Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (US: /ˈvɜːr nər vɒn ˈbraʊn/; German: [ˈvɛʁnheːɐ̯ fɔn ˈbʁaʊn]; 23 March 1912 – 16 June 1977) was a German American engineer who designed spaceships and rockets. He joined the Nazi Party and the Allgemeine SS to support his work on rockets. He led rocket development in Nazi Germany and later helped create rocket and space technology in the United States.

As a young man, von Braun worked on rocket projects in Nazi Germany. He helped design the V-2 rocket at Peenemünde Army Research Center during World War II. The V-2 was the first human-made object to reach space by crossing the Kármán line, which marks the edge of space, on 20 June 1944. After the war, he was secretly brought to the United States with about 1,600 other German scientists, engineers, and technicians as part of Operation Paperclip. He worked for the U.S. Army on a missile program and developed rockets that launched the United States’ first space satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958. He also worked with Walt Disney to create films that shared ideas about human space travel in the United States and other countries from 1955 to 1957.

In 1960, von Braun’s team joined NASA, where he became the director of the Marshall Space Flight Center. He was the main designer of the Saturn V rocket, a powerful vehicle that launched the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. In 1967, he was added to the National Academy of Engineering, and in 1975, he received the National Medal of Science.

Some people believe von Braun avoided punishment for knowing about Nazi war crimes because the United States wanted to outpace the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Others call him the "father of space travel," the "father of rocket science," or the "father of the American lunar program." Late in his career, he supported the idea of sending humans to Mars.

Early life

Wernher von Braun was born on 23 March 1912 in the small town of Wirsitz, located in the Province of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia (then part of the German Empire, now part of Poland).

His father, Magnus Freiherr von Braun (1878–1972), was a government worker and a conservative politician. He held the position of Minister of Agriculture in the federal government during the Weimar Republic. His mother, Emmy von Quistorp (1886–1959), had ancestors from medieval European royalty, including descendants of Philip III of France, Valdemar I of Denmark, Robert III of Scotland, and Edward III of England. He had an older brother, Sigismund von Braun, who became a diplomat in West Germany and worked as a high-ranking official in the Foreign Office in the 1970s. He also had a younger brother, Magnus von Braun, who became a rocket scientist and later worked as a senior manager at Chrysler.

The family moved to Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1915, where his father worked at the Ministry of the Interior. After his religious ceremony called Confirmation, his mother gave him a telescope, which sparked his interest in astronomy. Von Braun learned to play the cello and piano at a young age and once wanted to become a composer. He studied with the composer Paul Hindemith. Some of his early musical compositions resemble Hindemith’s style. He could play piano pieces by Beethoven and Bach from memory. Beginning in 1925, he attended a boarding school at Ettersburg Castle near Weimar, Free State of Thuringia. He struggled in physics and mathematics there but later acquired a copy of Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (1923, By Rocket into Planetary Space) by rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth. In 1928, his parents moved him to the Hermann-Lietz-Internat, a residential school on the East Frisian North Sea island of Spiekeroog. From that time, he focused on physics and mathematics to explore rocket engineering.

In 1928, the "Rocket Rumble" fad, started by Fritz von Opel and Max Valier, influenced von Braun as a young space enthusiast. After seeing a public demonstration of a rocket-powered car by Opel-RAK, he built his own toy rocket car. He caused a disturbance on a crowded sidewalk when he launched the toy wagon with the largest fireworks rockets he could buy. Local police questioned him, and he was later sent home by his father for discipline. This event showed his strong desire to dedicate his life to space travel.

In 1930, von Braun attended the Technische Hochschule Berlin, where he joined the Spaceflight Society (Verein für Raumschiffahrt or VfR), co-founded by Valier. He worked with Willy Ley on tests of liquid-fueled rocket engines alongside others, such as Rolf Engel, Rudolf Nebel, Hermann Oberth, and Paul Ehmayr. In spring 1932, he graduated with a diploma in mechanical engineering. His early experiences with rocketry made him realize that exploring space required more advanced technology than what was available at the time. To learn more about physics, chemistry, and astronomy, he enrolled at the Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Berlin for his doctorate and earned a degree in physics in 1934. He also studied at ETH Zürich for a short period from June to October 1931.

German career

In 1930, von Braun attended a presentation given by Auguste Piccard. After the talk, the young student approached the famous pioneer of high-altitude balloon flight and said, "I plan to travel to the Moon someday." Piccard reportedly responded with encouraging words.

Von Braun was greatly influenced by Oberth, whom he later described as an important figure in his life.

According to historian Norman Davies, von Braun was able to pursue a career as a rocket scientist in Germany because of a mistake in the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty did not include rocketry in its list of weapons that Germany was forbidden to develop.

Von Braun joined the Nazi Party to continue his work on rockets for Nazi Germany. He applied for membership on November 12, 1937, and was given membership number 5,738,692.

Michael J. Neufeld, an author and expert in aerospace history, wrote that ten years after von Braun joined the Nazi Party, he signed an affidavit for the U.S. Army. However, he wrote the incorrect year in the document.

It is not known whether von Braun made the mistake on purpose. Neufeld noted that this remains unclear.

Von Braun’s attitude toward the Nazi regime in the late 1930s and early 1940s was complicated. He said he was influenced by the early promises of the Nazi Party to improve Germany’s economy after World War I. In a 1952 article, he admitted he "fared relatively well under totalitarianism." However, he also wrote that he saw Hitler as "a pompous fool with a Charlie Chaplin mustache" and compared him to "another Napoleon" who "had no scruples."

Later reviews of von Braun’s background by the FBI found no evidence of wrongdoing related to his time in the Nazi Party. Instead, the FBI discovered letters praising his work while he was under the Nazi regime. The FBI concluded that von Braun joined the party mainly to advance his career or out of fear of being punished.

Von Braun joined the SS horseback riding school on November 1, 1933, as an SS- Anwärter (trainee). He left the school the next year. In 1940, he joined the SS and was given the rank of Untersturmführer (Second lieutenant) in the Allgemeine-SS, with membership number 185,068. In 1947, von Braun told the U.S. War Department that he had only worn the SS uniform once. However, in 2002, a former SS officer said von Braun regularly wore the uniform to meetings. He was promoted three times by Himmler, the last time in June 1943 to SS- Sturmbannführer (Major). Von Braun later said these promotions were routine and sent by mail each year.

In 1932, von Braun earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Technische Hochschule Berlin, Germany. Earlier, in 1931, he studied at ETH Zürich in Switzerland. During this time, he helped Professor Hermann Oberth write a book about liquid-propellant rockets. Soon after, von Braun started his own rocket development business in Berlin, where he built the first rocket powered by gasoline and liquid oxygen.

In 1932, the German Army noticed von Braun’s rocket business and contacted him to work on missile research and weather experiments. Von Braun said the German government funded test stands and facilities in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1939, he became a technical advisor at Peenemünde Army Research Center on the Baltic Sea.

In 1933, von Braun was working on his doctorate when the Nazi Party came to power in Germany. Rocketry quickly became a national priority. An artillery captain, Walter Dornberger, arranged a research grant for von Braun, who then worked near Dornberger’s solid-fuel rocket test site in Kummersdorf.

Von Braun received his doctorate in physics (aerospace engineering) on July 27, 1934, from the University of Berlin for a thesis titled "About Combustion Tests." His public thesis was written under the supervision of Erich Schumann. However, his actual thesis, titled "Construction, Theoretical, and Experimental Solution to the Problem of the Liquid Propellant Rocket" (dated April 16, 1934), detailed the design of the A2 rocket. This document remained classified by the German army until it was published in 1960. By the end of 1934, his team successfully launched two liquid fuel A2 rockets that reached heights of 2.2 and 3.5 km (2 miles).

Von Braun continued his guided missile work throughout World War II and met with Adolf Hitler on several occasions. Hitler decorated him twice, including awarding him the War Merit Cross.

At the time, Germany was interested in the research of American physicist Robert H. Goddard. Before 1939, German scientists sometimes contacted Goddard directly with technical questions. Von Braun used Goddard’s ideas from journals to build the Aggregat (A) series of rockets. The first successful launch of an A-4 rocket occurred on October 3, 1942. The A-4 became known as the V-2. In 1963, von Braun reflected on rocketry history and said, "His rockets … may have been rather crude by present-day standards, but they blazed the trail and incorporated many features used in our most modern rockets and space vehicles."

Goddard confirmed his work was used by von Braun in 1944, shortly before the Nazis began launching V-2s at England. A V-2 crashed in Sweden, and some parts were sent to a lab in Annapolis where Goddard was working for the Navy. If this was the Bäckebo Bomb, it had been obtained by the British in exchange for Spitfires. Goddard recognized parts he had invented and realized his ideas had been turned into a weapon. Later, von Braun said, "I have very deep and sincere regret for the victims of the V-2 rockets, but there were victims on both sides…A war is a war, and when my country is at war, my duty is to help win that war."

The engineer who designed the V-2, Wernher von Braun, became celebrated as a hero of the space age. The Allies realized the V-2 was a machine unlike anything they had developed.

In response to Goddard’s comments, von Braun said, "At no time in Germany did I or any of my associates ever see a Goddard patent." This was confirmed independently. He wrote that claims he used Goddard’s work were false, noting that Goddard’s paper "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes," which von Braun and Oberth studied, lacked details about liquid-fuel rocket experiments. It was also confirmed that von Braun was responsible for about

American career

On June 20, 1945, Edward Stettinius Jr., the U.S. Secretary of State, approved the move of von Braun and his team of specialists to the United States. This decision was shared with the public on October 1, 1945.

In September 1945, von Braun and other members of the Peenemünde team signed a work agreement with the United States Army Ordnance Corps. On September 20, 1945, the first seven technicians arrived in the United States at New Castle Army Air Field, near Wilmington, Delaware. They were then flown to Boston, Massachusetts, and taken by boat to the Army Intelligence Service post at Fort Strong in Boston Harbor. Later, except for von Braun, the men were sent to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland to organize the Peenemünde documents, allowing the scientists to continue their rocket research.

Eventually, von Braun and the rest of his Peenemünde team were moved to Fort Bliss, a large Army base north of El Paso, Texas. Von Braun later said he had difficulty feeling connected to his new surroundings. His chief engineer, Walther Reidel, was mentioned in a December 1946 article that described American cooking as tasteless and noted the presence of von Braun’s team in the United States. This article caused criticism from Albert Einstein and John Dingell. Requests for better living conditions, such as covering cracked floors with linoleum, were denied. Von Braun was frustrated by the slow progress of the United States in developing guided missiles. His laboratory never received enough money to continue its programs. He once said, “At Peenemünde, we were treated well, but here, we had to count every penny.” While he had thousands of engineers working for him in Germany, in the United States he reported to a 26-year-old Army major named Jim Hamill, who had only a bachelor’s degree in engineering. His German colleagues still called him “Herr Professor,” but Hamill called him “Wernher” and refused to provide more materials. All new rocket ideas were ignored.

At Fort Bliss, von Braun and his team trained military, industrial, and university workers in rocket and missile technology. As part of the Hermes program, they helped repair, build, and launch several V-2 rockets that had been sent from Germany to White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico. They also studied how rockets could be used for military and research purposes. Because they could not leave Fort Bliss without military protection, von Braun and his colleagues began calling themselves “PoPs,” short for “Prisoners of Peace,” partly in jest.

In 1950, at the start of the Korean War, von Braun and his team moved to Huntsville, Alabama, where they stayed for the next 20 years. From 1952 to 1956, von Braun led the Army’s rocket development team at Redstone Arsenal, creating the Redstone rocket, which was used in the first live nuclear ballistic missile tests by the United States. He personally watched this historic launch and explosion. Work on the Redstone rocket led to the invention of the first high-precision inertial guidance system. By 1953, von Braun’s title was “Chief, Guided Missiles Development Division, Redstone Arsenal.”

As director of the Development Operations Division of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, von Braun and his team developed the Jupiter-C, a modified version of the Redstone rocket. The Jupiter-C became the basis for the Juno I rocket, which launched the United States’ first satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958. This event marked the start of America’s space program.

Following a pattern from his earlier career in Germany, von Braun continued to imagine a future where rockets could be used for space exploration while working on military projects. He was no longer at risk of being fired, as public opinion about Germans in the United States improved. In 1950, a newspaper article titled “Dr. von Braun Says Rocket Flights Possible to Moon” may have marked the start of his efforts to share his ideas. His vision gained attention through science fiction movies and stories.

In 1952, von Braun first shared his idea of a crewed space station in a series of articles published in Collier’s Weekly titled “Man Will Conquer Space Soon!” These articles were illustrated by artist Chesley Bonestell and helped spread his ideas. He often worked with Willy Ley, a German-born space advocate and writer, to publish his concepts, which focused heavily on engineering and predicted many technical aspects of space travel that later became real.

The space station, which would be built using rockets with recoverable and reusable parts, was a donut-shaped structure 250 feet (76 meters) in diameter. This design was inspired by a concept from 1929 by Herman Potočnik in his book The Problem of Space Travel – The Rocket Motor. The station would spin around a central docking area to create artificial gravity and would be assembled in a high-inclination orbit 1,075 miles (1,730 kilometers) above Earth. This orbit would allow the station to observe nearly every part of Earth daily. The goal of the space station was to serve as a base for future moon missions. More than a decade later, the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey used a similar design for its depiction of an orbital space station.

Von Braun imagined moon expeditions as large-scale missions, with 50 astronauts traveling in three massive spacecraft (two for crew, one for cargo). Each spacecraft was 49 meters (160.76 feet) long and 33 meters (108.27 feet) wide, powered by 30 rocket engines. Upon arrival, astronauts would set up a permanent moon base in the Sinus Roris region using the empty cargo holds of their ships as shelters. They would explore the area for eight weeks, including a 400-kilometer (249-mile) trip in pressurized vehicles to the Harpalus crater and the Mare Imbrium foothills.

At this time, von Braun also developed early plans for a human mission to Mars, using the space station as a staging point. His initial ideas, published in The Mars Project (1952), included a fleet of 10 spacecraft (each weighing 3,720 metric tons), three of which were uncrewed and carried winged landers and cargo, while nine crew vehicles transported 70 astronauts. The mission’s technical details were carefully calculated. A later plan was smaller, using only one cargo ship and one crewed spacecraft. Both plans relied on Hohmann transfer orbits for efficient travel to and from Mars.

Before officially

Engineering philosophy

Von Braun wanted more tests after the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission flew higher than expected. This decision may have helped the Soviet Union launch the first human into space. The Mercury-Redstone BD flight took a spot that could have sent Alan Shepard into space three weeks before Yuri Gagarin. Sergei Korolev, the Soviet engineer, required two successful tests with dogs before risking Gagarin’s life. The second test happened one day after the Mercury-Redstone BD mission.

Von Braun used a careful engineering method, adding extra safety parts and backup systems. This approach caused disagreements with other engineers, who wanted to reduce weight to carry more cargo. His caution may have caused the United States to lose the race to send a person into space before the Soviets. Krafft Ehricke compared von Braun’s method to building the Brooklyn Bridge. NASA staff humorously called Marshall “Chicago Bridge and Iron Works,” but agreed the designs worked. His careful approach later helped when a fifth engine was added to the Saturn C-4, creating the Saturn V. The C-4 design had a strong crossbeam that could handle extra engine power.

When von Braun joined the U.S. Army, he showed no interest in politics or political ideas. His main goal was to advance science and technology through guided missiles. FBI records stated that any political activity he did was to gain freedom to conduct experiments. This included his time in the Nazi party during World War II.

At NASA, von Braun opposed racial segregation, which led to conflicts with George Wallace, who supported segregation in Alabama. Von Braun argued that segregation hurt Alabama’s development. His comments were unusual for a scientist in the South but aligned with NASA and national policies.

Personal life

Wernher von Braun was known for his friendly and outgoing personality. As a student in Berlin, he was often seen with two girlfriends at the same time in the evenings. Later, while working at Peenemünde, he had several relationships with women who worked as secretaries or computer operators.

In January 1943, von Braun became engaged to Dorothee Brill, a teacher in Berlin. He asked the SS Race and Settlement Main Office for permission to marry her. However, the engagement ended because his mother disagreed with the relationship. Later that year, while in Paris preparing V-2 rocket launch sites, he had a relationship with a French woman. After the war, she was imprisoned for helping the enemy and later lived without money.

While staying at Fort Bliss, von Braun proposed marriage to Maria Luise von Quistorp, who was the daughter of his mother’s brother. He wrote a letter to his father about this. They married in a Lutheran church in Landshut, Bavaria, on 1 March 1947, after he received permission to return to Germany with his wife. At the time, von Braun was 35 years old, and his wife was 18. Soon after, he converted to Evangelicalism. He returned to Manhattan with his wife, father, and mother on 26 March 1947. On 8 December 1948, their first daughter, Iris Careen, was born at Fort Bliss Army Hospital. The couple later had two more children: Margrit Cécile, born in 1952, and Peter Constantine, born in 1960.

On 15 April 1955, von Braun officially became a citizen of the United States.

Death

In 1973, von Braun was found to have kidney cancer during a regular checkup. He continued working for a few years after this diagnosis. In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford gave him the highest science award in the country, the National Medal of Science in Engineering. He was too sick to attend the ceremony at the White House. In January 1977, while very ill, he left his job at Fairchild Industries.

Von Braun died on June 16, 1977, from pancreatic cancer in Alexandria, Virginia, at the age of 65. He is buried on Valley Road at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria. His tombstone includes a verse from the Bible: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork" (KJV).

Recognition and critique

• Sam Phillips, who led the Apollo program, said he believed the United States would not have reached the Moon as quickly without von Braun’s help. Later, after talking with others, he changed his statement to say he thought the United States might not have reached the Moon at all without von Braun.

• In 1969, during a TV interview about the U.S. Moon landing, Helmut Gröttrup, a former German scientist who worked on rocket programs in the Soviet Union, argued that automatic space probes could collect the same scientific information as crewed missions but at only 10 to 20 percent of the cost. He suggested that money should be used for other purposes. Von Braun defended crewed missions by saying, “I think space flights give humans a chance to become immortal. If Earth can no longer support life, we may move to other places that are better for living.”

• In 1984, more attention was given to von Braun’s use of forced labor at Mittelwerk when Arthur Rudolph, a top colleague of von Braun from the A-4/V2 rocket program through the Apollo missions, agreed to give up his U.S. citizenship and move to another country in exchange for not being tried for war crimes.

• In 1979, a school in Friedberg, Bavaria, was named after von Braun. After facing criticism, a school committee decided in 1995 to keep the name but added that history classes would discuss von Braun’s complicated past. In 2012, David Salz, a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, spoke in Friedberg and urged people to remove von Braun’s name from the school. The school was renamed “Staatliches Gymnasium Friedberg” in February 2014.

• In Huntsville, Alabama, an arena and entertainment complex called the Von Braun Center was opened in 1975 to honor von Braun.

Summary of SS career

• SS number: 185,068
• Nazi Party number: 5,738,692

• SS- Anwärter: 1 November 1933 (Candidate; received rank upon joining SS Riding School)
• SS- Mann: July 1934 (Private)

(Left SS after finishing school; commissioned in 1940 with date of entry changed to 1934)

• SS- Untersturmführer: 1 May 1940 (Second Lieutenant)
• SS- Obersturmführer: 9 November 1941 (First Lieutenant)
• SS- Hauptsturmführer: 9 November 1942 (Captain)
• SS- Sturmbannführer: 28 June 1943 (Major)

In popular culture

Wernher von Braun has appeared in many movies and TV shows, as well as books and other media. Here are some examples:

• "Man in Space," "Man and the Moon," and "Mars and Beyond" – episodes of the Disneyland series that first aired on 9 March 1955, 28 December 1955, and 4 December 1957, respectively.
• I Aim at the Stars (1960) – also called Wernher von Braun and Ich greife nach den Sternen ("I Reach for the Stars"). In the film, von Braun is played by Curd Jürgens, and his wife is played by Victoria Shaw. It was reported that satirist Mort Sahl suggested the subtitle "But Sometimes I Hit London," though this line is spoken by James Daly, who plays an American press officer.
• "The Search for Truth" (1962) – a film made by Brigham Young University and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It includes a clip of von Braun discussing the relationship between science and a divine creator.
• Frozen Flashes (1967) – based on Julius Mader’s documentary The Secret of Huntsville. In the film, von Braun is only called "the rocket baron" and is played by Dietrich Körner.
• Perfumed Nightmare (1977) – the main character, a Filipino who dreams of spaceflight, starts a Wernher von Braun fan club in Laguna, Philippines.
• Voyagers! (1983) – in Season 1, Episode 16 ("Pursuit"), time travelers ensure that von Braun and his scientists surrender to American forces so the U.S. can win the race to the moon.
• From the Earth to the Moon (TV, 1998) – von Braun is played by Norbert Weisser.
• October Sky (1999) – a biographical film about Homer Hickam, who is inspired by von Braun (played by Joe Digaetran).
• Planetes (2003) – a 26-episode anime series. Von Braun’s name is used as a spacecraft name. The spacecraft has a "tandem mirror fusion engine" and aims to reach Jupiter with a crew.
• Space Race (TV, 2005) – a BBC co-production with NDR (Germany), Channel One TV (Russia), and National Geographic TV (USA). Von Braun is played by Richard Dillane.
• The Lost Von Braun – a documentary by Aron Ranen. It includes interviews with Ernst Stuhlinger, Konrad Dannenberg, Karl Sendler, Alex Baum, Eli Rosenbaum (DOJ), and von Braun’s NASA secretary Bonnie Holmes.
• Wernher von Braun – Rocket Man for War and Peace – a three-part documentary in English from the German International channel DW-TV. The original German version is Wernher von Braun – Der Mann für die Wunderwaffen by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. Von Braun is played by Ludwig Blochberger.
• American Genius (TV series, 2015): Space Race (Season 1, Episode 5) – von Braun is played by Corey Maher.
• Timeless (TV series, 2016): Party at Castle Varlar (Season 1, Episode 4) – von Braun is played by Christian Oliver.
• Project Blue Book (TV series, 2019): Operation Paperclip (Season 1, Episode 4) – von Braun is played by Thomas Kretschmann.
• For All Mankind (TV series, 2019): Red Moon (Season 1, Episode 1), He Built the Saturn V (Season 1, Episode 2), and Home Again (Season 1, Episode 6) – von Braun is played by Colm Feore.
• Hunters (fictional web series on Amazon Prime Video, 2020): The Jewish Question (Season 1, Episode 8) – von Braun is played by Victor Slezak.

Several fictional characters are based on von Braun:
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964): Dr. Strangelove is often considered to be partly based on von Braun.
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023): Dr. Jürgen Voller, the film’s main antagonist, is partly modeled on von Braun, according to his actor Mads Mikkelsen.
• In Warren Ellis’s graphic novel Ministry of Space, von Braun is a supporting character who settles in Britain after World War II and helps create the British space program.
• In Jonathan Hickman’s comic book series The Manhattan Projects, von Braun is a major character.
• Satirist Mort Sahl is credited with mocking von Braun by suggesting that his book I Aim at the Stars needed a subtitle: "But Sometimes I Hit London."
• The Good German by Joseph Kanon: Von Braun and other scientists are said to have been involved in using slave labor at Peenemünde. Their transfer to the U.S. is part of the story.
• Space by James Michener: Von Braun and other German scientists are brought to the U.S. and play a key role in the country’s efforts to reach space.
• Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon: The novel includes a scene where British intelligence tries to predict and stop V-2 rocket attacks. It also includes a gyroscopic equation for the V2. The book begins with a quote from von Braun: "Nature does not know extinction; all it knows is transformation. Everything science has taught me, and continues to teach me, strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death."
• V-S Day by Allen Steele (2014): A fictional story where the Space Race happens during World War II, led by Robert H. Goddard and von Braun.
• Moonglow by Michael Chabon (2016): Includes a fictional account of the U.S. Army’s search for von Braun, his role in the Nazi V-2 program, and his later work in the U.S. space program.
• V2 by Robert Harris (2019): Focuses on five days in November 1944 at Peenemünde, where von Braun and his team worked.
• Rocket City, Alabama, a stage play by Mark Saltzman: Combines von Braun’s real life with a fictional plot where a young Jewish woman in Huntsville

Published works

• Helpful, theoretical, and experimental work on liquid rocket problems, July 27, 1934. Doctor of Philosophy thesis at the University of Berlin. The title in German is Konstruktive, theoretische und experimentelle Beiträge zu dem Problem der Flüssigkeitsrakete.
• Proposal for a Fighter Plane Using Rocket Power, June 6, 1939. The design for a vertical takeoff aircraft that could climb to 35,000 feet in 60 seconds was not accepted by the Luftwaffe in 1941. The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet was not built. A different aircraft, the Bachem Ba 349, was made during the 1944 Emergency Fighter Program.
• Review of Past Liquid Rocket Development in Germany and Future Possibilities, May 1945.
• Wernher von Braun, Willy Ley, Fred Whipple, Joseph Kaplan, Heinz Haber, Oscar Schachter. Edited by Cornelius Ryan, Across the Space Frontier, Viking Press, 1952.
• A Simple Satellite Design Using Parts from Army Ordnance Developments, September 15, 1954. The United States would lose respect if it did not launch a satellite first.
• The Mars Project, Urbana, University of Illinois Press, (1953). Translated by Henry J. White.
• Willy Ley; Wernher Von Braun; Chesley Bonestell (1956). The Exploration of Mars, Viking.
• Saturn Rockets for Space Exploration, New Mexico, 1963.
• Arthur C. Clarke, editor (1967). German Rocketry, The Coming of the Space Age, New York: Meredith Press.
• First Men to the Moon, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York (1960). Parts of this work first appeared in This Week Magazine.
• Daily Journals of Wernher von Braun, May 1958 – March 1970. Published in March 1970.
• History of Rocketry & Space Travel, New York, Crowell (1975). Co-written with Frederick I. Ordway III. Estate of Wernher von Braun; Ordway III, Frederick I & Dooling, David Jr. (1985) [1975]. Space Travel: A History (2nd edition). New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0061818981.
• The Rocket's Red Glare, Garden City, New York: Anchor Press, (1976). Co-written with Frederick I. Ordway III.
• New Worlds, Discoveries From Our Solar System, Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, (1979). Co-written with Frederick I. Ordway III. This was von Braun’s final work, completed after his death.
• Project Mars: A Technical Tale, Apogee Books, Toronto (2006). A previously unpublished science fiction story by von Braun. Includes paintings by Chesley Bonestell and von Braun’s technical papers on the project.
• Willhite, Irene E. (2007). The Voice of Dr. Wernher von Braun: An Anthology, Apogee Books Space Series. Collector's Guide Publishing. ISBN 978-1894959643. A collection of speeches given by von Braun throughout his career.

Additional reading

• Bilstein, Roger (2003). Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles. University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0813026916.
• Dunar, Andrew J.; Waring, Stephen P. (1999). Power to Explore: A History of Marshall Space Flight Center, 1960–1990. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0160589928. Saved as a copy on September 1, 2000.
• Freeman, Marsha (1993). How We Got to the Moon: The Story of the German Space Pioneers. 21st Century Science Associates. ISBN 978-0962813412.
• Lasby, Clarence G. (1971). Project Paperclip: German Scientists and the Cold War. New York: Atheneum. ASIN B0006CKBHY.
• Neufeld, Michael J. (1994). The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era. New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-0029228951.
• Petersen, Michael B. (2009). Missiles for the Fatherland: Peenemünde, National Socialism and the V-2 Missile. Cambridge Centennial of Flight. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521882705. OCLC 644940362.
• Tompkins, Phillip K. (1993). Organizational Communication Imperatives: Lessons of the Space Program. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195329667.