The rocket scientist who built weapons of war to reach the stars
Wernher von Braun’s journey from a childhood fascination with fireworks to the Apollo 11 Moon landing is a study in contradictions. He was a visionary of space exploration whose most famous rocket technology was forged through Nazi military research and the use of enslaved labor.
Born in 1912 to an aristocratic Prussian family, von Braun’s passion for rocketry was ignited by the works of Professor Hermann Oberth. To understand the complex physics of interplanetary travel, he mastered advanced mathematics and physics, eventually working with the German Society for Space Travel. However, his pursuit of large-scale rocketry led him into the service of the German army in 1932, where he developed liquid-fuel missiles.
The most infamous result of this research was the V-2 ballistic missile. Developed at a secret laboratory in Peenemünde, the V-2 was a massive machine: 46 feet long, weighing 29,000 pounds, and capable of speeds exceeding 3,500 miles per hour. While it was a technological marvel, its production was inextricably linked to human tragedy. Following the 1943 bombing of Peenemünde, production moved to the Mittelwerk underground facility, which utilized enslaved labor from the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. Von Braun was aware of the brutal conditions and participated in the decision-making regarding this slave labor.
As the war ended, von Braun’s career transitioned from Nazi Germany to the United States through Project Paperclip. After surrendering to American forces in the Austrian Alps, he and approximately 125 others were brought to Fort Bliss, Texas. This period of military-funded research eventually led to the development of the Saturn V booster rocket. As the head of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, von Braun directed the mission that successfully landed the first humans on the Moon in July 1969, fulfilling a lifelong dream born from the remnants of war.
Source: Von Braun: Pioneer Of Space, Architect Of War
