19 Facts About Konrad Dannenberg

Konrad Dannenberg was a German-American rocket pioneer and member of the German rocket team brought to the United States after World War II.

Konrad Dannenberg became interested in space technology while attending a lecture by Max Valier, a German pioneer in that field.

Konrad Dannenberg witnessed two tests with a rocket-driven railroad car in Burgwedel near Hannover and then joined Albert Pullenberg's group of amateur rocketeers.

Konrad Dannenberg studied mechanical engineering at the Technische Hochschule Hannover with emphasis in diesel fuel injection, because he recognized that injectors would be part of the process of moving propellants into a high-pressure rocket engine.

Konrad Dannenberg was a member of the Nazi Party since 1932.

Konrad Dannenberg took part in the initial stages of the Battle of France.

Konrad Dannenberg was at Peenemunde on 3 October 1942 to witness the launch of the first man-made object to reach outer space, a V-2 rocket.

Konrad Dannenberg then became Walter Riedel's deputy and headed the crash effort to finalize production drawings of the V-2, the world's first ballistic missile, used by the Nazis to bomb London.

Konrad Dannenberg became responsible for production of the Redstone and Jupiter missile systems for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency at the Chrysler plant in Detroit, Michigan.

In 1960, Konrad Dannenberg joined NASA's newly established Marshall Space Flight Center as Deputy Manager of the Saturn program.

Konrad Dannenberg received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1973 for successfully initiating development of the largest rocket ever built, the Saturn V, which took the first human beings to the moon.

Konrad Dannenberg then started to work on Saturn-based space stations, which were eventually replaced by the Space Shuttle-based ISS.

Konrad Dannenberg retired from the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1973 and became an associate professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma, Tennessee.

Konrad Dannenberg lectured on basic rocketry at the United States Space Camp.

Konrad Dannenberg attended many meetings of the International Astronautical Federation and presented a number of historical papers in their sessions.

Konrad Dannenberg was married to Ingeborg M Kamke, and had a son, Klaus Dieter, who has two married children.

Konrad Dannenberg had remarried to Jacquelyn E Staiger of Kingston, Massachusetts.

Konrad Dannenberg died in Huntsville on the morning of Monday, February 16,2009, at the age of 96.

Konrad Dannenberg is buried at Maple Hill Cemetery.