Ernst Stuhlinger

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Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger (December 19, 1913 – May 25, 2008) was a German atomic, electrical and rocket scientist. After being brought to the United States as part of Operation Paperclip, he developed guidance systems with Wernher von Braun's team at the US Army, and later, NASA. He was also instrumental in the development of the ion engine for long-endurance space flight, and a wide variety of scientific experiments.

Stuhlinger was born in Niederrimbach, Germany, near Wurzburg in Bavaria. He earned his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Tubingen at age 23. In 1939 he went to work in Berlin, working on cosmic rays and nuclear physics. Despite showing promise, in 1941 Stuhlinger was sent to the Russian front where he was wounded during the Battle of Moscow, and was one of the few members of his unit to survive the Battle of Stalingrad. His service complete, in 1943 he joined Dr. Wernher von Braun's team at Peenemünde, where he worked in the field of guidance systems.

Ernst Stuhlinger (middle) and Wernher von Braun signing U.S. citizenship certificates. The members of the Peenemünde team and their family members were awarded the United States citizenship on April 14, 1955. Martin Schilling is at left.

Stuhlinger was one of the first group of 126 scientists who immigrated to the United States with Dr. von Braun after World War II as part of Operation Paperclip. In the 1950s Stuhlinger worked at the Redstone Arsenal, primarily on guidance systems. He played a small but important role in the race to launch a US satellite after the success of Sputnik 1. As there was little time to develop and test automated systems like guidance or staging systems, Stuhlinger developed a simple spring-powered staging timer that had to be triggered from the ground. On the night of January 31, 1958, Stuhlinger was at the controls of the timer when the Explorer 1 was launched, triggering the device right on time. He became known as "the man with the golden finger." On April 14, 1955, he became a naturalized United States citizen along with the other Paperclip members.

Stuhlinger spent much of his spare time developing designs for solar-powered spacecraft. The most popular of those designs relied on ion thrusters, which use ionize either caesium or rubidium vapor and accelerate the positively charged ions through gridded electrodes. The spacecraft would be powered by the one kilowatt of solar energy. He referred to the concept as a "sunship". He is considered as one of the pioneers of electric propulsion having, among many contributions, authored the classic textbook Ion Propulsion for Space Flight (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964). In 2005, he was honored by the Electric Rocket Propulsion Society, and awarded its highest honor "The Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Electric Propulsion."

Stuhlinger was director of the space science lab at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, from its formation in 1960 until 1968, and then its associate director for science from 1968 to 1975, when he retired and became an adjunct professor and senior research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Among his many other works at Marshall, he directed early planning for lunar exploration, worked on the Apollo Telescope Mount that produced a wealth of information about the Sun, led planning for the three High Energy Astronomical Observatorys, and worked on the initial phases of what would become the Hubble Space Telescope.

After retiring, Stuhlinger and historian Frederick Ordway collaborated on the biography Werhner von Braun: Crusader for Space. In it, Stuhlinger downplayed claims that von Braun had mistreated prisoners working on the V-2 program during the war. Author Michael Neufeld has called these claims highly dubious in his book, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War, stating that Stuhlinger was not personally involved in these areas and would have no first-hand information. Stuhlinger reiterated the point that their aim was ultimately peaceful; in an Associated Press article, he wrote: "Yes, we did work on improved guidance systems, but in late 1944 we were convinced that the war would soon be over before new systems could be used on military rockets. However, we were convinced that somehow our work would find application in the future rockets that would not aim at London, but at the moon."

Stuhlinger passed away in Huntsville at age 94.

[edit] References

Portree, David S. (February 2001). "Humans to Mars: Fifty years of mission planning" (pdf). Monographs in Aerospace History Series 21.
Belew, Leland F. and Stuhlinger, Ernst (August 6, 2004). Skylab: A Guidebook. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Stuhlinger, Ernst (2001). "Enabling Technology for Space Transportation". The Century of Space Science 1: 73–74.
Tinsley, Frank (January 1956). "Flight to the Stars on Sun Power". Mechanix Illustrated 56: 72–77.
NASA Historical Reference Collection. Ernst Stuhlinger biographical file. NASA History Office.
John Nobel Wilford. "Ernst Stuhlinger, Rocket Scientist Crucial in Space Race, Is Dead at 94", New York Times.