Dr. Wernher von Braun: A Short Biography - Pioneer of Rocketry and Space Exploration

By Doug West

Most of us, young or old, have dreams of grand things, but it is the rare souls that sees their dreams standing before them, taller than the Statue of Liberty, with enough raw power to launch men to the moon. Wernher von Braun was such a dreamer. From a young age, he knew that rockets and space travel would be the driving force in his life; however, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime had different plans for this young man, as he would lead Germany’s development of the V-2 rocket, which at that time was one of the most advanced weapons known to man. After World War II had ravaged most of Europe, von Braun and a team of over one hundred of the best technical minds Germany had would be allowed to move to America to advance the science and technology of rocketry. Von Braun led teams for the military and NASA which launched America’s first space probe, put the first American in space, and ultimately put a man on the moon. His checkered past with the Third Reich would make him a villain in the eyes of some, while his outstanding scientific and the engineering talent would make him a genius of world renown in the eyes of others. Venture into the life of times of the remarkable man and see his perilous journey to become a legend in the field of rocketry and space travel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug West
• Release date: Aug 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370893225

Doug West

Doug West is a retired engineer, small business owner, and an experienced non-fiction writer with several books to his credit. His writing interests are general, with expertise in science, history, biographies, numismatics, and “How to” topics. Doug has a B.S. in Physics from the Missouri School of Science and Technology and a Ph.D. in General Engineering from Oklahoma State University. He lives with his wife and little dog “Millie” near Kansas City, Missouri.

Book preview

Dr. Wernher von Braun: A Short Biography

Pioneer of Rocketry and Space Exploration

By Doug West, Ph.D.

Dr. Wernher von Braun: A Short Biography

Pioneer of Rocketry and Space Exploration

Copyright © 2017 Doug West

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.

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Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 - Early Life

Chapter 2 - World War II

Chapter 3 - Surrender to the Americans

Chapter 4 - Career in the United States

Chapter 5 - Promoter of Space Exploration

Chapter 6 - Race to the Moon

Chapter 7 - Personal Life

Timeline

Acknowledgments

References and Further Reading

About the Author

Preface

Welcome to the book, Dr. Wernher von Braun: A Short Biography. This book is part of the 30 Minute Book Series and, as the name of the series implies, if you are an average reader this book will take around 30 minutes to read. Since this short book is not meant to be an all-encompassing biography of Wernher von Braun, you may want to know more about this man and his accomplishments. To help you with this, there are several good references at the end of this book. Thank you for purchasing this book and I hope you enjoy your time reading about this legendary innovator.

Doug West

August 2017

Introduction

Wernher von Braun, born in East Prussia to the European aristocracy just before the onslaught of World War I, became a rocket and space travel enthusiast while still a young lad. His early experiments promoted him to the position of the German Army’s top civilian rocket specialist at only 20 years old. He continued his work under the Nazis through World War II, establishing a secret rocket base at Peenemünde on the German coast of the Baltic Sea. He led the group that developed the V-2 rocket that terrorized London during the closing year of the war. As the war drew to a close and Germany gave up the fight, von Braun and his rocket team surrendered to the Americans, rather than to the Russians. After the war, von Braun and his group put their expertise to work for the U.S.