Von Braun and President Eisenhower touring a Saturn booster in 1960 before Kennedy was elected.
Posted on 01/05/2015 7:18:57 AM PST by fishtank
Wernher von Braun: The Father of Space Flight
by Jerry Bergman, Ph.D. *
Wernher von Braun—more than any other scientist—brought us into the space age.1 Von Braun laid the foundation for cell phones, satellite radio, the Internet, GPS, and Doppler radar. His later career reads like a history of the American space program,2 and it was undergirded by a firm belief in the Creator God of the Bible.
“Von Braun’s Nazi membership number was 5,738,692.”
Given his family’s prominence and his occupation, how do you realistically suppose von Braun was supposed to avoid being recruited as the 5.7 millionth member in that totalitarian regime?
“His SS membership number was 185,068 and his wore his uniform regularly to official SS functions.”
Hitler, Himmler, and the SD/SS made it mandatory for von Braun to participate in at least the minimal duties of member ship as a means of controlling von Braun, his team, and their families with the looming threat of deadly consequences for not maintain the appearance of his voluntary cooperation.
“Be careful about anything Von Braun wrote or said about his Nazi past after his capture and arrival in America, since he tried hard to spin it all away while working in the U.S. missile and space programs.”
What else was the man supposed to do? The U.S. Army and the intelligence services faced a problem with the laws prohibiting NAZIs from being brought into the United States. never mind we had tens of thousands of NAZIs in our prisoner of war camps in the United States long after the war was over. Hitler and Himmler knew they could poison any future relationship between von Braun and the British, Americans, or Russians by coercing his membership and apparent participation in the NAZI Party and SS. They were concerned that von Braun might choose to save himself at the expense of his team and their families by using an aircraft at this disposal to defect to the Allies before or during the war. They believed that avenue of escape could be discouraged or blocked altogether by making von Braun appear to be too damaged in reputation for the Allies to employ. U.S. Government policy played right into the hands of Hitler and Himmler, so covert means were used to bring the von Braun team to the United States despite these laws. Consequently, von Braun was warned by his U.S. intelligence mentors not to report anything that could be misconstrued by the Communists in the U.S. Government for the purpose of denying the services of von Braun and his team by the U.S. Government.
Given his circumstances, what else would or could you have reasonably done in von Braun’s position?
“So that they would not be left to the tender mercies of the Russians? That’s hardly a selfless act.”
Many other scientists among the Peenemunde team chose to go to the Russians. There were many instances where von Braun risked life and limb to protect people against the threats of the NAZIs. After von Braun’s serious injuries in the automobile accident during their evacuation, von Braun could have simply stayed in the hospital and let everyone else fend for themselves and the technical documentation to be destroyed or captured by the Russians. Instead von Braun endured tremendous pain and risks to see his people were safely in American custody along with the technical documentation needed to resume a future space program built upon the foundation started by Robert Goddard.
“Well do you have any evidence that he ever apologized? Just because he wanted to surrender to capitalists instead of communists doesn’t mean he renounced anything.”
What do you think von Braun owed an apology for?
Whoa! I thought DeForest DID invent the triode. Didn't the USPS even put out a stamp some years ago commemorating that? I didn't know about the Sarnoff angle but I did read a book about (the SOB) Sarnoff stealing the technology for television from Philo Farnsworth, who'd invented it.
I was searching for something else and found that the entire world’s rockets into space programs from 1946 to 1951 was only captured V-2s. That’s all that went up in those years. The Russians and us launched several dozen back then, even England sent up a couple.
Von Braun deserves much more credit than JFK for getting us to the moon. So does the early success of the Soviet space program.
Von Braun and President Eisenhower touring a Saturn booster in 1960 before Kennedy was elected.
The New York Times on Goddard, in a 1921 editorial:
“That Professor Goddard with his ‘chair’ in Clark College and the countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution does not know the relation of action to reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react - to say that would be absurd. Of course he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools . . .”
Isn’t it gratifying to know that when it came to things scientific the so-called “paper of record” had its collective head as far up its collective posterior 100 years ago as it does today (as evidenced by its pontifications on global warming/climate change/climate disruption/whatever they’re calling it today).
His attempt at black humor was lost on me and my brother.
Red Skull was behind many of the Nazi’s weapons....
Hitler financed the construction of secret bases for Red Skull in locations around the world. They were equipped with advanced experimental weapons developed by Nazi scientists like Wernher von Braun.
“My father got the privilege of meeting and working with Von Braun in Huntsville back in the 1960s.”
I had the privilege of serving as a conference host for von Braun’s post-war team member, Jesco von Puttkamer. He was a gracious gentleman with an unconcealed enthusiasm for human spaceflight and exploration.
Collins Radio has a short summary:
Collins Radio Using Goddard Oscillator
From the Collins page: "Also at issue was the basic deForest triode oscillator circuit patent controlled by RCA" and "The workaround on the critical oscillator patent was for Art Collins to secure the patent rights from Dr. Robert Goddard (of liquid fuel rocket fame) who had been granted a patent on his unusual external grid vacuum tube in 1915. Collins developed its own oscillator circuit around this unique tube having its grid on the outside of the glass envelope".
Also see Who invented the Superheterodyne?.
And this little comment... The Story of the Valve .
It was stupid even at the time.
Journalism majors are so utterly unqualified to comment on virtually anything in science because as they admitted in the editorial, they know maybe a bit from High School and that’s it. And usually what they “know” is a misinterpretation.
Ask a space journalist, “what keeps the satellite in orbit?” and see what you get.
Only man who won the Iron Cross (pinned on him by Adolph Hitler), and the medal of Freedom (pinned on him by LBJ). He never wore them together. His role in the Slave Factories at Nordhausen has never been explained—200,000 died there. He is a complex man both hero and villain. Without him we never would have landed a man on the moon—If Germany won the war—he would have landed Germans there first.
“I was searching for something else and found that the entire world’s rockets into space programs from 1946 to 1951 was only captured V-2s. That’s all that went up in those years. The Russians and us launched several dozen back then, even England sent up a couple.”
Your source was wrong. The U.S. hade American, German, and hybrid American-German designs for high altitude research and military rocket-missiles in the period of 1943 to 1951. See for some examples:
JPL (GALCIT) Private
JPL RTV-G-1/RV-A-1 WAC Corporal
JPL/Firestone SSM-A-17/M2/MGM-5 Corporal
Aerobee and Aerojet General RM-84/PWN-2 Aerobee-Hi
Consolidated-Vultee project MX-774 and Convair RTV-A-2 Hiroc
Martin RTV-N-12 Viking
http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app1/index.html
In the German Armed Services the Iron Cross is a combat decoration. Actually what Von Braun was awarded by Hitler was the “War Merit Cross”. This is the non military version of the Iron Cross. This medal uses the same ribbon as the Iron Cross. There was a War Merit Cross with swords awarded for combat action that did not meet the criteria for an Iron Cross. The War Merit Cross was awarded for meritorious civilian accomplishments. Albert Speer was also received the War Merit Cross.
You probably know this, but others may not. Duncan's fantastic little tube data utility TDSL (personal edition for desktop use):
Hitler was not very fond of the rocket program until every other avenue was nearly exhausted. Hitler insisted on observing a V-2 launch before the guidance system bugs were ironed out. The V-2 hit too close to Hitler for comfort, and Hitler assumed they were incompetent.
Our space program was badly floundering prior to Von Braun's involvement at NASA. Prior to that, Von Braun was working exclusively on ICBMs. Von Braun was really good at rocketry, but much better at project management.
The Saturn was not on display in a museum in 1960. Not at one had been built by that time.
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