Wernher von Braun
contributorEngineering & Vehicle Design
Rocket engineer who led Marshall Space Flight Center during development of the Saturn launch vehicles used for Apollo, after previously directing Nazi Germany's V-2 missile program and later United States Army rocket work.
- Primary role
- Launch-vehicle development leader
- Lifespan
- 1912–1977
- Relationships
- 12
- Sources
- 3
Biography
Place in spaceflight history
Von Braun's teams developed Redstone-derived launch vehicles and the Saturn family, culminating in the Saturn V that launched crewed lunar missions. He also promoted public and political support for space exploration.
His launch-vehicle leadership was central to the United States lunar program, but that work cannot be separated from his earlier leadership in the Nazi V-2 program, whose weapons and forced-labor production caused extensive deaths.
Wernher von Braun’s archive record spans Rocket engineer, Marshall Space Flight Center director, Launch-vehicle program leader through work connected with German Army rocket program, United States Army Ballistic Missile Agency, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The linked record places that work within V-2, Redstone, Jupiter-C, Saturn I, Saturn IB, Saturn V, Apollo.
Career profile
Roles, organizations, and programs
Roles
- Rocket engineer
- Marshall Space Flight Center director
- Launch-vehicle program leader
Organizations
Programs
- V-2
- Redstone
- Jupiter-C
- Saturn I
- Saturn IB
- Saturn V
- Apollo
Archive relationships
Named records, programs, and organizations connected to this archive identity.
- Mercury-Redstone 3Used the Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle developed from his Army team's Redstone work
- Apollo 11Launched on the Saturn V developed under his leadership at Marshall Space Flight Center
- German Army rocket programCanonical organization
- United States Army Ballistic Missile AgencyCanonical organization
- NASA Marshall Space Flight CenterCanonical organization
- V-2Spaceflight program
- RedstoneSpaceflight program
- Jupiter-CSpaceflight program
- Saturn ISpaceflight program
- Saturn IBSpaceflight program
- Saturn VSpaceflight program
- ApolloSpaceflight program
Sources
Original references supporting this record. Each source opens on its publisher’s website.