Background
Wernher Von Braun was born on March 23, 1912 in Wirsitz, Eastern Germany. Son of Baron Magnus and Emmy (von Quistorp) Von Braun.
(A reprint of the 1953 U. of Illinois Press edition, itsel...)
A reprint of the 1953 U. of Illinois Press edition, itself translated from the 1952 German edition (Bechtle Verlag, Esslingen). A forward look at interplanetary space flight, based on von Braun's experience working first for the Nazis and then for the US Army. With a new foreword by former NASA admi
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(Author: Wernher Von Braun, Frederick I., III Ordway, Fred...)
Author: Wernher Von Braun, Frederick I., III Ordway, Fred Du Publisher: Harpercollins Keywords: space, history, travel, update, rocketry Pages: 308 Published: 1985-11 Language: English Category: Aeronautics & Astronautics, Astronomy & Space Science, Science & Math, ISBN-10: 0061818984 ISBN-13: 9780061818981 Binding: Hardcover (4 Sub)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061818984/?tag=2022091-20
Wernher Von Braun was born on March 23, 1912 in Wirsitz, Eastern Germany. Son of Baron Magnus and Emmy (von Quistorp) Von Braun.
Von Braun enrolled at the Berlin Institute of Technology in the late 1920s, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1932. He then enrolled at the University of Berlin to study physics. While completing his graduate studies, von Braun conducted in-depth research on rocketry, for which he received a grant from the Ordnance Department of Germany. The grant financed von Braun's research at a research station not far from Berlin, next to the solid-fuel rocket facility of then-Captain Walter Dornberger, a department head for the Ordnance Department's armed forces. In 1934, he obtained a doctorate degree in physics from the University of Berlin. That same year, von Braun led a group that successfully launched two liquid-fueled rockets more than 1.5 miles.
Moving to a new facility in the early 1940s in Peenemünde, a village in northeastern Germany, von Braun worked with Dornberger and the rest of his crew to again successfully launch rockets, as well as develop the supersonic anti-aircraft missile Wasserfall and the ballistic missile A-4. The A-4 became known as the "V-2," meaning "Vengeance Weapon 2." Adolf Hitler soon became interested in using the V-2 for military purposes (Germany had started World War II in 1939 by invading Poland), and when von Braun refused to cooperate with Gestapo Chief Heinrich Himmler's attempted takeover of the V-2 project, he was imprisoned on espionage charges. Not long after, however, Hitler personally released von Braun. Despite never receiving approval from von Braun, German forces deployed the V-2 flying bomb against Britain in 1944.
In 1945, von Braun—as well as his brother, Magnus, and von Braun's entire rocketry team—surrendered willingly to American troops. Signing a one-year contract with the U.S. Army, von Braun was flown to America, where he eventually became technical director of the U.S. Army Ordnance Guided Missile Project in Alabama in 1952. There, working alongside Dr. William H. Pickering, former director of JPL, and Dr. James A. van Allen, he was an integral part of the team that successfully launched the first American artificial earth satellite, Explorer I on January 31, 1958. Leading the Army's Redstone Arsenal team, von Braun was responsible for the first stage Redstone Juno-I rocket that launched Explorer I. In addition, under his direction, the Jupiter Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM), and the Pershing missile were developed. During this period, Von Braun also become a legal U.S. citizen in 1955.
As director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Marshall Space Flight Center, from 1960 to 1970, von Braun developed the Saturn IB and Saturn V space vehicles, as well as the Saturn I rocket for the Apollo 8 moon orbit in 1969. Each launch was successful. Because he was good looking and outgoing, von Braun was occasionally the butt of both humorous and serious verbal attacks regarding the notion of former German scientists working for the U.S. space program.
In 1972, von Braun became vice president at the aerospace company Fairchild Industries, Inc. He founded the National Space Institute, aimed at gaining public support for space activities, a few years later.
Von Braun died on June 16, 1977. Throughout his long career, von Braun received several U.S. honors, as well as awards from professional societies worldwide. He authored and co-authored various works on rocket science and physics. Today, von Braun is still considered one of the most important weapons specialists in the field of rocketry and jet propulsion in the United States.
(History of rocketry & space travel [Wernher Von Braun] on...)
(Author: Wernher Von Braun, Frederick I., III Ordway, Fred...)
(A reprint of the 1953 U. of Illinois Press edition, itsel...)
Fellow British Interplanetary Society (honorary), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Astronomical Society, Indiana Institute Technology. Member Norwegian Interplanetary Society, Gesellschaft fuer Raketentechnik und Raumfahrt (Munich, Germany), Hermann Oberth Society, Hellenic Astronomical Society. Member Rocket City Astronomical Association (president), International Academy Astronautics (honorary), National Academy Engineering, honorary.
Member Tau Beta Pi, Pi Mu Epsilon, others.; Club: Explorer (New York City).
Children: Iris, Margrit, Peter.