The
V-2 (
German:
Vergeltungswaffe 2, "Vengeance Weapon 2"), technical name
Aggregat-4 (A4), was the world's first long-range
ballistic missile. It was developed during the
Second World War in
Germany, specifically targeted at
London and later
Antwerp.
Commonly referred to as the V-2 rocket, the liquid-propellant rocket was a combat-ballistic missile, now considered short-range, and first known human artifact to enter outer space. It was the progenitor of all modern rockets, including those used by the United States and Soviet Union's space programs. During the aftermath of World War II the American, Soviet and British governments all gained access to the V-2's technical designs as well as the actual German scientists responsible for creating the rockets, via Operation Paperclip, Operation Osoaviakhim and Operation Backfire respectively.
The weapon was presented by Nazi propaganda as a retaliation for the bombers that attacked ever more German cities from 1942 until Germany surrendered.
Beginning in September 1944, over 3,000 V-2s were launched as military rockets by the German Wehrmacht against Allied targets during the war, mostly London and later Antwerp and Liège. According to a BBC documentary in 2011, the attacks resulted in the deaths of an estimated 9,000 civilians and military personnel, while 12,000 forced labourers and concentration camp prisoners were killed producing the weapons.
Eugene Francis "Gene" Kranz (born August 17, 1933) is a retired
NASA Flight Director and manager. Kranz served as a Flight Director, the successor to NASA founding Flight Director
Chris Kraft, during the
Gemini and
Apollo programs, and is best known for his role in directing the successful Mission Control team efforts to save the crew of
Apollo 13, which later became the subject story of a major motion picture of the same name. He is also noted for his trademark close-cut
flattop hairstyle, and the wearing of dapper white "mission" vests (
waistcoats), of different styles and materials made by Mrs. Kranz, during missions for which he acted as Flight Director. A personal friend to the American astronauts of his time, Kranz remains a prominent and colorful figure in the history of U.S. manned space exploration, literally, the embodiment of 'NASA tough-and-competent' of the Kranz Dictum. Kranz has been the subject of movies, documentary films, and books and periodical articles. Kranz is the recipient of a
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
