Georg Heinrich Patrick Baron von Tiesenhausen[1] | |
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| Born | (1914-05-18)May 18, 1914 |
| Died | June 3, 2018(2018-06-03) (aged 104) Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Alma mater | HAW Hamburg |
| Known for | Operation Paperclip,Lunar Roving Vehicle |
| Spouse | Asta Esch Von Tiesenhausen[2][3] |
| Children | Evamaria,[2] Georg Jr.[2][4] and Jutta[2] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics,Engineering |
| Institutions | Wehrmacht,Peenemünde Army Research Center, United States Army,NASA |
Georg Heinrich Patrick Baron von Tiesenhausen (May 18, 1914 – June 3, 2018)[5][6] was a German and Americanrocket scientist.
After being brought to the United States in 1953 as part ofOperation Paperclip, he was part ofWernher von Braun's team at theUnited States Army, and later,NASA. He is credited with the first complete design of theLunar Roving Vehicle which was driven on the Moon on the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions, and made a variety of other contributions to the space program.
Tiesenhausen was born inRiga, Latvia, in theRussian Empire[7] to a Baltic German noble familyTiesenhausen from his father's side, while his mother was ofScottish ancestry. He studied engineering inHamburg, but was conscripted to theLuftwaffe in 1939 and sent to theEastern Front. He was allowed to continue his studies and in 1943 and graduated fromUniversity of Hamburg. After his graduation he was sent to thePeenemünde Army Research Center.[8][9]
Tiesenhausen worked withWernher von Braun developing V-2 rockets in Germany during World War II. He came to America in 1953 as part ofOperation Paperclip, where he again worked with von Braun on guided missiles such as theRedstone, this time for the United States Army atRedstone Arsenal inHuntsville, Alabama. He was later transferred to NASA, where he worked on various spaceflight programs, including theApollo program, which landed men on theMoon.[10]
He continued to work for NASA well into theShuttle era.[11][12] Later he worked onspace tether missions.[10]
Between 1987 and 2010, von Tiesenhausen frequently volunteered at theU.S. Space & Rocket Center inHuntsville, Alabama, lecturing to students inSpace Camp programs about the future of space exploration and other topics.[13][14]
In 2007, he became one of the original inductees into theSpace Camp Hall of Fame.[15] On February 3, 2011, he was presented with the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Lifetime Achievement Award for Education byApollo 11 astronautNeil Armstrong.[16] "Dr. von T. is one of those rare individuals who has a natural ability to inform and inspire, to educate and motivate, and, most remarkably, to endure," Armstrong said.[17]Neil Armstrong gave a brief but impressive summary of Georg von Tiesenhausen achievements: "He is and has been a person who imagines what can be, and he has the skills to convert that image into reality."[18]
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