3 ms·
What I find remarkable is that Stuhlinger worked for the Nazis at Peenemünde, where he undoubtedly was part of the machine that rained rockets and death on the
by not_that_noob 12y ago
What I find remarkable is that Stuhlinger worked for the Nazis at Peenemünde, where he undoubtedly was part of the machine that rained rockets and death on the Britain and the rest of Europe.
Imagine being at the spear tip of something so evil as being part of the Nazi killing machine - and then, fast forward a few decades, transform into a sage statesman, arguing so passionately for the oneness of humanity and for the peaceful uses of space.
I wonder if he ever chose to explain that dichotomy to his children before he died. It blows my mind.
- sanderjd 12y agoI don't know much about this, and even less about Stuhlinger and Peenemunde in particular, but I suspect that some blame for raining death on people can be laid at the feet of quite a few rocket scientists on both sides of the war, that those scientists possessed a wide range of individual views on the justness of their cause, and that they were nearly all pleased to be able to apply their talents to a good and peaceful cause after the war ended.
- leaveyou 12y agoWell, spare your mind. Stuhlinger switched from the nazi killing machine to the american killing machine. The only difference is that the results of the work he did for US were not used in a war yet (ICBMs). Like many other governmental programs, the space program served military purposes first. See early history: wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA