Walther Johannes Riedel (January 23, 1903 - November 16, 1974) was a rocket engineer who worked on the German V-2 and Wasserfall rockets before later working for North American Aviation.
Walther Johannes Riedel (January 23, 1903 - November 16, 1974) was a rocket engineer who worked on the German V-2 and Wasserfall rockets before later working for North American Aviation.
In 1929, Riedel graduated from the Technical University of Berlin; From 1936 to 1946, he directed development of liquid-fueled rockets at Peenemünde. [1] [2] In 1942, Reidell was chief of design on the V-2. [3]
During the US occupation of Germany, Riedel was arrested and jailed. [4] German rocket scientists including Riedel were sent to the United States as part of Operation Paperclip. [5] In 1946, he was profiled for cooperating with authorities at Fort Bliss, Texas. [6] One article featured Riedel's complaints that American food was tasteless compared to that of his native Germany. [7] [8] On December 30, Albert Einstein and the American Federation of Scientists authored a letter in protest. [8] Riedel was employed by North American Aviation which sought to recreate and improve upon the V-2. [9]
In 1949, the United Press quoted Riedel's prediction of space ships in 25 years. [10] He was against profiled in 1949 for his work at North American Aviation's plant in Downey, California. [11] [12] Letters to the editor featured a complaint about the piece's positive treatment of Riedel. [13] [8]
In 1953, he was denounced by fellow NAA employee Victor Black, leading to an interview with the CIA. [14]
He returned to West Germany and died in Hamburg in 1974. [15]
The Peenemünde Army Research Center was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the German Army Weapons Office (Heereswaffenamt). Several German guided missiles and rockets of World War II were developed by the HVP, including the V-2 rocket. The works were attacked by the British in Operation Crossbow from August 1943, before falling to the Soviets in May 1945.
The V2, with the technical name Aggregat 4 (A4), was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the Second World War in Nazi Germany as a "vengeance weapon" and assigned to attack Allied cities as retaliation for the Allied bombings of German cities. The V2 rocket also became the first artificial object to travel into space by crossing the Kármán line with the vertical launch of MW 18014 on 20 June 1944.
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