Wernher von Braun

Braun, Wernher von (1912–77), German-American rocket pioneer. He designed most of the rockets that powered the U.S. space program, including the Jupiter rocket that launched the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958. Von Braun was born in Wirsitz, Germany (now Wyrzysk, Poland). He studied engineering at Berlin and Zürich, and in 1936, became director of the Peenemünde rocket research station. During World War II he developed the V-2 rocket, more than 4,000 of which were fired against Britain. Von Braun surrendered to the U.S. forces at the end of the war, and went to work in the United States, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1955.

See also: Rocket.