Am Mon, 02 Jan 2006 23:06:07 GMT schrieb "Von Fourche":

I don't know much about Von Braun except for what I've seen on TV. I
have some questions about him:

I'll try to answer from a non-American viewpoint - I am a German (who
is thankful not having to do with nazism or hypernationalizm)

1. How much credit does he get for the development of NASA? Was he the
driving force? If he was not around back then would NASA have progressed at
a much slower and more dangerous rate?

IMO not really much. He did follow his target of building missiles and
launchers and getting them into orbit and beyond. He seems to have
done a very good PR job in the 50's - seemingly better than anyone
else in the US in that time frame. But with beginning of the NASA age
his PR job was done mostly, and he shifted more and more back to
launcher building.

2. How much credit does he get for getting Americans to the Moon? If I
said he single handedly got the U.S. to the Moon would that be a big
exaggeration or mostly correct?

He surely did not a one-man job getting a man to the moon - maybe
without him there wouldn't have been a manned moon programme until
1970 at all, maybe not until today, but maybe others would have filled
that void - who knows for sure? But don't forget: He was NOT the only
German who went to US after the war - it was a large group of
engineers and scientists who went to work. And this group did large
parts of the job and its members filled some important key positions.
So a direct answer to your question would tend more to "no".

3. This question has really been on my mind: If Von Braun was not a
former NAZI, you think there would be a statue of him in Washington D.C. or
something? If Von Braun was as important as they say, it sounds like he
should be put in the one dollar bill. I guess what I'm really asking is if
you think he has not been honored enough because of his NASI past?

That's too political for me to answer (as a German, I have to be a bit
careful about, independent of the fact, that I was born 25 years after
the Nazis were defeated, and cannot understand, that some people think
to have to make my Generation and later born as well feel guilty for
things, we really cannot imagine at all). I suppose, he WAS a Nazi (a
carefully white washed one) who hid behind an apolitical mimikry. But
the value of his work seems to have been everytimes more important
than his actual political opinions (or past ones) - for any of his
employers. And because I believe, he never became a real American by
heart, not only on paper, and many people (in US) thought and think so
as well, I can very well understand, that he was not honored more.

cu, ZiLi aka HKZL

--
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und gib mir die Zahlen die Du brauchst -
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um aus den einen die anderen Zahlen zu machen.