket Science

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ME-163 Komet
*snip*

That would fall in the horizontal-launched category.
Could go vertical. But I believe you are looking along the family of piloted A4 A9-A10 most likely...
"The laws of physics are unforgiving"
~Rob: Physics instructor, Aviator

Offline whitelancer64


ME-163 Komet
*snip*

That would fall in the horizontal-launched category.
Could go vertical. But I believe you are looking along the family of piloted A4 A9-A10 most likely...

Piloted A4 / A9 / A10 were design concepts only, and none were ever built.
"One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to." - Elon Musk
"There are lies, damned lies, and launch schedules." - Larry J

Offline RonM

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ME-163 Komet
*snip*

That would fall in the horizontal-launched category.
Could go vertical. But I believe you are looking along the family of piloted A4 A9-A10 most likely...

No piloted Aggregat series rockets were ever built. It's only speculation the A6 would have been manned.

Offline Rocket Science

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Would be a great artifact even if they found one in mock-up form...
"The laws of physics are unforgiving"
~Rob: Physics instructor, Aviator

Offline Wicky

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The legendary Wan Hu


Offline Steven Pietrobon

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The legendary Wan Hu

I don't believe he survived the attempt.

« Last Edit: 04/27/2019 04:22 am by Steven Pietrobon »
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Dalhousie

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ME-163 Komet
*snip*

That would fall in the horizontal-launched category.
Could go vertical. But I believe you are looking along the family of piloted A4 A9-A10 most likely...

Still took off from runway
Apologies in advance for any lack of civility - it's unintended

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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There were a bunch of vertical launched aircraft in the 1950s, but I believe they were all jet or propeller powered.

« Last Edit: 04/27/2019 04:49 am by Steven Pietrobon »
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Michel Van

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The first human launch vertical with rocket was Lothar Sieber
On March 1, 1945, he was launch on board of a Bachem Ba 349 „Natter“
Sadly he not survived first launch of this rocket powered interceptor


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Offline whitelancer64

Thanks for the input, everyone. I had forgotten about Wan Hu, though he probably did not survive.

I'm just a little surprised that Yuri Gagarin was the first human being to survive a vertical rocket launch, and that one was to orbit.
"One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to." - Elon Musk
"There are lies, damned lies, and launch schedules." - Larry J

Offline JoeFromRIUSA

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The first human launch vertical with rocket was Lothar Sieber
On March 1, 1945, he was launch on board of a Bachem Ba 349 „Natter“
Sadly he not survived first launch of this rocket powered interceptor


Wir haben Liftoff

Offline Rocket Science

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ME-163 Komet
*snip*

That would fall in the horizontal-launched category.
Could go vertical. But I believe you are looking along the family of piloted A4 A9-A10 most likely...

Still took off from runway
Not the proposed piloted "A series" that I mentioned...
« Last Edit: 04/29/2019 04:56 pm by Rocket Science »
"The laws of physics are unforgiving"
~Rob: Physics instructor, Aviator

Offline libra

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The entire Natter concept bordered on craziness... Me-163 was crazy, but the Natter, an expendable Me-163 ?  :o

Offline edkyle99

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On-line histories hint at three subsequent Natter launches with pilots.  Are they correct?

 - Ed Kyle

Offline Zed_Noir

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The entire Natter concept bordered on craziness... Me-163 was crazy, but the Natter, an expendable Me-163 ?  :o

Crazy, a bit. But considering the targets. Tight formations of large lumbering propeller driven bombers with full bomb loads at about 15000 feet. If one survive the launch phase of the Natter, you should in theory take out at least several bombers with the rocket salvo with head on approach within a minute of lift off. The USAF later copy the concept for the F-89 Scorpion jet interceptor with 104 aerial rockets in wingtip pods.

IIRC the Natter is build with non-strategic materials and does not required a trained pilot. The vehicle operator is task with aiming the interceptor to the firing point after take off and firing the 24+ aerial rockets then bail out from the vehicle.

Offline kevin-rf

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Do ejection seats not count. I believe some used solid rocket motors.
If you're happy and you know it,
It's your med's!

Offline kevin-rf

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If tethered flights count, we might have a winner

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Rocket_Belt
If you're happy and you know it,
It's your med's!

 

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