Werner von Braun and Robert Goddard

Werner von Braun
 Von Braun’s life
 Born 23rd March 1912 in Germany (now Poland)
 Prosperous aristocratic family
 Early interest in astronomy fostered by being given a telescope
 Didn’t do well at school until he acquired a copy of “The Rocket into Interplanetary Space”, by Hermann Oberth, which inspired him to apply himself in maths and physics.
 1932, graduated from Berlin institute of technology with a degree in mechanical engineering.
 Enrolled in University of Berlin.
 1932, given a research grant from the Ordinance Department
 1934, Ph.D. in physics from Berlin Uni. Thesis contained theoretical investigation and experiments on thrust rocket engines.
 1934, with a small team, launched 2 rockets 2.4 km upwards.
 Large military development facility in Peenemunde in Germany
 Liquid-fuelled rocket demonstrated.
 Long range ballistic missile A-4 developed.
 End of WW2, Braun and the entire German rocket-development team surrendered to US troops and was taken to the US as part of Operation Paperclip. (500 people, along with plans and test vehicles).
 Tested assembled and supervised launching of captured V-2s at US Army ordinance crops test site in New Mexico.
 1952, Moved to Alabama and became technical director of US army intermediate range ballistic-weapon (IRBM) program.
 Developed Redstone, Jupiter-C, Juno and Pershing missiles.
 1955, became U.S. citizen.
 Author and co-author of popular science articles and books. Made addresses promoting space flight.
 With group, launched first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, January 31, 1958.
 Transferred to NASA.
 1970, transferred to NASA headquarters in Washington D.C, became deputy associate administrator for planning.
 1975, National Medal of Science.
 Died June 16 1977
 Contributions to space exploration
 As director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre, Braun led the development of large space launch vehicles, Saturn I, IB and V. Braun designed each