Wernher Von Braun Future Predictions That Would Become A Reality In Our Lifetime
Wernher Von Braun is a German rocket scientist known for his groundbreaking discovery in rocket science and for developing the Saturn V rocket that flew the first human to the lunar surface.
Aside from his creative role in developing crewed rockets in the 1960s, Wernher Von Braun also made several predictions about humanity among the stars. Now, we are going to explore all of Von Braun’s futuristic ideas and see how humans are working to make them possible in our lifetime.
Wernher Von Braun Future Predictions
Dr. Wernher Von Braun, born on March 23, 1912, in Wirsitz Germany, grew up to become interested in physics and space. As one of the most crucial rocket developers of the 20th century, the world showed great respect for the scientist.
Von Braun has published a series of books that gave humanity a hint about the future. From his first 1923 book, The Rocket into Interplanetary Space to his last book, New Worlds, Discoveries From Our Solar System, Garden City, Von Braun enlightened the future generations about the need to think creatively to make the impossible possible.
Now, we are going to explore all the future predictions made by Wernher Von Braun through his publications.
Humans Will Land On Mars
Wernher Von Braun was one of the top scientists who believed in the future of humankind on Mars. In his 1952 Science Fiction book, Das Masprojekt (The Mars Project), the rocket scientist explored the idea of humans landing on Mars within the next 100 years.
Now, if we follow the timeline, a century away from the time he wrote that story will be 2052. We all know how government and private space agencies plan to land humans on Mars in our lifetime. SpaceX recently conducted the fifth test flight of its starship rocket and the super heavy booster was caught by the chopstick metal arms.
With the effort made so far, humans will surely land on Mars before 2052. SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk announced in September this year his plan to send uncrewed spaceships to Mars in 2026, and crewed spaceships before 2030.
If everything goes as planned, we should expect to see humans set foot on the surface of Mars before 2052. If we attain such a milestone, it simply implies that we have brought Wernher Von Braun’s futuristic prediction about a crewed mission to Mars to life in our lifetime.
A Man Called Elon Will Send Humans to Mars
Wernher Von Braun used the name Elon to describe the man who will lead humans to Mars in his science fiction story, the Mars Project. The fictional character, named Elon the Martian government in Von Braun’s story.
Today, we saw how Elon Musk started his aerospace company to send humans to Mars in our lifetime. The most important fact is that Von Braun never met Elon Musk. In fact, the rocket scientist passed away in 1977 when Elon Musk was only 6 years old.
However, he was able to predict that a man named Elon would lead humanity to Mars. Elon Musk has already made plans to put at least 1 million people on Mars before 2054.
His aerospace company, SpaceX is working extra hard to enable the tech billionaire to accomplish his goal of landing humans on Mars. Let’s hope he succeeds in making humans multi-planetary species in our lifetime.
Artificial Gravity Space Station
Von Braun is one of the 20th-century rocket scientists interested in the artificial gravity space station. The renowned rocket scientist first shared his ideas for space stations operating with artificial gravity in his 1952 articles.
These articles published in Collier’s Weekly magazine revealed Von Braun’s space station idea as a wheel-shaped orbiting laboratory. The wheel part of the space station will move around to use artificial gravity for the crew and objects aboard the station.
Unlike the International Space Station which is orbiting closer to Earth, this sophisticated space station would orbit above Earth at a distance of 1075 miles. The artificial gravity space station would serve different purposes including preparation for deep space missions, deep space observatories, and many others.
Von Braun envisioned a future where this powerful space station would be constructed using strong inflatable material so that it could be launched into space with ease. The rocket scientist shared more ideas about his envisioned artificial gravity space station in his 1952 book, Das Masprojekt (The Mars Project).
As of today, many space agencies like NASA are already researching the idea of building artificial gravity space stations in our lifetime. Let’s hope that this fascinating future becomes a reality soon.
Satellites
Von Braun predicted that humans would build satellites for different purposes in the future. These purposes include weather prediction, communication, military, and more.
We all know how thousands of active satellites in different orbits around Earth serve most of our needs. The effort we have made so far in 2024 has shown that our kind has already brought this prediction to life.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Wernher von Braun say about Elon?
Wernher Von Braun described how a leader named Elon would lead humans to Mars in his 1952 science fiction book, Das Masprojekt (The Mars Project). Today, we can see how Elon Musk is working anxiously to land the first humans on the red planet in our lifetime. Let’s hope that Elon Musk makes humans multiplanetary species soon and fulfills the dreams and aspirations of Wernher Von Braun.
Why did Wernher von Braun surrender?
After the Second World War in 1945, Werhner Von Braun surrendered to the United States Army, as he was scared of surrendering to the Soviet Red Army. Von Braun later moved to the United States where he helped the American space agency to build the first ever crewed rocket that flew humans to the moon.
What did Wernher von Braun discover?
Wernher Von Braun made several scientific discoveries in his lifetime starting with the development of the V-2 ballistic missile to other amazing discoveries. Braun also played a crucial role in developing the Saturn V megarocket that flew Apollo astronauts to the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His groundbreaking innovative efforts in rocket engineering will always be in our thoughts in decades to come.