V-2 Rocket Presentation
Walter Haeussermann was born in Kunzelsau, Germany on March 2, 1914. He graduated from the Technical University in Stuttgart, Germany where he studied electrical engineering. Later,
Haeussermann went on to receive his master’s degree in 1938. He finished all of his schooling with honors. In 1939 Haeussermann was drafted into the German Army. He was positioned in a village called Peenemunde, the same base where von Braun was station. During 1944 Haeussermann received his doctrine in engineering.
Haeussermann was drafted to Peenemunde, an army research center for the Germans. This is the site where the V-2 rocket was developed. Peenemunde is located off the coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea. Walter was immediately put on von Braun’s team of German scientists to help with the first V-2 rockets. Wernher von Braun was a German rocket scientist, engineer and SS officer. Von Braun was responsible for the design of the V-2 during WWII. Haeussermann also personally helped in the making of the rocket possible with his knowledge in gyroscopes and accelerometers, these are sensing devices that control the rockets. The V-2 rocket is a long-range ballistic missile. It was the world’s first long-range ballistic missile. The V-2 could reach speeds up to 3,580 miles per hour and weighed around 28,000 pounds. These rockets were put together by prisoners at a concentration camp called Mittelwerk. Here, 20,000 prisoners were killed during WWII. The base in Peenemunde launched 3,000 V-2’s specifically targeted at South East England and Belgium. The Nazi’s killed about 7,250 people with these missiles.
V-2
At first Hitler was not sold on the idea of this V-2 rocket. Hitler was not very impressed with the ideas. He said that it was basically just an artillery shell with a longer distance range that costs a lot more. Adolf Hitler slowly started accepting the rocket because he said he admired that the developers were so enthusiastic about it.He stated that maybe the Germans needed this “wonder weapon” to keep up the German morale. Shorty after Hitler rethought the V-2 and he decided to go on and he authorized the rockets deployment in very large numbers.
On May 2, 1945, von Braun and his brother surrendered to the American lines and left the Third Reich. A group of about one hundred scientists from Germany were taken to America to help the United States fight the Soviet Union on the race to the moon. Haeussermann was unable to join his elite group right after the war because his wife was very ill. She later recuperated and Walter joined his group in Fort Bliss, Texas to work in guidance and control engineering for the ballistic-missile field.
In 1950 the group moved to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. Haeussermann ran the development of guidance and control system there for the many ballistic missiles. The Redstone missile had a range of 150 miles. Then the Jupiter missile had a range of a whooping 1,500 miles. In 1954, Walter finally became an American citizen. In January of 1958 the US launched Explorer I, the first satellite from America. That October NASA was created. In 1969 the Americans landed the very first men on the moon.
Haeussermann at an Old Age
Being a Nazi, inventing rockets, and helping land the first space shuttle on the moon led Haeussermann to have a very experienced life, good and bad. Haeussermann had many accomplishments in Germany and The United States. Walter lived a long life until he died not long ago on December 8th, 2010. He will go down in history for being known as a Nazi, a rocket scientist, the V-2 inventor, and a NASA extraordinaire.