Magnus von Braun

A chemical engineer, von Braun's role in history is much more than "the younger brother of Wernher von Braun". Like his brother, Magnus was a rocket scientist, and it was he who, on May 2, 1945, contacted U.S. Army troops during World War II to arrange the surrender of the team working on the V-2 rockets for the German war machine. "It was quite courageous for Magnus to come down on his bicycle and find the American troops," said Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, 90, who was Wernher's assistant. "He had a white handkerchief tied to the handlebars of the bicycle and that was all he had to protect him." The team of more than 100 men survived essentially intact and went to work in the U.S. after the war, helping the U.S. not just design rockets as weapons, but also for Wernher's ultimate peaceful goal of taking men to the moon. Magnus worked on the fuels which launched the Saturn rockets to the moon. Wernher died in 1977; Magnus died June 21 in Arizona. He was 84. From This is True for 22 June 2003 Suggestions for further reading: Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War By: Michael J. Neufeld List Price: $35.00 Amazon Price: $22.75 Editorial Review: The first authoritative biography of Wernher von Braun, chief rocket engineer of the Third Reich—creator of the infamous V-2 rocket—who became one of the fathers of the U.S. space program. In this meticulously researched and vividly written life, Michael J. Neufeld gives us a man of profound moral complexities, glorified as a visionary and vilified as a war criminal, a man whose brilliance and charisma were coupled with an enormous and, some would say, blinding ambition. As one of the leading developers of rocket technology for the German army, von Braun yielded to pressure to join the Nazi Party in 1937 and reluctantly became an SS officer in 1940. During the war, he supervised work on the V-2s, which were assembled by starving slave laborers in a secret underground plant and then fired against London and Antwerp. Thousands of prisoners died—a fact he well knew and kept silent about for as long as possible. When the Allies overran Germany, von Braun and his team surrendered to the Americans. The U.S. Army immediately recognized his skills and brought him and his colleagues to America to work on the development of guided missiles, in a covert operation that became known as Project Paperclip. He helped launch the first American satellite in 1958 and headed NASA’s launch-vehicle development for the Apollo Moon landing. Handsome and likable, von Braun dedicated himself to selling the American public on interplanetary travel and became a household name in the 1950s, appearing on Disney TV shows and writing for popular magazines. But he never fully escaped his past, and in later years he faced increasing questions as his wartime actions slowly came to light. Based on new sources, Von Braun is a brilliantly nuanced portrait of a man caught between morality and progress, between his dreams of the heavens and the earthbound realities of his life.   Managing NASA in the Apollo Era By: Arnold S. Levine List Price: $9.95 Amazon Price: $7.96 Editorial Review: Few things can better serve managers in leadership roles in large, complex, technology-based organizations than knowing how other organizations have coped with the problems that must be solved to achieve success. This book is an exciting case study of the history of the Apollo program and how NASA’s leaders and thinkers met the challenges of the Race for Space.   Werhner Von Braun: Space Visionary and Rocket Engineer (Makers of Modern Scie... By: Ray SpangenburgDiane K. Moser List Price: $25.00 Amazon Price: $25.00   Rocket scientist von Braun given definitive biography.(Books): An article fro... By: Gale Reference Team List Price: $9.95 Amazon Price: $9.95 Editorial Review: This digital document is an article from Winnipeg Free Press, published by Thomson Gale on December 16, 2007. The length of the article is 735 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Citation Details Title: Rocket scientist von Braun given definitive biography.(Books) Author: Gale Reference Team Publication: Winnipeg Free Press (Magazine/Journal) Date: December 16, 2007 Publisher: Thomson Gale Page: d0 Distributed by Thomson Gale   20th Century NASA History - Wernher von Braun, Rocket Scientist and Space Pio... By: World Spaceflight News List Price: $29.95 Amazon Price: $29.95 Editorial Review: Here is the story of the incredible life and accomplishments of Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun, the man who led the development of the awesome Saturn V moon rocket. In addition to basic NASA biographies, historic photographs show von Braun throughout his life, from his work in Germany on the V-2 through the time of the Apollo lunar landings. Please see the Table of Contents tab for more information on the titles on this CD-ROM. For the complete story of the Saturn V moon rocket, with high-resolution photographs and exclusive documents, see our World Spaceflight News four-disc set, SATURN V SUPERSET, available here at amazon.com and published as ISBN 1931828725.

About the HUs About This is True Subscribe Free to This is True and see the HUs when they're issued! Your e-mail: Find by name/keyword: Prev: Concentrated orange juice creator Wallace R. Roy Next: Betamax lawyer Dean Dunlavey Complete Name List

Copyright 2003-2008 ThisisTrue.Inc, all rights reserved. May not be copied or archived without express, prior, written permission. "This is True" is a registered trademark of ThisisTrue.Inc, Ridgway Colorado. 3770