Editing Herman Potočnik (section)

== ''The Problem of Space Travel'' ==
[[File:Noordung space station.jpg|thumb|Description of a [[space station]] in Hermann Noordung's ''The Problem of Space Travel'' (1929).<br>
(Legend: ''Achs-Körper'': [[axle]] body. ''Aufzugschacht'': [[elevator]] shaft. ''K'': electric cable to an external observatory. ''Kondensatorrohre'': condenser pipes. ''S'': [[airlock]]. ''Treppenschacht'': [[stairwell]]. ''Verdampfungsrohr'': boiler pipe).]]
At the end of 1928, he published his sole book, ''Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums - der Raketen-Motor (The Problem of Space Travel - The Rocket Motor)'' in [[Berlin]]. The publisher, Richard Carl Schmidt, printed the year 1929 as a publishing date, probably from a purely business motive (to keep the book looking new throughout the coming year) and this date is often mistakenly given as the actual date of publication. In 188 pages and 100 handmade illustrations, Potočnik described a plan for establishment of a permanent human presence in outer space. He conceived a detailed design for a [[space station]], regarded by Russian and American historians of spaceflight to be the first [[Space architecture]].{{citation needed|date=March 2013}}<!-- strong claims need strong secondary sources  --> 
He described the use of orbiting spacecraft for detailed observation of the ground for peaceful and military purposes, and described how the special conditions of space could be useful for scientific experiments.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=g8PW0_WNTDsC&dq=Noordung+space+station&pg=PA4 ''Walking in Space'' By David Shayler, p.4]</ref> Potočnik expressed strong doubts of the potentially destructive military use of these fresh discoveries.

The book was translated into [[Russian language|Russian]] during early 1935, Slovene in 1986 (by the [[Slovenska matica]]), English in 1995 (by [[NASA]]) and Croatian in 2004 (by [[Marino Fonović]], published by Labin Art Press). A partial translation to English, containing most of the essential chapters, was made as early as 1929 for the American magazine ''[[Wonder Stories|Science Wonder Stories]]'' and was issued in three parts (July, August and September 1929) and credited to "Captain Hermann Noordung, A.D., M.E., Berlin."<ref>[https://archive.org/details/Science_Wonder_Stories_v01n02_1929-07.Stellar_unknown-DPP Science Wonder Stories, vol. 1, no. 2 (July 1929)], pp. 170-180</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/Science_Wonder_Stories_v01n03_1929-08.Stellar Science Wonder Stories, vol. 1, no. 3 (August 1929)], pp.
264-273</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/Science_Wonder_Stories_v01n04_1929-09.Stellar Science Wonder Stories, vol. 1, no. 4 (September 1929)], pp. 361-368</ref>  The article was also published in Science Wonder Stories' affiliated publication [[Air Wonder Stories]] at the same time.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wGSuBgAAQBAJ&q=captain+hermann+noordung&pg=PA159|title = Air Wonder Stories, August 1929|isbn = 9781312107472|last1 = Juve|first1 = Henrik Dahl|last2 = Repp|first2 = Ed Earl|last3 = MacClure|first3 = Victor|last4 = Chappelow|first4 = Edward E.|date = 15 April 2014| publisher=Lulu.com }}</ref>

With his many ideas he became one of the founders of astronautics. His concepts were first considered seriously only by amateur rocketeers in Germany, the ''[[Verein für Raumschiffahrt]]'' (VfR - "Spaceflight Society"), the most notable of whom was [[Hermann Oberth]]. In its Russian edition, the book may also have influenced [[Sergey Korolev]] and his acquaintances.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}
More locally, Viennese engineers dismissed his work as fantasy.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

[[File:Noordung's Space Station Habitat Wheel - GPN-2003-00101.jpg|thumb|The space station ''Wohnrad'' (Living Wheel).]]
Potočnik's book described geostationary satellites (first proposed by [[Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]]) and discussed communication between them and the ground using radio, but did not suggest the idea of using satellites for mass broadcasting and as telecommunications relays (developed by [[Arthur C. Clarke]] in his article ''[[Wireless World]]'' of 1945). The wheel-shaped space station served as an inspiration for further development by [[Wernher von Braun]] (another former VfR member) in 1952.  Von Braun considered orbiting space stations as intermediate to travel to other planets.  In 1955 and 1968, [[George Pal]]'s and [[Byron Haskin]]'s ''[[Conquest of Space]]'' (based on Wernher von Braun's published concepts: first, several articles in [[Collier's]] magazine 1952– 54, co-written with [[Willy Ley]] and [[Chesley Bonestell]], and later developed into books from [[Viking Press]]. <ref>Miller, Thomas Kent. ''Mars in the Movies: A History''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2016. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-9914-4}}. p.60  {{ISBN|978-0-7864-9914-4}}</ref>) and [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s movie ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', respectively, depicted such a role for "Space Station V".