Hans Hueter was born on March 21, 1906, in Bern, Switzerland. He became a German-Swiss engineer with guided missile expertise gained in World War II (WWII). He received his education in Technikum Mittweida, Germany, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1927.

His experience as an engineer began in April 1932 with the Society for Space Travel in Kummersdorf, Berlin, Germany, where he served as Project Engineer and chief designer for the development of liquid propellant rockets. The society was headed by Dr. Wernher von Braun and Professor Herman Oberth, the collaborating university employee, and was involved in activities of early rocket development performed by Army civilians as members of the German Army. Hueter served the society until May 1934, then from June 1934 to June 1935 he performed the job of Design Engineer for Schwarz Propeller Werk in Berlin, Germany. There he designed gears for adjustable propellers. From July 1935 to June 1937, he worked as Project Engineer for Siemens Luftfahrtgeraete Werk in Berlin, Germany, where he was responsible for the development of Guidance and Control equipment.

In 1937, he moved from Kummersdorf to Peenemunde, Germany, and joined Wernher von Braun’s research and development team. He became Chief Test Engineer for the German War Department in Peenemunde from July 1937 to June 1944, and was in charge of the development and testing of guided missiles and components. World War II had been ongoing since 1939. Hans Hueter was Director of Ground Support Equipment for the German War Department, Peenemunde, from July 1944 to April 1945. He was responsible for planning, design, testing, and production control of developmental and military ground support equipment for guided missiles, including the V-2. The V-2 rocket originated in Germany and was the world's first large-scale liquid-propellant and long-range ballistic missile. The V-2 is antecedent to later large rockets and launch vehicles, including the Saturn launch vehicle family that launched man to the Moon in the Apollo missions.

Hans Hueter arrived in the United States on November 16, 1945, through the “Operation Paperclip” program, in which scientists, engineers and technicians were brought from Germany and Austria to help the United States develop weapons of war, mainly in guided missile and rocket technology. He arrived in Fort Bliss, Texas, along with other members of Wernher von Braun’s team, and he worked for the Department of the Army from November 1945 to May 1947. He was the Technical Advisor in charge of the White Sands Proving Ground detachment of the von Braun group and advised on assembly, testing, and firings of V-2 missiles. He changed roles with the Department of the Army, Fort Bliss, Texas, and served as Chief Flight Test, from June 1947 to April 1951. He was responsible for the development of guided missile launching, handling equipment, and firing of Hermes II missiles, the first multistage rocket developed by implementing the V-2 rocket technology.

In 1950, the U.S. Army moved von Braun and his team of rocket specialists, including Hueter, and established the Ordinance of Guided Missile Center at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama. Hueter served as Director of Launching and Handling from May 1951 to July 1960. The Launching and Handling Laboratory was one of ten laboratories that comprised Redstone Arsenal’s Guided Missile Development Division-Army Ballistic Missile Agency (GMDD-ABMA) at Redstone Arsenal. The GMDD-ABMA grew from the ABMA formed at Redstone Arsenal in 1956 when von Braun’s team joined with other scientists and engineers. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was newly formed in 1958 from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and had interests in space exploration. The GMDD-ABMA became a part of NASA at the newly formed George C. Marshall Space Flight Center on July 1, 1960. Marshall Space Flight Center was established to develop NASA’s launch vehicles, and activities intensified after May 1961, when President John F. Kennedy declared the mission to land man on the Moon.

Marshall Space Flight Center’s program was primarily focused on the Saturn heavy space launch vehicle series that launched man to the Moon in the Apollo missions. Marshall Space Flight Center also launched satellites and space probes from Mercury to Gemini programs in preparation for the Apollo missions. Hans Hueter, Director of the Light and Medium Vehicles Office for Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA from July 1960 to 1969, also managed Agena and Centaur launch vehicles for Marshall Space Flight Center. He procured the Centaur from the Air Force for NASA, but Agena remained with the Air Force. In the February 1969 Marshall Space Flight Center Directory, just months before the first lunar landing, he was listed as Deputy Director of Industrial Operations. He was Director of Safety at Marshall Space Flight Center when he died on September 6, 1970, in Huntsville, Alabama.

Hans Herbert Hueter received the Exceptional Civil Service Award from the Department of the Army in April 1959. He also received an Honorary Doctorate from Adelphi College, Garden City, New York, in June 1959. Dr. Hueter was married to Ruth Lieselotte from 1938 until his death in 1970. He was 64 years old and was survived by his wife and three children: one daughter, Wendula Hueter, and two sons, Eike Hueter and Uwe Hueter. In January 2005, Ruth Hueter was laid to rest next to her husband in Huntsville, Alabama. Uwe Hueter still lives in Huntsville.







Other Resources

UAH Archive Folder in Charles Lundquist Collection, Transplanted Pioneers

Oral history Education: Video interview with his son, Uwe Hueter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw1j88vl9dA

Lunar Impact: A History of Project Ranger, Part I. The Original Ranger, Chapter Two – Organizing the Campaign https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4210/pages/Ch_2.htm

https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4230.pdf

http://www.astronautix.com/h/hueter.html

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/19900821_charles_lundquist.pdf

Neufeld, M., 2023. Project Paperclip and American Rocketry after World War II. National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/project-paperclip-and-american-rocketry-after-world-war-ii

Schumm, L., 2014. What Was Operation Paperclip? This controversial top-secret U.S. intelligence program brought Nazi German scientists to America to harness their brain power for Cold War initiatives. https://www.history.com/news/what-was-operation-paperclip

Wernher von Braun, NASA pdf https://www.nasa.gov/people/wernher-von-braun/#:~:text=The%20V–2%20ballistic%20missile,Peenemünde%20on%20the%20Baltic%20coast

NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, 2004. Twelve Scientific Specialists of the Peenemunde Team https://archive.org/details/MSFC-9131098

https://obits.al.com/us/obituaries/huntsville/name/ruth-hueter-obituary?id=14324643