The Regener barrel () was the name of a scientific

payload Payload is the object or the entity that is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of t ...

for the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

V-2 rocket The V2 (), with the technical name ''Aggregat (rocket family), Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range missile guidance, guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the S ...

. Mid-1942 plans for subsequent launches to study upper-atmospheric guidance and science were not carried out due to the need for test launches and the eventual advance of the Russian armies. The first meeting was held on July 8, 1942, at the Peenemünde Army Research Station under the direction of

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( ; ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and '' Allgemeine SS'', the leading figure in the development of ...

with the participation of

Erich Regener Erich Rudolf Alexander Regener (12 November 1881 – 27 February 1955) was a German physicist known primarily for the design and construction of instruments to measure cosmic ray intensity at various altitudes. He is also known for predicting ...

, Ernst Steinhoff, Gerhard Reisig,

Helmut Gröttrup Helmut Gröttrup (12 February 1916 – 4 July 1981) was a German engineer, rocket scientist and inventor of the smart card. During World War II, he worked in the German V-2 rocket program under Wernher von Braun. From 1946 to 1950 he headed a gr ...

, Alfred Ehmert, and Erwin Schopper, among others. Wernher von Braun also tried to win

Manfred von Ardenne Manfred baron von Ardenne (; 20 January 190726 May 1997) was a German researcher, autodidact in applied physics, and an inventor. He took out approximately 600 patents in fields including electron microscopy, medical technology, nuclear techn ...

for cooperation, but he declined. Instrumentation had been contracted on July 11, 1942; and the Research Foundation for the Physics of the Stratosphere was to develop the "Regener barrel" with a quartz

barograph A barograph is a barometer that records the barometric pressure over time in graphical form. This instrument is also used to make a continuous recording of atmospheric pressure. The pressure-sensitive element, a partially evacuated metal cylinde ...

, a recording thermometer, an ultraviolet

spectrograph An optical spectrometer (spectrophotometer, spectrograph or spectroscope) is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify mate ...

, and an air sampler. By January 18, 1945, rumors of nearby Soviet tanks resulted in Erich Regener's organization being sent from Peenemünde before the A-4 instrument package had been finished. The ''Regener-Tonne'' parachute was tested at

Test Stand VII Test Stand VII (, P-7) was the principal V-2 rocket testing facility at Peenemünde Airfield and was capable of static firing rocket motors with up to 200 tons of thrust. Notable events at the site include the first successful V-2 launch on 3 O ...

of the

Peenemünde Army Research Center The Peenemünde Army Research Center (, HVP) was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the German Army Weapons Office (''Heereswaffenamt''). Several German guided missiles and rockets of World War II were developed by ...

and a mock-up was launched in January 1945.

References

*{{cite web , last=Kliebenschedel , first=Thomas , title=The Birth of Extraterrestrial Physics Research Methods , url=https://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.v2werk-oberraderach.de%2FHoehenforschung.htm&sl=de&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 , work=A4 (V2) rocket manufacturing plant in Friedrichshafen 1942-45 , publisher=www.V2Werk-Oberraderach.de , access-date=2009-01-26 World War II guided missiles of Germany