Wernher Von Braun - Essay Example

Wernher Von Braun Wernher Von Braun was a German-American space architect, rocket scientist and aerospace engineer (Ward 3). During the second world war, his ambitious intellect and vision placed him among the contributing personalities towards the progress of rocket technology. Working as an assistant to a German scientist known as Hermann Oberth, Von Braun was fascinated by the experiments they carried out on liquid-fueled rockets. He pursued his ambition and dream and propelled aviation and the world beyond the humble, early stages of rocketry to the planets and the moon. He had a vision to widen mankind’s knowledge by exploring space and opening the terrestrial world to mankind. His efforts and contributions had, and continue to have, great impacts on the aviation industry and the world at large. As the leader of the team that developed Germany’s rocket program, he even drew criticism for contributing to the negativities during the second world war. This essay will address the way his work has affected and contributed to aviation and the world. Von Braun’s achievements make him the most prominent, even if not the first, spaceflight advocate and rocket engineer of the 20th century. To date, his research, dedication and hard work are still considered the blueprint of peaceful space exploration and moon landings (Neufeld 7). His presence in the aviation industry began with the German army, and his association with the Peenemunde Rocket Center put him in the limelight of the world’s primary rocket program. At the rocket center, Von Braun and his team received more facilities than their predecessors in aviation who had designed aircraft for military purposes. After his successful launch of what was initially called the A-4 missile, the Nazi took special interest in him and started mass production, where he led the team that designed combat rockets for the army (Ward 14). The design of the rocket, later renamed V-2, was created and developed by Von Braun as the technical director of the space center. It featured a missile that carried its own oxidant as well as fuel, a key aspect in modern day aviation technology as it became the immediate model used by present day Russia and the United States in space explorations (Neufeld 16). The downside of this development, though, was that critics have faulted him for developing weapons of mass destruction that unleashed vengeance on civilian populations (Petersen 21). However, apart from that single angle of criticism, the rest of his contributions affected aviation and the world positively, because he never intended his developments to be used against humans, as he was a staunch Christian as well. The V-2 rocket became Von Braun’s most significant contribution to the development of rocket technology (Nelson 29). It pioneered operational, guided missiles in the world under his direction, setting in motion the development of the present day space travel and ballistic missiles. Through his projects, he influenced his team to great understanding of rocket propulsion, guidance systems and aerodynamics, and his concepts are still in use to date. His work influenced the contemporary space launch vehicle and the missile expertise in the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France (Nelson 35). To mankind and the world, he contributed towards alleviating the disastrous effects of the bombings of the second world war. He was against the use of his developments to attack humanity. He voiced his opposition against war policies in Germany and led his team of scientists and their families in fleeing to the United States. The significance of the fleeing was that the mass production of the V-2 rockets in Germany could not progress much without his input, effectively cutting down the assault on civilians. This was achieved by surrendering themselves to American forces, where they were granted permission to carry on with their rocket research programs under the watch of the United States government (Petersen 19). The German space program and knowledge was effectively transferred to the friendlier United States. In the United States, Von Brown continued with his technical contribution by assembling rockets and studying the upper atmosphere and manned space travel. There, he made a significant development in civil aviation by designing a winged cargo carrier that could achieve a distance of 500 miles (Nelson 54). He also participated in a project that developed an earth satellite while working on the cargo carrier. Among his first significant contributions in the United States was his participation that made spaceflight a certainty to the public in 1958, where he was in charge of the team of scientists during the launch of the United State’ first satellite (Neufeld 44). He, therefore, played a crucial role in putting America into the space age. Prior to that, he had designed and managed the development of the enormous launch vehicles that were later used to dispatch human crew to the moon. While working with the United States’ army on ballistic missiles programs, his brilliant contributions earned him assimilation into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), becoming the first director of the Marshall Space Flight, where he designed the Saturn V. It is Von Braun’s Saturn V that sent the Apollo-7 to the moon through its three-stage launch and successfully completing its maiden flight. Here, his input is again manifested in his direct role of landing humans on the moon (Nelson 60). His development of the Saturn family of rockets made it possible to carry extraordinarily heavy loads into the earth orbit and beyond, and the launching of subsequent Apollo programs utilized in manned flights to the moon (Neufeld 33). The Saturn V made it possible for six different groups of astronauts to land on the moon’s surface during the course of its program. It was Von Broun’s rocket, christened Redstone, which powered a series of spaceflight programs that included Project Mercury and the Gemini Program (Nelson 54). The project Mercury launched Alan Shepard, an American astronaut, into his suborbital flight. Soon afterwards, John Glenn, another Project Mercury astronaut, orbited the earth thrice powered by Von Braun’s Redstone in his Friendship-7 craft. He had developed the technology that kept American astronauts in the earth’s orbit for almost 1,000 hours. Although he left NASA before finalizing his plan to place a nuclear engine shuttle into orbit, he had contributed an invaluable concept of reusable space shuttle, which was launched successfully a few years after his retirement. The reusable shuttles continue to be used in space explorations (Neufeld 49). Von Braun was instrumental in introducing college and university students to rocketry and human spaceflight through accepting invitations to address them. He helped them cultivate and develop interest in the field, encouraging them to become new generation engineers. His contributions are recent enough to be remembered by modern aviation specialists. The concepts he developed are applicable across the aviation industry, covering both civilian and non-civilian purposes (Nelson 61). In other fields, his work is still featuring in, and influencing, diverse aspects of popular culture. It is worth noting that his contribution was significant enough to have an influence beyond technology. For instance, in film and television series, he has featured in episodes of Disneyland productions that involve spaceflights. His works also continue to appear in computer game themes, others with direct reference to him (not only his work). His work has also influenced the music industry, where a song that was inspired by his works was written and produced as recently as 2009 (Neufeld 42). The song, Progress vs Pettiness, exclusively mentions and praises his role in the rocketry. His development of the Apollo projects was also put into song by a German band, while another band produced a song in praise of the move to surrender to the American forces and stop the production of V-2 rockets in Germany (Nelson 69). Works Cited Nelson, Craig. Rocket Men. New York: Viking, 2009. Print. Neufeld, Michael. Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War. New York: Alfred Knopf, 2007. Print. Petersen, Michael. Missiles for the Fatherland: Peenemunde, National Socialism and the V-2 missile. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Print. Ward, Bob. Dr. Space: The Life of Wernher von Braun. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2005. Print. Read More