Born in Antwerp, Belgium, February 9, 1904. B.S. University
of Brussels 1924. M.S. Aeronautical Engineering, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology 1926. Emigrated to the United States
in 1930.
During his career as an aerodynamicist which spanned some 40
years, he became known for his technical innnovations and was
an early proponent of missiles and manned space flight. As
head of the team which produced the Atlas Missile/Booster his
genius as a design engineer gave the complex art of rocketry
the first separable nose cone, propellant fuel tanks of novel
design, and swiveling engines for directional control of rockets.
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