Scientists / Engineering
ヴェルナー・フォン・ブラウン
DE 1912-03-23 ~ 1977-06-16
German-born rocket engineer of the twentieth century
Developed the V-2 missile and later led NASA's Saturn V program to the Moon
A controversial figure whose career raises fundamental questions about science and moral responsibility
German-born rocket engineer (1912-1977) who developed the V-2 for Nazi Germany and later led NASA's Saturn V program that put humans on the Moon. A controversial figure bridging wartime weapons and the space age.
What You Can Learn
Von Braun's career illustrates how technical vision can achieve seemingly impossible goals when coupled with institutional support, a lesson for moonshot projects in business. But it also raises the inescapable question of ethical responsibility: the same expertise that reached the Moon was first developed for weapons of mass destruction, reminding technologists that the ends do not automatically justify the means.
Words That Resonate
Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing.
Man belongs wherever he wants to go -- and he'll do plenty well when he gets there.
We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.
Life & Legacy
Wernher von Braun was the most influential rocket engineer of the twentieth century. He led the development of the V-2, the world's first long-range ballistic missile, under the Nazi regime, and then masterminded NASA's Saturn V rocket that carried astronauts to the Moon.
Born in 1912 in Wirsitz, Germany (now Wyrzysk, Poland), he was inspired by Hermann Oberth's writings on space travel. He studied engineering in Berlin and joined the German army's rocket program in 1932.
As technical director of the Peenemunde facility, he oversaw the V-2 program. The missile, fueled by liquid oxygen and ethanol, was the first human-made object to reach space. However, its production relied on forced labor from concentration camps, a fact that shadows von Braun's legacy. The extent of his personal knowledge and complicity remains debated.
At the war's end he surrendered to American forces and was brought to the United States under Operation Paperclip. He worked for the US Army in Huntsville, Alabama, developing the Redstone and Jupiter rockets.
Transferred to NASA in 1960, he directed the Marshall Space Flight Center and led development of the Saturn V, the most powerful rocket ever successfully flown. On 20 July 1969 Saturn V's third stage propelled Apollo 11 to the Moon.
Von Braun also popularized space exploration through articles, television appearances, and collaboration with Walt Disney. He died in 1977. His career poses difficult questions about the relationship between scientific achievement and moral responsibility.
Expert Perspective
Among scientists, von Braun is the central figure in the transition from theoretical rocketry to practical space exploration. The V-2 demonstrated ballistic-missile technology; Saturn V realized the dream of lunar travel. His career is inseparable from its moral complexities, making him one of science history's most controversial figures.