Karel Jan Bossart (born 9 February 1904 in Antwerp - died 3 August 1975, San Diego, California) was a pioneering rocket designer and creator of the Atlas ICBM. His achievements rank along side those of Werner Von Braun and Sergei Korolev but as most of his work was for the United States Air Force and therefore was classified he remains relatively little known. February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Year 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Antwerp (disambiguation). ... August 3 is the 215th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (216th in leap years), with 150 days remaining. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Americas Finest City Location Location of San Diego within San Diego County Coordinates , Government County San Diego Mayor City Attorney         City Council District One District Two District Three District Four District Five District Six District Seven District Eight Jerry Sanders (R) Michael Aguirre Scott Peters Kevin... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Mercury Atlas 9 rocket and capsule on pad The Atlas is a venerable line of space launch vehicles built by Lockheed Martin. ... In May 1964, von Braun stands at his Marshall Space Flight Center desk in Huntsville, Alabama with models of rockets developed and in progress. ... Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (Серге́й Па́влович Королёв) (December 30, 1906– January 14, 1966) was the head Soviet rocket engineer and designer during the space race, known only as the chief designer during his lifetime. ...

After winning a scholarship - under the Belgian American Education Foundation - to M.I.T. to study aeronautical engineering he remained in the US working for various aircraft companies. In 1945 he was chief of structures at Convair and proposed to the USAF that a missile could be developed with an 8000km range based on the work of Von Braun. The Air Force was skeptical of Bossart's proposal partly to preserve the priority of Strategic Bombers but he was granted a limited contract to develop the proposal. Bossart's major innovation was the use of a monocoque design in which the structural integrity was maintained by the pressure of the fuel. After a series of tests in 1947 the Air Force lost interest and Bossart was instructed to abandon the research but by 1951 the escalation of the cold war enabled Bossart to revive the project that became known as 'Atlas'. In 1955 the CIA reported that the Soviets had swiftly progressed their own ICBM programme and Atlas became a crash project of the highest national importance. Bossart used this opportunity to advance work with high energy cryogenic fuels that resulted in the Centaur upper stage. MIT redirects here. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... The Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, universally known as Convair, was the result of a 1943 merger between Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft, resulting in a leading aircraft manufacturer of the United States. ... Seal of the Air Force. ... A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ... Model of Centaur with Surveyor as payload. ...

Atlas was first launched in 1958 but was never fully effective as an ICBM. As a launch vehicle it has formed the basis of the most successful and reliable expendable rockets in service. As a result Bossart's achievements include:

• Launch of first communications satellite
• Launch of first US orbital manned missions
• Launch of Mariner probes to Mars and Venus
• Launch of Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 to Jupiter and Saturn.

In 1955 Bossart became chief engineer of the Atlas project and in 1957 he was promoted to Technical Director of Aeronautics at General Dynamics. On December 17, 1957, eleven years of Bossart's work was climaxed by the successful first flight of the Atlas. In 1958 he received the Air Force's Exceptional Civilian Award for his work in developing America's first ICBM. Launch of Mariner 1 (NASA) The Mariner program was a series of unmanned interplanetary probes designed to investigate Mars, Venus and Mercury. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... (*min temperature refers to cloud tops only) Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 9. ... Pioneer 10 in the final stage of construction Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt, and was the first spacecraft to make direct observations of Jupiter. ... Position of Pioneer 10 and 11 Pioneer 11 was the second mission to investigate Jupiter and the outer solar system and the first to explore the planet Saturn and its main rings. ... Adjectives: Jovian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 20–200 kPa[4] (cloud layer) Composition: ~86% H2 ~13% Helium 0. ... Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 140 kPa Hydrogen >93% Helium >5% Methane 0. ...

His co-workers called Bossart one of the finest technical men in the country. They credit him with having spearheaded a major phase in the art of rocketry.

External links

• Karel Jan Bossart