After successfully testing the SLV-3 motor.Dr.Brahma Prakash informed that Werner Von Braun would be visiting Thumba.kalam went to receive him in Madras.
Everybody working in rocketry knows of Braun,who made the lethal V-2 missiles that devastated London in World War 2.In the final stages of the war,Braun was captured by the Allied forces.As attribute to his genius,Von Braun was given a top position in the rocketry programme at NASA.Working for the US Army,Braun produced the landmark Jupiter missile,which was the first IRBM with a 3,000Km range.
The V-2 missile was by far the greatest single achievement in the history of rockets and missiled.It was the culmination of the efforts of Braun and his team in the VFR(Society Of Space Flight,ion Germany) in the 1920s.Braun became the technical director of the German Missile Laboratory at Kummersdorf.The first V-2 missile was tested upon successful in June 1942.It toppled over on to its side and exploded.But on 16 August 1942,it became the first missile to exceed the speed of sound.
He is a scientist,designer,production engineer,administrator and technology manager,all rolled into one.
He is a person who always gives attention to the people who are in different fields like a student.He is the father of modern rocketry.He is so humble,receptive and encouraging.He had become a cult figure in America after creating the Saturn rocket in the Apollo mission(which put the first man on the moon).Kalam saw some ideas of Prof.Vikram Sarabhai in Werner Von Braun.It made him happy to think so.
Braun says,
"America is a country of great possibilities,but they took upon everything un-American with suspicion and contempt.They suffer from a deep-rooted NIH-Not Invented Here-complex,and look down on alien technologies.If you want to do any thing in rocketry,do it yourself."
He continued "SLV-3 is genuine Indian design and you may be having your own troubles.But you should always remember that one doesn't just build on successes,but also on failures.Mere hard work cannot fetch you honor,Building a rock wall is back breaking work.There are some people who build rock walls all their lives.And when they die,they leave behind miles of walls,mute testimony to how hard they had worked.
"But there are others who,while placing one rock on top of another,have a vision.It may be to create a terrace with roses climbing over the rock walls and chairs set out for lazy summer days.Or the rock wall enclose an apple orchard or mark a boundary.What matters is that when they have more than a wall.It is this goal that makes the difference".
"Do not make rocketry your profession or your livelihood-make it your religion,your mission".
Everybody working in rocketry knows of Braun,who made the lethal V-2 missiles that devastated London in World War 2.In the final stages of the war,Braun was captured by the Allied forces.As attribute to his genius,Von Braun was given a top position in the rocketry programme at NASA.Working for the US Army,Braun produced the landmark Jupiter missile,which was the first IRBM with a 3,000Km range.
The V-2 missile was by far the greatest single achievement in the history of rockets and missiled.It was the culmination of the efforts of Braun and his team in the VFR(Society Of Space Flight,ion Germany) in the 1920s.Braun became the technical director of the German Missile Laboratory at Kummersdorf.The first V-2 missile was tested upon successful in June 1942.It toppled over on to its side and exploded.But on 16 August 1942,it became the first missile to exceed the speed of sound.
He is a scientist,designer,production engineer,administrator and technology manager,all rolled into one.
He is a person who always gives attention to the people who are in different fields like a student.He is the father of modern rocketry.He is so humble,receptive and encouraging.He had become a cult figure in America after creating the Saturn rocket in the Apollo mission(which put the first man on the moon).Kalam saw some ideas of Prof.Vikram Sarabhai in Werner Von Braun.It made him happy to think so.
Braun says,
"America is a country of great possibilities,but they took upon everything un-American with suspicion and contempt.They suffer from a deep-rooted NIH-Not Invented Here-complex,and look down on alien technologies.If you want to do any thing in rocketry,do it yourself."
He continued "SLV-3 is genuine Indian design and you may be having your own troubles.But you should always remember that one doesn't just build on successes,but also on failures.Mere hard work cannot fetch you honor,Building a rock wall is back breaking work.There are some people who build rock walls all their lives.And when they die,they leave behind miles of walls,mute testimony to how hard they had worked.
"But there are others who,while placing one rock on top of another,have a vision.It may be to create a terrace with roses climbing over the rock walls and chairs set out for lazy summer days.Or the rock wall enclose an apple orchard or mark a boundary.What matters is that when they have more than a wall.It is this goal that makes the difference".
"Do not make rocketry your profession or your livelihood-make it your religion,your mission".
