Von Braun; Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War

New York: Vintage Books, 2008. First Vintage Books Edition [stated]. First Printing [Stated]. Trade paperback. Good. [4], xiii, [3], 587, [1] pages. Illustrations. A Note on the Name and on Terms. Notes. Significant Abbreviations used in the Notes. Bibliography and Archival Sources. Index. Corner creased at rear cover. Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (March 23, 1912 - June 16, 1977) was a German (and, later, American) aerospace engineer and architect. He was the leading figure in the development of rocket technology in Germany and of rocket technology and space science in the United States. Von Braun worked in Nazi Germany's rocket development program. He helped design and develop the V-2 rocket at Peenemünde during World War II. Following the war, he was secretly moved to the United States, along with about 1,600 other German scientists, engineers, and technicians, as part of Operation Paperclip. He worked for the United States Army on an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) program and he developed the rockets that launched the United States' first space satellite Explorer 1. His group was assimilated into NASA, where he served as director of the Marshall Space Flight Center and as the chief architect of the Saturn V super heavy-lift launch vehicle that propelled the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. Derived from a Kirkus review: Judicious biography of the Nazis' chief rocket designer, who went on to lead the U.S. space program. Werner Von Braun (1912-77) became fascinated with space travel during adolescence. His experiments with rockets while still an engineering student intrigued the German army, which hired him in 1932. Von Braun soon directed hundreds of workers in a top-secret complex. One result was the V-2, a dazzling achievement that killed thousands when launched against the Allies. Brought to America with most of his team in 1945, the scientist energetically advocated space travel to a huge audience reached through books and a famous Colliers magazine series brought to television by Walt Disney. Von Braun became a national hero and a media icon on January 31, 1958, when the first American satellite was successfully put into orbit. President Kennedy's 1961 announcement of the Apollo program was the culmination of the scientist's dreams. Despite receiving the lion's share of publicity, his role was limited to designing the huge Saturn rocket, and Saturn remains the only large booster that never failed. Densely packed with political and technical detail, and engrossing: the defining work on a still-controversial figure.