Pedro Paulet

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Pedro Paulet

Born	July 2, 1874 Arequipa, Peru
Died	1945 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Residence	France
Ethnicity	Peruvian
Fields	liquid-fueled engine

Pedro Paulet (born July 2, 1874 in Arequipa, Peru; died 1945 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was a Peruvian scientist who in 1895 became the first person to build a liquid-fueled rocket engine.

News of this groundbreaking advance in rocketry did not surface until October 27, 1927, when a letter from Paulet appeared in an issue of the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio in which Paulet claimed legal ownership of his earlier rocket motor design. Recognizing that rocketry was beginning to boom in Europe, Paulet sought witnesses to help verify the work he said he had done years earlier. The letter was circulated across the world by an Alexander Scherschevsky, a Russian National, in summary form. Had Paulet's work been authenticated, he would today be considered the undisputed father of liquid propellant rocketry. As it is that title is more commonly attributed to Robert H. Goddard, who in 1926, flew a liquid-fueled rocket engine in a test vehicle.

Paulet also designed reaction motors in 1895, propulsion systems in 1900 and an airplane using thermoelectric batteries and rocket engines in 1902. He alluded to the use of nuclear propelled rockets for flights to the moon.

[edit] Trivia

The rocket Paulet I, a joint venture between the Peruvian Air Force and other Peruvian scientific entities, was named in Paulet's honor and was launched on December 27, 2006. It reached an altitude 45 km and traveled at five times the speed of sound. This is Peru's first venture into space. Future plans include putting a satellite into orbit.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Literature

The alleged contributions of Pedro E. Paulet to liquid-propellant rocketry ORDWAY, NASA, Washington Essays on the History of Rocketry and Astronautics, Vol. 2 p 25-41 (SEE N77-33048 23-99); United States; 1977 [1]