posted 05-18-2001 12:48 AM               

From Today's Huntsville Times

At 93, a rocket science pioneer dies peacefully in Huntsville
Fritz Mueller joined von Braun early, was gyroscope developer
05/17/01
By MIKE MARSHALL
Times Staff Writer
mmarshal@htimes.com

In the hours before he died Tuesday afternoon, Fritz Mueller, one of the
first members of Wernher von Braun's rocket team, and his wife, Ursula, sat
on the back porch of their Monte Sano home and talked about their life
together.

They talked about their scuba-diving trips to the Caribbean, among other
places, and about boat riding and water skiing near their cabin on Lake
Guntersville. They talked for about an hour, then Fritz asked to sit at his
desk one last time.

After Ursula helped her husband into the study, Fritz sat there for about
20 minutes. For a while, he scanned some investment papers. Mostly, he just
wanted to sit, Ursula said.

Moments earlier, when they were sitting on the back porch around 6 p.m.
Monday, Fritz had indicated to Ursula that he knew death was near.

''I just can't, anymore,'' he told her. ''I'm so weak. I can't anymore.''

He died of congestive heart failure around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at his home on
Thompson Circle. He was 93.

A memorial service will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Saint Mark's
Lutheran Church on Longwood Drive. Visitation will be at the church at
10:30 a.m.

Long before his death, Mueller had composed his own obituary, mostly
touching on his career with von Braun's rocket team. It had been a career
that was highlighted by the development of the gyroscope - the device
responsible for guidance and control systems - on the Saturn V rocket that
went to the moon.

''His life was rich in work and achievement,'' said Ernst Stuhlinger, one
of the chief administrators on the von Braun rocket team. ''Old-timers
remember Fritz as a pillar in the evolution of mankind's space-traveling
ability during the past century.''

Mueller began his obituary with his address, his birthday (Oct. 27, 1907),
his hometown (Schalkau, Thuringia - a southern region of Germany) and his
status as an original member of the von Braun rocket team.

He mentioned how he had hooked up with von Braun in 1935 while working in
Berlin. He had worked with a company known as Gyro Companies. Ursula, a
secretary, was among his co-workers.

''I fell in love with his brain,'' she said.

His brain produced knowledge that led to several patents. Those patents
were ''used by the U.S. Army and in rockets from Redstone and Explorer to
the Saturn mission,'' Mueller wrote in his obituary.

In 1958, he received a doctor of science degree from Rollins College in
Winter Park, Fla. He retired in 1979.

''He was nice, dependable and quiet,'' Ursula Mueller said. ''He always
made the right decision. You felt secure when you were with him.''

Among the things that stood out to Stuhlinger was how meticulous Mueller
was in his gyroscope presentations.

''When he spoke, he spoke carefully in selecting his words,'' Stuhlinger
said. ''They made sense, whatever he said.''

His survivors include his wife; a daughter, Gabriela; a son-in-law, Steven
Demeritt; and three granddaughters. In the obituary he composed, he also
mentioned the husband of one of his granddaughters.

After he died, Ursula Mueller found the obituary in the top drawer of her
husband's desk. A note to her was attached.

''He wrote how happy we were together,'' she said. ''He said I should not
cry and go on my with my life. He said he would have loved to continue, but
everything has to come to an end.''

posted 05-18-2001 08:52 AM               

Dr. Mueller was one of the Original 118
team members & of that number, I wonder how
many are still alive? Possibly as few as
20-30.

These scientists & engineers in the 1930's
& 40's designed & tested the world's first
large ballistic missile, the V-2, which they
called the A-4. This was a deadly weapon of war, but it led to the development of rockets
that put Americans in orbit & finally on the moon.

These original 118 "Oldtimers" (and later joined by approximately 300 others who they called "Newcomers") are mostly overlooked by
collectors of space autographs. Other than
von Braun, Kurt Debus, Eberhard Rees & a few
others, there is little demand for their autographs. But how can serious space
autograph collectors ignore pioneers that
started their careers with the infamous V-2,
then gladly contributed their skill &
careers toward designing rockets that helped
put men on the moon? - & even a few
were involved in the Space Shuttle Program.
So some of their careers included important
work on the V-2, the Saturn V, & finally the Space Shuttle!

Bob Mc.

posted 05-19-2001 12:33 AM               

Thanks for your your kind words.

Alas, the article was not mine, but came from the Huntsville Times. It was transmitted to me by a collector in Huntsville.

Secondly, I know many serious collectors already included those early rocket pioneers in their collection. Some of course are more wellknown than others - and understandably so. Most limit their interest to the original 118, though - the "newcomers" are just too many to be considered.

Jürgen

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob M:
Thanks, Juergen, for the well-done article on the passing of yet another member of Dr. Wernher von Braun's historic rocket team from the
German Rocket & Test Center at Peenemuende.

Dr. Mueller was one of the Original 118
team members & of that number, I wonder how
many are still alive? Possibly as few as
20-30.

These scientists & engineers in the 1930's
& 40's designed & tested the world's first
large ballistic missile, the V-2, which they
called the A-4. This was a deadly weapon of war, but it led to the development of rockets
that put Americans in orbit & finally on the moon.

These original 118 "Oldtimers" (and later joined by approximately 300 others who they called "Newcomers") are mostly overlooked by
collectors of space autographs. Other than
von Braun, Kurt Debus, Eberhard Rees & a few
others, there is little demand for their autographs. But how can serious space
autograph collectors ignore pioneers that
started their careers with the infamous V-2,
then gladly contributed their skill &
careers toward designing rockets that helped
put men on the moon? - & even a few
were involved in the Space Shuttle Program.
So some of their careers included important
work on the V-2, the Saturn V, & finally the Space Shuttle!

Bob Mc.

---

posted 07-15-2001 01:04 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ken Havekotte:
Well said Bob and Jurgen..and let me add, as I don't recall seeing mentioned anywhere in Collectspace.com...another original rocketeer from Peenemuende is no longer with us. Karl Sendler, another 118 oldtimer, passed away last month. He was NASA's first director of Information Systems at KSC, which was the last government position held by Sendler throughout his 29 years of federal service to the nation's rocket and space programs. He first came to Peenemuende in 1943 and was instrumental in building the first missile tracking and automatic cutoff systems for the German V-2 (A4) ballistic missile. Karl's outstanding experience and expertise led to the design and development of the U.S. Army's Doppler Velocity and Position (DOVAP) system that was used in determining a rocket's position in space. A revised system of the DOVAP, also developed by Sendler and his special team, provided vital information to the Range Safety Officer as Karl's team monitored each rocket in flight...and that system is still in use today! His death marks the last of the original von Braun team of rocketeers that were stationed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The others were Dr. Kurt Debus, KSC's first director, Dr. Hans Gruene, LVO director for Apollo-Saturns, Albert Zeiler and Theodor Poppel.

---

Ken,

Thanks a lot for updating us on the sad passing away of Karl Sendler. I hadn't known about that. Do you recall the exact date?

In the meantime, yet another Peenemündian has left us. Associated Press reports: "Adolf Thiel, an Austrian-born scientist who helped the United States build some of its earliest rockets, died June 2. He was 86.
Thiel spent 30 years with TRW Inc.'s space division in Redondo Beach, Calif. He directed the development of the Thor ballistic missile, which is still the basis for rockets used to launch NASA and commercial satellites into space.
While working as an assistant professor of engineering in Germany, Thiel helped design the German V-2 rocket, which was used to attack England near the end of World War II.
Thiel was the director of space projects for TRW when it developed and launched Explorer VI and Pioneer V, two of the nation's earliest craft to explore interplanetary space.
He was named a fellow of the American Astronautical Society in 1968."