News 100th birthday of Wernher von Braun

[Cosmic Penguin]

Didn't know that until today! :embarrassed:

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is hosting a birthday party on what would have been the 100th birthday of rocket pioneer Dr. Wernher von Braun.

The March 23 event will be at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration, with cocktails at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. There will be German food and traditional German music performed by Terry Cavanagh and the Alpine Express.

The special guest speaker will be von Braun's daughter, Dr. Margrit von Braun, the dean of the College of Graduate Students at the University of Idaho. She will speak beneath the Saturn V rocket.

Von Braun's other daughter, Iris Robbins, will also attend the event.

The Huntsville Community Chorus will perform a composition written by von Braun when he was 15 years old. It is the only known von Braun musical composition that contains lyrics.

A number of personal friends of the von Braun family from across the United States and from Germany will attend, said Dr. Deborah Barnhart, the center's CEO.

The party will be "a traditional German birthday party," Barnhart said, "and will be a celebration of von Braun's life and achievements."

Everyone with a paid admission will be able to visit the center's exhibit, "100 Years of Von Braun: His American Journey," at no additional cost.

The March 23 event is sponsored by Lockheed Martin. Proceeds from the $100-a-plate dinner will go to a scholarship in von Braun's name.

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http://blog.al.com/huntsville-times-business/2012/03/huntsvilles_us_space_rocket_ce_1.html

 

[asbjos]

Happy 100, Mr. von Braun!
Thank you for your contribution, and must your spirit be with the rockets that again fly to and expand our knowledge about the Moon, Mars and everything beyond.
We would never have been where we are now without you, both in real life and in front of our computers playing Orbiter!
Viel dank!

 

[SiberianTiger]

Yup, this is remarkable. The man whose contributions for Humanity canceled his evil deeds. I made an exception to my habits and drank some dark beer in honour of him y'day.

 

[RisingFury]

Yup, this is remarkable. The man whose contributions for Humanity canceled his evil deeds.

So, the inventors of weapons and those who contributed to their development are to be blamed for their use? If so... Damn you, evil Einstein!!!

 

[Urwumpe]

Yup, this is remarkable. The man whose contributions for Humanity canceled his evil deeds. I made an exception to my habits and drank some dark beer in honour of him y'day.

Yeah... like Nobel, who created his prize in reaction of his invention being used for war instead of mining.

 

[orb]

collectSPACE: Dispatches to orbit: Writings by visionaries von Braun and Amaldi fly to space:

The scanned pages from von Braun's boyhood notebook and a blueprint of a letter that Amaldi wrote in 1958 were flown on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 (ATV-3) "Edoardo Amaldi," which was launched atop an Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana at 12:34 a.m. EDT (0434 GMT).

{...}

Extensive planning went into what to pack aboard ATV-3, which is mimicked in the pages from Wernher von Braun's childhood notebook now on board the station-bound ship.

Written when von Braun was just 10 years old, long before he would lead the development of the German V-2 rocket in the 1930's and manage the Saturn V booster that would ultimately land 12 Americans on the moon three decades later, the manuscript outlines in text and drawing the many supplies needed aboard a space vehicle.

The imagined cargo, which is also labeled on von Braun's cross section sketch of a spacecraft, include photographic equipment, "food for 100 hours, oxygen for 120 hours," an astronomical telescope and radio equipment.

"This is one of, if not the earliest artifact that exists that literally illustrates von Braun's boyhood desires to achieve spaceflight," said Ed Stewart, the director of exhibits and curation at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "While other mementos of his have flown in space before, we think this holds particular significance due to its content and the incredibly personal nature of the notebook."

It was a coincidence that the scanned pages launched on what would have been von Braun's 100th birthday (he died in 1977 at age 65). Originally scheduled to lift off on March 9, ATV-3's departure was delayed after it was discovered that some of its stowage bags were not properly strapped down for flight.


Translated from the original German, von Braun's notebook page details the supplies needed for a trip into space. (USSRC)

According to Stewart, high quality copies, rather than the original pages, were flown because the 1922 notebook is "incredibly fragile." The museum has organized a traveling exhibit of artifacts celebrating von Braun's 100 years and his American journey that will include a replica of the book for similar reasons.

"It was a piece that obviously meant a lot to him, as he managed to protect it through World War II, the transition to the United States and about 30 years thereafter before it was donated the U.S. Space & Rocket Center," Stewart said. "Unfortunately, we were not able send the real thing."

"Given its unique nature, we felt it was safest that it stay in its home," he said.

{...}

 

[HAL9001]

:happybday:

 

[N_Molson]

Let's build a Saturn-V to celebrate the event ! :lol:

 

[Hurricane]

Actually, according to Google, today is [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Gris"]Juan Gris[/ame]' 125th birthday. Hurray! :lol:
Also, I don't see a reason to celebrate a dead guy's birthday. A remarkable guy, but still, dead, you know.

 

[Alfastar]

A tribute to Wernher von Braun

 

[Scruce]

A tribute to Wernher von Braun

In my view, that's an excellent tribute as it shows that his actions for killing people (V-2) is smaller in size to his actions to help humanity (Saturn V).

 

[mode1bravo]

Happy #100 Dr. von Braun. Thank you for your incredible creations and all you gave back to your adopted country.

 

[Ghostrider]

Also, I don't see a reason to celebrate a dead guy's birthday. A remarkable guy, but still, dead, you know.

I do. More cake for the living.

 

[Codz]

Also, I don't see a reason to celebrate a dead guy's birthday. A remarkable guy, but still, dead, you know.

It's more to celebrate all the great things he did while alive than to celebrate his actual birthday.

 

[SiberianTiger]

So, the inventors of weapons and those who contributed to their development are to be blamed for their use? If so... Damn you, evil Einstein!!!

Actually, employing a deadly forced labour to build anything is always an issue. But, as I said, I consider him forgiven and believe it was a good thing that destiny was kind to him in the end of the WWII.

 

[NovaSilisko]

Von Braun is one of my Idols.

Happy birthday, rocket man!

 

[Mojave]

The father of space travel! :happybday:

 

[80mileshigh]

A song for Von Braun's birthday:

 

[this is an old account]

(removed)

 

[Gerdih]

When I see opinions from people not interested in rocketry saying he was a criminal I always enter in conflict with myself. Its true, he made the V2 but he was a criminal? And then I think: if Wernher wasn't there, there would be another person that would made the V2.
Of course this is not an excuse.. but the other person would have been like Wernher? would he do what Wernher did? And then I think: Wernher was the best " historical option". And I dont talk about the effectiveness of V2 of killing people compared with bombardement, maybe all the money on V2 could kill more people with bombs.

I'm sure he was hurt on his heart all his life because of the V2 and this is one of the reasons of me thinking he is one of my idols.


~The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.~