Rocketry, 1900-1939 Gyrocompass, c 1940

Rocketry, 1900-1939 Gyrocompass, c 1940. (compas gyroscopique, utilise pour guider la trajectoire de vol des fusees V2 durant la seconde guerre mondiale) This gyrocompass was employed to guide the flight path of World War II V2 rockets. The gyrocompass directed the rocket during the powered section of its flight, after which the rocket flew ballistically. Inside the compass is a spinning gyroscope which keeps a constant orientation. The gyroscope had been invented 30 years earlier by the American engineer Elmer Sperry. It offered aircraft the possibility of automatic balance and stabilisation during flight. The V2 rocket was invented by the German scientist Wernher von Braun (1912-1977) and used against targets in Britain in 1944-1945. After the war von Braun was taken to the United States where his expertise in rocketry was used to develop ballistic missiles as well as being vital to the space programme. ©SSPL/Science Museum