blackbrandt
That Darn College Student
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Hey guys, I had to write a paper for school about Wernher von Braun, thought I would post it here.
Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun was born on March 23, 1912, in Wirsitz, a city in Prussian Germany (Ward, 10-12). Wernhers father, Baron Magnus Alexander Maximilian von Braun, was associated with the German Savings Bank and Weimar Republic Cabinet, and was the Minister of Agriculture ("Capture"). His mother, Baroness Emmy von Quistorp von Braun, was a kind and loving woman.
Wernher von Braun became a baron at birth. As such, he was surrounded by servants and maids. He was the second and most gifted of three sons. He could read at age four, and learned to play piano at almost the same age. His father stated, Sigismund and Magnus [his two brothers] are clever, but they are ordinary clever people. Wernher is a genius. When he was eight, Wernher moved to Berlin, where he had his first experience with rockets. (Ward, 12-14)
When Wernher was 12 years old, he saw an advertisement that had a rocket on it. Inspired by this, he decided to buy six of the biggest skyrockets he could find. He then attached them to his little Radio Flyer wagon, and lit them off with a fuse. When the fuse was almost to the end, he hopped onto the wagon for the ride. When the wagon shot off, Wernher flew down the street, knocking over a lady and running into a fruit stand. He was taken into custody by the police, and, as he later recalled, was released into the hands of the Minister of Agriculture, which was my father. Wernhers father was not amused and confined him to the house for two days as punishment. Wernher evidently did not learn his lesson. The same day his house arrest ended; he repeated the experiment (Ward, 14-15).
Wernher von Braun was sent to a boarding school at Ettersburg Castle in Weimar, Germany when he was 13. The school taught hands-on exposure to practical skills, like woodworking, metalworking, carpentry, stonecutting, and masonry. In his mid-teens, Wernher convinced his father to let him switch to a school near the North Sea. Wernher excelled at this school, and he graduated with honors in autumn of 1929, at the age of 17.
One of Wernhers first jobs was working in a machine shop. Before he could become an apprentice, he had to complete a challenge. He recollected this years later when he gave the finished product to a young boy:
It is a cube. A perfect cube. It was a test. When I was a boy, older than you are now, I wanted to be an apprentice in a machine shop. They gave me a lump of steel the size of my 2 fists together and they said to make them a perfect cube. I worked for weeks. I cut, and I polished. Time after time, they measured what I had done, and gave it back to me saying it was not perfect. Do it again, they said. So I did it again and my cube got smaller and smaller. Finally it is as you see now [approximately 1.5 inch edge]. They measured it and said I had created a perfect cube. All the edges were equal. I was then permitted to become an apprentice (Johansen 130).
If this was not determinate enough, Wernher completed the task with only a file and a vise (Ward 13).
In early 1930, von Braun created a team of rocketeers called Raketenflugplatz Berlin (literally translated Rocket Launching Site of Berlin). This team was mentored by Hermann Oberth, a physicist and engineer (Ward 14). Oberths team desperately needed money (Bellis). So the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (the VfR, literally translated Spaceflight Club) of Germany stepped in to sponsor the group ("Braun", Britannica). By the end of the year, Oberth had to leave Germany for work purposes, and von Braun continued in Oberths footsteps as leader of the group (Bellis).Wernher experienced a surprise in spring of 1932. When his team was in the middle of counting down one of their test rockets, a sedan pulled up to Wernhers launch. When it came to a halt, out stepped a general and a colonel of the German Army. The general asked von Braun if he would design missiles for the military. Wernher immediately accepted the offer (Bellis). Von Brauns career literally skyrocketed. In 1934 his team launched the first A-2 missile to 1½ miles. The fuel was a mixture of alcohol and oxygen, which made this rocket one of the first hybrid motors ever launched. This flight got the attention of the Luftwaffe. When they learned what von Braun was doing, they offered him 5,000,000 reischmarks to develop a rocket-powered fighter jet (Ward 15-17, 19). The next rocket designed by von Brauns team was the A-3 in 1937. It could reach 15 miles in altitude while carrying a 100-pound warhead (V-2 Rocket 1). Von Brauns most famous missile designed in Germany was the A-4 in 1942. It was the worlds first guided ballistic missile. Nearly every aspect of the A-4 was made from scratch, including the propulsion system, the navigation (which included two vanes in the nozzle opening that moved to direct the missile), and the control mechanisms. The A-4 weighed 14 tons and was 46 feet tall, which is taller than a 4-story building. The A-4 was renamed the V-2 in 1943 by Hitler (V-2 Rocket 2). The hardest part of designing the V-2 was the engine. It had to produce enough thrust to get the rocket off the ground but not explode from overpressure. In autumn, 1944, Wernhers team had developed a machine that produced target thrust, controlled its own trajectory, and could travel thousands of miles to hit a target. The V-2 was the first mass terror weapon, compared to earlier weapons that were strategic or tactical (V-2 Rocket 2).The first V-2 fired at London instantly demolished 6 houses, killed 3 people, and injured 22. Throughout the autumn of 1944, 4 to 6 missiles hit London every day. The deadliest V-2 attack ever killed 160 British citizens. By the end of November of 1944, over 100 V-2s had struck London. The key behind this amazing rate was von Braun, who constructed over 700 V-2s a month (V-2 Rocket 3). Von Brauns life was not carefree though. As the end of World War II approached, Hitler knew that the V-2 rockets were not strong enough to defeat the Americans. Von Braun knew that he would be executed when the Germans lost the war, so in January, 1945, von Braun knew it was time to escape. So his team met together, and decided to surrender themselves to the Americans. But this plan was not just as easy as packing up the car and going to America. Von Braun wrote himself bogus orders to move all of the V-2 equipment and plans. On the side of the trucks, he painted VABV, which in English means Project for Special Dispositions (V-2 Rocket 3). When von Braun escaped, he and his team traveled only at night without headlights to avoid being seen. One night, von Brauns driver fell asleep, and lost control of the car. The resulting accident instantly killed the driver and broke von Brauns arm after the car wrapped around a tree. Von Braun was in a cast for months afterwards ("Capture").His team first stopped at Bleicheroide, where they stayed for one month (Ward 84). Then, only the team of missile experts went to Oberammergau, where they knew Americans were camped out only miles from them. On May 2, 1945, the day after Hitlers death was made public, von Braun encountered an advance antitank patrol of the 44th infantry US Army 3rd Armored Division. Wernher sent his brother Maximilius Von Braun on a bicycle towards the Americans.
When the Americans saw Maximilius, they aimed their guns at him and ordered him to put the bike down and his hands up. In broken English, Maximilius explained that he was trying to find the Americans. The patrol was very suspicious of this story, but when they learned that his brother was Wernher von Braun, they immediately brought the team to officers quarters ("Capture"). Von Braun was treated well by the Americans. After all, he had the V-2 information and they didnt (Ward 86).
Von Braun was then moved to America, where he stayed at White Sands Missile Range. He was not the only thing moved to America, though. The US army also returned with 112 scientists, 100 V-2s, and all 14 tons of technical documents about the V-2. In 1950 von Braun was relocated to Huntsville Alabamas Redstone Arsenal ("Capture"). Von Braun would remain here for 10 years. At the Redstone Arsenal facility, he developed the Redstone Rocket and later the Jupiter-C Rocket (Ward 125-127).
In 1960 his development center was moved from Huntsville to NASA and he received an order to build the giant Saturn rockets. Von Braun became director of NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center and also the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the massive rocket that would propel many American astronauts to the moon (Ward 127-132).
In 1970 von Braun was asked to move to Washington, D.C. He had been assigned the job of NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for Planning at NASA Headquarters. After several arguments concerning the termination of the Apollo program and facing severe budget cuts, von Braun finally retired from NASA on May 26, 1972 (Braun, History).
After retiring from NASA, von Braun became the Vice President for Engineering and Development at the aerospace company Fairchild Industries in Germantown, Maryland on July 1, 1972. He reluctantly retired from Fairchild on December 31, 1976 (Braun History), due to kidney cancer discovered during a routine doctor appointment. While hospitalized, he was awarded the 1975 National Medal of Science. Von Braun died from cancer on June 16, 1977, in Alexandria, Virginia. He was 65 years old (Benson).
Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun was born on March 23, 1912, in Wirsitz, a city in Prussian Germany (Ward, 10-12). Wernhers father, Baron Magnus Alexander Maximilian von Braun, was associated with the German Savings Bank and Weimar Republic Cabinet, and was the Minister of Agriculture ("Capture"). His mother, Baroness Emmy von Quistorp von Braun, was a kind and loving woman.
Wernher von Braun became a baron at birth. As such, he was surrounded by servants and maids. He was the second and most gifted of three sons. He could read at age four, and learned to play piano at almost the same age. His father stated, Sigismund and Magnus [his two brothers] are clever, but they are ordinary clever people. Wernher is a genius. When he was eight, Wernher moved to Berlin, where he had his first experience with rockets. (Ward, 12-14)
When Wernher was 12 years old, he saw an advertisement that had a rocket on it. Inspired by this, he decided to buy six of the biggest skyrockets he could find. He then attached them to his little Radio Flyer wagon, and lit them off with a fuse. When the fuse was almost to the end, he hopped onto the wagon for the ride. When the wagon shot off, Wernher flew down the street, knocking over a lady and running into a fruit stand. He was taken into custody by the police, and, as he later recalled, was released into the hands of the Minister of Agriculture, which was my father. Wernhers father was not amused and confined him to the house for two days as punishment. Wernher evidently did not learn his lesson. The same day his house arrest ended; he repeated the experiment (Ward, 14-15).
Wernher von Braun was sent to a boarding school at Ettersburg Castle in Weimar, Germany when he was 13. The school taught hands-on exposure to practical skills, like woodworking, metalworking, carpentry, stonecutting, and masonry. In his mid-teens, Wernher convinced his father to let him switch to a school near the North Sea. Wernher excelled at this school, and he graduated with honors in autumn of 1929, at the age of 17.
One of Wernhers first jobs was working in a machine shop. Before he could become an apprentice, he had to complete a challenge. He recollected this years later when he gave the finished product to a young boy:
It is a cube. A perfect cube. It was a test. When I was a boy, older than you are now, I wanted to be an apprentice in a machine shop. They gave me a lump of steel the size of my 2 fists together and they said to make them a perfect cube. I worked for weeks. I cut, and I polished. Time after time, they measured what I had done, and gave it back to me saying it was not perfect. Do it again, they said. So I did it again and my cube got smaller and smaller. Finally it is as you see now [approximately 1.5 inch edge]. They measured it and said I had created a perfect cube. All the edges were equal. I was then permitted to become an apprentice (Johansen 130).
If this was not determinate enough, Wernher completed the task with only a file and a vise (Ward 13).
In early 1930, von Braun created a team of rocketeers called Raketenflugplatz Berlin (literally translated Rocket Launching Site of Berlin). This team was mentored by Hermann Oberth, a physicist and engineer (Ward 14). Oberths team desperately needed money (Bellis). So the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (the VfR, literally translated Spaceflight Club) of Germany stepped in to sponsor the group ("Braun", Britannica). By the end of the year, Oberth had to leave Germany for work purposes, and von Braun continued in Oberths footsteps as leader of the group (Bellis).Wernher experienced a surprise in spring of 1932. When his team was in the middle of counting down one of their test rockets, a sedan pulled up to Wernhers launch. When it came to a halt, out stepped a general and a colonel of the German Army. The general asked von Braun if he would design missiles for the military. Wernher immediately accepted the offer (Bellis). Von Brauns career literally skyrocketed. In 1934 his team launched the first A-2 missile to 1½ miles. The fuel was a mixture of alcohol and oxygen, which made this rocket one of the first hybrid motors ever launched. This flight got the attention of the Luftwaffe. When they learned what von Braun was doing, they offered him 5,000,000 reischmarks to develop a rocket-powered fighter jet (Ward 15-17, 19). The next rocket designed by von Brauns team was the A-3 in 1937. It could reach 15 miles in altitude while carrying a 100-pound warhead (V-2 Rocket 1). Von Brauns most famous missile designed in Germany was the A-4 in 1942. It was the worlds first guided ballistic missile. Nearly every aspect of the A-4 was made from scratch, including the propulsion system, the navigation (which included two vanes in the nozzle opening that moved to direct the missile), and the control mechanisms. The A-4 weighed 14 tons and was 46 feet tall, which is taller than a 4-story building. The A-4 was renamed the V-2 in 1943 by Hitler (V-2 Rocket 2). The hardest part of designing the V-2 was the engine. It had to produce enough thrust to get the rocket off the ground but not explode from overpressure. In autumn, 1944, Wernhers team had developed a machine that produced target thrust, controlled its own trajectory, and could travel thousands of miles to hit a target. The V-2 was the first mass terror weapon, compared to earlier weapons that were strategic or tactical (V-2 Rocket 2).The first V-2 fired at London instantly demolished 6 houses, killed 3 people, and injured 22. Throughout the autumn of 1944, 4 to 6 missiles hit London every day. The deadliest V-2 attack ever killed 160 British citizens. By the end of November of 1944, over 100 V-2s had struck London. The key behind this amazing rate was von Braun, who constructed over 700 V-2s a month (V-2 Rocket 3). Von Brauns life was not carefree though. As the end of World War II approached, Hitler knew that the V-2 rockets were not strong enough to defeat the Americans. Von Braun knew that he would be executed when the Germans lost the war, so in January, 1945, von Braun knew it was time to escape. So his team met together, and decided to surrender themselves to the Americans. But this plan was not just as easy as packing up the car and going to America. Von Braun wrote himself bogus orders to move all of the V-2 equipment and plans. On the side of the trucks, he painted VABV, which in English means Project for Special Dispositions (V-2 Rocket 3). When von Braun escaped, he and his team traveled only at night without headlights to avoid being seen. One night, von Brauns driver fell asleep, and lost control of the car. The resulting accident instantly killed the driver and broke von Brauns arm after the car wrapped around a tree. Von Braun was in a cast for months afterwards ("Capture").His team first stopped at Bleicheroide, where they stayed for one month (Ward 84). Then, only the team of missile experts went to Oberammergau, where they knew Americans were camped out only miles from them. On May 2, 1945, the day after Hitlers death was made public, von Braun encountered an advance antitank patrol of the 44th infantry US Army 3rd Armored Division. Wernher sent his brother Maximilius Von Braun on a bicycle towards the Americans.
When the Americans saw Maximilius, they aimed their guns at him and ordered him to put the bike down and his hands up. In broken English, Maximilius explained that he was trying to find the Americans. The patrol was very suspicious of this story, but when they learned that his brother was Wernher von Braun, they immediately brought the team to officers quarters ("Capture"). Von Braun was treated well by the Americans. After all, he had the V-2 information and they didnt (Ward 86).
Von Braun was then moved to America, where he stayed at White Sands Missile Range. He was not the only thing moved to America, though. The US army also returned with 112 scientists, 100 V-2s, and all 14 tons of technical documents about the V-2. In 1950 von Braun was relocated to Huntsville Alabamas Redstone Arsenal ("Capture"). Von Braun would remain here for 10 years. At the Redstone Arsenal facility, he developed the Redstone Rocket and later the Jupiter-C Rocket (Ward 125-127).
In 1960 his development center was moved from Huntsville to NASA and he received an order to build the giant Saturn rockets. Von Braun became director of NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center and also the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the massive rocket that would propel many American astronauts to the moon (Ward 127-132).
In 1970 von Braun was asked to move to Washington, D.C. He had been assigned the job of NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for Planning at NASA Headquarters. After several arguments concerning the termination of the Apollo program and facing severe budget cuts, von Braun finally retired from NASA on May 26, 1972 (Braun, History).
After retiring from NASA, von Braun became the Vice President for Engineering and Development at the aerospace company Fairchild Industries in Germantown, Maryland on July 1, 1972. He reluctantly retired from Fairchild on December 31, 1976 (Braun History), due to kidney cancer discovered during a routine doctor appointment. While hospitalized, he was awarded the 1975 National Medal of Science. Von Braun died from cancer on June 16, 1977, in Alexandria, Virginia. He was 65 years old (Benson).
