UAH Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives

Ernst Stuhlinger Collection

Dublin Core

Identifier

Ernst Stuhlinger Collection

Title

Ernst Stuhlinger Collection

Description

Ernst Stuhlinger was born in 1913 in Niederrimbach, Germany, and died in 2008 in Huntsville, AL, USA. Stuhlinger was a German scientist brought to the United States through Operation Paperclip, and like many of his Paperclip peers, he became a naturalized United States citizen in 1955.

Stuhlinger’s accomplishments in both promoting and advancing space travel were many. He worked as a technical consultant with Walt Disney Pictures to create “Man in Space” (1955), “Man and the Moon” (1955), and “Mars and Beyond” (1958). Stuhlinger contributed to the 1958 launch of the Explorer I satellite by inventing a timing device, helped design the solar x-ray telescope used in the Skylab space station, worked on the Apollo Telescope Mount, worked on the initial phases for what would become the Hubble Space Telescope, and authored “Ion Propulsion for Space Flight.”

Stuhlinger served as the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville’s director of the Space Sciences Laboratory from 1960 to 1968, and then as the associate director for science from 1968 to 1975; he retired in 1975.

After retiring, Stuhlinger joined the University of Alabama in Huntsville as an adjunct professor and senior research scientist, and he stayed on for two decades.

Collection Items

  • spc_stuh_000015_transcript.pdf

    Irmgard Stuhlinger was the wife of Ernst Stuhlinger, a scientist acquired in Operation Paperclip. In this journal she details her daily life starting from her 19th birthday under the rule of the Third Reich, toward the end of the second World War. She touches on topics such as war, post-secondary education, death of family members, the acquisition of housing, and holidays in the latter part of the war.
  • spc_stuh_000015_combined.pdf

    Irmgard Stuhlinger was the wife of Ernst Stuhlinger, a scientist acquired in Operation Paperclip. In this journal she details her daily life starting from her 19th birthday under the rule of the Third Reich, toward the end of the second World War. She touches on topics such as war, post-secondary education, death of family members, the acquisition of housing, and holidays in the latter part of the war.
  • spc_stuh_000014_transcript.pdf

    Irmgard Stuhlinger was the wife of Ernst Stuhlinger, a scientist acquired in Operation Paperclip. In these school essays, she discusses her daily life in Stuttgart, Germany, as a child. When writing these essays she was 9-10 years old. Topics of the essays include family life, a fictional moral story, descriptions of the weather, as well as significant historic events such as the Saarabstimmung (1935 Saar status referendum). Furthermore, she mentions Adolf Hitler (German chancellor) and the Sturmabteilung (Paramilitary organization run by Nazi Germany) in these essays. The transcript includes a description of each illustration.
  • spc_stuh_000014_combined.pdf

    Irmgard Stuhlinger was the wife of Ernst Stuhlinger, a scientist acquired in Operation Paperclip. In these school essays, she discusses her daily life in Stuttgart, Germany, as a child. When writing these essays she was 9-10 years old. Topics of the essays include family life, a fictional moral story, descriptions of the weather, as well as significant historic events such as the Saarabstimmung (1935 Saar status referendum). Furthermore, she mentions Adolf Hitler (German chancellor) and the Sturmabteilung (Paramilitary organization run by Nazi Germany) in these essays. In this collection, she includes an illustration with each essay.
  • spc_stuh_000013_transcript.pdf

    Irmgard Stuhlinger was the wife of Ernst Stuhlinger, a scientist acquired in Operation Paperclip. In these school essays, she discusses her daily life in Stuttgart, Germany, as a child. When writing these essays she was 8-9 years old. Some of the topics include letters to family members, a fictional story, Christmas, descriptions of the weather, and talking about field trips.
  • spc_stuh_000013_001.pdf

    Irmgard Stuhlinger was the wife of Ernst Stuhlinger, a scientist acquired in Operation Paperclip. In these school essays, she discusses her daily life in Stuttgart, Germany, as a child. When writing these essays she was 8-9 years old. Some of the topics include letters to family members, a fictional story, Christmas, descriptions of the weather, and talking about field trips.
  • spc_stuh_000012_transcript.pdf

    Irmgard Stuhlinger was the wife of Ernst Stuhlinger, a scientist acquired in Operation Paperclip. In these school essays, she discusses her daily life in Stuttgart, Germany, as a child. When writing these essays she was 8 years old. Some of the topics include a letter to family members, Christmas, descriptions of the weather, and talking about field trips.
  • spc_stuh_000012_001.pdf

    Irmgard Stuhlinger was the wife of Ernst Stuhlinger, a scientist acquired in Operation Paperclip. In these school essays, she discusses her daily life in Stuttgart, Germany, as a child. When writing these essays she was 8 years old. Some of the topics include a letter to family members, Christmas, descriptions of the weather, and talking about field trips.
  • spc_stuh_003_004_translated.pdf

    Stuhlinger attended the launch of Apollo 11 with her husband Ernst Stuhlinger, then the Associate Director for Science at Marshall Space Flight Center. In the entries, she describes her reaction to the launch and the successful lunar landing and makes note of the celebrations she and her family attended in Huntsville. She also records her daily activities, including socializing with neighbors and shopping with her children. A translation is included.
  • spc_stuh_000007.pdf

    Kennedy visited Huntsville on Armed Forces Day 1963. He first visited the area on September 11, 1962.

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