When the United States helped defeat Germany at the end of World War II, they acquired the German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. He had already developed the German V2 rocket program, and went on to design all the major hardware of the US rocket program. This week, we talk about von Braun’s life and accomplishments.
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The more I have read about this man and what he achieved, the more impressed I have become. He was a visionary genius, who defined what it meant to think outside the box. What personally blew me away was when I discovered that he had developed a prototype nuclear engine for his planned Mars missions. From what I know about his prior achievements, I have little doubt that with such engines he could have led NASA to Mars on his schedule 10 years ago.
This episode was dedicated to very amateurish historic pseudo-science. It lacked all the fascinating (and megalomaniac) visions which von Braun had and which inspired the Apollo generation. And the “I firmly believe in population control” statement very nastily echoes the nazi Lebensraum Ideology which aimed at “making fewer humans live”…
Prize awarded, but not prize winning. Rightly so! Stay on the astronomy subject instead.