Space pioneer Georg von Tiesenhausen dies at Alabama home

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) – Georg von Tiesenhausen, the last of the German rocket team that launched the U.S. space program, has died at his home in Alabama. He was 104.

U.S. Space and Rocket Center spokeswoman Pat Ammons confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday that von Tiesenhausen died Sunday in Hunstville.

Von Tiesenhausen worked alongside Wernher von Braun during World War II and was with von Braun’s team when it launched the first U.S. satellite and the first U.S. astronauts. After the war, von Tiesenhausen joined von Braun in Huntsville where he created and designed the famous “moon buggy” that accompanied the last three Apollo missions in 1971 and 1972.

The rocketry pioneer was presented a lifetime achievement award in 2011 by Neil Armstrong at the rocket center in Huntsville.