Braun, Wernher von

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Braun, Wernher von (1912–77) US rocket engineer, b. Germany. He perfected the V-2 rocket missiles in the early 1940s. In 1945 he went to the USA, becoming a US citizen in 1955. In 1958, von Braun was largely responsible for launching the first US satellite Explorer 1. He later worked on the development of the Saturn rocket (for the Apollo program), and was deputy associate administrator (1970–72) of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

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