Pioneering rocket engineer and a champion of space exploration.

Von Braun's interest in spaceflight developed during his childhood in Germany. In 1932 he started work for the German army, developing ballistic missiles. His research earned him a PhD in aerospace engineering.

Von Braun went on to lead the team which developed the V2 ballistic missile for the Nazis during the Second World War. But he soon realised that despite his powerful invention, Germany would not achieve victory against the Allies. He instigated instead the surrender of his top rocket scientists, along with plans and test vehicles, to the Allies. He then continued to develop ballistic missiles but this time for the US Army.

From 1950 until 1970 von Braun worked in Huntsville, Alabama, first as technical director for the US Army's Ballistic Missile Technical Agency and later as director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. He was chiefly responsible for the manufacture and successful launch of the Redstone, Jupiter-C, Juno and Pershing missiles.

At NASA he developed the Saturn V launch vehicle, the superbooster that would propel Americans to the Moon in 1969. He transferred to Washington DC with NASA in 1970 to lead the agency's strategic planning effort but resigned two years later.