Wernher von Braun Born: 23 March 1912 Died: 16 June 1977 Wernher
von Braun, pioneering rocket engineer and advocate of space
travel, was born the second of three sons to Baron Magnus von
Braun and Baroness Emmy von Quistorp, in Wirsitz, Germany, in
1912. As a child, he eagerly read the popular science fiction of
Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, while also immersing himself in
scientific texts and manuals on rockets. Exhibiting mechanical
inclination and ability from an early age, young Wernher decided
to build a car out of spare parts, a project that took up so
much of his time that he flunked mathematics and physics in
school. However, receiving a telescope from his mother and
reading Hermann Oberth’s By Rocket to Space as an adolescent
cemented his interest in and commitment to rocket science. As a
teenager, Wernher studied calculus, trigonometry, and physics,
quickly mastering each despite his early academic failures. In
just a few short years, von Braun achieved considerable academic
success and proceeded rapi