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Pioneer

Wernher von Braun

VAIR-nuhr fon BROWN
Also Known As Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun
Spacecraft and Rocket Engineers
Ascending Finned Rocket

A German-American aerospace engineer who led the team that developed the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany during the Second World War, then emigrated to the United States, where he led the development of the Saturn V rocket that carried Apollo astronauts to the Moon. His wartime role, including the use of forced labor in V-2 production, remains a debated part of his legacy.

Facts
Birth Date
1912-03-23 1
Birth Year
1912 2
Death Date
1977-06-16 1
Death Year
1977 2
Nationality
German, later American 1
Defining Contribution
Chief architect of the Saturn V rocket that launched the Apollo Moon missions 3
Notable Work
Chief architect of the Saturn V rocket for NASA's Apollo program 2
Connections

Associated With

Hermann Oberth, Pioneers

Oberth mentored von Braun in the German rocketry societies of the late 1920s; von Braun later called Oberth the man who first showed him that spaceflight was an engineering problem, not a dream.

Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Klaus Riedel, Pioneers
Krafft Ehricke, Pioneers
NASA, Space Agencies and Companies

Director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and chief architect of the Saturn V.

Source A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo AstronautsAndrew Chaikin
Robert Goddard, Pioneers

Von Braun and the German rocket program read Goddard's published work; Hermann Oberth had Goddard's 1919 paper translated for von Braun.

Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Rudolf Nebel, Pioneers
Saturn V, Spacecraft

Chief architect of the rocket's design.

Source A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo AstronautsAndrew Chaikin
Walter Dornberger, Pioneers
Willy Ley, Pioneers
Sources
1. Encyclopedia Britannica: Space Exploration
Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.View the Source
2. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Wernher von Braun, Wikipedia - infobox (born)
    23 March 1912
  • Wernher von Braun, Wikipedia - infobox (died)
    16 June 1977
  • Wernher von Braun, Wikipedia - infobox (full name)
    Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun
  • Wernher von Braun, Wikipedia - American career section
    The V-2 was a quantum leap of technological change. We got to the Moon using V-2 technology but this was technology that was developed with massive resources.
  • Associated With: Hermann Oberth, Hermann Oberth, lead section
  • Associated With: Robert Goddard, Robert H. Goddard, Wikipedia - A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes section
    Oberth had Goddard's 1919 paper translated and Wernher von Braun read it.
View the Source
3. A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts
Andrew Chaikin
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