Alfred Maul
Encyclopedia
Alfred Maul was a German engineer
who could be thought of as the father of aerial reconnaissance
. Maul, who owned a machine works, experimented from 1900 with small solid-propellant sounding rocket
s.
, that thought of, and implemented, the idea of taking photographs of the land with a rocket-attached camera. He was inspired by Ludwig Rahrmann, who in 1891 patented a means of attaching a camera to a large calibre artillery projectile or rocket. Previously, aerial photographs had been taken from balloons and kites, and in 1896 or 1897 by Alfred Nobel
's rocket, from a small rocket at 100 metres altitude. In 1903 Julius Neubronner's pigeons were used to take aerial photos but found to be too unreliable.
.
The camera would be launched into the air with a black powder rocket. When the rocket had reached an altitude of about 600 to 800 metres a few seconds later, its top would spring open and the camera would descend on a parachute. A timer would trigger the taking of the photograph.
In 1904 Maul managed to image the local landscape from 600 metre altitude.
From the beginning a military use for this technique was in mind. So, on 22 August 1906 a secret demonstration occurred before military observers at the Glauschnitz firing range.
Maul developed his camera rocket further for the purpose of military reconnaissance. He began attaching gyroscopic
-stabilised roll film
cameras in 1907.
In 1912 his rocket cameras were using a 20 by 25 centimetre photographic plate and gyroscopic steering to ensure stable flight and sharper images. The rocket massed 41 kilograms.
succeeded in the role of aerial reconnaissance. The Deutsches Museum
in Munich displays a Maul-built rocket.
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
who could be thought of as the father of aerial reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...
. Maul, who owned a machine works, experimented from 1900 with small solid-propellant sounding rocket
Sounding rocket
A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...
s.
Background
Although people had long been experimenting with rockets, hardly anyone had used them in a practical application. It was Alfred Maul, an industrialist and engineer from the Kingdom of SaxonyKingdom of Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...
, that thought of, and implemented, the idea of taking photographs of the land with a rocket-attached camera. He was inspired by Ludwig Rahrmann, who in 1891 patented a means of attaching a camera to a large calibre artillery projectile or rocket. Previously, aerial photographs had been taken from balloons and kites, and in 1896 or 1897 by Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer. He is the inventor of dynamite. Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments...
's rocket, from a small rocket at 100 metres altitude. In 1903 Julius Neubronner's pigeons were used to take aerial photos but found to be too unreliable.
Camera rocket development
In 1903 Alfred Maul patented his Maul Camera RocketMaul Camera Rocket
The Maul Camera Rocket was a rocket for aerial photography developed by Alfred Maul's company from 1903 to 1912. The Maul Camera Rocket was demonstrated in 1912 to the Austrian Army and tested as a means for reconnaissance in the Turkish-Bulgarian War in 1912/1913...
.
The camera would be launched into the air with a black powder rocket. When the rocket had reached an altitude of about 600 to 800 metres a few seconds later, its top would spring open and the camera would descend on a parachute. A timer would trigger the taking of the photograph.
In 1904 Maul managed to image the local landscape from 600 metre altitude.
From the beginning a military use for this technique was in mind. So, on 22 August 1906 a secret demonstration occurred before military observers at the Glauschnitz firing range.
Maul developed his camera rocket further for the purpose of military reconnaissance. He began attaching gyroscopic
Gyroscope
A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principles of angular momentum. In essence, a mechanical gyroscope is a spinning wheel or disk whose axle is free to take any orientation...
-stabilised roll film
Roll film
Rollfilm or roll film is any type of spool-wound photographic film protected from white light exposure by a paper backing, as opposed to film which is protected from exposure and wound forward in a cartridge. Confusingly, roll film was originally often referred to as "cartridge" film because of its...
cameras in 1907.
In 1912 his rocket cameras were using a 20 by 25 centimetre photographic plate and gyroscopic steering to ensure stable flight and sharper images. The rocket massed 41 kilograms.
Aeroplanes take over
Maul's rockets achieved no military significance because conventional aeroplanes during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
succeeded in the role of aerial reconnaissance. The Deutsches Museum
Deutsches Museum
The Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of technology and science, with approximately 1.5 million visitors per year and about 28,000 exhibited objects from 50 fields of science and technology. The museum was founded on June 28, 1903, at a meeting of the Association...
in Munich displays a Maul-built rocket.