Peenemünde 75. Then and Now.
February 15, 2018 at 7 pm at Huntsville-Madison County Main Public Library Main Auditorium
Jackie Dannenberg, Ed Buckbee, Heidi Weber Collier, and Dick Curtis.
Celebration Journeys to Peenemünde - 1991/2010/2017
2017 commemorated the 75th anniversary of the first successful
launch into space on October 3rd, 1942 in Peenemünde, Germany. A small group
of Wernher von Braun team enthusiasts traveled to Peenemünde. Some
notables in the group are Dr. Deborah Barnhart, CEO of the US Space and
Rocket Center; Xenia Ley Parker, the daughter of Willy Ley, famous space
historian; Barbara Hoelzer Beck, daughter of Dr. Helmut Hoelzer, Director of
the Computation Lab at MSFC under Dr. von Braun; and Heidi Weber Collier,
daughter of Fritz Weber, of Guidance & Control Lab under Dr. Haeussermann and
Dr. von Braun.
There have been other returns to Peenemünde in 1991 and in 2010. In 1991,
after The Wall had come down, a group of former Wernher von Braun team
members and family members traveled to Peenemünde. Jackie and Konrad
Dannenberg, propulsion expert of the Von Braun team, were on this trip as
was Dick Curtis who along with Blake Hudson documented the journey. The
video result was named "Return to Peenemünde."
In 2010 another small group visited Peenemünde to check on space history
that had been developed there. Ed Buckbee, former CEO of the USSRC, space
history author and speaker, and Charlie Bradshaw, Dr. Hoelzer's Deputy in the
Computation Lab in the Apollo days were along for this adventure. Photo
attached.
The 2017 trip to Peenemünde marks the beginning of a two
year celebration journey that begins at the "Cradle of Rocketry" and
culminates in two years with celebrations in Huntsville, Alabama, July 14-24,
2019 marking the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 and Man landing on the Moon.
Return to Peenemuende (1991) Video
This video documentary was created in September 1991 to record the
first return visit to Peenemuende, Germany, since the end of the
World War II in 1945 by several surviving Wernher von Braun rocket
team members and their families. Permission was granted to HAL5 by
Dick Curtis to add the opening/closing texts for the video and to upload to YouTube.
[Video]
Huntsville-Madison County Main Public Library Main Auditorium
Huntsville-Madison County Main Public Library is located at 915 Monroe Street in downtown Huntsville. The main auditorium is on the right when you come in the main entrance.
