Brennschluss

Brennschluss is a German word meaning 'combustion termination'. It is used in rocket science.

From the NASA Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use: The cessation of burning in a rocket, resulting from consumption of the propellants, from deliberate shutoff, or from other cause; the time at which this cessation occurs. See burnout, cutoff.

In the 1950s, former Austrian rocket engineer Willy Ley, who had emigrated before the Anschluss and hence never worked on the V-2 rocket tried to get this term used by the English-speaking aerospace industry. The British used the term "all-burnt" while the Americans used "burn-out," each of which might have implied that the rocket structure itself was damaged by fire, either entirely or having a hole in its engine or tankage.

[edit] References

• Brenschluss was used as a conceptual metaphor in the book Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, which had the firing of V-2 rockets as one of its main themes.

• Rip Foster Rides the Gray Planet, a children's science fiction novel by Harold L. Goodwin, (written under the pseudonym Blake Savage), makes liberal references to brennschluss throughout its plot line.

• Dak Broadbent also used the term Brenschluss in Robert A. Heinlein's famous science fiction novel: Double Star.

• The brennschluss timer is referred to by multiple characters in Robert A. Heinlein's novel: The Rolling Stones.

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