John Bruce Medaris
John Bruce Medaris (born May 12, 1902 in Milford , Ohio , † July 11, 1990 in Casselberry , Florida ) was an officer in the US Army . From February 1956 he headed the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), which developed the Redstone and Jupiter missiles , among other things .
Life
Medaris entered 1918 in the Navy and served during the First World War in France . On his return he studied mechanical engineering at Ohio State University . He then worked in the Army until 1927. After years in the private sector, he returned to the Army in 1939. During the Second World War he was in action in North Africa and Europe.
As head of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency , from 1956 he was the superior of the German rocket engineer Wernher von Braun , who had moved with his team to the United States after the end of the war. At the end of 1956, the development of the Redstone was already well advanced and the launch of an earth satellite seemed possible. However, due to rivalries between the air force and the army, they were prohibited from following the satellite program. The air force, although technologically behind, should be responsible for the space program.
Under a pretext, von Braun and Medaris let work on the orbital rocket continue. After the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, the Vanguard rocket was supposed to launch the first American satellite into space. After technical problems, the Army was finally allowed to take off with their Jupiter-C Explorer 1 . After the founding of NASA , von Braun and his team were placed under the new authority. In the following years Medaris left the ABMA and occupied other offices within the military.
In 1960 Medaris resigned from the Army and was ordained a priest in 1970. After his death on July 11, 1990, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Web links
- John Bruce Medaris in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Michael J. Neufeld: Wernher von Braun . Visionary of space, engineer of war. Siedler Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-88680-912-7 , p. 359 (American English: Wernher von Braun. Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War. Translated by Ilse Strasmann).
- ^ A b John Bruce Medaris, Major General, United States Army. Arlington National Cemetery, accessed November 15, 2012 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Medaris, John Bruce |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American officer, head of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 12, 1902 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Milford , Ohio |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 11, 1990 |
| Place of death | Casselberry , Florida |