born Sept. 6, 1895, Giessen, Ger.
died June 27, 1980, Baden-Württemberg
German-born U.S. engineer.
From 1932, with Wernher von Braun , he began to perfect the rocket engine. During World War II he directed construction of the V-2 rocket, the forerunner of all postwar spacecraft. In the U.S. after the war, he worked as an adviser on guided missile s for the U.S. Air Force. In the 1950s he participated in the Air ForceNASA project Dyna-Soar, which eventually became the space shuttle program.