Hermann Oberth

Hermann Julius Oberth (German: [ˈhɛrman ˈjuːli̯ʊs ˈoːbɛrt]; 25 June 1894 – 28 December 1989) was an Austro-Hungarian-born German physicist and rocket pioneer who was an influential theorist of modern astronautics. He developed mathematical and technical concepts for liquid-fueled and multistage rockets and examined their use for crewed spaceflight, space stations, and interplanetary travel. He also designed and experimentally tested a liquid-fueled rocket engine and proposed concepts such as orbital space stations, space telescopes, and large orbital mirrors.

Oberth studied and worked in Germany and Romania, teaching physics and mathematics while developing his early theories of rocketry. In the late 1920s, he worked in Berlin on experimental rockets as part of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt ("Spaceflight Society"), which included many later German rocketry pioneers, such as Wernher von Braun. During World War II, he worked at Peenemünde on the German A4/V-2 rocket program before moving to WASAG near Wittenberg, where he developed solid-fuel anti-aircraft rockets. After the war, he worked on scientific projects in Switzerland and for the Italian Navy. From 1955 onward, he worked in the United States, mainly with Wernher von Braun's U.S. Army rocket team at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, before eventually retiring in Germany.