William "Willi" Mrazek (October 20, 1911 - February 8, 1992) was a German-American loads engineer and member of the " von Braun rocket group." Mrazek worked first at

Peenemünde Army Research Center The Peenemünde Army Research Center (german: Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde, HVP) was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the German Army Weapons Office (''Heereswaffenamt''). Several German guided missiles and ...

and later, through

Operation Paperclip Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from the former Nazi Germany to the U.S. for government employment after the end of World Wa ...

, at

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of William Wallace Smith Bliss, LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President ...

and the

Marshall Space Flight Center The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's first ...

, where he was involved with the development of the

Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with multistage rocket, three stages, and powered with liquid-propellant r ...

rocket.

Biography

Mrazek was born in 1911 in what was then Austria-Hungary. He graduated from Deutsche Technische Hochschule, where he earned his Dipl. Ing., in 1935. Mrazek spent some military time after graduation on the Eastern Front, where he received a saber wound to his face; following his injury, he began work at Peenemünde, which continued from 1941 to 1945. In 1946, Mrazek was one of the engineers and scientists invited to the United States through Operation Paperclip, arriving with von Braun's team at Fort Bliss on April 8. The Marshall Space Flight Center employed Mrazek, naming him Director of Structures and Mechanics Division in 1960; by 1969, he held the position of Assistant Director for Engineering for Industrial Operations. Mrazek also reported to the Saturn V Project Manager as Chief Engineer for all development and fabrication work on the rocket from 1965 to 1970. While working on the Saturn V, Mrazek and his team clashed with American aviation companies who were subcontracted on the project. One such instance involved an argument with

North American Aviation North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included: the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F ...

over internal loads in the rocket's S-II phase; North American was ultimately proven right, to Mrazek's consternation.

References and notes

External links

William Mrazek Collection, The University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections

Stages to Saturn History Project oral interview with Mrazek, part 1part 2
an
part 3
fro
The University of Alabama in Huntsville Oral History Collections

Space History Interview with Ursula Mrazek Vann
Mrazek's daughter, fro
The University of Alabama in Huntsville Oral History Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrazek, William American aerospace engineers German aerospace engineers German rocket scientists 1911 births 1992 deaths People from Lukavac Early spaceflight scientists Peenemünde Army Research Center and Airfield Marshall Space Flight Center NASA people Operation Paperclip German emigrants to the United States