453:, based on a V2 first stage with a radical linear ramjet concept for the second stage. His work on the Hermes II continued after he moved in 1950 with much of the von Braun team to Huntsville, Ala. as part of the Army's ballistic missile program. There he developed the external aerodynamic design for the Army's Redstone missile, which served as the launch rocket for the nation's first live nuclear missile tests and later also launched the first U.S. astronaut into space. He developed a successful Mach 5 ballistic re-entry nose cone using a purely theoretical approach, at a time when no
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the war's end, and the rocket was successfully flown but never went into production. In 1944, he and others in the group were granted civilian status, and resumed the A9/A10 development effort. In
January 1945, near the end of the war, two A9 test rockets were launched with control surface designs based on the group's solution to the center-of-pressure shift. The second of these achieved stable transition to supersonic flight.
413:, based on a Mach 6 boost-glide approach using a winged derivative of the V2 rocket. He soon recognized in the wind tunnel results that a shift occurred in the aerodynamic center-of-pressure as the rocket transitioned to supersonic speeds, which would cause it to become unstable. This led to experiments and theories to understand the shift and determine aerodynamic configurations that would allow the rocket to remain stable.
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505:, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, said "America's space program is preeminent because folks like Mr. Dahm contributed to building it into the best in the world. His life and life's work are an example of his energy, dedication and humble leadership, which has played a significant role in humanity's peaceful use of space."
401:. There, as the youngest member of the rocket team, he worked in the future projects division, a group composed mainly of physicists who needed a specialist in aerodynamics. At the time, theoretical understanding of high-speed aerodynamics was still in its infancy. He was one of a group that conducted pioneering experiments in a small
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problems, for which he won an internal prize with a monetary award that he proudly never cashed. In August 1943, when Allied forces bombed the
Peenemuende facilities, he received a commendation for saving critical wind tunnel data during the ensuing fires. The Wasserfall project continued almost to
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to allow a surrender to
American forces. After his release in August 1945, he briefly worked in a candle factory of family friends in Bonn, until accepting an invitation from the U.S. as part of Operation Paperclip to join the U.S. Army's nascent rocket program with other members selected from von
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Werner Karl Dahm was born on Feb. 16, 1917 in
Lindenthal near Köln, Germany, the son of Anton Dahm and Maria Morkramer. The family moved to Bonn later that year. His father was the first engineer in a long line of merchants. After graduating from the Beethoven School in Bonn in 1936, he studied
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and the Space
Shuttle. In the Shuttle development effort he led a team working on vehicle aerodynamics and the main engines, which included developing full-scale component tests and scaling methodologies, and applying computational fluid dynamics to overcome a wide range of aerothermochemistry
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Braun's team. He insisted, however, on first being allowed to finish his degree, which was officially awarded in mechanical engineering due to postwar restrictions on further rocket work in
Germany. In August 1947 he rejoined the other scientists from the von Braun team at
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America's space program is preeminent because folks like Mr. Dahm contributed to building it into the best in the world. His life and life's work are an example of his energy, dedication and humble leadership, which has played a significant role in humanity's peaceful use of
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when the Nazis had closed other technical universities. In Munich he was one of just four students, out of several hundred, who refused to join the Nazi student club. He said he first simply pretended not to find it, and then since it was formally listed as a
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he avoided it by claiming religious objections. For this he was denied access to certain advanced aircraft courses, so he focused on courses relevant to rocketry. Before completing his degree he was drafted at the end of 1939, and sent with a
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rocket, a radar-guided supersonic anti-aircraft missile, in which the same center-of-pressure shift was being encountered. Along the way, he developed a conical rocket propellant tank that successfully overcame liquid fuel
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booster rocket, on aerothermodynamics, and on liquid hydrogen propellant systems. He subsequently was involved in numerous projects contributing to the nation's manned and unmanned space flight programs, especially
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Aerodynamics Award in 1997 for his exceptional lifetime contributions to the aerodynamic design and analysis of strategic missiles and manned/unmanned launch rockets, and received the
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He was Chief of the
Aerophysics Division at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center until 1992, when he became Chief Aerodynamicist at the NASA Center. He was awarded the
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intermediate-range ballistic missile program, and then on the Army's
Pershing medium-range ballistic missile and the large Saturn I booster rocket.
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and laid the basis for every other rocket developed in the United States since. The White Sands work included a Mach 3 cruise missile known as the
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unit to France and then to
Czechoslovakia. In between, he was granted a one-semester break to complete the major part of his aerodynamics degree.
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existed to test the theories or provide needed data. He subsequently continued pioneering contributions in high-speed aerothermochemistry in the
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in 2003. He continued working in science positions at NASA until his retirement, at 89, in 2006.
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664:"Aerodynamics expert developed U.S. rockets"
719:"Peenemunde Interviews Project, 1989-1990"
616:"Physics Today Obituaries: Werner K. Dahm"
265:Aerodynamics Analysis Branch, Chief (1960)
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
577:"Marshall Center Marks 40th Anniversary"
376:aerodynamics and aircraft design at the
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802:Engineers from North Rhine-Westphalia
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689:White, Ronnie (January 18, 2008).
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357:PeenemĂĽnde Future Projects Office
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304:: Anton Dahm and Maria Morkramer
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586:. June 29, 2000. Archived from
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499:NASA Exceptional Service Medal
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532:Georg von Tiesenhausen
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343:(February 16, 1917 in
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