Walter Haeussermann (also spelled Häussermann; March 2, 1914 – December 8, 2010) was a German-American

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

and member of the " von Braun rocket group", both at

Peenemünde Peenemünde (, ) is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is part of the ''Amt (country subdivision), Amt'' (collective municipality) of Used ...

and later at

Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center (officially the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center; MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville postal address), is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government's ...

, where he was the director of the guidance and control laboratory. Stuhlinger, E., Ordway, F.I., McCall, J.C., and Bucher, G.C. (1963) ''Aeronautical Engineering and Science'', McGraw-Hill. He was awarded the Department of the Army Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service in 1959 for his contributions to the US rocket program.

Biography

Haeussermann was born in Germany shortly before the beginning of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He eventually matriculated at the

Darmstadt University of Technology Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

, where he earned a doctorate in physics. He was drafted into the German army for

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and taken to the rocket development center at

on December 1, 1939. In a 2008 interview, he recalled seeing a

rocket engine A rocket engine is a reaction engine, producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law by ejecting reaction mass rearward, usually a high-speed Jet (fluid), jet of high-temperature gas produced by the combustion of rocket propellants stor ...

test upon his arrival there, saying, "I was flabbergasted, because on the first day I was shown a rocket test ... I was astonished that something like this was already existing." Asked about meeting von Braun, he enthusiastically replied, "I met him the second day. I was very interested about him." He worked on the

V-2 The V2 (), with the technical name '' Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the Second World War in Nazi Germany as a " ven ...

guidance and simulations by means of analog computers. He stayed at Peenemünde 3 years, then returned to Darmstadt where he worked for Kreiselgeraete and Siemens to develop a gyroscopic guidance platform. After the war, he was invited to join von Braun's team in

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Established in 1848, the fort was renamed in 1854 to honor William Wallace Smith Bliss, Bvt.Lieut.Colonel William W.S. Bliss (1815–1853 ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, but initially declined because his wife was ill.

Helmut Hölzer Helmut Hoelzer was a Nazi Germany V-2 rocket engineer who was brought to the United States under Operation Paperclip. Hoelzer was the inventor and constructor of the world's first electronic analog computer. Life In October 1939, while working ...

and

Ernst Steinhoff Ernst August Wilhelm Steinhoff (February 11, 1908 – December 2, 1987) was a German rocket scientist and member of the " von Braun rocket group", at the Peenemünde Army Research Center (1939–1945). Ernst Steinhoff saw National Social ...

accepted the

Operation Paperclip The Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from former Nazi Germany to the US for government employment after the end of World War I ...

invitation to the United States, traveled there in late 1945, and maintained contact with Haeussermann. Haeussermann came to the United States in 1947 to rejoin von Braun's team, working on ballistic missile guidance and control engineering at

. In 1951, the group moved to

Redstone Arsenal Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base adjacent to Huntsville, Alabama in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. A census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, it is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistica ...

. In 1954, Haeussermann became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

US citizen Citizenship of the United States is a citizenship, legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by ...

. At that time he was the director of the Guidance and Control Laboratory and head of the Astrionics Division of what is now

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

was formed in 1958, and Haeussermann was on the initial roster. There, he led electrical, computer systems, guidance, and navigation systems for the

Saturn V The Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had multistage rocket, three stages, and was powered by liquid-propel ...

. He took his responsibility for the astronauts safe transport seriously. He said, "I refused any congratulation before

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

astronauts were safely back. Of course, we were very proud." His contributions to the space program were recognized with the Department of the Army Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service in 1959. Saturn V Dedication 9904850

Haeussermann remained an enthusiastic supporter of the space program and attended reunions and public events regularly until his death.

Work in guidance and control

Haeussermann's main area of work was in automatic guidance and control for missiles. For example, he was instrumental in the design of the

system. He also conducted research more broadly, for instance in 3-axis attitude controlHaeussermann, W. (1959
''The Spherical Control Motor for Three-Axis Attitude Control of Space Vehicles''

TM X-50071. and the use of Hall devices in aerospace control devices.Haeussermann, W. (1979
''Hall devices improve electric motor efficiency''

MFS-23828. In his late career, he examined control issues related to experiments on board the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

.Haeussermann, W. (1976
''Control requirements of the Shuttle experiments''
In: Symposium on Automatic Control in Space, 7th, Rottach-Egern, West Germany, May 17–21, 1976, Volume 1. (A77-24777 10-12) Düsseldorf, VDI/VDE-Gesellschaft Mess- und Regelungstechnik, 1976, p. 97-111.

Arthur Rudolph

Haeussermann was a colleague of

Arthur Rudolph Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph (November 9, 1906 – January 1, 1996) was a German rocket engineer who was a leader of the effort to develop the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany. After World War II, the United States government's Office of Strategic Servic ...

, who in the 1980s was investigated by the OSI and

Eli Rosenbaum Eli M. Rosenbaum (born May 8, 1955) is an American lawyer and the former Director of the United States Department of Justice, Office of Special Investigations (OSI), which was primarily responsible for identifying, denaturalizing, and deporting N ...

for alleged Nazi war crimes. Haeussermann was at one time part of Rudolph's defense team tasked with proving his innocence."Jewish currents, Volume 40, Issues 1-6"
Morning Freiheit Association. Jewish Currents, 1986. p. 35

Works

*Haeussermann, W. (1965
''Guidance and control of saturn launch vehicles''

AIAA The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...

#65-304. *Haeussermann, W. (1970
''Description and performance of the Saturn launch vehicle's navigation, guidance, and control system ''

TN D-5869. *Haeussermann, W. (1971
''Saturn launch vehicle's navigation guidance, and control system''Automatica
7(5), 537-556. *Haeussermann, W. (1959
''The Spherical Control Motor for Three-Axis Attitude Control of Space Vehicles''

TM X-50071 *Haeussermann, W. (1979
''Hall devices improve electric motor efficiency''

MFS-23828. *Haeussermann, W. (1976
''Control requirements of the Shuttle experiments''
In: Symposium on Automatic Control in Space, 7th, Rottach-Egern, West Germany, May 17–21, 1976, Volume 1. (A77-24777 10-12) Düsseldorf, VDI/VDE-Gesellschaft Mess- und Regelungstechnik, 1976, p. 97-111.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haeussermann, Walter American aerospace engineers German aerospace engineers German rocket scientists 1914 births 2010 deaths Early spaceflight scientists 20th-century German inventors V-weapons people Peenemünde Army Research Center and Airfield People from Künzelsau People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Alabama Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni Marshall Space Flight Center NASA people Operation Paperclip Naturalized citizens of the United States Engineers from Baden-Württemberg Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg