The Wonderful World Of Wernher von Braun

[north_star_rising]

Wernher von Braun, (vôn broun) , 1912–77, German-American rocket expert, b. Germany, grad. Berlin Technological Institute (B.S., 1932), Ph.D. Univ. of Berlin, 1934. After 1930, von Braun assisted Hermann Oberth in early experiments in building and firing small liquid fuel rockets. From 1937 to 1945, von Braun was technical director of the German rocket research center at Peenemünde and was research professor there from 1943. At Peenemünde he was responsible for the successful development of the German V-2 liquid fuel rocket and also for other rocket weapons. At the close of World War II, von Braun was brought to the United States, and from 1945 to 1950 he was technical adviser at the White Sands Proving Grounds and also project director at Fort Bliss, Tex. He went to Huntsville, Ala., in 1950, first as chief of the guided missile development division, Redstone Arsenal (1950–56), and then as director of the development operations division of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (now the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center), where he developed rockets for the manned lunar program. In 1970 he became deputy associate administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Von Braun was an ardent advocate of rocket development and space flight, acting as America's best-known spokesman for space exploration. He became a U.S. citizen in 1955. His writings include Across the Space Frontier (1952), The Exploration of Mars (with Willy Ley, 1956), and First Men to the Moon (1960).<br /><br />This thread is a tribute to Wernher von Braun, and to talk about all of the exciting things from this era which never came to pass, and if realized in those days, could have dramatically altered human space history.<br /><br />Please share here, your information, pictures, and interest in Wernher von Braun and his many inventions, ideas, and history.<br /><br />Even though this thread is mainly for Science Fact Issues/Information in these regards, please feel free to bring up or dis

 

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Wernher von Braun in his younger days

 

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Wernher von Braun in his late years

 

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A Wernher von Braun Based Site - Fun For The Young An Old<br /><br />http://www.starships.com/Moon_Story.HTML

 

[north_star_rising]

Sadly, Wernher von Braun and his great accomplishments of the V1 era was scorned and demonized because it was achieved during troubled times in Europe, and indeed the World, and even today the great successes of Wernher von Braun and the V1 program is greeted with great apprehension because of its use by Hitler and the Nazi's.<br /><br />People are very quick to forget also, that Apollo owes its success to Wernher von Braun and the many captured, or immigrated, scientists from Germany after the war.<br /><br />People also forget that Wernher von Braun did not like Hitler or the Nazi's, but if he and other rocket scientists did not do what they were told to do, they would have been ruined, imprisoned, or killed.<br />

 

[SpaceKiwi]

I agree. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[SpaceKiwi]

<font color="yellow">People also forget that Wernher von Braun did not like Hitler or the Nazi's, but if he and other rocket scientists did not do what they were told to do, they would have been ruined, imprisoned, or killed.</font><br /><br /><br />That is a somewhat subjective comment and <b>probably</b> true, but it nevertheless does tarnish his undoubted expertise and skill. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[north_star_rising]

Wernher Von Braun was one of the world's first and foremost rocket engineers and a leading authority on space travel. His will to expand man's knowledge through the exploration of space led to the development of the Explorer satellites, the Jupiter and Jupiter-C rockets, Pershing, the Redstone rocket, Saturn rockets, and Skylab, the world's first space station. Additionally, his determination to "go where no man has gone before" led to mankind setting foot on the moon.<br /><br />Living in Huntsville, Alabama from 1950 to 1970, Dr. von Braun first directed the technical development of the U.S. Army's ballistic missile program at Redstone Arsenal, and later served as Director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. When he transferred to Washington, D.C., he left Huntsville with a rich legacy: the research institutions at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the Alabama Space and Rocket Center, and the Von Braun Civic Center.

 

[north_star_rising]

UNITED STATES SPACE AND ROCKET CENTER EXHIBITS<br />Huntsville, AL<br /><br />Wernher von Braun Personal Space Suit

 

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Wernher von Braun went through periods of weightlessness aboard an Air Force KC-135 in 1968.<br /><br />He said it wasn't as easy to rise above the red tape of the U.S. space program!<br /><br />Sadly, It Is Still The Same Way, But Worse, Today! :-(

 

[drwayne]

It is difficult to convey the esteem in which von Braun was held during his time in Huntsville. The man assumed nearly mythical proportions.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[north_star_rising]

ABOUT THE DESIGN: Like most of the "speculative spacecraft" models released by The Lindberg Line in the late 1950s, the U.S. Space Station was another blatant Werner Von Braun rip-off, borrowing heavily from the good doctor's space station as featured in Collier's magazine circa 1953. Like the original Von Braun design, Lindberg's version was a wheel that rotated to produce artificial gravity (side-mounted rockets controlled the rate of spin) and generated electricity by using solar energy to vaporize mercury which was then run through small turbines. <br /><br />One of the few original features of this design was its hub-mounted "space taxi" pad and the little shuttles designed to ferry passengers between the station and passing space ships.

 

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Wernher von Braun - The XR-1 - Space Plane Launcher Model<br />

 

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Comment By Mr. William H. Mook: "Von Braun, Erich, all the great rocket scientist of the day made detailed technical descriptions of what was going to happen in the future of aerospace. So, when I graduated high school, I elected to become an Aerospace Engineer. I recall in my freshman physics class the thrill that went through the assembled classroom as the ancient professor who could remember Lindbergh like it was yesterday, spoke of Newtonian forces and Kelplerian trajectories. "Imagine an object projected from the surface of the Earth at 10.85 km/sec directed at the moon.." Then he turned and was silent for a moment. "That's local travel nowadays!" We all laughed. The future was going to be great."<br />

 

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Wernher von Braun Space Taxi<br /><br />Sure would like to take a ride in that Taxi!<br /><br />But the Taxi Fare has gotta be outta this World! <br />

 

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Following the success of the 1950 "Destination Moon", George Pal pressed forward with a second science fiction masterpiece that kept his characters closer bound to Earth throughout the bulk of the movie. Based on the 1933 book of the same name, "When Worlds Collide" continued Pal's affinity for politically based stories, wondrous spectacles, and one-dimensional characters. Ironically, the strongest part of the setting is its impact on the human element and the human element is what is most lacking in this film. Where the novel was a tale of conflict, George Pal introduced a religious element to the story that made the event seem like a divinely engineered event rather than an interstellar fluke. Just to press the point. The film with a Biblical quote: "And God looked upon the Earth and beheld it was corrupt for all flesh has corrupted his way upon the Earth". <br /><br />Despite its flaws, When Worlds Collide is a masterpiece of science fiction and a great classic film. In this tale, mankind is faced with absolute destruction from an approaching planet that is on a collision course with Earth. Yet, in this setting there is some hope. Behind the approaching mass, there is a second planet capable of supporting life.<br /><br />Although the mass of humanity is doomed, a handful of survivors might escape in a space ark. Thus that's precisely what one millionaire intends to make happen.<br /><br />To many, this portrayal of mankind, calmly facing its destruction seems unrealistic. George Pal intended to show prideful people, realizing the futility of resisting their impending deaths and willing to contribute their efforts to ensure that the best representatives of mankind might survive. In a key scene, one of the primary rocket designers is chosen to survive and is upset as he feels others are more deserving. The worst sense of crisis is shown when a couple is separated, with one chosen to live and the other selected to remain and perish. The only character shown acting selfis

 

[georgeniebling]

Personal Space Suit .... for what reason would he have one?

 

[north_star_rising]

Here are a few sounds of the "Wernher von Braun" times and era! These sound really dumb to us today, but in those days this was real exciting stuff; and young and old alike swooned over every word!<br /><br />How Times Have Changed!<br /><br />88K aif...Tom Corbett Space Cadet! <br />http://www.starships.com/Music/Streaming/Tom_sm.aif<br /><br />56K aif...Space Patrol staring Buzz Corry!<br />http://www.starships.com/Music/Streaming/SpacePatrol_sm.aif

 

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Wernher von Braun - Visionary - Childhood & Early Life<br /><br />Wernher von Braun was the second of three sons born to Baron Magnus von Braun and Baroness Emmy von Quistorp. Born March 23, 1912 in Wirsitz, Posen. Wernher was always a visionary, and at ten years of age he decided his goal in life would be to "help turn the wheel of time." His interests led him to explore many paths in his early life including composing several pieces of music and recycling old automobile parts to build a new car. As a result of spending so much of his time building a car, he flunked in mathematics and physics.<br /><br />However, it was his decision to explore rocketry that led to his great impact on history. After reading Hermann Oberth's Rocket into Planetary Space, and the gift of a telescope from his mother, he decided to become a space pioneer and physicist. Von Braun's natural leadership and ability to encourage and inspire others led him, at the age of 16, to organize an observatory construction team. His volunteers built a complete observatory in their spare time, working as diggers, bricklayers, and carpenters.<br /><br />Later, he enrolled at the Berlin Institute of Technology in 1930. In 1932, at the age of 20, he received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and was offered a grant to conduct and develop scientific investigations on liquid-fueled rocket engines. Two years later, Wernher received his PhD in physics from the University of Berlin.<br /><br />Wernher von Braun is the one in the center of the picture below.<br />

 

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1968. Apollo 7 Commander Walter M. Schirra, Jr., left, greets Dr. Wernher Von Braun, Director, Marshall Space Flight Center and Dr. Kurt Debus, Right, KSC Director, during a prelaunch mission briefing held at the Florida Spaceport.

 

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Wernher von Braun - Now A Star Trek Ship! <br /><br />Leave it to the Star Trek people to get in on the act! <br />http://ewh.usswvb.org<br />http://www.usswvb.org<br /><br />Anyway, I thought it was a neat looking crest/patch.<br /><br />Maybe one of the future Manned Mars Ships can indeed carry this name for real some day? One could only hope! <br /><br />

 

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Dr. Wernher von Braun<br />First Center Director, July 1, 1960–Jan. 27, 1970 <br /><br />Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) was one of the most important rocket developers and champions of space exploration during the period between the 1930s and the 1970s. As a youth he became enamored with the possibilities of space exploration by reading the science fiction of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and from the science fact writings of Hermann Oberth, whose 1923 classic study, Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (By Rocket to Space), prompted young von Braun to master calculus and trigonometry so he could understand the physics of rocketry. From his teenage years, von Braun had held a keen interest in space flight, becoming involved in the German rocket society, Verein fur Raumschiffarht (VfR), as early as 1929. As a means of furthering his desire to build large and capable rockets, in 1932 he went to work for the German army to develop ballistic missiles. While engaged in this work, von Braun received a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering on July 27, 1934. <br /><br />Von Braun is well known as the leader of what has been called the “rocket team” which developed the V–2 ballistic missile for the Nazis during World War II. The V–2s were manufactured at a forced labor factory called Mittelwerk. Scholars are still reassessing his role in these controversial activities. Click for details.<br /><br />The brainchild of von Braun’s rocket team operating at a secret laboratory at Peenemünde on the Baltic coast, the V–2 rocket was the immediate antecedent of those used in space exploration programs in the United States and the Soviet Union. A liquid propellant missile extending some 46 feet in length and weighing 27,000 pounds, the V-2 flew at speeds in excess of 3,500 miles per hour and delivered a 2,200-pound warhead to a target 500 miles away. First flown in October 1942, it was employed against targets in Europe beginning in September 1944. By the beginning of 1945, it was obvious to von Braun tha

 

[north_star_rising]

In the early 1930's, rocket clubs sprang up all over Germany. One of these clubs, the Verein fur Raumschifffahrt (Rocket Society), had the young engineer Wernher von Braun as a member.<br /><br />During this same period of time the German military was searching for a weapon which would not violate the Versailles Treaty of World War I, and at the same time defend Germany. Artillery captain Walter Dornberger was assigned to investigate the feasibility of using rockets. Dornberger went to see the VfR and, being impressed with their enthusiasm, gave them $400 to build a rocket. Wernher von Braun worked through the spring and summer of 1932, only to have the rocket fail when tested in front of the military. However, Dornberger was impressed with von Braun and hired him to lead the military's rocket artillery unit. <br /><br />By 1934 von Braun and Dornberger had a team of 80 engineers building rockets in Kummersdorf, about 60 miles south of Berlin. Von Braun's natural talents as a leader shone, as well as his ability to assimilate great quantities of data while keeping in mind the big picture. With the successful launch of two rockets, Max and Moritz, in 1934, von Braun's proposal to work on a jet-assisted take-off device for heavy bombers and all-rocket fighters was granted. However, Kummersdorf was too small for the task, so a new facility had to be built.<br /><br />Peenemunde, located on the Baltic coast, was chosen as the new site. Peenemunde was large enough to launch and monitor rockets over ranges up to about 200 miles, with optical and electric observing instruments along the trajectory, with no risk of harming people and property.<br /><br />By now Hitler had taken over Germany and Herman Goering ruled the Luftwaffe. Dornberger held a public test of the A-2 which was greatly successful. Funding continued to flow to von Braun's team, developing the A-3 and finally the A-4. <br /><br />In 1943 Hitler decided to use the A-4 as a "vengeance weapon," and the group found them

 

[north_star_rising]

drwayne/Wayne "It is difficult to convey the esteem in which von Braun was held during his time in Huntsville. The man assumed nearly mythical proportions."<br /><br />Wayne, this one is for you, and the Huntsville, Alabama - MSFC People! ;-)<br /><br />Wernher von Braun, the Marshall Space Flight Center's first director (1960-1970), in his office in Huntsville, Alabama, on September 16, 1960.

 

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Wernher von Braun in space suit and diving equipment in the neutral buoyancy simulator at Marshall, November 14, 1967. In color no less!