Karl Heimburg

Biography Heimburg was born January 29, 1910, in Lindenfels, Germany. where he graduated in 1935 with an engineering degree. Following bombings on Peenemünde in 1943, he moved to Lehesten, where he worked on testing production V-2 engines.

After World War II, Heimburg was scouted through Operation Paperclip. He joined the initial group of scientists and engineers to travel to the U.S., arriving December 6, 1945. After first working with the rocket team at Fort Bliss and White Sands, in 1960 he became one of the charter members of the new Marshall Space Flight Center. Wernher von Braun selected Heimburg as the director of the center's Test Division. In January 1969, Heimburg was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for his work on the Apollo 8 mission.