…the man charge of Peenemunde, Maj. Gen. Walter Dornberger, “discovered” the budding space engineer during a visit to Ehricke’s dentist father in Berlin. Soon Ehricke would be sitting beside Dornberger en route to Peenemunde where Wernher von Braun and others had been working on rockets meant for space travel before World War II. But now the government had ordered them to turn their A-4 rocket into a weapon. “As we drove to Peenemunde that day, Dr. Dornberger (said) ‘Dr. von Braun and Dr. Walter Thiel are among the very few who really understand the technology and the future of rockets as the instrument of the new age.’ His realistic appraisal of space development impressed me deeply. I had his benevolent attention during the subsequent years and owe him many challenging opportunities,” Ehricke said. |