Applause for von Braun, team

Association to recognize German scientists, also Adtran's Mark Smith

Thursday, October 21, 2004

By SHELBY G. SPIRES

Times Aerospace Writer shelbys@htimes.com

Some of Huntsville's most important pioneers are to be honored tonight in Birmingham for putting Alabama on the worldwide technology map.

Dr. Wernher von Braun's German rocket team, which led the NASA effort to build the Saturn V moon rocket in the 1960s, will receive the Alabama Information Technology Association's Genesis Award. The award recognizes the scientists' work to transform Huntsville and Alabama from a place dominated by cotton fields to a technology research center.

Huntsville technology pioneer Mark Smith, chairman and CEO of telecom Adtran Inc., will receive the group's Lifetime Achievement Award. The ceremonies will be held at Birmingham's Wynfrey Hotel.

The rocket team will be represented by rocket team member Dr. Konrad Dannenberg, now in his 90s.

Wally Schirra, one of the original Mercury astronauts, will speak at the event and present the Genesis Award. Schirra flew NASA orbital missions in Mercury, Gemini and on Apollo 7 - the 1968 check-out ride of the Apollo spacecraft.

Von Braun and the team first came to America in 1945 at the end of World War II. They settled at Redstone Arsenal in 1950 and turned their attention to building the Redstone rocket, which was a modification of their German V-2 rocket used during the war.

The rocket team brought international attention to Alabama when the Huntsville-developed Jupiter C rocket carried the nation's first satellite into space Jan. 31, 1958.

On July 1, 1960, the Marshall Space Flight Center was activated in Huntsville and von Braun became its first director. The rocket team was given the challenge to build a vehicle to launch Americans to the moon.

In 1961, the first of 10 successful Saturn I rockets was launched in a series of rocket experiments leading up to the design and testing of the giant Saturn V. The Saturn V, the world's most powerful rocket, enabled the U.S. to win the space race over the Russians and land 12 Americans on the moon. In all, the Saturn V launched two unmanned and 10 manned Apollo missions as well as Skylab - America's first space station.

The technology developed by the Army and NASA gave way in the 1970s and 1980s to high-tech business development like Mark Smith's Adtran, which makes high-speed telecommunications equipment. Smith co-founded Adtran in 1986 with a handful of people. Today, there are about 1,600 employees and nearly $400 million in sales last year and profit of $62 million. The company had a payroll impact of $146 million, according to the AITA.

Smith got his start as a businessman co-founding Universal Data Systems in 1969 in Huntsville. The modem-building company started with just two people, but was profitable and had about $20 million in annual revenue when it was sold to Motorola in the late 1970s.

"We selected Mark Smith to receive our first Lifetime Achievement Award because of the incredible economic development impact he's had on Alabama with UDS, Motorola and now Adtran," Byron McCain, AITA executive director, told The Times in September. "But additionally, he is so good to employees and his community. He truly has set an example for how establishing and managing a company should be handled."




Applause for von Braun, team Association to recognize German scientists, also Adtran's Mark Smith Thursday, October 21, 2004 By SHELBY G. SPIRES Times Aerospace Writer shelbys@htimes.com Some of Huntsville's most important pioneers are to be honored tonight in Birmingham for putting Alabama on the worldwide technology map. Dr. Wernher von Braun's German rocket team, which led the NASA effort to build the Saturn V moon rocket in the 1960s, will receive the Alabama Information Technology Association's Genesis Award. The award recognizes the scientists' work to transform Huntsville and Alabama from a place dominated by cotton fields to a technology research center. Huntsville technology pioneer Mark Smith, chairman and CEO of telecom Adtran Inc., will receive the group's Lifetime Achievement Award. The ceremonies will be held at Birmingham's Wynfrey Hotel. The rocket team will be represented by rocket team member Dr. Konrad Dannenberg, now in his 90s. Wally Schirra, one of the original Mercury astronauts, will speak at the event and present the Genesis Award. Schirra flew NASA orbital missions in Mercury, Gemini and on Apollo 7 - the 1968 check-out ride of the Apollo spacecraft. Von Braun and the team first came to America in 1945 at the end of World War II. They settled at Redstone Arsenal in 1950 and turned their attention to building the Redstone rocket, which was a modification of their German V-2 rocket used during the war. The rocket team brought international attention to Alabama when the Huntsville-developed Jupiter C rocket carried the nation's first satellite into space Jan. 31, 1958. On July 1, 1960, the Marshall Space Flight Center was activated in Huntsville and von Braun became its first director. The rocket team was given the challenge to build a vehicle to launch Americans to the moon. In 1961, the first of 10 successful Saturn I rockets was launched in a series of rocket experiments leading up to the design and testing of the giant Saturn V. The Saturn V, the world's most powerful rocket, enabled the U.S. to win the space race over the Russians and land 12 Americans on the moon. In all, the Saturn V launched two unmanned and 10 manned Apollo missions as well as Skylab - America's first space station. The technology developed by the Army and NASA gave way in the 1970s and 1980s to high-tech business development like Mark Smith's Adtran, which makes high-speed telecommunications equipment. Smith co-founded Adtran in 1986 with a handful of people. Today, there are about 1,600 employees and nearly $400 million in sales last year and profit of $62 million. The company had a payroll impact of $146 million, according to the AITA. Smith got his start as a businessman co-founding Universal Data Systems in 1969 in Huntsville. The modem-building company started with just two people, but was profitable and had about $20 million in annual revenue when it was sold to Motorola in the late 1970s. "We selected Mark Smith to receive our first Lifetime Achievement Award because of the incredible economic development impact he's had on Alabama with UDS, Motorola and now Adtran," Byron McCain, AITA executive director, told The Times in September. "But additionally, he is so good to employees and his community. He truly has set an example for how establishing and managing a company should be handled." Copyright 2004 al.com. All Rights Reserved.