The accomplishments of the German pioneers of space were the fruit of five decades of unwavering determination to take man to the Moon and farther into space. From the backyard experiments of the 1920s and early 1930s, through the launch of Apollo 11 in 1969, these pioneers never lost sight of their goal. They persevered through the economic depression and moral collapse after World War I, the Nazi degradation of Germany and World War II, and a 15-year detour working for the U.S. Army. Through their ability to look far into the future, they have left blueprints for mankind"s ventures into space well into the 21st Century.