Guido von Pirquet

Guido von Pirquet (March 30, 1880 – April 17, 1966) was an Austrian pioneer of astronautics and a Baron of a lower noble family.[1]

Born near Vienna, he was educated at Technische Hochschule in Vienna and Graz. He developed an interest in rocketry, building and testing model rockets in 1927.[1] In 1928, he proposed the idea of building a space station in low Earth orbit (LEO) for fueling vehicles to travel to the other planets.[2] He published detailed calculations for how this type of mission could be completed. For this reason, he is considered the true "father of the space station".[3] Along with Rudolf Zwerina, he founded the Austrian Society for Rocket Technology in 1931.[4] His interest in rocketry waned following the Anschluss in 1938.[1]

Pirquet crater on the Moon is named after him.[5] He was inducted as an honorary fellow of the British Interplanetary Society in 1949, their highest honor.[6] In 1976, he was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame.[1] His brother, Clemens von Pirquet, became a scientist and pediatrician.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Guido von Pirquet", International Space Hall of Fame (The New Mexico Museum of Space History), retrieved 2012-04-06.
  2. ↑ Burgess, Eric (1993), Outpost on Apollo's Moon, Columbia University Press, p. 172, ISBN 0231076665.
  3. ↑ Mark, Hans (1987), The Space Station: A Personal Journey, Duke University Press, p. 7, ISBN 0822307278.
  4. ↑ Gruntman, Mike (2004), Blazing The Trail: The Early History Of Spacecraft And Rocketry, General Publication Series, AIAA, p. 130, ISBN 156347705X
  5. ↑ Menzel, D. H. et al. (1971), "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by The Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU", Space Science Reviews 12 (2): 136, Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M, doi:10.1007/BF00171763.
  6. ↑ Honours and Awards, British Interplanetary Society, retrieved 2012-04-06