Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Note
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1912, Mar. 23 | Born, Wirsitz, East Prussia (now part of Poland) |
| 1930 | Assistant to Hermann Oberth, experimenting with small liquid rocket motors Founding member, Rocket Field, Berlin, Germany, sponsored and financed by German Rocket Society |
| 1931 | Student, Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland |
| 1932 | B.S., Institute of Technology, Berlin, Germany |
| 1932-1937 | Chief, Testing Station, German Army Proving Ground, Kummersdorf, Germany |
| 1934 | Ph. D., University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany |
| 1937-1945 | Technical director, German Rocket Research Center, Peenemünde, Germany Responsible for V-2 Long-range Rocket and A.A. Guided Missile Wasserfall |
| 1943-1945 | Research professor, Peenemünde, Germany |
| 1945 | Captured by U.S. Army and taken to United States |
| 1945-1950 | Technical adviser at White Sands Missile Range, N. Mex. Project director, Research and Development Service, U.S. Army Ordnance Corps, Fort Bliss, Tex. |
| 1947 | Married Maria Von Quistorp |
| 1950-1956 | Chief, Guided Missile Development Division, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Ala. |
| 1953 | Published The Mars Project (Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 91 pp.), translated by Henry J. White Published Man on the Moon (London: Sidgwick and Jackson. 134 pp.), with Fred L. Whipple and Willy Ley. Also published as Conquest of the Moon (New York: Viking Press. 126 pp.) |
| 1955 | Naturalized as American citizen |
| 1956 | Published The Exploration of Mars (New York: Viking Press. 176 pp.), with Willy Ley |
| 1956-1960 | Director, Development Operations Division, Army Ballistic Missile Agency, Huntsville, Ala. |
| 1957 | Received Distinguished Civilian Service Award, Department of Defense |
| 1958 | Received Dr. Robert Goddard Memorial Trophy |
| 1960 | Published First Men to the Moon (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 96 pp.) |
| 1960-1970 | Director, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, National Aeronautic and Space Administration, Huntsville, Ala. |
| 1967 | Published History of Rocketry & Space Travel (New York: Crowell. 244 pp.), with Frederick I. Ordway III Published Space Frontier (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 216 pp.) |
| 1970-1972 | Deputy Associate Administrator for Planning, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C. |
| 1972 | Vice president, Engineering and Development, Fairchild Industries, Germantown, Md. |
| 1975 | Founded National Space Institute |
| 1977, June 16 | Died, Alexandria, Va. |