Hitler’s Top Scientist Predicted How ‘Elon’ Would Rule Mars
In 1952, a Nazi mastermind predicted the name “Elon” would be associated with Mars colonization.
Elon Musk is a name that vibrates in our ears when it comes to the list of top billionaires in the world — the richest of 2021. The South African-born engineer has impacted the world through his leading innovations in space travel.
Elon’s company SpaceX works in creating energy-efficient and low-cost spacecraft — a means that owns a possibility of bringing first humans to Mars.
The success of the pioneering mission means the permanent association of the term “Elon ‘’ with “Mars’, “but interestingly, one does not have to wait for the future to witness such a link. The association shares a past. Let’s dive into the details:
Who was Wernher von Braun? The developer of Nazi Germany’s most advanced weapons
Von Braun, a German aerospace engineer, has treasured interest in rockets since his youth. The avid astronomer stepped into the domain of aerospace engineering, earning a doctorate in 1934.
His thesis, titled “Construction, Theoretical, and Experimental Solution to the Problem of the Liquid Propellant Rocket,” losing holds immense importance — as it was not available to the general public until 1960.
Getting recruited by the German army, Braun immediately began engineering rocket weapons. He supervised experiments surrounding liquid-fueled rocket engines and eventually developed a supersonic Wasserfall anti-aircraft missile and the A-4 ballistic missile — V2.
The V-2 rocket, “a vengeance weapon,” was the world’s first-ever long-range ballistic missile. Getting launched in 1944, the deadly weapon killed over 9000 civilians along with several military personnel.
The weapon had a detrimental effect on the ones participating in its production — the concentration camp prisoners. About 12,000 were taken as laborers and forced to work in its creation, resulting in the loss of their lives.
The reality of mistreatment of workers and forced labor was something that escaped Braun’s eyes. Having reported only visit the production plant once, the guy was satisfied with ‘laborers’ treatment. He was allegedly unaware of employers’ horrible treatment, where they were beaten, deprived of food, and executed.
Soon getting accused of cooperating with communists, Von Braun was arrested in 1944 by the SS. The regime could not prove his crime, so he got conditionally released and dug himself back into developing ballistic missiles.
Braun’s surrender to the U.S. Army
All the while, the guy was planning his escape to the United States. Managing the escape to Austria, Braun surrender to the US army in 1945 — exactly when the Soviet was nearing the research facility at Peenemunde.
Being among the 1500 German scientists secretly transported to the United States, Braun got his second chance at life and served the world differently.
Disgusted by the genocidal policies of the Nazi regime, he quickly expressed his loyalty with U.S. Army, who in no time hired the adept scientist. Braun got back to his favorite routine — producing ballistic missiles, but this time for the US. Army.
Braun’s true passion for space travel
Interestingly, the guy spent a decent chunk of his life, nearly half, in developing weapons — but his true calling resided in space travel.
Braun penned a deep interest in creating jet propulsion systems that could transport human-crewed rockets to the mars and moon, and luckily he got a chance to work on his dream.
From then, he dug into all the theories related to Mars and published fictional works theorizing its colonization. Von Braun further published the work associated with the construction of a space station in the orbit of Earth.
Von Braun could never pursue his fabled colonization of Mars, but it didn’t stop him from becoming a pioneer of American space travel. Apart from proposing a Mars mission, he championed the development of an expendable liquid-fueled rocket, Saturn V, which launched human-crewed capsules beyond low Earth orbit — a considerable accomplishment.
The exciting details in the Mars Project
Have you seen Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey? It is an exciting film that took the inspiration of its design concepts from Von Braun’s work.
This work was strangely prophetic. Getting published in 1952, The Mars Project expanded on the planet’s colonization and the setup of an autonomous government.
Further, it explained how the mission would comprise a fleet with ten massive spacecraft containing 70 astronauts and nine crew vehicles.
By making the detailed calculations, Braun attracted many eyeballs — especially wealthy ones, including Walt Disney. He deliberated several aeronautical and engineering parameters.
But sadly, the premeditated estimates remained purely theoretical due to the 1950s technological limitations.
Link with Elon Musk?
Now comes the prophetic part: In The Mars Project, Braun hinted towards the establishment of autonomous government. Proposing that instead of any president, Mars would have the ruler with the title of “Elon.” The Mars Project reads:
The Martian government was directed by ten men, the leader of whom was elected by universal suffrage for five years and entitled “Elon.” Two houses of Parliament enacted the laws to be administered by Elon and his cabinet. The Upper House was called the Council of the Elders and was limited to a membership of 60 persons, each being appointed for life by the Elon as vacancies occurred by death.
The English translation of Braun’s book, translated by US Navy Lt. Cdr. Henry J. White in 1953, talks about the eerie development in detail. For instance, the reason behind having two upper and lower class legislatures was to abolish distinction. It read:
This, of course, abolished the distinction between naturally rich and naturally poor regions, so that there no longer existed ‘have’ and ‘have-not’ regional groupings with conflicting interests.
Interestingly, a space lover would love how space democracy is explained in Braun’s novel, with a detailed fictional account of life on Mars — from its inception to what the future holds for it. But, what’s more fascinating is the reference to “Elon”.
Tracing the history of the 1950s, one would undoubtedly find no sign in the term Elon. Doing a bit of research will just pop this term of having Hebrew origins, with the meaning of an “oak tree.”
Now at this point, when having the news of Elon’s Musk plans littered everywhere, people question Elon’s link with Braun’s Mars Project. Is it a coincidence?
The general public does not tend to read documents like The Mars Project. So how did this whole prophetic connection get fueled by the media? Well, it was not only Toby Li, a blogger, who shared a German-language excerpt from the book with Elon Musk. The guy questioned the SpaceX Ceo as,
Did you know that Von Braun’s 1953 book referenced a person named Elon that would bring humans to Mars?
It is interesting to think whether Elon, fulfilling the prediction, would or would not form an autonomous government on space. If he ever would, then would he follow the fictionalized space democracy formulated by Von Braun, a man who truly revolutionize space travel?
Well, no one knows. But we know is that Von Braun was indeed a man with a vision of a possible future who suggested the term “Elon,” and he would be remembered as such — even if Elon fails.
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References:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/wernher-von-braun-elon-musk-mars-1953-book