Dornberger, Walter

After graduation, drafted into the army. In World War I served in heavy artillery. In 1918 he was captured.

In 1930 he graduated from Charlottenburg Higher Technical School in Berlin and in the same year, under the patronage of Professor Becker (later - General), was sent to the ballistics department of the Armed Forces Army of the Reichswehr . He began work as an assistant captain von Horstiga.

Having the title of captain, he became the actual scientific curator of the Reichswehr rocket research. At this time, he systematized the data of archives and developments on rocket technology of the Prussian rocket forces, Kaiser artillery and lone inventors, organized the first scientific experimental station for the study of liquid-fuel rockets in Kumersdorf near Berlin. Simultaneously with the development of liquid rockets, Dornberger oversaw the development of solid-fuel missiles.

Dornberger organized a scientific group that created the world's first ballistic missile , which reached the boundaries of space . The group consisted of the following outstanding scientists and designers: Arthur Rudolf, Walter Thiel (engine specialist), Heinrich Grunov, Walter Riedel , Helmut Walter (designer of the Walter series of jet engines), Werner von Braun (admitted to the group in October 1932 ) , Helmut Grettrup (head of the group of German rocket engineers in the USSR ), Püllenberg, Shluric, Pühlmann, Herman, etc. In 1945, the Allies received a ballistic missile, including almost all technical systems and components used in modern ballistic and space rockets. Such concepts as “starting table”, “countdown time”, “key to start” and “ignition” appeared due to the work of this group.

In 1937 - 1945 he headed the rocket research center in Peenemünde . Here, under his administrative leadership and under the technical leadership of Werner von Braun, the “weapon of retribution” of the Third Reich - the V-2 rocket was created. At the end of the Second World War, under the leadership of Dornberger, the A9 / A10 intercontinental cruise missile system was developed and tested. From November 1944, he oversaw the creation of V-3 .

In 1945, together with Werner von Braun and his missile group, surrendered to the Americans. After the war and serving the sentence for war crimes in the UK, he worked as a scientific consultant for Bell Aircraft .

He owns the words ^{[4] [5]} :

No individual or public institution could afford to spend millions of marks on the creation of large rockets, if it would be limited solely to the interests of pure science. Before us, mankind, willing to accept any costs, was tasked with solving a great goal and taking the first practical step in this regard. And we opened the door to the future ...

He worked as an adviser to the Secretary of Defense.

In 1948, Dornberger put forward the idea of ​​locating an atomic bomb in near-earth orbit ^[6] .

He was one of the founders of US missile defense and reusable missile systems (space shuttles).

• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class ( Kingdom of Prussia )
• Order of the White Falcon 2nd Class Knight's Cross with Swords ( Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach )
• Breastplate "For the wounded" (1918) black ( German Empire )
• Honorary Cross of the First World War 1914/1918 with swords (1934)
• Degree of Honorary Doctor of Technical Sciences from Berlin Technical University (1935)
• Medal "For long service in the Wehrmacht" from the 4th to the 1st grade
• Cross "For Military Merit" 2nd and 1st class with swords
• Knight's Cross of the Cross "For Military Merit" with swords (October 29, 1944)

• Operation Clip

• Walter Dornberger. V-2. Super-weapon of the Third Reich . 1930 - 1945 . Per. from English I. Ye. Polotsk. - M .: "Tsentrpoligraf", 2004. ISBN 5-9524-1444-3 .