Wernher von Braun: Father of the Space Race

In the dying days of World War II, American and Soviet forces were engaged in a desperate race to obtain German scientific information and personnel from the shattered power structure. The key figure sought was Wernher von Braun, a Secret Service officer and architect of the V2 rocket program, who would go on to become the father of the US space program. How did von Braun become not merely an integral part of the American space program in the 1950s and 1960s, but a celebrity in his own right, feted by presidents and powerbrokers?

In this lecture by Dr Andrew Broertjes and panel discussion with Dr David Gozzard , we will examine the career of von Braun, and ask ourselves about the ethics around obtaining scientific information, the limits of military and scientific pragmatism against the backdrop of the Cold War, how we remember and commemorate the past, and what responsibility we share as an academic community to ensure that these stories are told.

Dr Andrew Broertjes has spent nearly two decades teaching history at UWA, ECU, and most recently at Curtin University in the Strategic Studies major. His areas of historical interest span late medieval England, contemporary American politics, African-American cultural history, and now the space race. His work his appeared in The Australian, the Australian Review of Books, the Sydney Review of Books, and the Griffith Review

Dr David Gozzard is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research where he works on developing laser systems for high-precision measurement and high-bandwidth communications between spacecraft and ground stations. David is the Chair of the International Space Centre’s Research Committee.

Please arrive around 5.30 for a 6pm start.
Light drinks and catering provided prior to the lecture.