100 Years till Mars - How Hermann Oberth Invented Space Flight

“100 Years till Mars“ is an intense documentary series about the history of rocket science by following the life of rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth. In 1921 he was the first to explore the scientific basics of space travel, its effects on the human body and challenges in travelling to other planets. He laid the foundations for both the US and the Soviet space program; the first one voluntarily, the second one through espionage. Oberth received the highest merits from East and West, however he remained widely unknown to the general public, unlike his assistant Wernher von Braun. How could the father of space travel become forgotten? The series will follow the preparations of the 2018 International Space Station mission, lead by Dr. Alexander Gerst as commander. One of the tasks of the mission will be to prepare manned travel to Mars, 100 years after Oberth’s ground breaking book was published. The series will show how, within a century, the dream of space travel became reality, from early rocket design, to the International Space Station and finally manned space travel to Mars. We will explore the development of rocket engineering and space travel in the USA and the USSR.

Team Partner

Dorian Schmid, director