Hans Ziegler (engineer)

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Hans K. Ziegler (born March 1, 1911 in Munich ; † December 11, 1999 ) was a pioneer in the field of communication satellites and the use of solar cells for the energy supply of satellites .

Life

Hans Ziegler was born in Munich. There he studied at the Technical University, now the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and began his career as a research assistant. He then worked in research in German industry for 10 years. During the Second World War he worked for the company Rosenthal in Selb in Bavaria, producing high-voltage porcelain.

In 1947, he came along with Wernher von Braun as part of Operation Paperclip , in which the United States German engineers and scientists for know-how transfer gained in the United States . He joined the US Army Signal Corps ' Laboratories in Fort Monmouth, NJ, and was naturalized in 1954.

Ziegler's work in the US had a major impact on the development of military electronics, and especially electronics in the early stages of the US space program. Of the thirty years he was an electronics and electrical engineer in the US Army's Research and Development Department in Fort Monmouth, NJ, USA, he was in the senior position of chief developer for twelve years. In Fort Monmouth he worked as a scientific consultant , assistant director of research , director of the Astro-Electronics Division , chief scientist (1959). After a restructuring of the army, he became Deputy for Science and Chief Scientist of the US Army Electronics Command in 1963 and Director of the US Army Electronics Technology & Devices Laboratory from 1971 until his retirement .

In May 1954, after an appraisal of the solar cells by Daryl Chapin , Calvin Souther Fuller and Gerald Pearson in the Bell Laboratories , Ziegler expressed himself in a message as follows: “With the future development of the silicon solar cell, it is quite possible that this will will prove to be an important source of electrical energy, as the occupancy of all roofs of cities and communities would be sufficient to cover the entire electrical energy demand for the country. ” ( “ Future development [of the silicon solar cell] may well render it into an important source of electrical power [as] the roofs of all our buildings in cities and towns equipped with solar [cells] would be sufficient to produce this country's entire demand for electrical power. " )

With regard to silicon solar cells, he told the head of the US Signal Corps, General James O'Connell , in a meeting in September 1955: “In the long run, mankind has no choice but to face the sun if it is to survive. " ( " In fact, in the long run, mankind has no choice but to turn to the sun if it wants to survive. " )

For the Signal Corps, he and his team were supposed to create the prospects for the application of this technology in the area of ​​communication and named the energy supply of an artificial satellite as the most important application. He knew that he wasn't the first to suggest such an application; B. the science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke made this proposal in 1945, but without a concrete technique for it at the time.

Ziegler was involved in the development of the first planned satellites. The first satellite, Explorer I , flew into space without solar cells, not least because it was a quick stopgap solution to show the American public after the launch of the Sputnik that America's scientists were also able to launch a satellite. The actually planned satellite project, the Vanguard project , came to a success with the Vanguard I satellite, which was launched into an earth orbit on March 17, 1958 .

Contrary to the ideas of the Navy , which still considered the solar cells to be too immature technology, this satellite had four solar cells in the outer skin due to the persistent work of Hans Ziegler, which could supply the instruments and perform their service reliably for more than seven years. After this success, solar cells were established as a source of energy for satellites. He was also involved in the development of the world's first communications satellite SCORE , which was launched in 1958.

When he received a Meritorious Civilian Service Award from the US Department of Defense in 1963, he was recognized as a pioneer in communications satellites and solar energy systems to power satellites ( world pioneer in communications satellites and solar energy systems to power satellites ). When he retired in 1977, he was awarded the highest honor of the Army for extraordinary achievements in the civilian sector ( exceptional civilian service decorated).

Hans Ziegler was the author of many technical publications, a member of the IEEE , and represented the USA militarily and civilly in many national and international bodies and committees. In 1958 he was a member of the US delegation for the International Geophysical Year in Moscow, and in 1964 he examined the scientific activities in the Antarctic and at the South Pole under the leadership of the US National Science Foundation.

Hans Ziegler's wife Friederike died in 1996. He last lived in Colts Neck in New Jersey, USA and died at the age of 88 on December 11, 1999. He left behind his daughters Christine Griffith and Friederike Meindl and his son Hans.

literature

  • John Perlin, From Space to Earth; The Story of Solar Electricity , Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1999, ISBN 0-674-01013-2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biographical Sketches. (PDF) (No longer available online.) CECOM Historical Office, 1953, archived from the original on April 28, 2015 ; accessed on July 5, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / cecom.army.mil
  2. ^ A b John Perlin, From Space to Earth; The Story of Solar Electricity , Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1999, ISBN 0-674-01013-2
personal data
SURNAME Ziegler, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ziegler, Hans K.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American space pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1999
Place of death Colts Neck, New Jersey, USA