Karl Heimburg

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Karl Ludwig Heimburg (born January 29, 1910 , † January 26, 1997 in Huntsville (Alabama) ) was a German-American rocket pioneer and responsible for the test stands that had to withstand millions of pounds of thrust.

Life

After studying at the Technical University in Darmstadt , he traveled through the Soviet Union to work in Japan from 1936–37.

Kurt Lindner Wilhelm Jungert Kurt Debus Eduard Fischel Hans Gruene Willi Mrazek ? Helmut Schlitt Herbert Axster Theodor Vowe Rudolf Beichel Bruno Helm Oscar Holderer Rudolf Minning Hans Friedrich Guenther Haukohl Friedrich Dhom Bernhard Tessmann Karl Heimburg Ernst Geissler Friedrich Duerr ? Hans Milde Hannes Lührsen Kurt Patt Otto Eisenhardt Johann Tschinkel Gerhard Drawe Gerhard Heller Josef Maria Boehm Joachim Mühlner Arthur Rudolph Wilhelm Angele Erich Ball Bruno Heusinger Max Nowak Fritz Müller Alfred Finzel Herbert Fuhrmann Ernst Stuhlinger Herbert Guendel Hans Fichtner Karl Hager Werner Kuers Hans Maus Herbert Bergeler Walter Hans Schwidetzky Rudolf Hoelker Erich Kaschig Werner Rosinski Heinz Schnarowski Fritz Vandersee Arthur Urbanski Werner Tiller Hugo Woerdemann Martin Schilling Albert Schuler Hans Lindenmayer Helmut Zolke Hans Paul Heinrich Rothe Ludwig Roth Ernst Steinhoff Gerhard Reisig Ernst Klaus Hermann Weidner Hermann Lange Robert Paetz Helmut Merk Walter Jacobi Dieter Grau Friedrich Schwarz Wernher von Braun Albin Wittmann Otto Hoberg Wilhelm Schulze ? Adolf Thiel Walter Wiesemann Theodor Buchhold Eberhard Rees Otto Heinrich Hirschler Theodor Poppel Werner Voss Gustav Kroll Anton Beier Albert Zeiler Rudolf Schlidt Wolfgang Steurer Gerd De Beek Heinz Millinger Konrad Dannenberg Hans Palaoro Erich Neubert Werner Sieber Emil Hellebrandt Hans Henning Hosenthien Oscar Bauschinger Joseph Michel Klaus Scheufelen Walter Burose Karl Fleischer Werner Gengelbach Hermann Beduerftig Guenther Hintze
The Project Paperclip team at Fort Bliss. (by moving the mouse pointer over the faces, the names are shown)

When he stayed in Stuttgart from 1940-41 (on home leave or as a forest student), he was drafted and sent to the Peenemünde Army Research Center , where he worked in Ludwig Roth's project office . When work on the A7 was stopped, Heimburg was initially assigned to test stand VII and then came to develop the test stand for the waterfall anti-aircraft missile as well as the test stand for the engine, code-named life jacket, floating on the Peene . At the end of 1944 he was working on an immediate program for the construction and testing of the winged unit 4b and was sent to the Vorwerk Mitte Lehesten in November to coordinate engine testing.

Heimburg, 3rd from the left, among twelve specialists in the Peenemünder team

In April 1945 he went to Oberammergau to look for the rest of the group around Wernher von Braun . Interned by the British in Witzenhausen , he took part in Operation Backfire . He agreed to go to the United States as part of Operation Overcast and arrived at Fort Bliss in January 1947 . He later moved to Huntsville, Alabama , where he became director of the test department at NASA's new Marshall Space Flight Center in 1960 . Harry M. Johnstone, he worked on the test bed for the Saturn I of 1964 and the cluster S-1C T Saturn V .

He is buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville. The US President's request for a “Shoot for the moon” is supplemented on his gravestone with: “If you miss you will be among the stars”.

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personal data
SURNAME Heimburg, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heimburg, Karl Ludwig (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American rocket test bench pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1910
DATE OF DEATH January 26, 1997
Place of death Huntsville, Alabama