Hans Fichtner

Hans Joachim Oskar Fichtner (1917-2012), born in Leipzig, was a German electrical engineer and an original member of Wernher von Braun's rocket team. At Peenemuende he worked on the control system of the A4 and later laid out the electrical system of the V-2 ground and airborne equipment; he arrived in the United States with the group of specialists in November 1945 and designed the electrical systems for the V-2 launches at White Sands. He then did the electrical design for Redstone, Mercury-Redstone, Jupiter and Pershing, and by 1960 headed the Electrical Systems Integration Branch of the Guidance and Control Division at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. He oversaw the electrical system of the Saturn V and developed the automated checkout system that let its electronics test themselves before launch. He died in Huntsville, Alabama, aged 95.