Wernher von Braun

[Moonwalker]

Wernher von Braun, partly a questionable personality for some people, but on the other hand surely a genius and great visionary. I have no doubt that without him and his team, German engineers and American engineers later on, we would not have make it to the Moon in 1968 and probably not even into space that fast. These people completely changed the 20th century and the whole world strongly, just as space flight in general did.

Enjoy

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUx-kHlPwco&feature=related"]YouTube - Wernher von Braun - Rocket Man for War and Peace - Part 3.3[/ame]

 

[Jarvitä]

Tom Lehrer - Wehrner Von Braun

Relevant.

 

[joeybigO]

I have to say that was great and it looks really nice on my new iPot. In fact I am posting from my new iPot

 

[RocketMan_Len]

I have no doubt that without him and his team, German engineers and American engineers later on, we would not have make it to the Moon in 1968 and probably not even into space that fast. These people completely changed the 20th century and the whole world strongly, just as space flight in general did.

Don't forget all the Canadian technicians and machinists who actually BUILT the things...

 

[Belisarius]

I like the line:

Wehrner Von Braun - I aim at the stars but I sometimes hit London.

 

[Moonwalker]

Don't forget all the Canadian technicians and machinists who actually BUILT the things...

Of course!

But sadly, also not the thousands of forced laborer at Peenemunde here in Germany

 

[RocketMan_Len]

Of course!

But sadly, also not the thousands of forced laborer at Peenemunde here in Germany

Agreed. Which is why I prefer to name Goddard over von Braun as the forefather of spaceflight...

 

[MajorTom]

Don't forget all the Canadian technicians and machinists who actually BUILT the things...

Of course, and also the fine state of Alabama, where Huntsville and MSC are located...and the list goes on...

 

[Moonwalker]

Agreed. Which is why I prefer to name Goddard over von Braun as the forefather of spaceflight...

I'm not sure if it's Goddard or Hermann Oberth. Hermann Oberth started to work on liquid propellant rockets at the same time as Goddard (1916/1917). Wernher von Braun started to work on those rockets at the end of the 1920's. But in 1934 Goddard got beaten by von Braun and his team at Peenemunde anyway.

Talking about the "sponsors" of von Braun:

he just had one thing in mind and that was manned space flight and especially landing on the Moon and Mars. He wasn't really interested in military plans I think. He just wanted to launch rockets and to put a man into space finally. But he also knew that the military was the only chance to get funds for his plans and research. Actually, space flight was only possible by governmental funds at all and related to the military, both in Germany as well as in the USA. Of course there is no excuse for the hard labor in Germany. But I wonder what I would have done in case of von Braun at that time. Honestly, I'm not quite sure. Actually I always get a bad feeling when I have to realize that space flight and aviation always was related to military plans as it still is today partly. And Apollo just was possible because of a kind of arms race too sadly. Boeing only is able to survive by producing technologies for war too. But of course no hard labor involved which lets it look a bit more "friendly".

Ares might be the first real civil manned project from its beginning. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, would be interesting to know what von Braun thought about that hard labor. That was the first question if I had the chance to meet him. But we have to remember that it was a totally different time.

 

[Urwumpe]

My opinion on Von Braun: He was a great engineer and a war criminal. None of both is exclusive.

He was not the greatest engineer ever or the grandfather of rocketry. His success had many fathers - just look at the huge number of engineers, who solved the big problems on the V-2 and never got the "You get free from prison"-card, like Von Braun by Operation Paperclip. He was the program leader, but sure not the guy who solved the technical problems - and as organizer, he was obviously ruthless. But it seems like, he was able to build himself a good team and manage it well.

We will never know, what Von Braun really thought about slave labor, but it is known that he was very well aware of the conditions in Dora-Mittelbau and did not care much about them. There is a unconfirmed quotation of him, said to be said to Neil Armstrong:By the prognosis of statisticians, you should be dead in space and I should be in jail on Earth.

 

[Moonwalker]

...There is a unconfirmed quotation of him, said to be said to Neil Armstrong:By the prognosis of statisticians, you should be dead in space and I should be in jail on Earth.

That is interesting. Never read it before. He was indeed aware of what happened (well, who was not). But what I personally wonder about is if it would have make a difference if Wernher had not been the big boss at Peenemunde and if he was able to change the conditions, at least in a way Schindler was?

 

[Urwumpe]

That is interesting. Never read it before. He was indeed aware of what happened (well, who was not). But what I personally wonder about is if it would have make a difference if Wernher had not been the big boss at Peenemunde and if he was able to change the conditions, at least in a way Schindler was?

Schindler was a trickster, who played his greatest trick in saving a few lives. Von Braun was no trickster, so this path was impossible. But many scientists of the nuclear bomb program of the USA had been immigrated German scientists, who did not want to let the Nazis have the bomb. So, he could have gone away, if he had some sort of conscience. But my personal observation of his career was, that he considered his research from a moral-free point of view. He only saw his projects and was willed to sell his soul more than once, to pursue them. He first joined the military, when the government started to make rocket research harder, then used slave labor, to meet the impossible production targets to keep his research from being cancelled.

 

[Nickmick95]

You got to hand it to the Germans/Nazis, without the invention of the V-2, we probably wouldn't have gone to the moon until 30 or 40 years later. Or at all.....

 

[Linguofreak]

From what I can see, von Braun was a fairly decent guy, characterwise. Likely as good as you or me.

The problem is that "decent" isn't good enough when you find yourself in place and time like Nazi Germany. Under those circumstances, it requires extraordinary character to avoid doing tremendously evil things.

 

[Deke]

You got to hand it to the Germans, without the invention of the V-2, we probably wouldn't have gone to the moon until 30 or 40 years later. Or at all.....

Despite you being banned, fixed that post for you.

 

[Jarvitä]

You got to hand it to the Germans/Nazis, without the invention of the V-2, we probably wouldn't have gone to the moon until 30 or 40 years later. Or at all.....

Or, without the nazis, German scientists probably wouldn't be forced to use the rocket technology for bombing civilians, or sell their knowledge to the USA and USSR after their country got destroyed. We'd still get to the Moon, but it wouldn't be an American flag, if you're the kind that cares about that sort of things.

 

[Michael Z Freeman]

( Hello, been away for a while .... nice new forum ! )

It's an odd period of history. That's the way it happened, there's no changing it. But I don't think that allows wriggling out of the Nazi question. Many through and through Nazi's were allowed to carry on after the war. Many judges for example who sentenced German resistance members carried on after the war with some very questionable judgments (it's a long story as they say ... see "Psychiatrists: The Men Behind Hitler").

Best to learn from the past, carry on into the future and make sure better decisions are made .

 

[Ghostrider]

Or, without the nazis, German scientists probably wouldn't be forced to use the rocket technology for bombing civilians, or sell their knowledge to the USA and USSR after their country got destroyed. We'd still get to the Moon, but it wouldn't be an American flag, if you're the kind that cares about that sort of things.

Probably not. Without WW2 and the perceived strategic usefulness of rockets, Von Braun and his peers would have never received any funding and would have moved on to another field. Many great dreams have been thwarted this way.

 

[startrekmaniac]

I read that he joined there army for more funds. The video makes it sound like he was asked.