Ernst Steinhoff

Ernst August Wilhelm Steinhoff (February 11, 1908 – December 2, 1987)^[1] was a German rocket scientist and member of the "von Braun rocket group", at the Peenemünde Army Research Center (1939–1945). Ernst Steinhoff saw National Socialist (Nazi) doctrines as "ideals" and became a member of the NSDAP in May 1937.^[2] He was a glider pilot, holding distance records, and had the honorary Luftwaffe rank of "Flight Captain".

Ernst Steinhoff
Born	February 11, 1908 Treysa, Germany
Died	December 2, 1987(1987-12-02) (aged 79) Alamogordo, New Mexico
Nationality	German United States of America
Alma mater	Technische Hochschule Darmstadt
Scientific career
Fields	Aeronautics, Meteorology, Engineering
Institutions	Peenemünde Army Research Center Fort Bliss Holloman Air Force Base

Operation Paperclip Team at Fort Bliss, Texas, August 1946. Ernst Steinhoff is in the first row. (pointing the mouse will show the name)

Ernst Steinhoff earned his PhD at the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt (today Technische Universität Darmstadt) in 1940 with a dissertation on aviation instruments.

His younger brother Friedrich Steinhoff assisted rocket experiments while commanding U-511 in 1942.^[3][4] Ernst was among the scientists to surrender and travel to the United States to provide rocketry expertise via Operation Paperclip. Friedrich was captured aboard U-873 and committed suicide in a Boston jail^[3] before Ernst came to the United States on the first boat, November 16, 1945.^[5] with Operation Paperclip and Fort Bliss, Texas (1945–1949). He then moved to Holloman Air Force Base where he also worked closely with White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. He focused on guidance, control, and range instrumentation throughout his career.^[1][6] He was awarded the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service in 1958 for his contributions to the US rocket program.^[7] In 1979 he was inducted into the New Mexico International Space Hall of Fame.^[1]

Steinhoff is being credited as one of the first pioneers to popularize the concept of space resource utilization for Mars exploration.^[8] He became the first chairman of Working Group on Extraterrestrial Resources (WGER).

As of 1981, Mrs. Dixie Cantwell of Alamogordo, NM, was working on researching and writing the biography of "Alamogordo's well-known scientist, Dr. Ernest A Steinhoff". The status of said biography, and its progress remains unknown.^[9]

His daughter Monika Steinhoff is a painter in Santa Fe, New Mexico,^[10] and a children's park on Holloman AFB is named after him.^[11]

References

1. "Ernst A. Steinhoff". International Space Hall of Fame. New Mexico Museum of Space History. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
2. Michael Neufeld: The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era, Harvard University Press, 1996, ISBN 067477650X
3. "Friedrich Steinhoff". Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
4. Dornberger, Walter (1954). V-2. New York: The Viking Press, Inc. p. 214-215.
5. "Steinhoff, Ernst". Astronautix. Archived from the original on April 19, 2005. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
6. "Dr. Ernst Steinhoff". White Sands Missile Range Hall of Fame. White Sands Missile Range Museum. Archived from the original on December 22, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
7. Stuhlinger, E., Ordway, F.I., McCall, J.C., and Bucher, G.C. (1963) Aeronautical Engineering and Science, McGraw-Hill.
8. Portree, David S. F. "A Forgotten Pioneer of Mars Resource Utilization (1962-1963)". Wired. Archived from the original on 2014-04-12.
9. Tularosa Basin Historical Society (1981). Otero County Pioneer Family Histories, Volume I. Otero County, New Mexico, United States. p. 355.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
10. "Life - Monika Steinhoff".
11. "49 CES Airmen build Steinhoff Park playground". Holloman Air Force Base. 2007-06-18. Retrieved 2023-05-28.