Wernher von Braun

Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr¹ von Braun (March 23 1912 – June 16 1977) was one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States. Originally a German scientist leading Nazi Germany's rocket program before and during the Second World War, he entered the United States at the end of the war through the then-secret Operation Paperclip. He became a naturalized US citizen and worked on the American ICBM program before joining NASA. Today he is generally regarded as the father of the United States space program.

American career

US Army career

On June 20 1945 US Secretary of State Cordell Hull approved the transfer of von Braun and his specialists to America. Since the paperwork of those Germans selected for transfer to the United States was indicated by paperclips, von Braun and his colleagues became part of the mission known as Operation Paperclip.

Related Topics:
June 20 - 1945 - Secretary of State - Cordell Hull - Operation Paperclip

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The first seven technicians arrived in the United States at New Castle Army Air Base, just south of Wilmington, Delaware, on September 20, 1945. They were then flown to Boston and taken by boat to the Army Intelligence Service post at Fort Strong in Boston Harbor. Later, with the exception of von Braun, the men were transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland to sort out the Peenemünde documents. These would be the documents that would enable the scientists to continue their rocketry experiments.

Related Topics:
New Castle Army Air Base - Wilmington, Delaware - September 20 - 1945 - Boston - Army Intelligence - Fort Strong - Aberdeen Proving Ground - Maryland - Rocketry

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Finally, von Braun and his remaining Peenemünde staff were transferred to their new home at Fort Bliss, Texas, a large Army installation just north of El Paso. Whilst there they trained military, industrial and university personnel in the intricacies of rockets and guided missiles and helped to refurbish, assemble and launch a number of V-2s that had been shipped from Germany to the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico. They also continued to study the future potential of rockets for military and research applications. Since they were not permitted to leave Fort Bliss without military escort, von Braun and his colleagues began to refer to themselves only half-jokingly as "PoPs", "Prisoners of Peace".

Related Topics:
Fort Bliss - Texas - El Paso - White Sands Proving Grounds - New Mexico

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During his stay at Fort Bliss von Braun mailed a marriage proposal to his first cousin, 18-year-old Maria von Quistorp and on March 1, 1947, having receiving permission to go back to Germany, marry and return with his bride, he married her in a Lutheran church in Landshut, Germany. In December 1948, the von Brauns' first daughter, Iris, was born at Fort Bliss Army Hospital. In total, the von Brauns had three children: Iris, Magrit and Peter.

Related Topics:
March 1 - 1947 - Landshut - 1948

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In 1950, von Braun and his team were transferred to Huntsville, Alabama, his home for the next twenty years. Between 1950 and 1956, von Braun led the Army's rocket development team at Redstone Arsenal, resulting in the Redstone rocket. In 1955 von Braun became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Related Topics:
1950 - Huntsville, Alabama - 1956 - Redstone rocket - 1955 - Naturalized citizen - United States

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Still dreaming of a world in which rockets would be used for space exploration and for US military domination over the Soviet Union, in 1952 von Braun published his concept of a space-station in a Collier's Weekly magazine series of articles entitled Man Will Conquer Space Soon. These articles were illustrated by the space artist Chesley Bonestell and were influential in spreading his ideas. The space-station would have a diameter of 250 feet (76 m), orbit at a height of 1075 miles (1730 km), spin to provide artificial gravity and provide a platform for lunar expeditions. In the hope that its involvement would bring about greater public interest in the future of the space program, von Braun also began working with the Disney studios as a technical director, initially for three television films about space exploration.

Related Topics:
Space exploration - 1952 - Space-station - Collier's Weekly - Man Will Conquer Space Soon - Chesley Bonestell - Orbit - Artificial gravity - Lunar - Disney studios

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As Director of the Development Operations Division of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), von Braun's team then developed the Jupiter-C, a modified Redstone rocket. The Jupiter-C successfully launched the West's first satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958. This event signalled the birth of America's space program.

Related Topics:
Army Ballistic Missile Agency - Jupiter-C - Explorer 1 - January 31 - 1958

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Despite the work on the Redstone rocket, the twelve years from 1945 to 1957 were probably some of the most frustrating for von Braun and his colleagues. In the Soviet Union Sergei Korolev and his team ploughed ahead with several new rocket designs and the Sputnik program, whilst the American government were not very interested in von Braun's work and views and only embarked on a very modest rocket-building program. In the meantime the press tended to dwell on von Braun's past as a member of the SS and the slave labour needed to build his V-2 rockets. It was not until 1957 and the launch of Sputnik 1 that America realised how far it lagged behind the Soviet Union in the emerging Space Race. After the US Navy's attempt at building a rocket to lift satellites into orbit resulted in the grossly-unreliable Vanguard, American authorities recognised they needed von Braun and his team's experience, so quickly had them transferred to NASA.

Related Topics:
1957 - Sergei Korolev - Sputnik - SS - Slave labour - V-2 - Sputnik 1 - Space Race - US Navy - Vanguard

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NASA career

NASA was established by law on July 29, 1958. One day later, the 50th Redstone rocket was successfully launched from Johnston Island in the south Pacific as part of Operation Hardtack. Two years later NASA opened the new Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and transferred von Braun and his development team there from the ABMA at Redstone Arsenal. Presiding from July 1960 to February 1970, von Braun became the Center's first Director.

Related Topics:
NASA - July 29 - 1958 - Johnston Island - Operation Hardtack - Marshall Space Flight Center - Huntsville - Alabama - 1960 - 1970

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The Marshall Center's first major program was development of the Saturn rockets to carry heavy payloads into and beyond Earth orbit. Wernher von Braun's dream to help mankind set foot on the Moon became a reality on July 16, 1969 when a Marshall-developed Saturn V rocket launched the crew of Apollo 11 at the start of its historic eight-day mission. Over the course of the Apollo program Saturn V rockets enabled six teams of astronauts to reach Earth orbit and, ultimately, the surface of the Moon. At time of the first moon-landing von Braun publicly expressed his optimism that the Saturn rocket would continue to be developed, advocating manned missions to Mars in the 1980s based on the Saturn V.

Related Topics:
Saturn rocket - Payload - Earth orbit - Mankind - Moon - July 16 - 1969 - Saturn V - Apollo 11 - Apollo program - Mars

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In 1970, von Braun and his family relocated from Huntsville to Washington, DC when he was assigned the post of NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for Planning at NASA Headquarters. However, with the truncation of the Apollo program, von Braun retired from NASA in June 1972 as it became evident that his and NASA's visions for future US spaceflight projects were different.

Related Topics:
1970 - Washington, DC - 1972

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Career after NASA

After leaving NASA, von Braun became the vice-president of Fairchild Industries in Germantown, Maryland, where he was active in establishing and promoting the National Space Institute, a precursor of the present-day National Space Society. In 1976 he became scientific consultant to Lutz Kayser; the CEO of OTRAG; and a member of the Daimler-Benz board of directors.

Related Topics:
Fairchild Industries - Germantown - Maryland - National Space Institute - National Space Society - 1976 - Lutz Kayser - CEO - OTRAG - Daimler-Benz - Board of directors

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In 1976 von Braun also learned he had cancer. Despite surgery, the cancer progressed, forcing him to retire from Fairchild on December 31, 1976. On June 16, 1977, Wernher von Braun died in Alexandria, Virginia at the age of 65 and is interred there in the Ivy Hill Cemetery. The von Braun crater on the Moon was so named by the IAU in recognition of von Braun's contribution to space exploration and technology.

Related Topics:
Cancer - December 31 - 1976 - June 16 - 1977 - Alexandria, Virginia - Von Braun crater - IAU

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