Krafft A. Ehricke

Krafft A. Ehricke was born on March 24, 1917 in Berlin, Germany as Krafft Arnold Ehricke.

Had to fight the Russians in World War II under the dictator he most despised. He commanded tanks in Hitler's attack on Moscow and, after receiving injury, was transferred to the Peenemunde Rocket Development team, where he specialized as an engineer building propulsion systems for the German V-2 rocket from 1942-1945. He came to the U.S. with 'Wernher von Braun''s rocket team in 1945.

Entered U.S. private industry in 1953, helping develop Atlas in the 1950s, at General Dynamics. Appointed Director of the Centaur program in 1959 and Director of Advanced Studies in 1962. He became a General Dynamics Vice President after inventing Centaur, the first liquid hydrogen propelled upper stage launch vehicle. Centaur empowered the United States to explore our solar system with planetary probes.

Invested in 1966 into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame.

After retiring in the 1970s, Ehricke published a series of papers on lunar civilization. He worked independently to introduce the first comprehensive concept and Rationale for space industrialization and commercialization, building a collection of studies, designs, writings and paintings describing the colonization of Moon.

He is known for his work on Earth II (1971), Spaceflight (1985) and The Twentieth Century (1957). He was married to Ingeborg Ehricke.

In 1974, Ehricke was appointed Chief Scientist at the North American Rockwell Space Systems Division.

After his death, he was survived by his wife, Ingeborg, three daughters (Astrid Ehricke, Dotti Neufeld, and Krista Deer), and grandchildren (Kristin Ehricke & Brian Deer) . Ingeborg and his 3 daughters founded the nonprofit Krafft A. Ehricke Institute for Space Development in 1985.

On April 20, 1997, the created remains of Ehricke, "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, space physicist Gerard K. O'Neill, counterculture guru Timothy Leary, and 20 other fans of space exploration were on board when a Pegasus rocket was launched from a Lockheed L-1011 jetliner 36,000 feet over the Canary Islands. Celestis Inc., a Texas-based company, bought space on the rocket to put into orbit the ashes of 24 "passengers," each inside a vial the size of a lipstick holder. Each family paid $4,800 for the privilege of having their loved ones' remains launched in canisters into orbit.