+ 1970 News Releases (7.6 Mb PDF file) - NASA

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record of looking to the future to choose the most promising avenues of
technical advance. He brings to his new assignment sound vision_
insight_ an0 technical competence and we are delighted %hat he has
agreed to accept this important post. ''
Dr. yon Bra_n was horn in Wirsitz, Germany on March 23, 1912. Ne
received a bachelor's degree at theUniversity of Berlin in 1932 and
his doctorate in 1934.
He Dec,ne a [_i_ed States citizen April 14_ 1955.
Dr. yon Braun has been engaged in rockevry since 1930 when he
joined a group of invenvors who made up the german Society for Space
_raveh In 1932 he joined the Ordnance Department of the German
government and for the next 5 years was chief of a small rocker
development station near Berlin.
He became techn_cai director of the Peenemuende Rocket Center in
1937 which developed the German Va rocket. In the closing months of
World War II he led more than 100 scientists to the West and surrendered
to the Allies.
Dr. yon Braun amd his colleagues came to _he United States in
September 1945 under contract to the U. S. Army_ and ne directed
high altitude _irings of the V2 at White Sands Missile Range. Later
he became project director of guided missile developmen_ at Pore Bliss_
lexas_ along with 120 of his Peenemuende associates and in 19}0 this
group was transferred to Huntsville.
Among she U. S. rockets developed by von Braan and his team were
the Redstone_ Jupiter_ Juno_ and Saturn. The first U. S. satellites
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