_01.jpg)
Size: 10.5 x 14.2 cm.
Publisher: Ruhr-Nachrichten.
Description:
Rudolf Nebel (1894-1978) was a rocket designer and founder of the world's first rocket airfield in Berlin. He is considered one of the founding fathers of space travel.
He was an early member of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt, or VfR (Society for Space Travel), working closely together with persons such as Wernher von Braun, Rolf Engel, Hermann Oberth or Paul Ehmayr.
Nebel acted very much as the group's spokesperson, organising the donation of materials from various local businesses, and negotiating with the Berlin municipal council for the use of a disused ammunition dump for the VfR's launch site or Raketenflugplatz. He later talked the Magdeburg council into funding the launch of a rocket with a human passenger on board (Magdeburger Startgerät).
On his 80th birthday, Rudolf Nebel was not only honored by a number of major German newspapers, but his student Wernher von Braun also wrote in his birthday letter: "You can also be assured that the history of technology has well recognized your own part in the success of manned spaceflight. The letter ended with the words: "I myself am indebted to you, since it was you who, as a young student, introduced me to the practical problems of developing liquid rockets."
More information
