He attended university at the Technische Universität Darmstadt, where he majored in physical chemistry, earning his BS in 1938 and his MS in 1940.
After graduating, Heller worked in the rocket team at Peenemünde from 1940 until the end of World War II in 1945.
[3] After arriving in Huntsville, Heller began work with the Army Ballistic Missile Agency.
Beginning in 1951, he taught at the Redstone Arsenal Institute of Graduate Studies as a lecturer in Thermodynamics.
[2] After the founding of the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1960, Heller made the move to the new organization, becoming deputy director of the Research Projects Division.