German V-2 Rocket



The German V-2 Rocket (Vergeltungswaffen-2, or weapon of retaliation) was the most advanced rocket of its type in 1944-45. The V-2 was 46 feet long, 5.5 feet wide, and developed a thrust of 56,000 pounds. The V-2 was developed to support the German war effort and by 1945 hundreds of these rockets were launched against Allied targets in England and on the continent of Europe.

At the end of the war the American government in Operation Paperclip captured more than 100 V-2 rockets and numerous German scientists and engineers associated with the V-2 development program including Dr Werner Von Braun. The Army brought Dr. Von Braun and the captured V-2s to the newly opened White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. By March 1946 the first captured V-2 was static test fired at White Sands and in April 1946 the first V-2 was launched.

In the years from 1946 to 1951 while the Air Force concentrated on cruise missiles, the Army generated an increasing expertise in rocket technology based upon the experience and work of Dr Von Braun at the White Sands Missile Test Range. During these years the Army launched 67 V-2s from White Sands establishing high altitude and velocity records that reached to the very edge of space. From these experiments, under the leadership of Dr. Von Braun, emerged the first generation of American built rockets such as the Corporal, Redstone, Nike, Aerobee and Atlas.

At the conclusion of the testing program for the V-2, the Army transferred its rocket team under Dr. Von Braun to the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, to continue work on basic research and prototype development of new rockets. From this work would emerge the new generations of American rockets that would take Americans into space in the late 1950s and 1960s.

While the White Sands Missile Test Range would continue to test rockets and other areas such as Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base would test later generations of rockets only Launch Complex 33 at the White Sands Missile Test Range can lay claim to have tested and launched the very first generation of technologically sophisticated rockets that enabled Americans to probe to the very edge of space. - NPS

Places

PlaceLocaleTypeAsNotedIn
Redstone Test Stand
Launch Complex 33

People

Last Name Name AsNotedIn
Braun: Wernher von Braun

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