The Birth Of The Space Race By Wernher Von Braun

The birth of the Space Race commenced long before the Cold War tensions began to rise. In the 1920’s Wernher Von Braun was a German teenager who dreamed of designing and creating rockets capable of reaching outer space. He spent his high school years participating in “Verein für Raumschiffahrt (Society for Space Travel), which conducted experiments with liquid fuel rockets.” Following high school Von Braun joined the Nazi Party who capitalized on his expertise with aerospace engineering. He became a leader of the ballistic missile development program, “there he oversaw the design of the V-2, the first long-range ballistic missile developed for warfare. The “V” in V-2 stood for Vergeltungswaffe (vengeance weapon).” The long range destructive