Konrad Dannenberg's dream for most of his adult life has been to go to Mars, and today he will show off a sliver of the red planet he received for his 96th birthday.A member of the original German rocket team that came here after World War II, Dannenberg was given the tiny, sand-grain-sized Martian meteoroid by former space shuttle astronaut Don Thomas.
"I wanted to go to Mars myself, but it is too late for me to get there now. Now, at least I have a piece of Mars," Dannenberg said Monday. "It's certainly a very wonderful birthday present."
Born Aug. 5, 1912, Dannenberg started with the German team, headed by Dr. Wernher von Braun, in 1940. He was among the members who came to America in late 1945 to work on rocket development for the Army. In 1960, the team transferred to NASA as part of the creation of Marshall Space Flight Center on Redstone.
posted 08-05-2008 09:42 AM
advertisement