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 Amazon Price: $23.10 Customer Review: It is really an understatement to call this book a biography of Wernher von Braun. It not only tells the life of the greatest rocket scientist of all times but it simultaneously critiques the memoirs of von Braun himself and the remembrances of many ...   Dark Side of the Moon: Wernher von Braun, the Third Reich, and the Space Race by Wayne Biddle Amazon Price: $16.91 Customer Review: I agree that Biddle's book is uneven (a bit too much about Von Braun's early days and not enough about his actual duties with the rocket program), but it's a fascinating story nonetheless. I do have a couple of quibbles: the rocket manuf...   The Nazi Rocketeers: Dreams of Space and Crimes of War (Stackpole Military Hi... by Dennis Piszkiewicz Amazon Price: $14.49 Customer Review: Operation Paperclip allowed top Nazi scientist and engineers who were clearly involved in death camp "use of labor" and members of the Nazi party to immigrate to the US. At the time the US State Department opposed and strongly disapproved of the poli...   Wernher von Braun: The Man Who Sold the Moon by Dennis Piszkiewicz Amazon Price: $49.56 Customer Review: My honest opinion on this book is that it is interesting. There is lots of detailed information about Wernher von Braun that sometimes I thought that they were unnecessary. But the story of his life was interesting enough that it was easy to disregar...   The Rocket Handbook for Amateurs Amazon Price:   Newsfeed display by CaRP

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