1895-1980

German rocket engineer and scientist. As an engineer and officer in the German Army, he established an experimental rocket station that successfully fired a 60-pound (27-kg) thrust rocket in 1932. During World War II he directed the development of the V-2 rockets. After spending three years as a prisoner of war, he came to the United States as a consultant to the Air Force and in 1950 joined the Bell Aircraft Corporation.