Who was the head of the German Army 's Ballistics and Munitions Branch during the Space Race of World War II ?
The head of the German Army 's Ballistics and Munitions Branch , Lieutenant Colonel Karl Emil Becker , gathered a small team of engineers that included Walter Dornberger and Leo Zanssen , to figure out how to use rockets as long - range artillery in order to get around the Treaty of Versailles ' ban on research and development of long - range cannons .