Bernhard Tessmann

Bernhard Robert Tessmann (August 15, 1912 in Zingst – December 19, 1998) was a German expert in guided missiles during World War II, and later worked for the United States Army and NASA.

Once von Braun became afraid the SS would follow the Führer's "scorched earth" policy and destroy the tons of precious V-2 documents and blueprints, he instructed his personal aide, Dieter Huzel, and Bernhard Tessmann, chief designer of the Peenemünde test facilities, to hide the documents in a safe place.

By the end of the day Tessmann and Huzel found an abandoned iron mine in the isolated village of Dornten, which was managed by a loyal Nazi Herr Nebelung.

Tessmann was transferred to the United States at the end of the war via the Operation Paperclip, and as of January 1947, was working at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Thereafter he worked his entire life with the rocket team, at Fort Bliss, White Sands Missile Range, and then at Huntsville.