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Dr. Michael Neufeld, a retired Senior Curator in the Space History Department at the National Air and Space Museum,published The Rocket and The Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era in 1995 and Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War in 2007. He is also the author of many articles based on his research. Neufeld's work covers both the development of rocketry in Germany in the Weimar and Nazi periods and the life and work of Wernher von Braun (1912-1977), including his period as the technical director of the German Army's V-2 rockets and his work after 1945 as a prominent engineering manager in the U.S. Army missile program and NASA's space programs, leading to the first U.S. satellite and the Apollo Moon landings. The Rocket and the Reich won the AIAA History Manuscript Award, 1995, and the Society for History of Technology's Dexter Prize, 1997. Von Braun won the Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award of the American Astronautical Society, 2008; Richard W. Leopold Prize of the Organization of American Historians, 2008; and the Secretary of the Smithsonian's Research Prize, 2008.
NASM.2018.0026
bulk 1850-1990s
Michael Neufeld, Gift, 2018, NASM.2018.0026
22.38 Cubic feet
National Air and Space Museum Archives
This collection consists of over 22 cubic feet of copies of source documents researched and used by Michael Neufeld in preparation for his books, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War and The Rocket and The Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missle Era.
This collection was processed into eight series in the order in which the files were received to reflect how they were created, maintained and organized during the writing of the books. All original file names were retained; any words appearing in brackets were added by the processing archivist for clarity. The word [German] appears next to files that are primarily or wholly in the German language. Series 1: Early Rocketry, 1920s-1939 Series 2: World War II, 1939-1945 Series 3: Early Life, 1912-1945 Series 4: Post-War Period, 1945-1949 Series 5: Family, 1850-1977 Series 6: United States Army Work, 1945-1960 Series 7: NASA, 1960-1972 Series 8: Later Life, 1972-1977
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Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War and The Rocket and the Reich Research Files, NASM.2018.0026, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Aeronautics
Rocketry
Astronautics
Nazis -- Germany
Apollo Project
Mercury Project
Gemini Project
Jupiter Missile
Rockets (Aeronautics) -- History
Collection descriptions
Archival materials