- HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (AP) -- Three members of the German rocket team that
helped propel Americans to the moon passed away during the last week in
Alabama.
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- Max Nowak, 89, of Huntsville, Heinrich
Paetz, 88, of Grant, and Albert Schuler, 83, of Huntsville were original
members of Wernher von Braun's team of engineers who developed the V-1
and V-2 rockets during World War II and then came to the United States
under contract to the Army.
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- "They were all three highly respected
for their capability and their knowledge," said Ernst Stuhlinger,
von Braun's chief scientist.
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- Nowak, among the first members of the
von Braun team to move to the United States, was assistant to the director
of the manufacturing engineering lab during the Apollo program, said Konrad
Dannenberg, a propulsion engineer for von Braun. He directed assembly of
systems for the Saturn 1 nose cones and Saturn V launch systems.
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- Paetz was chief of the electrical section
in Peenemuende, Germany, Dannenberg said. He also worked in development
of the V-2 and the Wasserfall, an anti-aircraft missile. At Redstone, he
worked for the test branch and participated in the Redstone, Jupiter, Saturn
1 and Saturn V programs. He retired from NASA in 1970.
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- Schuler was in charge of measuring instrumentation
on the test stands and rockets during static firings, said Dannenberg.
He was also in charge of flight instrumentation, guidance and control on
rocket flights, and retired in 1969.
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- Paetz' funeral is scheduled Monday at
Spry Funeral Home. He died Thursday at his home in Grant.
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- Funeral plans were incomplete for Schuler,
who died Friday at his home.
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- Nowak's funeral was held Friday at Maple
Hill Cemetery. He died Tuesday at a Huntsville hospital.
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- Only between 30 and 40 members of the
original von Braun team of 127 scientists are still living, Stuhlinger
and Dannenberg estimated. Around a dozen live in Huntsville, and the rest
are scattered around the country in places like Houston and Washington.
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- Copyright 1998 The Associated Press.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,
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