Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Test Stand VII
Test Stand VII (Prüfstand VII in German) was the most important launch pad for testing V-2 rockets at Peenemünde during World War II.
Test Stand VII was located at . It was surrounded by an elliptical earth wall, and was therefore nicknamed "arena". It also had a 32 metre high rocket assembly hall. Test Stand VII was larger than needed for launching the V-2 because it was designed for testing the larger A9/A10 multi-stage rocket, though the war ended before any prototypes of the A9/A10 could be built.
Test Stand VII was used for testing V-2 rockets until the site had to be evacuated due to the Soviet advance in 1945, despite considerable damage from an air raid in August 1944, which were cleared until November 1944. Because the distance from Peenemünde to Great Britain, Belgium, France, or the Netherlands was farther than the maximum range of the A4 rocket, no launches toward hostile targets were made from it.
At Test Stand VII there was also a TV system for tracking the rockets. This device was the world's first application of close-in-television.
Between 1948 and 1961 Test Stand VII was dismantled by the Soviet occupation forces, along with most of the rest of the Peenemünde base. There are now only a few remains from the once large complex.
Members of the rocket model club DERA from Berlin have launched several models of the A4-rocket from the area of test stand VII (http://213.239.205.81/~rmb/showthread.php?threadid=546). October 3rd was chosen as the date because on that day in 1942, at 15:58 MST, the first successful launch of an A4 rocket took place. This rocket was the first man-made device to reach space, at a height of 84.5 kilometres. For this reason the October 3, 1942 is said to be the "birthday of space travel".
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