VON BRAUN, WERNHER, 1912-1977

Biography:

Engineer, Born– March 23, 1912, in Wirsitz, Germany. Parents– Baron Magnus and Emmy (Von Quistorp) Von Braun. Married– Maria Von Quistorp, March 1, 1947. Children– Three. Education– Institute of Technology, Zurich, 1930; Institute of Technology, Berlin, B.S., 1932; University of Berlin, Ph.D., 1934. Assistant to Professor Oberth while experimenting with small liquid fuel rocket motors in Berlin-Ploetzensee; liquid fuel rocket expert, German Ordnance Department, Kammersdorf, 1932-1937; technical director, German Research Center, Peenemuende, 1937-1945; responsible for development of V-2 long range rocket and A.A. guided missile, Wasserfell. Came to U.S. 1945; became citizen 1955. Technical advisor, White Sands Proving Grounds, Ordnance Department., U.S. Department of Defense; project director Ft. Bliss, Tex., 1945-1950. Chief of guided missile development division, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Ala. 1950-1965; director, Developmental Operations Division, Army Ballistic Missile Agency, 1956-1960; director, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA, 1960-1970. Developed Saturn V Rocket, Apollo Lunar Landing Program, Skylab Space Station. Associate Administrator, NASA, Washington, 1970-1972; Vice president for Engineering, Fairchild Industries, 1972-1977. Awarded honorary degrees from more than twenty colleges and universities. Awarded the National Medal of Science, 1975.  Von Braun Convention Center in Huntsville is named in his honor.  Died January 16,1977.

Source:

Who Was Who in America, Vol. 7.

Publication(s):

Conquest of the Moon. New York; Viking Press, 1953.

The First Man to the Moon. New York; Holt, 1960.

Mars Project. Urbana; University of Illinois Press, 1962.

Space Frontiers. New York; Holt, 1967.

Joint Publication(s):

Careers in Astronautics and Rocketry; Training and Opportunities in the Space and Missile Fields. New York; McGraw-Hill, 1962.

The Exploration of Mars. New York; Viking Press, 1956.

History of Rocketry and Space Travel. New York; Crowell, 1967.

New Worlds; Discoveries from our Solar System. New York; Anchor, 1979.

Reaching for the Stars. Garden City, N.Y.; Doubleday, 1960.

The Rocket’s Red Glare. New York; Anchor, 1976.