THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL INVENTORS OF ALL TIME

7 The 100 Most Influential Inventors of All Time 7

Braun, “Goddard was ahead of us all.” At the end of World
War II, Braun, his younger brother Magnus, Dornberger,
and the entire German rocket development team surren-
dered to U.S. troops. Within a few months Braun and
about 100 members of his group were at the U.S. Army
Ordnance Corps test site at White Sands, N.M., where
they tested, assembled, and supervised the launching of
captured V-2s for high-altitude research purposes.
Developmental studies were made of advanced ramjet and
rocket missiles. At the end of the war the United States
had entered the field of guided missiles with practically no
previous experience. The technical competence of Braun’s
group was outstanding. “After all,” he said, “if we are good,
it’s because we’ve had 15 more years of experience in
making mistakes and learning from them!”
Moving to Huntsville, Ala., in 1952, Braun became
technical director (later chief) of the U.S. Army ballistic-
weapon program. Under his leadership, the Redstone,
Jupiter-C, Juno, and Pershing missiles were developed. In
1955 he became a U.S. citizen and, characteristically,
accepted citizenship wholeheartedly. During the 1950s
Braun became a national and international focal point
for the promotion of space flight. He was the author or
coauthor of popular articles and books and made addresses
on the subject.
In 1954 a secret army–navy project to launch an Earth
satellite, Project Orbiter, was thwarted. The situation was
changed by the launching of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union
on Oct. 4, 1957, followed by Sputnik 2 on November 3.
Given leave to proceed on November 8, Braun and his
army group launched the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, on
Jan. 31, 1958.
After the National Aeronautics and Space Admin-
istration (NASA) was formed to carry out the U.S. space
program, Braun and his organization were transferred