Wernher von Braun, director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, at his office in Huntsville, Alabama 1965. [1060 x 693]

    by No-Cream-2577

    26 Comments

    1. Gather ’round while I sing you of Wernher von Braun

      A man whose allegiance Is ruled by expedience

      Call him a Nazi, he won’t even frown

      “Nazi, Schmazi!” says Wernher von Braun.

      Don’t say that he’s hypocritical

      Say rather that he’s apolitical

      “Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?

      That’s not my department!” says Wernher von Braun.

      Some have harsh words for this man of renown

      But some think our attitude

      Should be one of gratitude

      Like the widows and cripples in old London town

      Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.

      You too may be a big hero

      Once you’ve learned to count backwards to zero

      “In German, oder Englisch, I know how to count down

      Und I’m learning Chinese!” says Wernher von Braun.

      –Tom Lehrer

    2. nazihater3000 on

      O like the flex “even as a model, the Saturn V is so big we need to make a hole on the ceiling”

    3. The Huntsville rocket center is so cool. I could spend all day there, Day after day, and never get bored. It tickles my tism is just the right way.

    4. Literally just saw this picture at the space museum in Huntsville Alabama last Sunday.

      They have a Saturn V rocket inside above your head, in each section in the order of construction. The thing is absolutely fucking massive.

      They also have a picnic area outside where you can eat under the exhaust nozzles of another one.

    5. Once the rockets go up, who cares where they come down? That’s not my department says Werner Von Braun

    6. Shocking how much we were willing to overlook atrocities in order to get ahead in science and medicine.

    7. sovietarmyfan on

      Both the soviet and american space programs were build upon the knowledge of German scientists.

    8. Take us to the moon and we will make you a national hero, don’t worry about your child slaver status, that’s what hollywood is for!

    9. LilOpieCunningham on

      Odious human subject aside, I’m always astonished at how tiny the Mercury rockets were.

    10. You vs the guy she tells you not to worry about and his friend and his other friend and his other friend and his other friend and his other friend and his other friend and his other friend and his other friend and his other friend and his other friend and his other friend and his other friend 

    11. SystematicApproach on

      Fast Facts: Worth remembering that the American space program was literally built on recruited Nazi scientists. Operation Paperclip brought over 1,600 German scientists post-WWII, Wernher von Braun chief among them. The man designed the V-2 rocket using concentration camp slave labor at Mittelwerk.

      The US government scrubbed his record, gave him a security clearance, and handed him NASA. Moral of the story: we’ve always been willing to look the other way when the technology was impressive enough.

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