German research—and German scientists and engineers—played a key role in the American space program. Scooped up by Operation Paperclip, the effort to recover as much German military technology as possible at the end of World War II, German military missiles and the men who developed them helped astronauts reach the moon.

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As this video demonstrates, one key piece of captured German technology was the dreaded V-2 rocket . Use to bombard Great Britain in 1944 and 1945, the V-2 killed thousands, primarily civilians. But it was also a rocket—the most advanced rocket in the world—and with a Cold War with the Soviet Union brewing, the Pentagon could not overlook the V-2.

The U.S. Army Ordnance Department took large numbers of V-2s, in pieces, to White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico. There they were assembled and shot 100 miles into the upper atmosphere for "cosmic research." The unmanned V-2 launches were the farthest man had reached into "space" at that time. Onboard instruments recorded data on cosmic radiation, sky brightness, wind speed, and other variables.

Captured V-2 ready for launch at White Sands Proving Ground, 1946. Getty Images.

The V-2 was already a fairly reliable long-range rocket when it was dropped into the lap of the U.S. Army, ready for flight experimentation. Basic development of the V-2 had already been completed by the Germans; the engineers at White Sands worked on furthering the design, increasing its range and payload. By 1951, all V-2s had made-in-the-U.S.A. improvements, including boosting maximum loaded weight by 47 percent.

Lessons learned with the V-2 led to the first American two-stage rocket. A Corporal rocket was placed in the nose of a V-2, forming the two-stage Bumper , making for a rocket capable of even greater distances and heights. The average V-2 attained a height of 116 miles, but Bumper proved capable of 244 miles.

The first V-2 was launched from White Sands in April 1946. Other flights occurred at Cape Canaveral in Florida, and the flights continued into 1952. Experience with the V-2 was useful not only to jumpstart the U.S. space program, but also to develop long-range nuclear-tipped missiles.

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