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As I said before, he had the patent on the 3,4 and 5 stages. I know nothing of propellant or fuel. I do know he had over 150 patents. All for propellants or fuels or whatever. This was documented.

The obituary I have from the Sacramento Bee says:

"After emigrating to the United States, the Austrian-born chemist became a world-renowned pioneer in rocket propellants, inventing key ingredients to fuel the Polaris, Minuteman, Titan, Gemini, and Apollo engines and achieving most of those breakthroughs at Aerojet in Rancho Cordova.

Along the way he descovered and developed ingredients for solid and liquid rocket fuel that became industry standards, according to a NASA history of rocketry.

Dr. Klager received the U.S. Navy Distinguished Public Services Award in 1958 for his work on the Polaris missile."

There are quotes in the obituary from Jerry Lewelling. Check the link I provided earlier and do some research. His wife, Elizabeth, has moved to the Tacoma area to be with there son. He was a dentist in the Army now retired.

"As I said before, he had the patent on the 3,4 and 5 stages. I know nothing of propellant or fuel. I do know he had over 150 patents. All for propellants or fuels or whatever. This was documented. The obituary I have from the Sacramento Bee says: "After emigrating to the United States, the Austrian-born chemist became a world-renowned pioneer in rocket propellants, inventing key ingredients to fuel the Polaris, Minuteman, Titan, Gemini, and Apollo engines and achieving most of those breakthroughs at Aerojet in Rancho Cordova."

The obit is simply wrong, and/or the obit writer is sorely confused. Polaris and Minuteman used solids. All of the others used conventional liquid fuels. No 'fuels' had to be 'invented' to run any of NASA's spacecraft. Kerosene, liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen, various nitric acids, such as nitrogen tetroxide, Red Fuming Nitric Acid, Inhibited Red Fuming Nitric Acid. Various versions of hydrazine such as UDMH, MMH, etc. Maybe this guy invented "Aerozine 50"--a mix of UDMH and hydrazine (as I recall). It is no longer in use.

--Boris