In 1960, Columbia Pictures released a movie about NASA rocket scientist Wernher von Braun called I Aim at the Stars. Comedian Mort Sahl suggested a subtitle: But Sometimes I Hit London.

As the Soviet Army closed in on the German rocket base in Peenemünde, the leader of the V-2 team, Wernher von Braun, decided he’d rather be captured by Americans than by Soviets. He and his ...