The Space Race: Von Braun And Korolev

The Space Race The space race was not only the result of many years of mistrust and hostility between the US and USSR, but also the hard work and dreams of leading rocket scientists Wernher Von Braun in the US and Sergei Korolev in the USSR. 1) While astronauts like Yuri Gagarin, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong captivated the world with their great feats in space, Von Braun and Korolev were the true visionaries behind the space race. Initially the two superpowers (the US and USSR) were uninterested in space exploration, however, both Von Braun and Korolev convinced their superiors that their work provided defensive gains, and once their efforts had attracted enough public support there was no turning back. 4) Without their intense interest

At a young age Von Braun was given a telescope from his mother, and with this he developed a great passion for astronomy. 5) His interest in science only grew as he dreamed of space travel, and he spent much of his youth experimenting with rockets and propulsion. At the age of 18 he joined the Society of Space Travel (Verein für Raumschiffahrt (VfR)), and was soon participating in rocket experiments. However, in 1932 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party were coming to power, and Nazi Germany was planning to ban all rocketry experiments and discussion outside of the military. Because of this, Von Braun was pressured into signing a contract with the Reichswehr (Reich Defense) so that he could continue to pursue his interest in rocketry. His job was to develop rockets as military weapons (ballistic missiles), and he would be working for Captain Walter Dornberger. During his first year working at the Reichswehr he also enrolled at Humboldt University of Berlin and he graduated two years later with a Ph.D. in physics. His dissertation discussed the theoretical and practical problems of liquid propellant rocket engines. As well as going to school, Von Braun had also started conducting rocket tests at an artillery range outside of Berlin and some of his VfR colleagues joined him. Together they began work on what would later be called the A-1, which eventually evolved into

5) This was made possible by Operation Paperclip, in which the US military rounded up Nazi scientists, and V-2 missiles at the end of the war, brought them back to the States, and brushed their Nazi pasts and war crimes under the rug, so that they could use them. 12) Von Braun in particular had been a part of the SS and had been aware of the V-2 factories, in which many concentration camp laborers were worked to death, and he had even visited it. If he had not had the brains that he did, there is no question that he would have been sentenced to death like the rest of the SS. But even with his dark past, the work he did in America soon granted him a reputation, and the public took a liking to him.