Wernher von Braun

[Klaus]

Wernher von Braun


Wernher von Braun, the son of a Prussian baron, was born in Wirsitz, Germany in 1912. He studied engineering at Berlin's Charlottenburg Institute of Technology and after reading The Rocket into Interplanetary Space by Hermann Oberth, he became interested in rocket technology and helped form the German Society for Space Travel.

In 1932 Braun's achievements attracted the attentions of Walter Dornberger, who was in charge of the solid-fuel rocket research and development in the Ordnance Department of the German Army. Dornberger recruited Braun and in 1934 he successfully built two rockets that rose vertically for more the than 2.4 kilometres (1.5 miles).

Dornberger was appointed military commander of rocket research station at Peenemunde in 1937. Braun became technical director of the establishment and he began to develop the long-range ballistic missile, the A4 and the supersonic anti-aircraft missile Wasserfall.

During the Second World War Braun began working on a new secret weapon, the V2 Rocket. This 45 feet long, liquid-fuelled rocket carried a one ton warhead, and was capable of supersonic speed and could fly at an altitude of over 50 miles. As a result it could not be effectively stopped once launched.

Heinrich Himmler saw the military potential of Braun's research and took over control of the research station. Himmler became increasingly concerned about the motivation of Braun, considering him more interested in space travel than developing bombs. In March, 1944, Braun was arrested by the Gestapo and was only released when they became convinced that Braun was willing to use all his energies to develop this bomb that Himmler believed had the potential to win the war.

The V2 Rocket was first used in September, 1944. Over 5,000 V-2s were fired on Britain. However, only 1,100 reached their target. These rockets killed 2,724 people and badly injured 6,000. After the D-Day landings, Allied troops were on mainland Europe and they were able to capture the launch sites and by March, 1945, the attacks came to an end.

With the Red Army advancing on the Peenemunde Research Station, Braun and his staff fled west and surrendered to the US Army. Braun and 40 other rocker scientists were taken to the United States where they worked on the development of nuclear missiles.

In 1952 Braun became technical director of the US Army's Ballistic Missile Agency at Huntsville, Alabama and was chiefly responsible for the manufacture and successful launching of Redstone, Jupiter-C, Juno and Pershing missiles.

After the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik on 4th October, 1957, Braun concentrated on the development of space rockets and in January, 1958 launched Explorer I.

In 1960 Braun became director of the Marshall Space Flight Center where he developed the Saturn rocket that helped the United States to land on the moon in 1969.

When President Richard Nixon dramatically reduced the space budget in 1972 Braun resigned and became vice-president of Fairchild Industries, an aerospace company

Wernher von Braun, who wrote the books Conquest of the Moon (1953) and Space Frontier (1967) died of cancer at Alexandria on 16th June, 1977.

"We have invaded space with our rocket and for the first time - mark this well - have used space as a bridge between two points on the earth; we have proved rocket propulsion practicable for space travel. This third
day of October, 1942, is the first of a new era of transportation, that of space travel.
- General Walter Dornberger


source: www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAbraun.htm - 22k -

[Jim O]

We stole all of the rocket scientists that we could get. Ironic how many of them became involved in development of "WMD's".

[Klaus]

I visited the "white Sands Missile Range" in New Mexico. It was the principal site for rocket testing and development.

In the middle of August 1945, over 300 railroad freight cars of V-2 components captured in the european Theater of Operations arrived in New Mexico.
It took the Americans about 20 days to get all the stuff from the trains due logistic problems. They had to hire every truck they could get their hands on to move the material.


This is a panorama from the northeast corner of the missile garden.

Location: White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
Date: November 1997
Photo by: Sven Knudson

[Sarge]

Why would Himmler want him to develop a Bomb? He had absolutely no expertise in this field?

I think this story may be suspect as I never read about him being arrested, as far as I am aware he believed in the cause.

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by Sarge

Why would Himmler want him to develop a Bomb? He had absolutely no expertise in this field?

I think this story may be suspect as I never read about him being arrested, as far as I am aware he believed in the cause.

I've read that he joined the Nazi Party to advance his career and that Himmler personally awarded him an SS rank. His arrest in 1944 is cited in several places:

V2ROCKET.COM - Wernher von Braun

Chapter 8 -- The Engineers before World War II

Wernher von Braun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Sarge]

OK, the arrest, or detention seems genuine, if a little sketchy, uncertainties about dates etc. However the explanation for his arrest is given as defeatism, not the fact that he was asked to produce Bombs.

Some very conflicting things stated about him on the differing websites though, I suppose as in most things the truth will be somewhere towards the middle.

[Klaus]

As it is most of the time.