V-2 Rocket Reaches Space: First Man-Made Object
The A-4 rocket, later designated V-2, reached an altitude of 84.5 kilometers on its third test flight from Peenemunde on October 3, 1942, crossing the boundary of space. Two previous attempts had exploded. Wernher von Braun's team celebrated, though one engineer reportedly reminded them they had just perfected a weapon of mass destruction. Germany fired over 3,000 V-2s at London, Antwerp, and other cities, killing roughly 9,000 people. The rockets also killed an estimated 12,000 concentration camp prisoners forced to build them at the Mittelbau-Dora underground factory. After the war, von Braun surrendered to the Americans, who brought him and 1,600 German scientists to the United States under Operation Paperclip. He built the Saturn V that took astronauts to the Moon.
October 3, 1942
84 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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