I wonder if discussion of another Imran is on the agenda.
Imran Awan, that is.
Any other anon watching American Experience, "Chasing the Moon"?
Covering some things we've discussed here in the past
Not just Wernher von Braun, but another Nazi who was a key figure at NASA
Kurt deBus, former Nazi officer, was the director of Cape Canaveral.
Before Operation Paperclip, he had been at the famous Nazi base at Peenemunde.
Note the ubiquitous German college fencing scar on his face.
"Born to Heinrich and Melly Debus[2] in Frankfurt, Germany in 1908, Debus received all his schooling in that country. He attended Technische Hochschule Darmstadt where he earned his initial and advanced degrees in electrical engineering. He served as a graduate assistant on the faculty for electrical engineering and high-voltage engineering while studying for his master's degree.
During his university years he engaged in fencing which led him to have lifelong scars.[6]
In 1939, he obtained his engineering doctorate with a thesis on surge voltages, and was appointed assistant professor at the university. During World War II, Debus was a member of the Nazi Party, a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA) and Himmler's SS[7] (since 1940[8]). Debus was appointed by Hitler as the V-weapons flight test director and was actively engaged in the rocket research program at Peenemünde and the development of the V-2 rocket, Debus led the Test Stand Group[9] personnel at Peenemünde[10] and was the engineer in charge at Test Stand VII.[11]
At the end of the war, Debus and a small group of the V-2 engineers led by Wernher von Braun's brother sought out the advancing American 44th Infantry Division near Schattwald on May 2, 1945. Debus was detained by the U.S. Army with the rest of the Peenemünde scientists at Garmisch–Partenkirchen.[2]
Debus served as both a technical and diplomatic liaison between German rocket engineers and the British during Operation Backfire, a series of V-2 test launches from an abandoned German naval gun range near Cuxhaven, Germany, in October 1945.[2]"
I've recommended Annie Jacobsen's "Operation Paperclip" at least a dozen times here.
If you or someone you know homeschools, they should consider adding the book to their materials for 10-12 level history classes. Jacobsen's research for the book is so extensive as to be astonishing. It's a very important factor in American and world history to learn.