Oscar Holderer, the US moon rocket expert, died

Oscar Holderer, the last known surviving member of the German engineering team that designed the rocket that took US astronauts to the Moon died in Alabama on 5 May 2015. He was 95.

Born in Preum, Germany, on 4 November 1919, Holderer was one of about 120 engineers who moved to the US after World War II and brought technology used in the German V2 rocket. The team played a key role in the Saturn V rocket which was used in 1969 Moon landing.

The team, led by Wernher von Braun, was part of a project called Operation Paperclip that transferred technology used in Germany's V2 and other rockets to the US.

Holderer who retired from Nasa in 1974, built training devices that are still in use at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. Post retirement from NASA, he made significant contributions to Alabama like multi-access trainer, low-gravity trainer and other equipment.

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