Personal: Male. Born in Zinget, Austria.

German expert in guided missiles during World War II. Tessmann first met Von Braun in 1935. He had little interest in spaceflight, even though he had seen the sets of the film Frau im Mond since his father worked at Ufa film studios. Tessmann was involved in the basic planning for Peenemuende, moving there in late 1936 to supervise construction, and conduct first engine testing there at Test Stand I. Tessmann worked on wind tunnels, then on thrust measuring systems for V-2 engines. He was evacuated after the bombing in August 1943 to Koelpinsee, where he designed ground equipment for V-2 mobile units and was involved in the planning for the Projekt Zement underground V-2 facilites at Ebensee, Austria. He was evacuated to Thuringia at the end of the war and arrived in America under Project Paperclip on 16 November 1945 aboard the Argentina from La Havre. As of January 1947, was working at Fort Bliss, Texas. Thereafter he worked his entire life with the rocket team, at Fort Bliss, White Sands, and then at Huntsville. As of 1960, Deputy Director, Test Division, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Died at Huntsville, Alabama.