Wernher Von Braun
Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun (March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977) was a German rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during World War II and in the United States after that.
A former member of the Nazi party, commissioned Sturmbannführer of the paramilitary SS and decorated Nazi war hero, von Braun would later be regarded as the preeminent rocket engineer of the 20th century in his role with the United States civilian space agency NASA. In his 20s and early 30s, von Braun was the central figure in Germany's rocket development program, responsible for the design and realization of the deadly V-2 combat rocket during World War II. After the war, he and some of his rocket team were taken to the U.S. as part of the then-secret Operation Paperclip. Von Braun worked on the US Army intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) program before his group was assimilated by NASA, under which he served as director of the newly-formed Marshall Space Flight Center and as the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the superbooster that propelled the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. According to one NASA source, he is "without doubt, the greatest rocket scientist in history. His crowning achievement was to lead the development of the Saturn V booster rocket that helped land the first men on the Moon in July 1969." In 1975 he received the National Medal of Science.
“The rocket worked perfectly except for landing on the wrong planet.”
“It [the rocket] will free man from his remaining chains, the chains of gravity which still tie him to this planet. It will open to him the gates of heaven.”
“I have learned to use the world ‘impossible’ with the greatest caution.”
“One good test is worth a thousand expert opinions.”
“Crash programs fail because they are based on the theory that, with nine women pregnant, you can get a baby a month.”
“I'm convinced that before the year 2000 is over, the first child will have been born on the moon.”
“Our sun is one of a 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living thing in that enormous immensity.”
“The best computer is a man, and it’s the only one that can be mass-produced by unskilled labor.”
“Basic research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I am doing.”
“I have learned to use the word 'impossible' with the greatest caution.”
“We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.”
“You can’t have a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant. ”