1929 - Exploration, Colonization

Exploration, Colonization

Ways to Space Flight (Wege zur Raumschiffahri) by Hermann Oberth wins a 10,000-franc prize, permitting the scientist to finance further research on liquid-propellant rocket motors (see 1923; 1931).

U.S. Navy polar explorer-aviator Commander Richard E. Byrd takes off from his Little America base in the Antarctic November 28 with Bernt Balchen for the first flight over the South Pole (see 1928). The two return in 19 hours, having flown 1,560 miles, discovered several new mountain ranges, and obtained geological, meteorological, and radiowave propagation data; Byrd is promoted to rear admiral (see 1933).