NASA TECHNICAL TRANSLATION

NASA TT F-15,408
DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN ROCKET
ENGINE TECHNOLOGY
Ye. K. Moshkin
(NASA-fT-P-15408) DEVELOE3LZ' I OF EUSSIAH N74-22411
COCRET ESGXt i E 'IECatiOLOGY (KannEr (Leo)
Associates) 208 E: HC $13.50
C S C L 21H
Uncl as
G3/ 2t l 38034
Translation of Ratvitiye Otechestvennogo
Raketnogo Dvigatelestroyeniya, MOSCOW,
Mashinostroyeniye Press, 1973, 256 pages.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20546 .MARCH 1974
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Fr omt heAut hor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapt er 1 . The Per i od of Theor et i cal Foundat i on of t he
1. 1. At t he Wel l spr i ngs of Sovi et Rocket Desi gn . . . .
1. 2. The Wor ks of N . Ye . Zhukovski y and I . V .
Meshcher ski y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. 3. K . E . Tsi ol kovski y. t he Founder of Ast r onaut i cs . .
The Wor ks of K . E . Tsi ol kovski y on t he Cr eat i on of t he
Theor y of React i on Engi nes . . . . . . . . . . . .
Suggest i ons f or LRE Fuel s . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Recommendat i ons f or t he Desi gn of Combust i on Chamber s
bevel opment of Feed Syst ems . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yu . V . Kondr at yuk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Wor ks of Yu . V . Kondr at yuk on Rocket Engi nes . . .
Suggest i ons f or LRE Fuel s . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Recommendat i ons f or t he Desi gn of t he Combust i on
Chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Devel opment of Feed Syst ems . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. 5. The Sci ent i st and I nvent or F . A . Tsander . . . . .
The Wor ks of F . A . Tsander on Rocket Engi nes . . . . .
I nvest i gat i on of Fuel s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
St udy of Pr ocesses Wi t hi n t he Chamber and Cool i ng
Condi t i ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I ncr easi ng Speci f i c I mpul se and Ef f i ci ency . . . . . .
The OR- 1 React i on Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The OR- 2 Rocket Enf . i ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pl ans of Rocket Engi nes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapt er 2 . The Fi r si Rocket Sci ent i f i c Resear ch and
Exper i ment al Desi gn Or gani zat i ons i n t he USSR
2. 1. ' The I ni t i al Per i od of Devel opment of GDI ... t he
N . I . Ti khomi r ov Labor at or y . . . . . . . . . .
2. 2. The Gas Dynami cs Labor at or y . . . . . . . . . . . .
2 . 3 . Li qui d and El ect r i cal Rocket Engi nes and Rocket s
of GDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exper i ment al El ec, r i c Rocket Engi ne . . . . . . . . .
Sel ect i on of Fuel f or LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Engi nes wi t h Annul a. Combust i on Chamber s . . . . . . .
Engi nes wi t h Radi al l y Pl aced Nozzl es . . . . . . . . .
Engi nes wi t h I nt er nal Pr ot ect i ve Coat i ngs . . . . . .
Engi nes wi t h Ext er nal Cool i ng . . . . . . . . . . . .
GDL Engi nes f or Fl i ght Vehi cl es . . . . . . . . . . .
TheRoc ket of GDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Capabi l i t i es and Ar eas of Appl i cat i on of LRE
The For mul a of K . E . Tsi ol kovski y . . . . . . . . .
1. 4. One of t he Pi oneer s of Rocket Technol ogy,
Fuel Feed Syst ems and St ands . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CS Osoavi akhi mUSSR ( MosGI RD) . . . . . . . . .
2. 9. The Moscow Gr oup f or t he St udy of React i on Mut i on,
1
3
Z
6
. 10
. 18
. 22
. 28
. 31
. 36
. 40
. 44
. 44
. 45
. 46
. 47
. 53
. 55
. 57
. 58
. 59
. 61
. 65
67
. 68
. 71
. 76
. 77
. 80
. 82
. 85
. 88
. 91
. 84
. 99
. 101
. 106
PRBCEDING PAGE BLANK NOT FILMED
i i i
2. 5. Li qui d- Fuel ed Rocket Engi nes and Rocket s of GI RD . . 115
The 02 Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
The 10 Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
The 09 Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
The 03 Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
The GI RD- 09 Rocket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
The GI RD- X Rocket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
The GI RD- 07 Rocket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Ai r Br eat hi ng React i on Engi nes . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Mot i on ( LenGI RD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
The Powder Rocket s of LenGI RD . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Li qui d- Fuel ed Engi nes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
2. 7. The Wor k of t he Soci et y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
t ut e ( RNI I ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
3. 1. Cr eat i on of t he I nst i t ut e . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
3. 2. The Act i vi t y of t he I nst i t ut e . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Powder Rocket Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Li qui d- Fuel ed Rocket Engi nes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Ai r - Br eat hi ng React i on Engi nes . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Fl i ght Vehi cl es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
3. 3. Ni t r i c Aci d LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
The OW- 53 . Owl - 63 Engi nes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
The OW- 64 . OW-70 Engi nes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
The OW- 101 . OW- 102 Engi nes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
The GG- 1 and GG- 2 Gas Gener at or s . . . . . . . . . . . 162
The RDA- 1- 150 Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
The RDA- 300 Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
3. 4. Oxygen LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
169
The 12K Engi nes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
The 205 Engi nes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
The RDK- 1- 150 Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
The Engi ne of P . I . Shat i l ov . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
3. 5. Devel opment s by Desi gn Bur eau No . 7 ( KB- 7) . . . . . 174
The RD- 1 Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
The RD- 1KhZ Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
The RD- 2 Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
The RD- 3 Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
The RD- 4 Engi ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Desi gn Bur eau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Concl usi ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
2. 6. The Leni ngr ad Gr oup f or t he St udy of React i on
Chapt er 3 . The React i on Sci ent i f i c Resear ch I nst i -
Chapt er 4 . Li qui d- Fuel ed Rovket Engi nes f or Avi at i on . . 177
4. 1. The Li qui d- Fuel ed Rocket Engi nes of OKB- NKAP . . . . 177
4. 2. The Li qui d- Fuel ed Engi nes of RNI I and t he NKAP
i v
FROM THE AUTHOR
The achi evements i n the mastery of space have attracted the
attenti on of mankind to vari ous problems of astronauti cs,
i ncl udi ng problems of the hi story of i ts development. I n the
USSR i n recent years we have seen i ncreasi ng i nterest i n the
study and anal ysi s of the documents from the archi ves descri bi ng
the development of domesti c rocket technol ogy. I t i s grati f yi ng
to note that the teams of sci enti f i c workers i n thi s area are
growing - - the hi story of astronauti cs i s now bei ng studi ed not
onl y be veterans of rocket technol ogy, but al so by young
speci al i sts as wel l .
- / 3*
Vari ous peri ods are studi ed - - bef ore the October Revolu-
ti on, bef ore the begi nni ng of the Great Patri oti c War, bef ore
the l aunch of the worl d s f i rst arti f i ci al satel l i te ( 4 October
1957), bef ore and af ter the f i r st f l i ght of man i n space (12
Apri l 1961). Addi ti onal peri ods have been determi ned by new
achi evements i n the mastery and study of space - - by successf ul
f l i ghts to Venus and Mars, sof t l andi ngs on the moon and Venus,
l aunchi ng of automati c i nterpl anetary stati ons, uni que experi -
ments wi t h qanned spacecraf t, etc. Widely vari ed aspects of the
hi story of astronauti cs are bei ng studi ed deepl y: the devel op-
ment of the desi gn of rockets and engi nes of vari ous types, the
work of experi mental -desi gn, sci enti f i c research, admi ni strati ve,
party and soci al organi zati ons, the acti vi ty of i ndi vi dual
persons. Therefore, i t i s i mpossi bl e at present t o speak of the
hi story of rocket and space technol ogy as a si ngl e theme, to
attempt to wri te an al l -encompassi ng book on the development of
astronauti cs, or t o pretend compl eteness of presentati on.
Thi s book i s dedi cated to the hi story of the creati on and
development of Sovi et l i qui d- f uel ed rocket engi nes [L RE] (as we
know, LRE are the most i mportant engi nes i n modern astronauti cs).
The author has attempted to descri be the contri buti on made
- / 4
by our countrymen K. E. Tsi ol kovski y, Yu. V. Kondratyuk, F. A.
Tsander, V. P. Glushko, S. P. Korol ev, M. K . Tikhonravov and
others t o the science of rockets and rocket engi nes burni ng
l i qui d f uel s, as wel l as the successes achi eved duri ng the Great
Patri oti c War i n the preparati on of the fundamental basi s f or
the f urther development of rocket engi ne constructi on, and most
i mportantl y to show the basi c rol e of the gas dynamic l aboratory
*
Numbers i n the margin i ndi cate pagi nati on i n the f orei gn text.
1
( GDL) , Group f or the Study of Reacti on Engines ( GIRD) tid the
worl d's fi rst Reacti on Sci enti f i c Research I nsti tute ( U I I ) .
The author found it i mpossi bl e t o anal yze al l of the
engi nes desi gned and produced i n the USSR. However, i n order
that the reader might gai n a more compl ete concept of the i nter-
rel ati onshi p of the wi del y vari ed and hi ghl y complex problems
sol ved i n the creati on of engi nes, some LRE desi gns are des-
cri bed rather compl etel y.
The book was wri tten uti l i zi ng materials from the archi ves
of the Academy of Sci ences USSR, the GDL Experi mental and
Design Bureau and many other organi zati ons. Many comrades
ki ndl y provi ded the resul ts of thei r own hi stori cal studi es
and made usef ul recommendations duri ng the preparati on of the
manuscri pt. The author i s trul y gratef ul t o al l those com-
rades who took part i n the creati on of thi s book, and parti cu-
l arl y to N. V. I vanov, V. M. Komarov and D. A. Shushko.
2
F i r s t mst mme thought8 imaqina-
t i on and dreams. They are
f ol l owed b y s c i e n t i f i c cal cul at i on.
Then8 f i na l l y , the thought i s
brought to l i f e .
K. E. Tsiolkovskiy
Chapter 1. The Peri od of Theoreti cal Foundati on of the
1.1. A t the Wel l spri ngs of Sovi et Rocket Design
Capabi l i ti es and Areas of Appl i cati on of LRE
The development of rocket technol ogy bef ore the 17th
century has been very l i ttl e studi ed. The f i r st rel i abl e
i nformati on on the use of rockets i n Russi a rel ates to the l ast
hal f of the 17th century. I n 1680, an "i nsti tuti on" was
created i n MOSCOW, where fi rework rockets were manufactured.
The producti on of powder rockets i n Russi a expanded conti nual l y
af ter that time, but these rockets were qui te pri mi ti ve, even
duri ng the l atter hal f of the 18th century.
After the use of mi l i tary rockets by the Engl i sh army i n
the sei ge of Bulon and Copenhagen i n 1805-1807, a mi l i tary
sci enti f i c committee began to study mi l i tary rot ;ets i n Russi a.
Af ter a number of unsuccessful experi ments, a member of the
mi l i tary sci enti f i c committee named Kartmazov made two types of
mi l i tary rockets i n 1814 - - i ncendi ary and expl osi ve. I n 1815,
the famous ar ti l l er y sci enti st A. D. Zasyadko (1779-1837) began
t o perform experi ments wi th mi l i tary rockets. I n 1832, al l the
:'rocket i nsti tuti ons" i n Russi a were combined i nto the Peterburg
Rocket I nsti tuti on, which served as a center f or the creati on
and manufacture of domesti c mi l i tary rockets. Unti l the mid-
1840ts, rocket bui l di ng i n Russi a devel oped sl owl y, produci ng
low qual i ty rockets due to the pri mi ti ve state of the technol ogy
of thei r producti on. Then, due to the wide use of rockets
duri ng mi l i tary acti ons i n the Caucasus, the atti tude toward
changed sharpl y. A t thi s time, the greatest Russian ar ti l l er y
sci enti st, Konstanti n I vanovi ch Konstanti nov (1818-1871) began
t o work on the development of rockets. By 1845, 1000 two-i nch
mi l i tary rockets were del i vered t o the Caucasus. The qual i ty G f
the mi l i tary rockets produced by the Peterburg Rocket I nsti tu-
ti on was si gni f i cantl y improved. By the mi d- 1850' ~~ mi l i tary
rockets were wi del y used and proved thei r uti l i ty.
of thi s, mi l i tary rockets were made a part of the armament of
the Russi an army and navy.
/ 6 problems of improvement and producti on of rockets i n Russi a
7
As a resul t
3
I n the 1850's and ~ O ' S , K . I . Konstanti nov publ i shed
several works on problems of the producti on and use of rockets.
K . I . Konstanti nov f i r st noted that the eccentri ci ty of the
reacti on f orce was one of the main reasons f or scatteri ng of
rocket i mpacts. Di scussi ng the pri nci pl e of motion of rockets,
he noted that as the powder burned, the i mpul se i mparted to the
rocket was equal to the i mpul se of the exhaust gasses. Thus,
K. I . Konstanti nov f i r st formul ated the basi c law of motion of
rockets, al though the mathemati cal i nterpretati on and producti on
of a formul a f or determi nati on of the f l i ght vel oci ty of
rockets were not devel oped i n the works of K . I . Konstanti nov.
The possi bi l i ty of the appl i cati on of rocket motors f or
human f l i ght attracted the attenti on of many of our engi neers,
i nventors, desi gners and sci enti sts. For example, i n 1845, I . I .
Tretesski y (1821-1895) devel oped pl ans For rocket powered f l i ght
vehi cl es, t o be Dowered by steam. I n 1866. N. M. Sokovnin
(1811-1894), i n hi s work Vozdushnyy Korabl ; [The Ai rshi p],
descri bed an aerostat desi gn t o be dri ven by reacti on f orce. I n
1867, N. A. Tel eshev was awarded a patent f or a j et ai rpl ane.
I n 1880, the tal ented sci enti st and i nventor S. S. Nezhdanovskiy,
based on theoreti cal studi es, cal cul ati ons and computati ons,
concl uded the possi bi l i ty of constructi on of a reacti vel y
powered f l i ght vehi cl e. Between 1882 and 1884, he studi ed the
problems of the energeti cs of reacti on motors, anal yzi ng the
possi bi l i ty of usi ng l i qui d two-component f uel s f or rockets1.
I n 1887, F. R. Geshvend i n hi s brochure "General Basis of the
Design of a Steamshi p f or A i r Travel ," suggested a pl an for a
vehi cl e wi th a steam reacti on engi ne. I n 1896, A. P. Fedorov
i n hi s brochure " A New Pri nci pl e of A i r Fl i ght" abandoned the
atmosphere as a supporti ng medium and presented a descri pti on
of a reacti on motor i n which gas was t o flow from a central tube
(cyl i nder).
T hi s hardl y exhausts the l i st of Russi an researchers and
i nventi ons dedi cated to problems of reacti on f l i ght. Among
these ef f orts we shoul d parti cul arl y note the work of N. I .
Ki bal 'chi ch (1853-1881).
Ni kol ay I vanovi ch Ki bal 'chi ch, the author of the worl d's
pl an f or a rocket f l i ght vehi cl ez, was born 19 October f i r s
1853 5 i n the ci ty of Korop. I n hi s si xth year i n school , he
'The works of S. S. Nezhdanovskiy were publ i shed onl y i n 1964.
The notebooks and drawi ngs of S. S. Nezhdanovskiy arc stored i n
the N. Ye. Zhukovskiy Museum of Sci enti f i c MemorabiliainMoscow.
n
L Ki bal 'chi ch, N. I . , A Pl an f or an Ai rcraft, Byloye, 1918,
NO. 10-11.
3Here and throughout the book, al l dates from the prerevol u-
ti onary pcri od are gi ven i n the ol d styl e.
4
t o perform experi ments, the author devel oped hi s i dea on the
basi s of guesses and sci enti f i c cal cul ati ons.
We have presented a bri ef bi ography of N. I . Ki bal 'chi ch,
si nce the l i f e of thi s remarkabl e son of the Ukrai ni an nati on
has been descri bed repeatedl y i n the popul ar and speci al
l i terature. However, even now certai n f acts remain uncl ear.
Some hi stori ans, f or example, consi der the questi on of Ki bal '
chi ch's pl ace of resi dence duri ng the l ast days of hi s l i f e
s ti 1 1 unanswered.
On 20 J anuary 1960, a memorial museum was opened i n the
home where Mikola (Nikolay) Ki bal 'chi ch spent hi s chi l dhood.
The name of Ki bal 'chi ch has been gi ven t o a crater on the
f ar si de of the moon.
1.2. The Works of N. Ye. Zhukovskiy and I . V. Meshcherskiy - ,/9
During the second hal f of the l ast century, 1830-1890, the
f i r st works of two outstandi ng Russi an sci enti sts appeared - -
Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovskiy and I van Vsevolodovich
Meshcherskiy. These studi es were dedi cated t o problems of
reacti on-powered motion.
The founder of modern aeromechanics and hydromechanics,
Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovskiy, was born on 5 J anuary 1847. H i s
chi l dhood was spent i n the vi l l age of Orekhovo, i n the Vl adi -
mi rskaya regi on. N. Ye. Zhukovskiy recei ved hi s secondary edu-
cati on at the Fourth Moscow Gymnasium. Af ter compl eti on of the
gymnasium, he entered Moscow Uni versi ty, where he parti ci pated
from hi s very f i r st year i n the work of the cl ub which l ater
became the Moscow Mathemati cal Soci ety. Graduati ng from the
Uni versi ty i n 1868, N. Ye. Zhukovskiy, who always dreamed of
becoming an engi neer, entered the Peterburg I nsti tute of Rai l -
roadsl .
Beginning i n 1870, N. Ye. Zhukovskiy was an i nstructor of
physi cs at the Second Moscow Women's Gymnasium, unti l i n 1872
he transf erred t o the I mperi al Moscow Techni cal School (now the
Moscow Hi gher Techni cal School imeni Bauman). A t f i r st, N. Ye.
Zhukovskiy taught mathemati cs, then f or 47 years - - mechanics.
I t was at thi s school that Nikolay Yegorovich began to study one
of the most complex and i nteresti ng secti ons of theoreti ca.!.
physi cs - - hydromechanics. The resul ts of hi s f i r st studi es
were publ i shed by N. Ye. Zhukovskiy i n hi s di ssertati on "The
~ ~ ~~~ ~-
'''Astronauti cs ," MOSCOW, Sovetskaya Entsi kl opedi ya [Sovi et
Encycl opedi a] , 19 70.
6
Kinematics of a Li qui d Body." Af ter an outstandi ng defense i n
1877, Nikolay Yegorovich was awarded the degree of Master of
Sci ence. I n 1879, N. Ye. Zhukovskiy was sel ected as a super-
numerary prof essor of anal yti c mechanics by Moscow Uni versi ty.
I n 1882, he publ i shed hi s ori gi nal work "On the Reacti on of
I nfl owi ng and Outfl owi ng Fl ui ds," i n which he f i r st produced
the formul as f or determi nati on of the reacti on f orce of a stream
of f l ui d fl owi ng from a moving vessel .
Strength of Motion," wri tten i n 1887, won N. Ye. Zhukovskiy
the degree of Doctor of Appl i ed Mechanics.
Ne. Ye. Zhukovskiy was gi ven great l ati tude f or comprehen-
si ve sci enti f i c acti vi ty, both i n the techni cal school a d i n
the uni versi ty where l ater, i n 1891, N. Ye. Zhukovskiy was made
an ordi nary prof essor.
H i s monograph "The
By the end of hi s l i f e, N. Ye. Zhukovskiy had become the
organi zed l eader of the domesti c school of hydroaeromechani cs.
Constantl y devel opi ng the theoreti cal pri nci pl es of the
mechanics of an i ncompressi bl e f l ui d, N. Ye. Zhukovskiy pub-
l i shed works between 1890 and 1907 which l ai d the foundati on
f or a new sci ence - - the dynamics of the f l i ght of ai rcraf t.
I n 1902, under the l eadershi p of N. YS. Zhukovskiy, one of the
worl d's f i r st wind tunnel s was created, i n 1904 - - the f i r st
aerodynamics i nsti tute i n Europe, and i n 1910 - - the aerody-
nainics l aboratory of IMTU. I n 1908, Zhukovskiy publ i shed hi s
work "On the Theory of Vessel s Powered by the Reacti on Force of
a Stream of Water."
The Great October Soci al i st Revol uti on opened a new stage
i n the development of domesti c av'ati on sci ence and technol ogy.
I n 1918, the Central Aerohydrodynamic Sci enti f i c Research - / l o
I nsti tute (TsAGI) was organi zed, headed by N. Ye. Zhukovskiy.
The theoreti cal courses of MVTU served as a basi s f or the crea-
ti on of the Avi ati on Techni cal School , converted i n 1921 t o the
I nsti tute of the Red Ai rforce [IKVF]. I n 1922, based on thi s
i nsti tute, the Mi l i tary A i r Academy imeni N. Ye. Zhukovskiy,
now the Mi l i tary A i r Engi neeri ng Academy imeni N. Y e. Zhukovskiy,
was created.
V. I . Leni n, begi nni ng i n the very f i r st days of Sovi et
power, constantl y fol l owed the work of N. Ye. Zhukovskiy and hi s
sci enti sts and gave them comprehensive ai d. N. Ye. Zhukovskiy
was cal l ed by Vl adi mi r I l ' i ch Lenin the "f ather of Russi an
Avi ati on."
The works of Nikolay Yegorovich i n the area of aerodynamics
and f l i ght served as the theoreti cal basi s of modern avi ati on
sci ence.
7
I n hi s work, N. Ye. Zhukovskiy theoreti cal l y predi cted a
number of possi bl e f l i ght traj ectori es of an ai rcraf t, i n par-
ti cul ar the "dead l oop." I n 1904, he di scovered the law deter-
mining the l i f t of an ai rcraf t wing and publ i shed the resul ts
of hi s i nvesti gati ons on thi s problem i n 1906.
H i s f i nal work on the theory of reacti on engi nes was the
arti cl e "The Theory of Vessels Driven by the Reacti on Force of
a Stream of Water," pri nted i n 1908. I t presents an obj ecti ve
anal ysi s of the problem of the reacti on f orce f or vessels of any
shape, submerged i n a f l ui d and moving at arbi trary speed, wi th
f l ui d fl owi ng i n and out of the vessel . I n thi s re- l ort, N. Y e.
Zhukovskiy avoi ded the error of certai n sci enti sts: he noted
that the phenomenon of reacti on must be studi ed together wi th
the f actors i nf l uenci ng the resi stance to the motion of the
vessel , and anal yzed the change of thi s resi stance as a f uncti on
of the poi nt where the l i qui d was drawn i nto the vessel .
buti on t o t he theory of reacti on motion.
I van Vsevolodovich Meshcherskiy made a si gni f i cant contri -
I van Vsevolodovich Meshcherskiy was born on 29 J ul y 1959 i n
the ci ty of Arkhangel 'sk. Af ter secondary school , he entered
the Uni versi ty of Peterburg i n the Physi cs and Mathematics
Department i n 1878. Here I van Vsevolodovich showed great i nter-
est i n sci enti f i c research work and, af ter hi s graduati on i n
1882, he remained at the Uni versi ty. I n 1890, he began hi s
teachi ng acti vi ty as a teachi ng assi stant at Peterburg UnivP.
si ty. I n 1891, I . V. Meshcherskiy was sel ected as the Hea
the Department of Mechanics of the Peterbury Hi gher Coursps Aur
Women, and i n 1902 he headed the Department of Theoreti cal
Mechanics of Peterburg Pol ytechni cal I nsti tute, where he worked
through the rest of hi s l i f e.
The name of Meshcherskiy hes been gi ven t o one of the
craters on the far si de of the moon.
The most i mportant works of I . V. Meshcherskiy were dedi -
cated t o a new secti on of theoreti cal mechanics - - the mechanics
of bodi es of vari abl e mass, the basi s of rocket dynamics. The
si gni f i cance of thi s science resul ts from the f act that i t
al l ows preci se cal cul ati on of the motion of a rocket and deter-
mi nati on of condi ti ons under which rockets w i l l reach gi ven
orbi ts or traj ectori es wi th the minimum expendi ture of energy,
and al l ows many problems rel ated t o the creati on of rocket
engi nes to be sol ved, l eadi ng di rectl y t o success i n the pene-
trati on of space.
- / I3
9
mankind, and al l hi s creati ve acti vi ty, i n the f i nal anal ysi s,
ras dedi cated to seeki ng out means f or the improvement of the
l i vi ng condi ti ons of f uture generati ons.
I n order to sol ve the pri mary problem - - the overcoming of
the Earth's gravi ty - - the sci enti st had t o sol ve many probl ems,
wi del y vari ed i n content and compl exi ty.
I n 1881, K. E. Tsi ol kovski y worked on problems of the
ki neti c theory of gasses.
of the Animal Organism," he was sel ected as a member of the
Physi cal -Chemi cal Soci ety.
For hi s work enti tl ed "The Mechanics
Beginning i n 1883, Konstanti n Eduardovich dedi cated hi s
time pri mari l y to problems of f l i ght i n the ai r and i n space.
On 20 February of that year, Konstanti n Eduardovich compl eted
the manuscri pt to "Free Space," i n which he descri bed the
properti es of t he medium and the condi ti ons of movement i n
space. Here he anal yzed the desi gn of a "shel l f or voyages i n
f ree space. I'
H i s works on the desi gn of an all-metal control l ed
di ri gi bl e became wi del y known.
i ng a metal control l ed aerostat, turni ng hi s attenti on to the
essenti al shortcomi ng of di ri gi bl es wi th bal l oons made of
rubberi zed materials: these envel opes wore rapi dl y, represented
a danger of fi re, were low i n strength. and the gas which f i l l ed
them di f f used through the f abri c and was rapi dl y l ost.
He set hi msel f the task of crest-
The progressi ve, f or i ts t i me, di ri gi bl e pl an was not
supported; the author was not even gi ven a subsi dy t o construct
a small model. I n order t o test a number of hi s own cal cul ated
data and prove the possi bi l i ty of constructi ng hi s di ri gi bl e,
K. E. Tsi ol kovski y made a model at hi s own expense. - /16
I n 1897, K. E. Tsi ol kovski y constructed the fi rst wind
tunnel i n Russi a, devel oped hi s model testi ng methodology and
achi ved i nteresti ng resul ts. I n 1900, K. E. Tsi ol kovski y tested
several models which he had made i n the wind tunnel and deter-
mined the drag f actors of bodi es of vari ous shapes.
I n 1895, hi s sci ence f i cti on story "On the Moon" and the
work "Dreams of the Earth and the Sky" were publ i shed.
fi rst work, i n parti cul ar, descri bes how peopl e who found them-
sel ves on the moon would f eel , whi l e the second work, i n addi -
ti on to presenti ng many ori gi nal thoughts, sets f orth the i dea
of the creati on of a "f al l i ng l aboratory" and descri bes vari ous
phenomena occurri ng i n wei ghtl essness.
The
12
Thi s i dea of reproducti on of the condi ti ons of wei ghtl ess-
ness is based on the fact that i f a man i s pl aced i n a f l i ght
vehi cl e which moves toward the Earth at an accel erati on equal
t o the accel erati on of the force of gravi ty, the f orce of the
i nteracti on of the man wi th hi s support (the wal l of the cabi n
of the f l i ght vehi cl e) w i l l be zero, i .e., the accel erati on w i l l
be equal t o zero, and the man w i l l be under condi ti ons of
wei ghtl essness. A state near wei ghtl essness i s experi enced by
a pi l ot at the peak of a climb. "Fal l i ng l aboratori es" are
presentl y used f or trai ni ng of astronauts and t o study phenomena
occurri ng under condi ti ons of wei ghtl essness.
The styl e of the work of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y is di sti ncti ve
and unique. H i s persi stel i ce i n seeki ng out the most convi nci ng
and si mpl est (and consequentl y most possi bl e) sol uti on, hi s
tendency to produce a clear pi cture both from the physi cal and
mathemati cal standpoi nts - - these are the characteri sti c f ea-
tures of the styl e of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y which have made hi s
works understandabl e, readabl e and convi nci ng.
Konstanti n Eduardovich wrote, "I have been studyi ng reac-
ti on devi ces si nce 1895. Only now, after 34 years of work, have
I come to a very si mpl e concl usi on concerni ng the proper systern."l
And f urther, "I n 1896, I purchased a book by A. P. Fedorov
enti tl ed 'A New Pri nci pl e f or A i r Travel ' (Peterburg, 1896).
Thi s book seemed to me t o be unclear (si nce no cal cul ati ons
were made). I n such cases, I 2erform my cal cul ati ons i ndepen-
dentl y, from the very begi nni ng. Thi s was the begi nni ng of my
theoreti cal studi es on the possi bi l i ty of usi ng reacti on devi ces
f or space voyages. ~ 9 2
In 1892, Konstanti n Eduardovich moved t o Kaluga. Years - 117
f i l l ed wi th producti ve, creati ve l abor passed i n thi s ci ty.
K. E. Tsi ol kovski y produced hi s formul as f or rocket travel ,
al l owi ng him t o sol ve the problem of the most real i sti c method
of mastery (study) of space i n the theoreti cal pl ane.
Konstanti n Eduardovich Tsi ol kovski y l i ved 29 years i n the
house on the corner of what is now K. E. Tsi ol kovski y Street and
Sovkhoznoy Street. Konstanti n Eduardovich bought thi s one-story
house i n 1904. I n 1908, the house was expanded, addi ng a
second story - - a sun room and veranda. I n the f al l of 1933,
the fami l y of the sci enti st moved t o a l arge, wel l - bui l t home
gi ven t o K. E. Tsi ol kovski y by the Kaluga Ci ty Counci l of
Worker's Deputi es.
'Tsi ol kovski y, K. E., Col l ected Wbrks, Vol. 2, Academy of
Sci ences USSR Press, MOSCOW, 1954 p. 296.
-
'I bi d., - p. 179.
13
A. A. Kosmodem' yanski y. Thei r books, br ochur es and ar t i cl es
have car r i ed t he i deas of t he sci ent i st t o t he masses, st i mul at -
i ng i nt er est i n pr obl ems of t he st udy of space and mul t i pl yi ng
t he r anks of r ocket t echnol ogy ent husi ast s.
Begi nni ng wi t h t he f i r st weeks of exi st ence of t he React i on
Sci ent i f i c Resear ch I nst i t ut e [ RNI I ] , whi ch was cr eat ed i n
Moscow i n Sept ember of 1933, sci ent i f i c cont act and f r ui t f ul
cor r espondence wer e hel d bet ween K. E . Tsi ol kovski y and t he
I nst i t ut e. For exampl e, i n Febr uar y of 1934 he composed a "Pr o-
gr amf or t he Wor k of t he RNI I , " and i n Mar ch of t hat same year
he wr ot e hi s ar t i cl e "The Ener gy of Chemi cal Compounds and t he
Sel ect i on of Component Par t s f or an Expl osi on, " et c.
I n August of 1935, K . E. Tsi ol kovski y' s heal t h began t o - / 21
det er i or at e. On 13 Sept ember 1935, t he sci ent i st sent a l et t er
t ot hecent r al Commi t t ee of t he Par t y. "Al l my l i f e I have
dr eamed t hat my wor ks mi ght move manki nd f or war d, at l east a
l i t t l e. Bef or e t he r evol ut i on, my dr eamwas i mpossi bl e. Onl y
Oct ober br ought r ecogni t i on t o my wor ks. .. I have f el t a l ove
f or t he peopl e, whi ch has gi ven me st r engt h t o cont i nue my wor k,
even i n my i l l ness. However , my heal t h wi l l not al l ow me t o
f i ni sh t he wor k I have begun. Al l my l abor s on avi at i on, r ocket
f l i ght and i nt er pl anet ar y voyages I bequeat h t o t he Bol shevi k
par t y and t he Sovi et gover nment - - t he t r ue l eader s of t he pr o-
gr ess of human cul t ur e. I amsur e t hat t hey wi l l successf ul l y
compl et e my l abors. "l
Except i onal l y val uabl e and pr ogr essi ve wor ks of K. E.
Tsi ol kovski y ar e hi s wor ks on r eact i on mot i on, whi ch pr eceded
t he devel opment of sci ence i n t hi s ar ea by many decades. K. E.
Tsi ol kovski y f i r st devel oped t he l aws of mot i on of a r ocket as
a body of var i abl e mass, i ndi cat i ng ef f i ci ent pat hs f or t he
devel opment of ast r onaut i cs and r ocket bui l di ng. He f ound a
number of i mpor t ant engi neer i ng sol ut i ons t o pr obl ems of r ocket
desi gn, he anal yzed and r ecommended f uel s f or use f or r ocket
engi nes. K. E. Tsi ol kovski y l ai d t he f oundat i ons of t he t heor y
of LRE.
A number of t he t echni cal i deas of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y wer e
appl i ed i n t he cr eat i on of moder n r ocket engi nes, r ocket s and
spacecr af t .
Si nce 1966, on 17 Sept ember each year i n Kal uga r eadi ngs
ar e hel d dedi cat ed t o t he devel opment of t he sci ent i f i c
her i t age of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y.
' Tsi ol kovski y, K. E. , Col l ect ed Wor ks, Vol . 2 , Academy of
Sci ences USSR Pr ess, Moscow, 1 - 20.
17
The r eadi ngs ar e conduct ed by t he St at e Museumof t he Hi s-
t or y of Ast r onaut i cs, t he Commi ssi on f or t he Devel opment of t he
Sci ent i f i c Her i t age of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y of t he Academy of
Sci ences USSR, t he Ast r onaut i cs Commi t t ee of DOSAAF US S R, t he
I nst i t ut e of t he Hi st or y of Sci ence and Technol ogy, Academy of
Sci ences USSR and t he I nst i t ut e f or Medi cal and Bi ol ogi cal
Pr obl ems of t he USSR Publ i c Heal t h Mi ni st r y. Sovi et sci ent i st s
di scuss t he most pr essi ng pr obl cms of mi ssi l e and space t echno-
l ogy and r ocket engi ne const r uct i on at t hese r eadi ngs.
The Wor ks of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y on t he Cr eat i on of
t he Theor y of React i on Engi nes
One of t he achi evement s of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y i s t he det er -
mi nat i on of t he expedi ency of t he use of LRE as spacecr af t
engi nes.
LRE, det er mi ned t he ar eas of appl i cat i on of such engi nes,
subst ances or combi nat i ons of subst ances t o ~dr v e as t he sour ce
of ener gy and wor ki ng f l ui d f or a r ocket engi ne, st udi ed some
of t he desi gn pecul i ar i t i es of i ndi vi dual uni t s and of t he
engi ne and i t s oper at i ng condi t i ons, and not ed t he mai n pat hs
to be f ol l owed i n t he cr eat i on of power f ul l i qui d- f uel ed r ocket
engi nes.
The power of a r ocket engi ne i s equal t o t he ki net i c
ener gy of t he mass of gases i n t he r eact i on st r eamf l awi ng f r om
t he r eact i on engi ne per second, or hal f t he pr oduct of t he
t hr ust t i mes t he ef f ect i ve exhaust vel oci t y. The power of t he
engi nes of moder n boost er r ocket s r eaches t ens of mi l l : . ms of
ki l owat t s.
He suggest ed a pl an f or a r ocket equi pped wi t h an
sel ect ed and eval uat ed var i ous t ypes of r ocket f uel s, i . e. ,
- / 2 2
K. E. Tsi ol kovski y poi nt ed out many sci ent i f i c and t echni -
cal pr obl ems whi ch had t o be sol ved dur i ng t he cour se of f ur t her
devel opment and i mpr ovement of r ocket s and t hei r engi nes.
t ask.
t he val ues of t he f i xed par amet er s of t he engi ne, t he pur pose
of t he r ocket , i t s r ange of f l i ght , t he l evel of t echnol ogy
i n t he count r y and avai l abl e exper i ence. I f t he pr obl emi s t o
be sol ved t oday, one pl an wi l l be suggest ed; f or r ocket s of
t he f ut ur e - - anot her . K. E . Tsi ol kovski y suggest ed a pl an f or
a r ocket and a r ocket engi ne f or t he f ut ur e, consi der i ng t he
possi bl e pr ogr ess of sci ence and t echnol ogy.
t he t i me had come t o begi n such devel opment . Lat er event s have
conf i r med t he cor r ect ncss of hi s vi ews, Moder n engi nes and
r ocket s do not di f f er i n pr i nci pl e f r omt hose he suggest ed: a
t wo- component l i qui d f uel , pumped f uel f eed, accel er at i on of
t he gas j et i n a nozzl e, et c.
The sel ect i on of a pl an f or a r ocket engi ne i s a di f f i cul t
I n or der t o pr oper l y sel ect a pl an, one must consi der
He bel i eved t hat
18
I n hi s work "I nvesti gati on of Space wi t h Reacti on Devices"
(1903). K. E. Tsi ol kovski y descri bed the pl an and operati ng
pri nci pl e of an LRE usi ng l i qui f i ed gasses 3s components i n the
fol l owi ng words. "The chamber1 contai ns a great reserve of
substances which, when mixed, i mmedi atel y form an expl osi ve inass.
These substances, f ul l y and evenl y expl odi ng i n the area set
asi de f or thi s purpose, then flow as hot gases through tubes
which expand at the end l i ke a horn or other musi cal i nstru-
ment. "2
The combustion chamber of a rocket engi ne i s the most
i mportant part of the rocket engi ne, which creates the reacti on
f orce due to the flow of the working f l ui d. A modern rocket
is that porti on of the rocket engi ne i n which the thermal
energy of the compressed working f l ui d - - the combustion yro-
ducts - - is transformed to ki neti c energy, i .e., the gas j ct i s
accel erated to thc exhaust vel oci ty.
engi ne consi sts of a combustion chamber and nozzl e. The nozzl e - /23
Further, K. E. Tsi ol kovski y wrote, "I n one, narrow end of
the tube, the expl osi ve substances are mixed: thence, fl ami ng
gases are produced here. I n the other, expandi ng end, these
gases, greatl y raref i ed and cool ed, burst outward through the
aperture wi th tremendous vel oci ty.. The two f l ui d gases are
separated by a barri er.I t3
I n 1922, K . E. Tsi ol kovski y wrote an arti cl e enti tl ed "Star
Fl i ght" f or t hemagazi ne"Znani ye- Si l a, " i n which he descri bed a
rocket wi th an L E desi gned t o be uscd as a j et ai rcraf t. For
thi s purpose, the rocket was equi pped wi th wings.
I n 1927 i n Kaluga, K . E. Tsi ol kovski y publ i shed hi s work
Kosmicheskaya RaketaT Opytnaya Podgotovka -[Space Rocket. Expcr-
;mental Preparati on]. T hi s work presents a sti l l more detai l ed
descri pti on- of an L RE; i t i s poi nted out that the f uel components
must be fcd to the combustion chamber by ". ..two pumps, dri ven
by 3 si ngl e engi ne. The f i rst pumps the oxygen compounds to the
combustion chamber, the other pumps the hydrogen compounds . I t 4
Here al so we f i nd the i dea of mai ntai ni ng a certai n rati o of
f uel components duri ng the operati on of the LRE: "rcgul ati on i s
i mportant: i f there i s more oxygen than needed, the combustion
savi ng i n mind the i nteri or of the rocket.
'Tsi ol kovski y, K. E. , Col l ected Works, Vol. 2 , Academy of
Sci ences USSR Press, Moscow, 1954, p. 73.
3Tsi ol kovski y, K . E . , Col l ected Works, Vol. 2 , Academy of
Sci ences USS2 Press, Moscow, 1954, p. 261.
4~bi d. , -- p . 75.
19
chamber i tsel f might burn, i f there i s less - - the f uel w i l l be
expended usel essl y. ''
I n thi s same work, K . E. Tsi ol kovski y descri bes the opera-
ti on of an LRE and studi es the condi ti ons needed t o ensure
saf ety. I f a rocket were made accordi ng t o these pl ans, pub-
l i shed by Tsi ol kovski y earl y i n the 20th century, the unused
volume of the rocket would be very sl i ght, si nce every f ree
space, not occupi ed by structural el ements, i s f i l l ed wi th f uel ;
the LRE i s submerged i n the f uel components. Thi s arrangement
provi des the minimum mass and si ze of rocket.
I n hi s work " A Semi reacti on Stratopl ane," f i r st publ i shed
i n the magazine "Khochu Vse Znat"' i n 1932, K. E. Tsi ol kovski y
wrote, "I n the lower l ayers of the atmosphere, an ai rcraf t
cannot reach a hi gh vel oci ty. ... my i deas and cal cul ati ons have 7 / 2 4
l ed me at present t o the fol l owi ng, most possi bl e type of hi gh-
al ti tude ai rcraf t."l
descri pti on of a j et engi ne2 dri vi ng a propel l er.
Further, K. E. Tsi ol kovski y presents a
The desi gn of - /25
the "semi reacti on
s t ratopl ane" devel -
oped by K . E. Tsi ol -
kovski y was as
fol l ows. As the
devi ce moves, ai r
enters the i nternal
porti on of the body
through adj ustabl e
i nl et aperture 1.
The gas stream i s
accel erated by pro-
pel l er 2 , dri ven by
gasol i ne engi ne 3.
The spent gases move
through tubes 5 and
flow out of thei r
exhaust secti ons.
The ai r and spent
gases exhaust through
Pl an from "Star Fl i ght" by K. E. Tsi ol - adj ustabl e nozzl e 9.
kovski y A i r compressor 8 i s
'Tsi ol kovski y, K. E. , Col l ected Works, Vol. 2 , Academy of
Sci ences USSR Press, Moscow, 1954, p. 389.
'A j et engi ne ref ers t o a reacti on engi ne which uti l i zes the ai r
around the vehi cl e to burn the f uel .
20
Liquid, f reel y
evaporating \
Men and
/q;ipnent
oxygen at very
Pl an of Li qui d-Fuel ed Space Rocket of
K. E. Tsi ol kovski y
Pl an of "Semi reacti on Stratopl ane" of
K . E. Tsi ol kovski y
Pl an of the "Steam-Gas Turbi ne Engine
f or a Di ri gi bl e" of K . E. Tsi ol kovski y
through system 4 - 5 to a propel l er, which
Furthermore, the rotati on i s transmi tted
mounted on a common
shaf t wi th engi ne 3.
A i r from cavi ty 4
parti al l y enters
cavi ty 10, then
cavi ty 6 and, through
annul ar space 7, i t
moves past tubes 5 .
Washing over these
tubes, the ai r i s
cool ed and enters
the compressor. The - / 26
compressed ai r
fl ows through tubes
11 to the gasol i ne
engi ne.
Fi nal l y, i n hi s
work "A Steam-Gas
Turbi ne Engine , ''
publ i shed i n 1934,
Konstanti n Eduardo-
vi ch suggested a
uni que turbocompres -
sor engi ne, which he
suggested be used f or
di ri gi bl es. Thi s
engi ne i s a prototype
of one versi on of
modern j et engi nes.
I n thi s engi ne, the
i nci dent ai r streani
i s sent by means of
compressor 7 and
di f f usor 1 i nto
generator 2 under
pressure, where the
oi l f ed i nto the
generator by a pump
(not shown on the
drawing) i s burned.
The combustion pro-
ducts spi n mul ti pl e-
stage turbi ne 3. The
rotati on of the tur-
bi ne i s transmi tted
dri ves the di ri gi bl e.
by system 6-7 t o the
compressor, -and by system 8-9-10 t o agi tators-, whi ch conti n-
ual l y mi x the oi l i n order t o equal i ze i ts temperature i n tank
12. The generator i s cool ed by the water f i l l i ng space 11.
21
Thus, K. E. Tsi ol kovski y suggested a pl an f or a l i qui d-
f uel ed rocket and pl ans f or j et engi nes as wel l . A l l of the
pl ans which he suggested were l ater uti l i zed i n pri nci pl e i n
practi ce.
The Formula of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y
The creati on of the most ef f i ci ent engi ne desi gn conti nues
to be one of the most i mportant problems of rocket engi ne con-
structi on. The rockets suggested by Konstanti n Eduardovich,
natural l y, were not devel oped by him to the stage of a complete
pl an. They were more l i ke reports of new i deas, i nventi ons,
di scoveri es, but reports based on sci enti f i c and techni cal cal -
cul at i on.
The development of the theory of rocket engi nes and rockets
i n the works of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y and i n the works of other
authors are based l argel y on the formul a which i s known by the
name Df i ts author - - K . E. Tsi ol kovski y.
Thi s i s the basi c formul a f or the motion of a rocket,
def i ni ng i ts maximum vel oci ty V, equal to the product of the
absol ute val ue of exhaust vel oci ty Wa of the combustion
products from the reacti on nozzl e ti mes the natural l ogari thm of
the rati o of the i ni ti al l aunch mass of the rocket Mo t o i ts
f i nal mass Mk (consi deri ng payl oad) , remai ni ng af ter f uel mass
Mt i s expended i n f l i gnt:
I n cal cul ati ng the motion of a rocket equi pped wi th a
modern LRE, i f the di f f erence pa - pH i s other than 0, Wa i n the
Tsi ol kovski y formula must be repl aced by the ef f ecti ve vel oci ty,
which i s
where Fa i s the area of the nozzl e exi t pl ane;
22
G i s the mass flow rate of f uel per second, equal to the
Pa
pH i s the pressure of the surroundi ng medium at the f l i ght
al ti tude H.
flow rate of the combustion product;
i s the gas pressure at the nozzl e exi t pl ane;
The rati o Mt/Mk i s cal l ed the Tsi ol kovski y number and i s
represented by the l etter Ts.
SP
f o
Thi s formul a i s devel oped i n the work "I nvesti gati on of
ace wi th Reacti on Devices" (1903). Using t5e Tsi ol kovski y
rmula (i n hi s 1903 work, K . E. Tsi ol kovski y ci ?l l ' thi s
formul a the "rel ati onshi p of masses i n the rockt we can
cal cul ate al so the vel oci ty increment of the i? fual stages
of mul ti stage rockets.
Tsi ol kovski y's formul a was ref i ned by him to consi der the
i nf l uence of the resi stance of the surroundi ng medium and the
f orces of gravi ty on the f i nal f l i ght vel oci ty of a rocket.
Thi s formul a was the f i r st step made i n the development of the
requi rements f or LRE; duri ng the i ni ti al peri od of developmen:
of rocket technol ogy, i t al l owed sci enti sts to determi ne the
pri mary paths f or improvement of the desi gn of an engi ne. I t
i s understandabl e that, when modern engi nes are produced, al l
of the accumulated experi ence of rocket constructi on and
engi ne constructi on, the achi evements i n nei ghbori ng areas of
sci ence and technol ogy are used, attempti ng to sati sf y the
conti nuousl y growing demands on the desi gn of rocket engi nes.
I t fol l ows from thc formul a of Tsi ol kovski y that i n order
t o i ncrease the f l i ght vel oci ty of a rocket, one must i ncrease
the Tsi ol kovski y number T s and the ef f ecti ve exhaust vel oci ty
of the gases Wef f .
The exhaust vel oci ty of the gases from the nozzl e
where Q i s the quanti ty of heat l i berated upon combustion of a
uni t of mass of f uel ;
qt i s the thermal ef f i ci ency;
Wi n i s the vel oci ty of entry of the f uel components i nto
4 i s the proporti onal i ty f actor.
the combustion chamber;
23
The hi gher the heati ng capaci ty of the f uel , the more heat
i s l i berated upon i ts combustion. However, the same f uel
components, depending on condi ti ons, l i berate di f f erent
quanti ti es of heat which, i n parti cul ar, depends on the r ati o
of the components
where Go i s the mass flow rate of oxi di zer per second;
Gf i s the mass fl ow rate of f uel per second.
The opti mal rel ati onshi p, f or which the exhaust vel oci ty
reaches i ts maximum, depends f or a gi ven pressure i n the com-
bucti on chamber on the type of f uel , degree of expansi on of
gases i n the nozzl e and a number of other f actors.
I n order to i ncrease the compl eteness of combustion i n
the smallest possi bl e chamber volume, the qual i ty of sprayi ng
and mixing of the components must be improved. "The problem
i s that the f orce of the expl osi on i n a gi ven tube1 depends on
the compl eteness of mixing of the combustion el ements . I * Z
The more heat which i s l i berated duri ng the combustion of
a uni t mass of f uel , the hi gher the mergy characteri sti cs of
the products of combustion - - heat conduct and the product of
the gas constant of the products of combustion R = 848/v times
thei r temperature Ti .
of the combustion products u decreases, the gas temperature
decreases, si mpl i f yi ng the sol uti on of one of the most complex
problems of rocket engi ne constructi on - - the problem of
ef f ecti ve cool i ng of combustion chamber wal l s.
With a gi ven heat l i berati on, as the mean mol ecul a- mass
The thermal ef f i ci ency
-'Having i n mind tl ; combustion chamber of the rqcket engi ne.
'Tsi ol kovski y, K . E. , Col l ected Works, Vol. 2 , Academy of
Sci ences USSR Press, Moscow, 1954, p. 201.
2 4
characteri zes the conversi on of heat to ki neti c energy of the
combustion products fl owi ng from the nozzl e.
I n order to sel ect the best val ue of gas pressure i n the
nozzl e exi t pl ane pa, we use the thrust formul a
P = GWeff.
We recal l that i n thi s formul a G represents the mass fl ow of
f uel per second, equal i n the stabl e mode t o the mass fl ow of
combustion products per second. Anal ysi s shows that i n order
t o -,:educe the maximum thrust, pressure pa shoul d be equal to
the pressure of the surroundi ng medium pH.
the surroundi ng medium changes duri ng the f l i ght of a rocket,
the equati on pa = pH can be mai ntai ned by changi ng the para-
meters of the combustion chamber or the cr i ti cal cross- secti onal
area, or the nozzl e exi t pl ane area.
However, adj ustabl e nozzl es have not yet been created f or
L E , f orci ng us t o uti l i ze a certai n mean val ue of pa, sel ected
duri ng the process of bal l i sti c pl anni ng of a rocket t o provi de
the maximum f l i ght vel oci ty at the end of the powered stage of
f l i ght wi th a f i xed payl oad mass and the sel ected val ue of
Tsi ol kovshi y .number.
I f the pressure of
I f an engi ne must operate at very hi gh al ti tudes or in
space, where the pressure of the surroundi ng medium i s very
low, i n order t o i ncrease the thermal ef f i ci ency, the l owest
possi bl e pressure shoul d be mai ntai ned at the nozzl e exi t pl ane.
I f thi s pressure i s f i xed, the thermal ef f i ci ency can be
i ncreased by i ncreasi ng the pressure i n the combustion chamber,
which al so hel ps to improve the combustion condi ti ons , decrease
the si ze and mass of the combustion chamber.
I n anal yzi ng the operati on of a combustion chamber, Y. E.
Tsi ol kovski y based hi s cal cul ati ons 03 pressure pi = 100 atm.
This pressure coul d not be achi eved by the f i r st L RE.l
example, i n engi ne 10 of the GIRD-Kh rocket (1933), the pressure
i n the combustion chamber was onl y 8 to 10 atm, whi l e the OW-50
and ORM-52 engi nes (GDL , 1933) achi eved 2 0 - 2 5 atm, the RD-107
engi ne (GDL-OKB, 1954-1957) produced 60 atm, the RD-119 engi ne,
For
'Here and i n the fol l owi ng, the uni ts of measurement are pre-
sented as i n the arch 2 materi al s.
25
devel oped i n 1953-1962 (GDL-OKB) produced 80 atm, and l ater
engi nes have produced sti l l hi gher pressures. Thus, the
pressure i ntui ti vel y assi gned by K. E. Tsi ol kovski y f or the
chamber was approxi matel y equal to the pressures achi eved by
modern engi nes.
Corn rehensi ve improvement of engi nes has i ncreased thei r
economy. P
For example, i n engi ne number 10, the speci f i c i mpul se
achi eved i n test stand operati on (1933) was 162-175 s , i n the
ORM-52 engi ne (1933) - - 210 s , whi l e the speci f i c i mpul se of
the combustion chamber of the RD-119 i n a vacuum reaches 358 s
(1958-1962).
I n order t o i ncrease the Tsi ol kovski y number
This one shoul d use f uel of the h;ghest possi bl e densi ty P
mai ntai ns the requi rement mentioned above f or a hi gh val ue of
the quanti ty of heat Q l i berated i n the combustion chamber i n
each second of operati on. I n order to decrease Mk, the parts
of the rocket shoul d be made of structural materials for which
the rati o of strength (or yi el d poi nt) to densi ty is as hi gh
as possi bl e.
t'
The Tsi ol kovski y number can be i ncr-ased duri ng pl anni ng
of a rocket by successf ul sel ecti on of -+ 3l an of motor, rockct
i n general and i ndi vi dual rocket uni ts and by assuri ng opera-
ti on of the uni ts as near as possi bl e t o thei r opti mal oper-
ati ng modes. I f a pressure-expul si on f uel - f eed system i s used,
the f uel tanks must be made wi th thi ck wal l s, but i f a pump-
feed system i s used, tanks are mai ntai ned at low pressure and
thei r walls can be made thi n. Therefore, the Tsi ol kovski y
number f or l arge rockets is hi gher wi th a pump-feed system than
wi th a pressure-expul si on system.
As we have stated, i n determi ni ng the Tsi ol kovski y number
f or a rocket, mass Mk ref ers t o the mass of the structure of the
rocket and i ts systems, i ncl udi ng the engi ne, the resi dual
'The economy of a rocket engi ne i s def i ned by the speci f i c
i mpul se, the rati o of the thrust of the engi ne to th2 f uel
consumption per second.
26
l i qui ds and gases at the end of the powered porti on of f l i ght
and the payl oad mass H (nose porti on wi th i nstruments or cabi n
pl us astronauts, etc.). With a gi ven val ue of Tsi ol kovski y
number, as the payl oad i s i ncreased, the mass of al l the other
el ements of the rocket must be decreased, which is achi eved by
comprehensive improvement and l i ghteni ng of the desi gn, or the
l aunch mass of the rocket (or each stage) must be i ncreased
by i ncreasi ng f uel mass Mt.
The Tsi ol kovski y formul a al l ows us to j udge the ef f ec-
ti veness of uti l i zati on of the f uel energy of a rocket. I;. E.
Tsi ol kovski y def i ned the work performed by a rocket
P
- ' M V ; 2
L p - T k
the work of the exhausted gases
L a = - M W 1 2
2 t a'
P
and cal cul ated the ef f i ci ency of a rocket as the rati o of L
to the sum of L + La.
P
The power of engi nes and frequency of l aunches have become
so great that, consi deri ng the prospects f or the devel opaent of
rocket and space technol ogy, the determi nati on of means f or
i ncreasi ng the tutal ef f i ci ency and i ts current val ues, cal -
cul ated for vari ous moments of operati on of an engi ne, have
become a very pressi ng problem. The great consumption of f uel
expected i n the near f uture has pl aced the problem of the
creati on of rockets wi th external power suppl y on the agenda
f or the day.
The anal ysi s of the formul as presented here l ed K . E.
Tsi ol kovski y to the i dea of space trai ns. Vari ous versi ons
of connecti on of rockets were studi ed: sequenti al , paral l el
and combined; the so- cal l ed "second type" of compound rocket
of Tsi ol kovski y cal l ed f or paral l el connecti on of rockets i n
groups. We know that al l modern spacecraf t booster rockets
are mul ti stage rockets, wi th both sequenti al l y and si mul tan-
eousl y operati ng motors consi dered tht most favorabl e combin-
ati on.
2 7
Suggest i ons f or LRE Fuel s
Anal yzi ng t he pr oper t i es of f uel s, K. ;i. Tsi ol kovski y
wr ot e, "They shoul d per f or mt he maxi mumwor k per uni t of r ass
dur i ng combust i on. " And f ur t her , "For a r eact i on appar at us,
t he gr eat est possi bl e por t i on of t he t her mal or chemi cal
ener gy of t he par t i cl es must be conver t ed t o coor di nat e1 i n0t:i c.n
of t he par t i cl es. "l
I n hi s wor k, "I nvest i gat i on of Space wi t h Rocket Devi c. ; s, "
L. E. Tsi ol kovski y i n 1903 suggest ed l i qui d oxygen and hydr ogen
as f uel component s f or LRE. "At t he pr esent t i me, t he convsr -
si on of hydr ogen and oxygen t o l i qui ds r epr esent s no gr eat
hydr ocar bons, such as acet yl ene or pet r ol eum. "2
di f f i cul t y. Hydr ogen coul d be r epl aced by l i qui d or condei i r. Od
- / 32
I n t hi s same wor k, t he sci ent i st st udi es cer t ai n i nor gani c
compounds as possi bl e f uel s. "For exampl e, si l i con, bur ni ng i n
oxygen (Si + O2 = Si 02), l i ber at es a t r emendous quant i t y of
heat , 3654 cal per uni t of mass of pr oduct pr oduced ( Si 02) , but
unf or t unat e1 f or ms subst ances whi ch vol at i l i ze wi t h gr eat
di f f i cul t y . ' ' 5
st udy of t he f uel consi st i ng of l i qui d oxygen and hydr ogen.
"Accept i ng l i qui d oxygen and hydr ogen as t he mat er i al most
sui t abl e f or expl osi on ..." he wr ot e i n t he wor k j ust ment i oned.
However , t he sci ent i st was hot her ed by t he l ow densi t y of
hydr ogen, r equi r i ng l ar ge cont ai ner s, whi ch woul d r equi r e an
i ncr ease i n t he vol ume and mass of t he r ocket . I n 1927, i n
t he wor k " A Space Rocket . Exper i ment al Pr epar at i on, " he not ed,
"Li qui d hydr ogen i s gener al l y unsui t abl e, par t i cul ar l y f or t he
f i r st t i me. Reasons: hi gh cost , l ow t emper at ur e, heat of
evapor at i on, di f f i cul t y of st or age. "4
I n 1903, he wr ot e, ". . . the quant i t y of ener gy per uni t
mass of t he pr oduct s of a compound depends on t he at omi c
wei ght s of t he si mpl e subst ances combi ned: t he l ower t he at omi c
wei ght of t hese el ement s, t he gr eat er t he heat l i ber at ed as
t hey ar e combi ned. "S
L. E. Tsi ol kovski y gave gr eat at t ent i on t o t he
' Tsi ol kovski y, K . E. , Col l ect ed Wor ks, Vol . 2, Academy of
Sci ences USSR Pr ess, Moscow. 1954, p. 79.
7
I bi d. , p. 81.
41bid., p. 270.
SIbid., p. 81.
L
31bi d.
28
I n 1914, K. E. Tsi ol kovski y suggest ed t hat ozone and ot her
component s be used as oxi di zer s i n engi nes. "We must f i nd
compounds of hydr ogen wi t h car bon whi ch cont ai n t he gr eat est
possi bl e quant i t i es of hydr ogen, whi ch ar e f or med as t he)
ar e pr oduced of el ement s wi t h absor pt i on of heat , f or exampl e
acet yl ene, whi ch, unf or t unat el y cont ai ns l i t t l e hydr ogen. I n
t hi s l at t er r espect , t ur pent i ne i s mor e sui t abl e, and met hane
or swamp gas i s st i l l mor e sui t abl e; t hi s l ast subst ance i s
unf avor abl e i n t hat i t i s di f f i cul t t o l i qui f y. "l
Tn hi s wor k "The I nvest i gat i on of Space wi t h React i on
Devi ces, " 1926 edi t i on, s L . E . Tsi ol kovski y compar es hydr ogen
wi t h hydr ocar bons: " I t i s di f f i cul t t u l i qui f y and st or e, si nce
unl ess par t i cul ar pr ecaut i ons ar e t aken i t evapor at c; r api dl y.
The mor e vol at i l e t hey ar e, t he mor e hydr ogen t hey cont ai n and
t he mor e sui t abl e t hey ar e f or t he busi ness at hand. Oxygen
i s t ol er abl e i n l i qui d f or m, par t i cul ar l y si nce i t can ser ve
as a sour ce of cool i ng. . . 11 Fur t her , t he sci ent i st not es, "But
i t i s most sui t abl e t o wor k as fol !. ows: st or e most of t he
r eser ve of oxygen on- boar d i n t he f or mof one of i t s endogeni c
compounds, i . e. , t hose whi ch ar e synt hesi zed ( made up) wi t h
absor pt i on of t he mat er i al . l t 2
I n t hi s same wor k, i n 1926, met hane, benzene and oi l ar e
r ecommended as f uel s. I n 1927, l i qui d ai r was r ecommended as
an oxi di zer : "I ni t i al l y, l i qui d ai r can be used. The ni t r ogen
pr esent wi l l yeaken t he expl osi on and decr ease t he maxi mum
t emper at ur e. " The i dea of usi ng hi gh- boi l i ng oxygen- cont ai ni ng
compounds was set f or t h by K . E . Tsi ol kovski y r epeat edl y. He
al so not ed t he expedi ency of usi ng hydr ocar bon compounds as t he
f uel . He consi der ed t he use of such f uel s i n hi s wor k " A
Space Rocket . Exper i ment al Pr epar at i on, " of 1927. I n hi s
wor k, "Reachi ng t he St r at ospher e. A Fuel f or a Rocket , "4 He
pr esent s and anal ysi s of t he i nf l uence of t he qual i t y of
f uel on t he exhaust vel oci t y of gases f r omt he nozzl e and t he
f l i ght vel oci t y of a r ocket . Her e, i n par t i cul ar , Konst ant i n
Eduar dovi ch wr ot e, " I t i s most sui t abl e t o r epl ace oxygen wi t h
NO2.
wat er . * t 5
' Tsi ol kovski y, K . E . , Col l ect ed Wor ks, Vol . 2, Academy of
' I bi d., p. 24;.
4Gs c r i pt r ecei ved Osovi akhi mCent r al Counci l i n 1934.
STsi ol kovski y, K . E . , Col l ect ed Works, - Vol . 2, Academy of
Sci ences USSR Pr ess, Moscow, 1954, p. 3 7 3 .
Most pr ef er abl e ar e l i qui d or easi l y l i t - i i ef i ed hydr ocar bons.
- / 33
Thi s i s a br own, chemi cal l y st abl e l i qui d, denser t han
ci ences USSR Pr ess, Moscow, 1954, p. 145.
3 I b i d .
29
Konst ant i n Eduar dovi ch di d not l i mi t hi msel f t o t he st udy
of t he possi bi l i t i es f or t he use of l i qui d f uel component s al one.
I n hi s wor k, " A Space Rocket . Exper i ment al Pr epar at i on, " he
spoke of t he possi bi l i t y of usi ng sol i d subst ances as f uel s
and suggest ed, i n par t i cul ar , car bon p0wder . l Al t hough t hi s
t ype of f uel i s not used i n LRE at t he moment , t he i dea of
t he use of powder ed pr oduct s and component s i n var i ous st at es
has been appl i ed t o some ext ent .
Konst ant i n Eduar dovi ch was not f ul l y sat i sf i ed by t he
ener gy qual i t i es of chemi cal f uel s. He pr esent s a number of
consi der at i ons concer ni ng t he possi bi l i t y of usi ng nucl ear
f uel .
I n 1912, he wr ot e, "Ther ef or e, i f i t wer e possi bl e t o
accel er at e t he decomposi t i on of r adi umor ot her r adi oact i ve
subst ances suf f i ci ent l y, t hi s coul d pr ovi de, wi t h ot her wi se
equi val ent condi t i ons, suf f i ci ent vel oci t y t o a r ocket t hat i t
coul d r each t he f ur t hest sun ( st ar ) i n t en t o f or t y year s. "2
And agai n, "I f r adi um, gi vi ng up i t s ener gy a mi l l i on t i mes
mor e r api dl y t han occur s pr esent l y, c ul d be used, i nt er -
pl anet ar y f l i ght s woul d be possi bl e. Lat er , i n 1926, t he
sci ent i st wr ot e, "The spl i t t i ng of at oms i s a sour ce of t r e-
mendous power. . . Thi s ener gy i s 408, 000 t i mes gr eat er t han
t he most power f ul chemi cal ener gy. "
However , at t hat t i me i t was i mpossi bl e t o pl an on t he use
of ar t i f i ci al r adi oact i ve i sot opes and t he use of f i ssi on or
synt hesi s r eact i ons.
I n hi s wor k "The I nvest i gat i on of Space wi t h React i on
Devi ces" ( 1926) , K. E. Tsi ol kovski y convi nci ngl y showed t he
undesi r abi l i t y of usi ng ar t i f i ci al r adi oact i ve i sot opes as a
sour ce of power . However , i n t hi s same wor k he wr ot e, "But
we cannot be sur e t han i nexpensi ve, r api dl y f i ssi oni ng sour ces
of ener gy wi l l not be f ound i n t i me. "S
Now, when ar t i f i ci al r adi oact i ve i sot opes ar e pr oduced
easi l y, when spacecr af t car r y r eact i on engi nes whi ch pr oduce
ener gy by t he decomposi t i on of ar t i f i ci al i sot opes, t he
' Tsi ol kovski y, K. E. , Col l ect ed Wor ks, Vol . 2 , Academy of
Sci ences USSR Pr ess, Moscow, 1954, p. 262.
21bi d. , p . 136.
'Ibid., p. 143
4 I b i d . , p. 189.
Gi.
30
sci ent i f i c f or et hought of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y on t he possi bi l i t y
of accel er at i on of t he spl i t t i ng of i sot opes i s r ecei vi ng i t s
deser ved at t ent i on.
Ar t i f i ci al r adi oact i vi t y i s t he r adi oact i vi t y of ar t i f i -
ci al l y pr oduced at omi c nucl ei . Some ar t i f i ci al i sot opes have
shor t hal f l i ves, whi ch al l ows si gni f i cant power t o he pr oduced
wi t h t hese subst ances.
Cur r ent exper i ment al model s of r adi oi sot ope r ocket
engi nes ut i l i ze t he ener gy of t he decomposi t i on of ar t i f i ci al
r adi oact i ve i sot opes, such chemi cal exampl es as pol oni um- 210,
st r ont i um- 90, pl ut oni um238, et c. The possi bi l i t y cannot be
excl uded of t he pr oduct i on and r eal i zat i on of t he ener gy of
ext r emel y shor t l i ved i sot opes di r ect l y on- boar d a spacecr af t .
K. E. Tsi ol kovski y st at ed i n 1912 t he i dea of t he possi - - / 35
bi l i t y of cr eat i on of el ect r i c r ocket engi nes: "Possi bl y el ec-
t r i ci t y mi ght i n t i me be used t o at t ai n a t r emendous vel oci t y
i n t he par t i cl es ej ect ed f r oma r eact i on devi ce. **l
pr esent t i me, el ect r i c r ocket engi nes of var i ous t ypes ar e i n
use. Moder n r adi oi sot ope and el ect r i c r ocket engi nes devel op
l ow t hr ust and ar e desi gned f or i nst al l at i on on spacecr af t .
Konst ant i n Eduar dovi ch st udi ed a l ar ge gr oup of chemi cal
oxi di zer s and f uel s f or LRE, not ed t he possi bi l i t y of usi ng
r adi oact i ve i sot opes and el ect r i c power . I n hi s wor ks, he
l ai d t he f oundat i ons of t he sci ence of f uel s f or r ocket engi nes.
At t he
Recommendat i ons f or t he Desi gn of Combust i on Chamber s
Dur i ng t he year s when K . E. Tsi ol kovski y wor ked on pr obl ems
of t he t heor y of r ocket - and engi nes, i t was di f f i cul t t o
i magi ne t he desi gn of a combust i on chamber and pr oduce any
sor t of pr eci se i dea of t he pr ocesses occur r i ng wi t hi n i t .
Gener al machi ne bui l di ng di d not have a si ngl e devi ce i n any
was si mi l ar i n i t s oper at i ng mode or magni t ude of t her mal and
dynami c l oads t o an ), RE combust i on chamber . The desi gn of t hi s
new t her mal engi ne had t o be devel oped, det er mi ni ng t he nat ur e
and mode of i t s oper at i on, anal yzi ng t he pecul i ar i t i es of t he
desi gn of t he i ndi vi dual el ement s and sel ect i ng t he st r uct ur eal
mat er i al s t o be used.
Fr omone quest i on, K. E. Tsi ol kovski y went over t o anot her ,
t hen, af t er achi evi ng a sol ut i on, he r et ur ned t o ear l i er pr ob-
l ems, cont i nui ng deeper st udi es, consi der i ng t he r esul t s
pr oduced ear l i er .
' Tsi ol kovski y, K . E. , Col l ect ed Wor ks, Vol . 2, Academy of
Sci ences USSR Pr ess, Moscort , 1 9 5 4 , p. 36.
31
Let us see how Konst ant i n Eduar dovi ch i magi ned t he desi gn
of a combust i on chamber , whi ch he cal l ed t he "expl osi ve" chamber .
I n hi s wor k "I nvest i gat i on of Space wi t h React i on Devi ces" (1903),
K. E. Tsi ol kovski y, speaki ng of t he r ocket , not ed t hat i t
". . . has a gr eat r eser ve of subst ances whi ch, when mi xed, i mme-
di at el y f or man expl osi ve mass. These subst ances, r egul ar l y
and evenl y expl odi ng i n t he pl ace set asi de f or i t , f l ow i n t he / 36
I l l -
f or mof hot gases t hr ough t ubes expandi ng t owar d t hei r ends. . .
f ol l ows, "I n essence t her e i s no shar p di f f er ence bet ween t he
pr ocess of expl osi on of a subst ance and si mpl e combust i on.
Act ual l y, bot h amount t o mor e or l ess r api d chemi cal combi na-
t i on. Combust i on i s sl ower combi nat i on, expl osi on i s r api d
combust i on. l 1 2
K. E . Tsi ol kovski y descr i bed t he bur ni ng of t ne f uel as
K. E. Tsi ol kovski y wr ot e of t he possi bi l i t y of cont r ol l i ng
t he mot i on of a r ocket by changi ng t he t hr ust vect or as f ol l ow^:
"We see J r udder ser vi ng t o cont r ol t he mot i on of t he r ocket . "
Thi s suggest i on of Tsi ol kovski y was pr act i cal l y r eal i zed i n t he
f or mof gas r udder s, as used pr esent l y t o cont r ol t he f l i ght of
a number of Sovi et geophysi cal and ot her r ocket s. K . E.
Tsi ol kovski y al so suggest ed anot her means of cont r ol l i ng f l i ght .
He xr ot e: "Fi nal l y, by r ot at i ng t he end of t he t ube, we coul d
al so keep our vehi cl e movi ng i n t he pr oper di r e~t i on. " ~
These met hods wer e st udi ed by desi gner s. Some moder n r ccket s
cont r ol t he t hr ust vect or by r ot at i on of t he pr i mar y combust i on
chamber or wi t h cont r ol engi nes as, f or exampl e, on t he boost er
r ocket of t he Vost ok spacecr af t .
Ther mal and t her modynami c cal cul at i ons, i . e. , cal cul at i ons
of t he t her mal pr ocesses of conver si on of t he wor ki ng f l ui d i n
t he combust i on chamber and i n t he nozzl e of t he r eact i on engi ne,
per f or med by K . E. Tsi ol kovski y, not ed t he necessi t y of cool i ng
t he wal l s of t he combust i on chamber . As one ver si on of cool i ng,
he suggest ed a ci r cul at i ng syst em: ". . . the ci r cul at i on of a
met al l i c l i qui d i n t he ai r sur r oundi ng t he t ube i s necessar y f or
anot her pur pose: t o mai nt ai n an even, l ow t emper at ur e of t he
t ube, i . e. , t o r et ai n i t s st r engt h. "S To assur e r el i abl e pro-
t ect i on of t he chamber , Konst ant i n Eduar dovi ch r ecommended t hat
r ef r act or y i nsul at i ng cover i ngs be used: I t . . . t he i nner por t i on
' Tsi ol kovski y, K. E. , Col l ect ed Wor ks, Vol . 2 , Academy of
' I bi d., p. 368.
These
ci ences USSR Pr ess, Moscow, 1954, p. 7 3 .
3I bi d. , p . 7 4 .
4 G . , p. 75.
5 GG. , p. 79.
32
of t he t ube wi l l be cover ed wi t h some sor t of speci al r ef r act or y
mat er i al : car bon, t ungst en. . . Some met al s ar e made st r onger by
cool i ng; t hese ar e t he sor t of met al s whi ch must be used,
f or exampl e copper . "l I n 1911, i n t he wor k "I nvest i gat i on of
Space wi t h React i on Devi ces. The React i on Rocket of K. E.
Tsi ol kovski y, " he di scussed t he need t o cool t he combust i on
chamber , t he "expl osi on t ube, " wi t h l i qui d hydr ogen and oxygen.
cool i ng wi t h bot h component s as f ol l ows: "Fur t her mor e, t he
t ube i s cont i nual l y cool ed on bot h t he out si de and i nsi de.
Act ual l y, a cont i nuous st r eamof t wo ver y col d l i qui ds i s
spr ayed i nt o t he i ni t i al sect i on of t he t ube: l i qui d oxygen
and oi l cool ed by t he l i qui d oxygen. The out er wal l s of t he
t ube ar e cool ed by t he col d oi l , whi ch i t sel f i s cool ed by t he
l i qui d oxygen whi ch sur r ounds i t . * ( 2
- / 37
The sci ent i st i magi ned a syst emof i nt er nal and ext er nal
K . E. Tsi ol kovski y emphasi zed t hat i r on coul d not be used
to make t he nozzl e. He st at ed t hat mor e r ef r act or y mat er i al s
wer e r equi r ed, f or exampl e t ungst en: " I t does not seemi mpossi bl e
t o f i nd mat er i al s whi ch coul ; wi t hst and t hi s t emper at ur e. Her e
ar e a f ew of t he mel t i ng poi nt s of mat er i al s known t o me:
ni ckel - - 1500, i r on - - 1700, i ndi um- - 1760, pal adi um - - 1800,
pl at i num- - 2100, i r i di um- - 2200, osmi um - - 2500, - t ungst en - -
3200, whi l e car bon does not mel t even at 3500' C. I t 3
The r ecommendat i ons of Konst ant i n Eduar dovi ch f or t he
desi gn of t he combust i on chamber and sel ect i on of mat er i al s
t o assur e a nor mal t her mal oper at i ng mode of t he wal l s ar c
i nt er est i ng. "The expl osi on t ube shoul d be made of a mat er i al
whi ch i s st r ong ( even at hi gh t emper at ur es) , r ef r act or y and non-
f l ammabl e; i t woul d al so be good f or i t t o be a good heat
conduct or . I t seems most f avor abl e t o make t he t ube of t wo
envel opes: t he f i r st - - i nner envel ope - - of a l ess r ef r act or y
but st r ong, good conduct i ng mat er i al . "4
be usef ul t o cover t he st eel t ube wi t h a l ayer of a met al whi ch
conduct s heat wel l , f or exampl e cu r i t e, al umi numand ot her s
been ver y wi del y used i n domest i c r ocket engi ne const r uct i on.
And agai n, " I t woul d
( f or bet t er cool i ng of t he tube). Copper - based al l oys have
- I 38
' Tsi ol kovski y, K , E. , Col l ect ed Wor ks, Vol . 2 , Academy of
Sci ences USSR Pr ess, Moscow, 1954, p . 7 9 .
*
LI bi d * * P. 271.
31bi d. , p . 133.
41bid., p. 263.
5Ibid - 9 Y - 272.
33
Other works of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y are known, dedi cated to
the problems of desi gn and rel i abl e operati on of the combustion
chamber of a rocket engi ne, as wel l as the sel ecti on of materi al s
t o assure normal thermal mode of the wal l s.
Many of the i deas of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y have been used i n
the desi gn of modern L RE; i n parti cul ar, they al most al l have
external cool i ng wi th the oxi di zer or f uel , and i nternal cool -
i ng i s al so used. For example, the engi nes of the VZA, VSV
geophysi cal rockets, the RD-107, RD-119 and other engi nes have
i nner wal l s cool ed by enri chment of the combustion products wi th
fuel s i n the l ayers near the wal l s and by the use of natural
fl ow-through cool i ng. The heat l i berated from the wal l s i s
returned to the combustion chamber. Thi s method of cool i ng i s
cal l ed regenerati ve; i t was al so suggested by K. E. Tsi ol kovski y.
Materials wi th hi gh heat conducti vi ty, hi ghl y ref ractory and wi th
good strength characteri sti cs are currentl y used t o manufacture
combustion chambers.
Thus, K. E. Tsi ol kovski y, i n order to assure a rel i abl e
thermal mode of the combustion chamber wal l , suggested that
hi gh strength, thermal l y stabl e materi al s be used, that the
steel wal l be cl ad wi th copper, that copper be used as a
structural materi al , that the chamber be equi pped wi th a heat
i nsul ati ng ref ractory l i ner and that the outsi de be cool ed by
fl owi ng f uel components or a ci rcul ati ng system wi th l i qui d
metal , that the heat f l ux from the gases to the wal l be reduced
by means of i nternal cool i ng.
have al so l ed t o recommendations qui te si mi l ar to those of
K. E. Tsi ol kovski y.
Modern methods of i n.desti gati on of LRE cool i ng systems
Let us take f or example a chamber wi th external fl owi ng
cool ant. Let us assume that the i nner surf ace of the wal l i s
heated by convecti on. I n order t o i ncrease the permi ssi bl e
temperature of the i nner surf ace of the chamber wal l , hi gh-
strength, thermal l y stabl e materi al s shoul d be used. To
decrease the wal l temperature, the heat conducti vi ty of the
wall materi al shoul d be i ncreased, which i s possi bl e i f copper
or copper al l oys are used, i f the external cool i ng i s i nten-
wal l to the f l ui d. Thi s i s achi eved by sel ecti ng a l i qui d wi th
opti mal cool i ng properti es, by i ncreasi ng the fl ow rate of
cool i ng f l ui d per second, which i s possi bl e i f a ci rcul ati ng
cool i ng system is used. The wal l temperature can al so be reduced
by decreasi ng the heat transf er f actor from the gases to the wal l
(usi ng the pri nci pl e of i nternal cool i ng). The temperature
of the gases i n the l ayer next to the wal l i s decreased i n thi s
case, al so l eadi ng to a decrease i n the temperature of the wal l .
si f i ed by i ncreasi ng the heat transf er coef f i ci ent from the - / 39
34
Tsi ol kovski y publ i shed the f i r st resul ts of thermochemical
cal cui ati ons i n 1903, presenti ng data on the thermal ef f ect of
combustion of hydrogen snd oxygen. I n 1914, i n the work "I nves-
ti gati on of Space wi th Rocket Devi ces," he spoke 0; ' the deter-
mi nati on of the temperature of the combustion products consi der-
i ng di ssoci ati on. Consi derati on of di ssoci ati on al l ows more
preci se determi nati on of the val ue of the thermodynamic para-
meters, the most proper approach t o anal ysi s of structural
elements. Based on nonrel ati onshi ps, he cal cul ated the i ns, an-
taneous val ues of the temperature of the expandi ng gas stream.
I n 1926, hi s cal cul ati ons were conti nued t o the poi nt of deter-
mi nati on of the parameters of the gas and the ef f i ci ency of the
engi ne depending on the degree of expansi on of the gases i n the
nozzl e.
Analyzing the operati ng condi ti ons of a combustion chamber,
K . E. Tsi ol kovski y concl uded that i ts wei ght and volume would
be low. I n hi s work " A Space Shi p," wri tten i n 1924, the com-
busti on chamber i s descri bed as fol l ows: "Only thi s chamber and
i ts conti nuati on - - the expl osi on tube, i nto which the products
of the expl osi on w i l l fl ow, gradual l y expandi ng and cool i ng due
to the conversi on of di sordered thermal energy i nto ki neti c
energy - - w i l l experi ence the pressure of the l l fases.. .
and expl osi on chamber are very low i n volume.
ti on Devices ," comparing possi bl e modes of operati on of chambers,
he wrote "the pressure of the expl osi ve substances can be vari ed
from 5,000 atm to a desi rabl e l ower val ue." And agai n, "The
mixing may be so compl ete, so cl ose, that t.he expl osi on w i l l be
busti on.. . ' 1 2
The tLbes
I n 1926, i n hi s work "I nvesti gati on of Space wi th Reac-
al most i nstantaneous or, conversel y, i t can be a5 slow as com- - /40
Studyi ng the operati on of a combustion chamber i n i ts
i nteractl on wi th the f uel feed system, the sci enti st.comes t o
the concl usi on of the necessi ty t o l i mi t the pressure i n the
chamber: "We can now i ndi cate the requi red minimum pressure."
And the concl usi on, "I n any case, we can l i mi t oursel ves t o 100
atm."J
I n the work j ust ci ted, Tsi ol kovski y descri bes the
process of conversi on of heat, l i berated on combustion of the
'Tsi ol kovski y, K . E. , Col l ected Works, Vol. 2 , Academy of
Sci ences USSR Press, Moscow, 1954, p . 164.
'I bi d., p. 201.
3 I b i d * 9 P* 202.
35
f uel , to ki neti c energy i n the gas stream and presents the
resul ts of hi s cal cul ati ons.
I n thi s same work, the pecul i ari ti es of the desi gn of some
parts of the rocket and i ts engi ne are noted. As concerns the
nozzl e, the fol l owi ng statements were made: "However, the
greater i ts angl e, the greater the l oss of energy, si nce the
motion of the gases i s def l ected t o the si de. Sti l l , wi th an
angl e of l oo, the l osses are al most unnoti ceabl e."l However,
i n 1927, he recommends that the opti mal val ue of the angl e of
expansi on of the nozzl e be determi ned by experi mentati on.
I n 1927, i n the work "A Space Rocket. Experi mental
Preparati on," the me.chod of i nj ecti on of f uel to the chamber
and i ts preparati on f or combustion i s descri bed as fol l ows:
"...grati ngs wi th sl anted hol es f or better mixing of the
hydrocarbon wi th the oxygen mi xture. The begi nni ng of the
expl osi on tube i s di vi ded by a channel . Along one hal f fl ows
the oxygen mi xture, al ong the other hal f - - the hydrocarbon."2
Development of Feed Systems
The pl an of the system which feeds f uel to the chamber
of the rocket engi ne was devel oped by K . E. Tsi ol kovski y i n
1903. I n hi s work "The I nvesti gati on of Space wi th Reacti on
Devices ," K. E. Tsi ol kovski y suggested and hi msel f descri bed
a system of f uel feed wi th unloaded tanks, i .e., tanks i n which
the f uel i s stored under ].ow pressure.
sures i n the combustion chamber, K . E. Tsi ol kovski y concl uded
that it would be necessary to use a pul sed f uel flow mode.
I n 1914, he wrote, "Ordinary types of pumping shoul d not be
used. I t would be si mpl est of al l to pl ace a certai n charge
i n the tube and al l ow i t to burn and f l y out. Then, when the
pressure i n the tube had dropped, another charge would be
i nj ected, etc."3 Here al so he stated the i dea of the possi -
bi l i ty of usi ng a gas- j et ej ector: "There shoul d be a branch
at the very mouth of the tube, through which the gases would
be returned once more t o the mouth and, due t o thei r vel oci ty,
entrai n and f orce :he expl osi ve materi al i n a conti nuous stream
A t f i r st, consi deri ng that there would be very hi gh pres-
l Tsi ol kovski y, K . E. , Col l ected Works, Vol. 2, Academy of
Sci ences USSR Press, Moscow, 1954, p. 247.
'I bi d., p. 263.
31bid., -- p. 147.
36
i nto the very mouth of the expl osi on tube. ,,I
Anal ysi s of the wei ght qual i ti es of the feed system l ed the
sci enti st to the i dea of the need to reduce the pressure i n
the chamber, t o sel ect i ts opti l nal val ue. "At hi gh pressure,"
Konstanti n Eduardcvich wrote i n 1926, "the use of the energy
i s great, but i mpossi bl y great work i s reqdl red to f orce the
masses i nto the expl osi on tube. Therefore, the maximum pressure
i n the tube shoulG be reduced as greatl y as possi bl e, wi thout
10s i ng ef f i ci ency. ( ( 2
The i dea of pul sati ng feed was formul ated by him as
fol l ows: "...it coul d be made so that the pressure at the
beg'nni ng of the tube vari ed peri odi cal l y, f or example, from
200 atm t o 0 and from 0 bx k to 200 atm. The vari ati on would
occur i n waves. v3
K . E. Tsi ol kovski y bel i eved that the wal l s of the tank
shoul d al so form the shel l of the rocket. "The main shel l of
the rocket," Konstanti n Eduardovich wrote i n 1926, 'tshoul d
wi thstand wi thout danger a pressure of at l east 0.2 atm, i f
f i l l ed wi th l i qui d oxygen.1t4 "Then, t o store them (i .e., the
f uel coiiponents) ordi nary tanks or even the rocket i tsel f coul d
be used."5 These rockets have been wi del y used. Thus, K . E.
Tsi ol kovski y suggested t o so- cal l ed "l oad-beari ng tanks ,"
i .e. , f uel tanks, the si de surf ace of which i s at the sare
time the outer shel l of the f uel secti on, recei vi ng external
l ongi tudi nal f orces and it. ndi ng moments acti ng on the secti on.
The use of l oad-beari ng tanks al l ows the mass of a rocket t o be
greatl y reduced i n many cases.
I n 1927, zhe sci enti st suggested that a pumping uni t be
- 142
i nstal l ed between the tanks and the chamber: I ( . . . - - two pumps,
dri ven by a colnmon motor. The f i r st pumps the oxygen compounds
Cal cul ati ons have shown that the f uel consumption f or the
pump dri ve would be i nsi gni f i cant: ",..the motor would use
several hundred ti mes l ess f uel than the expl osi on tube."7
'Tsi ol kovski y, K. E. , Col l ected korks, Vol. 2 , Academy of
Sci ences USSR Press, Moscow, 1 9 n . 147-148.
i nto the expl osi on tube, the second - - the hydrogen compounds. f' 6
-
-
L I bi d .- ' p. 201.
31bid -* ' p. 202.
41bi d., p. 243.
'Ibid., p. 246.
61bid. , p. 261.
'z., c_ p. 265.
37
As a resul t of hi s studi es of the pecul i ari ti es and
condi ti ons of operati on of i ndi vi dual uni ts and systems of
the rocket, i n 1927, ir. hi s work " A Space Rocket, Experi mental
Preparati on," K . E. Tsi ol kovski y presented a descri pti on of
the l aunch and operati on of the motor i n f l i ght.
Konstanti n Eduardovich Tsi ol kovski y was an outstandi ng
researcher, whose sci enti f i c acti vi ty was unusual l y broad.
! e made many di scoveri es i n the area of rocket dynamics,
aerodynamics, the theory of avi ati on, the theory of i nter-
pl anetary voyages, the theory of engi nes, etc. The work on
rockets performed by K . E. Tsi ol kovski y, di d not amount to
a completed techni cal pl an. Ne can gai n an i dea of hi s
desi gn onl y by 1ook;ng at hi s cal cul ati ons and descri pti ons.
The most i mportant thi ng i n the works of Tsi ol kovski y was
the proof of the possi bi l i ty of constructi ng a l arge ,pace
rocket wi th an LSE, confirmed by cal cul ati ons. K . E.
Tsi ol kovski y poi nted the way i nto space. Sovi et and f orei gn
sci eri ti sts recogni ze the pri ori ty of Tsi ol kovski y as the founder
of theoreti cal astronauti cs. The name of Tsi ol kovski y has been
gi ven to a crater on the f ar si de of the moor,. Konstanti n
Eduardovich Tsi ol kovski y i s rer3gni zed as the 'lead of a new
trend i n sci ence and technol ogy - - astronauti cs and rocket
bui l di ng .
I n connecti on wi th the l aunch of t k *.i orl d's f i r st ar t .
f i ci al satel l i tes, a gol d "Tsi ol kov. v :.all' was foi i nded,
awarded by the Academy of Sci ences USSk t ~ i outstandi ng wcrk
i n the area of i nterpl anetary voyages. I n 3.95&, the f i r st
medal was awarded t o the Chief Desi gner f or Rockets snd Space-
craf t, Academician Sergey Pavl ovi ch Korol ev, whi l e the second
medal was awarded t o the Chief Desi gner of Rocket Engi nes.
1.4, One ,3f the Pi oneers of Rocket Technology,
Yu. V, Kondriityuk
The attempts of hi stori ans t o wri te a detai l ed bi ography
of Yu. b. Kondratyuk, a tal ented and gi f ted man, a remarkabl e
sci enti st, mechanic and i nventor, and i he author of the wel l -
known works "Mastern of I nterpl anetary Space" ami ''TkJ sc Who
W i l l Read i n Order t o Bui l d," have not yet been f ul l y success-
f ul , Too few documents have been retai ned i n the archi ves.
Yu. Vasi l 'yevi ch Kondratyuk was born i n 1897 i n the
Ukrai ne, i n the ci ty of Pol tava. The unf ortunate condi ti ons of
hi s i i f e di d not al l ow him to complete hi s educati on: Yd . V.
Kondratyuk worked as a hi red l aborer, chopped fi rewood, and
worked as a l ubri cator and mechanic at mills. He studi ed
40
ematics, physi cs and chemi stry i ndependentl y. In hi s y
Y. k"Dndrat).uk became i nterested i n the theory of i ntcr-
ctary voyages. I n 1918, l ooki ng over some ol d magazines:
he came upon one of the arti cl es of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y on hi s
stratopl ane, whi l e hc rend the other works of Tsi ofkovski y,
parti cul arl y his arti cl e "The I nvesti gati on of Space wi th
Reacti on Deviccs" (which was wri tten in 1911) onl y i n 1925.
b
S
lems and physi cal pr i nc i pl e s of i nterpl ane-
et f orth by Yu. V. I iondratyuk in hi s wor k
"Those Nho Will Read i n Order to " . i f d , "
t'ic work on thi s manuscript was I gun i n
1916 and completed i n 1919. Thi s xork
of Y uri y i 'asi l 'yevi c was first published
i n f Y64. Based on his own studi es and
f ami l i ari ty wi th some of the works
. 1,. Tsi ol kovski y, klu. V. Kondratyuk
reworked thi s arti cl e several times.
He perforaed caref ul studi es of a nu
ockct and space roblcms, presen
solutions and performed many cal
roduced the
ocket by hi
endentl y of
olkovskiy, wi th the works o
whom he became f ami l i ar onl y l ater.
to i ncrease the heat of cgmbustion, and in order to usc
J 1
combusti bl e tanks which, after they are empti ed of l i qui d f uel ,
are themsel ves processed and sent to the furnace. Thi s same
suggesti on was made by engi neer F. A, Tsander i n a report at the
Theoreti cal Secti on of the Moscow Soci ety of Astronomy Enthusi -
asts i n December of 1923, but thi s suggesti on was i ncl uded i n the
manuscri pt of Yu, V, Kondratyuk bef ore the report of Tsander.
"He f i r st presented a formul a consi deri ng the i nf l uence of - / 4s
the wei ght of the tanks f or f uel and oxygen (proporti onal
passi ve t o use the termi nol ogy of the author) on the total
weight of the rocket, and proved that a rocket which di d not
j etti son or burn i ts tanks duri ng f l i ght coul d not escape the
bonds of the Earth's gravi ty.
"He al so f i r st made the suggesti on t o make a rocket wi th
wings and f l y it i n the ai r l i ke an ai rpl ane. Thi s suggesti on
has not appeared i n the f orei gn l i terature at al l (it bei ng
rather suggested that parachutes be used t o return the rocket
to the Earth), whi l e Russi an works have seen thi s suggesti on,
stated by F. A. Tsander at the same meeti ng and l ater pri nted
by K. E. Tsi ol kovski y, but onl y af ter it appeared i n the manu-
scri pt of the author. However, the studi es of Yu. V. Kondratyuk
go f urther, si nce he not onl y i ndi cates the need f or the use of
wings, but al so presents a rather detai l ed study as t o the
accel erati ons at which wings w i l l be usef ul , the traj ectory
angl es of the rocket to the hori zon f or the use of wi ngs, and
gi ves the most favorabl e f orce of reacti on of the rocket duri ng
f l i ght i n the ai r; it is found to be on the same order as the
i ni ti al wei ght of the rocket.
"General l y, the dynamics of the takeof f of the rocket repre-
-ent the most di f f i cul t porti on of the problem, and Yu. V.
Kondratyuk has sol ve2 it more compl etel y than any other author.
"Here al so i s- presented a study of the heati ng of the foreward
porti on of the rocket by the ai r consi deri ng both adi abati c com-
pressi on of the ai r, and radi ati on of the surf ace of the rocket
and of the heated ai r i tsel f . Thi s problem was al so studi ed by
no one.
"Al l numbers were gi ven by Yu. V. Kondratyuk, al though rather
roughl y (which he hi msel f mentions i n the foreword), but always
wi th hi s error i n the di recti on unfavorabl e t o the desi gner.
"Thi s book can serve as a desk reference book f or al l those
i nvol ved i n problems of rocket f l i ght."
I n the earl y 1930's, Yu. V. Kondratyuk, wi thout i nterrupti ng
hi s work on rocket technol ogy, began studyi ng hi gh power wing
i nstal l ati ons. Supported by the Peopl e's Committee f or Heavy
I ndustry and TsAGI, he headed the pl anni ng of a wind power pl ant
42
at the Ukrainian Scientific .search Institute for Industrial
Academy of Sciences USSR. To bring it to life, "Teploenergostroy"
Trust (Moscow) was directed to construct a wind power plant with
a capacity of 12,000 kw in the Crimea, under the leadership of
G. E. Ordzhonikidze. In 1938, Kondratyuk was named Chief of the
Technical Section of "Teploener~ostroy" Trust, then Chief of the
Planning Section of the "Planning and Experimental Office for
Electric Power Plants." In later years, Yu. V. Yondratyuk
studied the construction of powerful wind power plants, as
before without interrupting his studies on interplanetary voy-
ages.
Power Engineering (Khar'kov). The plan was approved by the
- /46
In 1947, the book of Yu. V. Kondratyuk "Mastery of Inter-
planetary Space" was reissued. Some of the conclusions of
Yu. V. Kondratyuk agreed to some extent with those made by
K. E. Tsiolkovskiy. However, Kondratyuk's book contained a
great deal of new and original material. The young scientist
was the first to develop: the energetically most favorable
trajectories for space flights, problems of the theory of multi-
stage rockets, designs for intermediate filling stations on the
artificial satellites of the planets, particularly the moon,
the conditions for economical landing of rockets on the Earth
using atmospheric braking, approximate methods of calculation
of the heating of a rocket as it moves through the atmosphere.
He recommended that a number of types of oxidizers be used,
particularly ozone, while recommending metals, metalloids and
their hydrogen compounds such as boron hydrides as fuels.
After suggesting that winged rockets be used, Yu. V. Kondratyuk
indicated the areas of their application and performed studies
on the selection of the most suitable aerodynamic character-
istics.
Our attention is drawn to the idea of Yu. V. Rondratyuk
of the utilization of solar energy: solar heat is converted by
electricity, then thrust is created by expulsion of elementary
particles.
On 7 June 1941, Yu. V. Kandratyuk enlisted in the People's
Volunteer Core. Leaving for the front, he gnve his friends a
suitcase and portfolio with his manuscripts for safekeeping.
Yu. V. Kondratyuk was a soldier in the onmunications
Company of the 2nd Regiment of the People's Militia Division of
the Kiev Region of Moscow. He took part in battles with the
German Fascist invaders and died at the front in 1942.
The name of Kondratyuk has been given to a crater on the far
side of the moon.
43
The Works of Yu. V. Kondratyuk on*Rocket Engi nes
Like K . E. Tsi ol kovski y, Yu. V. Kondratyuk came t o the con- - / 4 7
elusion that rockets shoul d be dri ven by LRE and shoul d have
more than one stage. I n hi s book "Mastery of I nterpl anetary
Space," he wrote that the reserve of energy to be used to i mpart
speed to a f l i ght vehi cl e can be carri ed on board i n qui te
vari ed forms, but that onl y the chemi cal energy of the compounds
of certai n substances would be suf f i ci ent to allow f l i ght i n
practi ce. Pl anni ng on the use of a mul ti stage rocket, Yu. V.
Kondratyuk obj ecti vel y studi ed i ts desi gn, f l i ght condi ti ons and
provi ded a foundati on or the sel ecti on of f uel s, suggesti ng an
arrangement of the combustion chamber and nozzl e and i ndi cati ng
the need to use a turbi ne pump uni t.
Suggesti ons for LRE Fuel s
I n sel ecti ng a f uel , Yu. V. Kondratyuk f i r st turned hi s
attenti on to i ts ef f i ci ency. Furthermore, he bel i eved i t neces-
sary to consi der al l of the vari ety of properti es of a f uel , as
w el l as the desi gn of the rocket and the speci f i cs of the con-
di ti ons of i ts use. I f the rocket i s composi te, i .e., 3 mul ti -
stage rocket, a greater quanti ty of f uel is requi red f or the
operati on of the f i r st stages than f or the l atter stages.
I n sel ecti on of f uel , Yu. V. Kondratyuk noted, one must
al so turn attenti on to i ts cost. According to Kondratyuk, the
use of the least expensi ve f uel s would be expedi ent f or the
f i r st stages of the rocket, wi th more ef f i ci ent and costl y
f uel s to be used i n l ater stages. Hondratyuk suggested a formul a
consi deri ng the cost of the f uel , i ts mass and thermal ef f i ci ency
to esti mate the "cost of reaction."
He consi dered l i qui d ai r , oxygen 3nd ozone to he the most
ef f ecti ve oxi di zers, wi t h petrol eum products, l i qui d acetyl ene,
methane-based f uel , hydrogen and i ts compounds, as wc11 3 s
products contai ni ng aluminum, magnesium, si l i con and boron to
be the best f uel s. The l ast f uel coul d be used as an amorphous
powder, pul veri zed i n the combustion chamher by a stream of
hydrogen or methane or added to oi l bef ore i t was fed i nto the
as a f uel .
combustion chamber. Yu. V. Kondratyuk suggested boron hydri de -- 148
Yu. V. Kondratyuk studi ed several groups of f uel s: f i rst,
l i qui d ai r-petrol eum or l i qui d oxygen-petrol eum, then l i qui d
acetyl ene, then l i qui d hydrogen. He then studi ed thc possi bi l i ty
of usi ng several metal l oi ds and metals. Kondratyuk cal cul ated
the thermal ef f ect of a vari ety of f uel s, as well as thei r
combustion product exhaust vel oci ty from the nozzl e and other
44
parameters. Kondratyuk stated hi s doubts concerni ng the
expedi ency of usi ng l i qui d hydrogen, due t o i ts low densi ty.
Recommendations f or the Design of the Combustion Chamber
Kondratyuk turned a good deal of attenti on to problems of
the organi zati on of combustion i n LRE combustion chambers.
As earl y as 1918-1919, studyi ng the combustion of hydrogen and
oxygen, he wrote that the combustion of the f uel coul d be
organi zed by three methods - - ei ther a prepared mi xture coul d
be i gni ted, or the gases need not be mixed unti l the actual
moment of i gni ti on, or they would be onl y parti al l y mixed,
wi th the best method to be determi ned by experi ence.
a checkerboard pl acement of the f uel component sprayers i n the
spray head of the combustion chamber. He al so suggested a
"strati f i ed" versi on. I n thi s case, the sprayers would be
pl aced al ong wal l s of the chamber i n bel ts, al ternati ng wi th
each other. I n hi s thermodynamic cal cul ati ons, Yu. V. Kondra-
tyuk consi dered the di ssoci ati on of the combustion prcducts;
he bel i eved that the process i n the chamber i s nearl y i sothermal ,
whi l e adi abati c expansi on of t he gases occurs i n the nozzl e.
According t o Yu. V. Kondratyuk, the "combustion chamber"
and "expul si on tube," i .e., the nozzl e, shoul d be made i n one
pi ece, and he bel i eved that the surf aces exposed to gases at
temperatures hi gher than those which coul d be wi thstood by the
ref ractory materi al appl i ed to the wal l s of the chamber, shoul d
be made of metal - - copper or one of the ref ractory metal s
(chromium or vanadium), and that the wal l s shoul d be i ntensi vel y - / 49
cool ed on the i nsi de by l i qui d gases fed i nto the combustion
chamber.
To assure compl eteness of combusti on, Mondratyuk suggested
Studyi ng the desi gn of the nozzl e, Yu. V. Kondratyuk wrote
that the most f avorabl e nozzl e shape approxi mates a parabol oi d
of rotati on, but not a quadrati c parabol oi d, rather one of
hi gher order; toward the nozzl e exi t pl ane, i t shoul d be con-
verted t o a cyl i nder. The flow of combustion products l eavi ng
the nozzl e would then by one di mensi onal , not di vergi ng, i n
order to achi eve the greatest possi bl e ef f i ci ency and, conse-
quentl y, thrust. Yu. V. Kondratyuk poi nted out that the f i ni sh
of the i nner surf ace of the nozzl e shsul d be such as t o provi de
the minimum loss due t o f ri cti on of the Combustion products
agai nst the wal l , and that the prof i l i ng of the nozzl e and cal -
cul ati on of cross secti ons shoul d be based on the condi ti on of
conservati on of constant flow rate (conti nui ty of fl ow) of the
combustion products.
4 5
Studyi ng the i nf l uence of external condi ti ons on the opera-
ti on of an L E , Yu. V. Kondratyuk recommended that, i n order
to avoi d decreasi ng the ef f i ci ency as the engi ne operated at
low al ti tudes, the cross- secti onal area be decreased, i .e.,
the nozzl es shoul d be equi pped wi th an addi ti onal devi ce i n the
form of a constri cti ng cone at the exi t pl ane of the nozzl e, to
be used i n the lower l ayers of the atmosphere then j etti soned as
the al ti tude i ncreased. As another versi on of thrust regul ati on
wi th al ti tude, he suggested that the combustion chamber be
equi pped wi th a dual nozzl e - - the fi rst to provi de opti mal
parameters f or operati on at low al ti tude, the second to be used
at hi gh al ti tude and to begi n operati on af ter the f i r st nozzl e
i s j etti soned.
desi gn of combustion chambers have been real i zed i n practi ce.
Many of the quggesti ons of Yu. V. Kondratyuk concerni ng the
Development of Feed Systems
I n hi s work "Those Who Read i n Order to Bui l d," he noted
that a rocket engi ne wi th a chemi cal source of energy shoul d
consi st of vessels, tanks, the combustion chamber tube and
devi ces to feed the f uel components from the tanks to the combus-
ti on chamber of the rocket engi ne. Yu. V. Kondratyuk suggested
that pump systems be used to feed both si ngl e-component and two-
component f uel s. A t fi rst, he pl anned on the use of pi ston
pumps. L ater, he wrote that pumps coul d al so be made pi stonl ess. /50
Kondratyuk's pumps were to be si ngl e- cycl e pumps, and each com-
ponent was to have i ts own pump. The l i quef i ed gases f ed by the
pumps were to be used pri mari l y f or combusti on, parti al l y to
pressuri ze the tanks carryi ng the f uel components.
To assure normal operati on of the engi ne, Kondratyuk
suggested a f uel - f eed regul ati on system. The sensi ng el ement
used wcs a devi ce si mi l ar to an aneroi d barometer, reacti ng t o
the pressure di f f erence i nsi de and outsi de the tanks.
The actuati ng el ement regul ati ng the tank pressuri zi ng
system i s a choke val ve i nstal l ed bef ore the i nl et f or gas
products i nto the tank. Yu. V. Kondratyuk al so suggested that
a mi xture qual i ty regul ator be i nstal l ed bef ore the i nl et t o
the combustion chamber, al though the i ntroducti on of the regul a-
ti on system compl i cates the desi gn of the cngi ne.
Furthermore, Yu. V. Kondratyuk turned parti cul ar attenti on
to the need f or prel i mi nary development and experi mental check-
i ng of the el ements of the engi ne. Thus, Y u. V. Kondratyuk
suggested methods of assuri ng the requi red operati ng mode of the
engi ne by i ts adj ustment to a f i xed mode and regul ati on duri ng
operati on, now used i n practi ce.
46
l i ttl e, under the i nf l uence of RY cal cul ati ons I had al ready
begun t o hope f or the possi bi l i ty of f l i ghts i n space."1
I n 1909, F. A. Tsander was an i ni ti ator i n the creati on i n
the I nsti tute of the "Second Riga Student's Soci ety f or A i r
Travel and Fl i ght Technology," and i n that same year he con-
structed a gl i der wi th hi s comrades.
F. A. Tsander advanced from the i dea of reachi ng great
al ti tudes by means of an ai rpl ane and propel l er motor t o the
i dea @E the possi bi l i ty of i nterpl anetary space f l i ght wi th a
rocket engi ne. I n order t o attempt t o real i ze hi s pl ans, F. A.
Tsander began work at Moscow Avi ati on Pl ant No. 4, "Motor"
i n February of 1919 as the head of the technical bureau. Late
i n 1921, F. A. Tsander presented to the Moscow Governor's
Conference of I nventors a pl an f or an engi ne f or an i nterpl ane-
tary ai rpl ane-spaceshi p. From J une 1922 through J ul y 1923,
Tsander, on temporary l eave from the pl ant, worked at home.
He constantl y f el t the support of the workers, who gave him
si gni f i cant material assi stance. F. A. Tsander val ued thi s
rel ati onshi p, and reported to the workers. For example, i n
Apri l of 1923, at a pl antwi de meeti ng of workers of "Motor"
Pl ant, he reported hi s hope t o ue abl e t o gi ve hi s pl an to the
pl ant f or construct i on.
fi rst pri nted work of F. A. Tsander appeared - - the arti cl e
"Fl i ghts t o Other Pl anets." I n thi s arti cl e, he presented hi s
basi c i dea -- the combi nati on of a rocket wi th an ai rpl ane,
wi th subsequent burni ng of the metal parts of the ai rpl ane.
I n 1924, F. A. Tsander wrote the arti cl e "Descri pti on of the
I nterpl anetary Spaceshi p-Ai rpl ane System of Tsander," which was
sent t o the Committee f or I nventi ons of the Al l -Russi an Counci l
of the Nati onal Economy 8 J ul y 1924.
l i shed i n the col l ecti on "Raketnaya Tekhnika" [Rocket Technology!
i n 1937. F. A. Tsander bel i eved that an ai rpl ane wi th a
pi ston engi ne coul d achi eve an al ti tude of about 28 km and a
speed of 350 t o 450 m/sec. Af ter thi s, the shi p i s swi tched
from the pi ston engi ne to a rocket engi ne.
the ai rpl ane i s pul l ed pi ece by pi ece (wings, tai l , chassi s,
pi ston engi ne, etc.) i nto a speci al devi ce, where it i s
mel ted and used as an addi ti ve t o the l i qui d f uel . A t the end
of the accel erati on run, at an al ti tude of 85 km, onl y the
rocket wi th smal l rudders and wings as needed f or a gl i di ng
descent would be l ef t.
I n 1924, i n the j ournal "Tekhnika i Zhizn'", No. 13, the
Thi s arti cl e was pub-
No l onger needed,
Attempti ng to get hi s works publ i shed, F. A. Tsander sent
some of them, parti cul arl y "The Uti l i ty of Accel erati on of the
Fl i ght of a Rocket at Moments when the Al i ght Vel oci ty of the - /53
'Autobiography of F. A. Tsander, fami l y archi ves.
48
Rocket is Great," "Fl i ghts to Other Planets,** and "Cal cul ati on of
the Fl i ght of an I nterpl anetary Shi p i n the Atmosphere" to the
Sci enti f i c Counci l of the Peopl e's Commissarict f or Educati on,
RSFSR, Prof essor V. P. Vetchi nki n. I n hi s revi ew of 8 February
1927, which was sent t o the Sci enti f i c Department of the Main
Adai ni strati on f or Sci ence, V. P. Vetchi nki n, noti ng the val ue
of the i deas and works of F. A. Tsander, consi dered i t qui te
necessary t o hel p F. A. Tsander to prepare and publ i sh hi s works,
some chapters of which had al ready been presented t o the Admin-
i strati r>n or Sci ence, as rapi dl y as possi bl e. Actual l y, due to
the f act that the publ i cati on of sci enti f i c works was not gi ven
i ts proper si gni f i cance, i n those years we l ost pri ori ty even i n
those cases when it f actual l y and undi sputabl y bel onged t o our
country. For example, i n 1925 the work of engi neer Gochman was
publ i shed abroad, i n which he suggested f l i ght on wings and
gl i di ng descent. The ideas devel oped by Yu. V. Kondratyuk and
F. A. Tsander were publ i shed i n thi s work.
A few days after he recei ved a repl y from V. P. Vetchi nki n,
F. A. Tsander sent the Sci enti f i c Di vi si on of the Main Adminis-
trati on f or Sci ence an announcement, i n which he requested to
be al l owed to work at the Central I nsti tute f or Aerodynamics and
Hydrodynamics (TsACI) or the Avi ati on Trust excl usi vel y i n the
area of i nterpl anetary voyages, and permi ssi on t o prepare f or
pri nti ng a book on i nterpl anetary voyages. I n J ul y of 1927, the
Admi ni strati on sent a message that the request of F. A. Tsander
was not approved.
development of space f l i ght, F. A. Tsander had earl i er, i n
October of 1926, transf erred to work at Avi ati on Pl ant No. 4 i n
the Central Design Bureau of the Avi ati on Trust as a Seni or
Engi neer. F. A. Tsander reported the resul ts of hi s works on
problems of the theory of rocket engi nes i n a report "Prel i mi nary
Work on the Constructi on of a Reacti on Apparatus," which he read
on 30 Novmbet 1928 at the 15th Sessi on of the Commission on
Sci enti f i c A i r Travel of the Moscow Aerol ogi cal Obsewatory. I n
1929-1930, F. A. Tsander, at the request of the Avi ati on Trust,
prepared a report on the basi s of hi s studi es enti tl ed "Problems
of Superavi ati on and I mmediate Problems on the Preparati on f or
I nterpl anetary Voyages" f or tho Fi f th I nternati onal Co,;gress on
Air Travel , which was pl anned f or September of 1930 at the
Hague. Af ter a number of revi si ons of the material which formed
the basi s of thi s report, F. A. Tsander prepared hi s book "The
Problem of Fl i ght wi th Reacti on Apparatus ,*' whi ch was publ i shed
i n 1932.
I n December of 1930, F. A. Tsander began t o work at the
Central I nsti tute of Avi ati on Motor Bui l di ng ( Ts I M) , where i n
1931 he began the constructi on of the OR-1 avi ati on reacti on
engi ne, fol l owed by the OR-2 LRE. The OR-1 engi ne operated on
I n order t o make hi s employment more cl osel y rel ated t o the
/54
49
compressed ai r (suppl i ed from cyl i nders or by a compressor) and
gasol i ne; the OR-2 LRE at f i r st ( i n 1933) was tested wi th l i qui d
oxygen and gasol i ne. #e can trace the sequence of work i n
t hi s di recti on i n the di ary of F. A. Tsander.
On 15 September 1931 i n hi s di ary he comments on hi s work
on the ai rpl ane wi th the reacti on engi ne; on 1 October, he
di scussed wi th Yu. A. Pobedonostsev "i nstal l ati on of the
reacti on engi ne on the ai rpl ane," and on 2 October he wrote
i n hi s di ary "about the oi l -oxysen rocket f or the ai rpl ane"1;
on 7 October he noted the conduct of the 32nd test of the OR- 1,
hel d i n the presence of S. P. Korolev and other speci al i sts,
whi l e on 19 October we see the f i r st mention of the OR-2 engi ne;
on 18 November 1931, F. A. Tsander concl uded a Soci al i st contract
wi th the Avi ati on Technology Bureau of the Sci enti f i c Research
Sector of tne Osoaviakhim CC f or the pl anni nf of a reacti on
engi ne, i ncl udi ng i ts i nstal l ati on on an ai rcraf t. 2
f or the OR-2 reacti on engi ne f or the RP-1 j et ai rcraf t i n the
fol l owi ng peri ods of time: combustion chamber wi th nozzl e,
tanks f or f uel wi th saf ety val ve, tank f or gasol i ne - - by 25
November 1931; compensator f or cool i ng of nozzl e and heati ng of
oxygen - - by 3 December 1931.. The times f or compl eti on of
cal cul ati on of the temperature i n the combustion chamber,
exhaust vel oci ty and axi al pressure of the j et i n the nozzl e
at vari ous pressures i n space, wei ghts of the parts, f l i ght
durati on of the RP-1 reacri on ai rcraft wi th vari ous oxygen
contents, cal cul ati on of the heati ng and cool i ng system, approx-
i mate cal cul ati on of the temperature of the walls of the com-
busti on chamber - - al l corresponded t o the time f or compl eti on
of the drawings.
F. A. Tsander agreed t o pl an and produce working drawings
Manufacture and testi ng of the nozzl e and combustion
chamber were pl anned f or 2 December 1931; the f uel tanks f or
l i qui d oxygen and gasol i ne - - by 1 J anuary 1932; i nstal l ati on
of the OR-2 on the RP-1 ai rcraf t and f l i ght testi ng were pl anned
f or the end of 1932.
An addendum t o the agreement noted that i f the pl anned
improved nozzl e i ncl uded a di rect and reverse cone, cal cul .ati ons
and drawings were to be completed by 15 J anuary 1932. Thi s
extxsmely short peri od OF time f or compl eti on of a complex prob-
lemof l arge volume, i ncl udi ng theoreti cal study, cal cul ati on, - 1 5 5
I F , A. Tsander fami l y archi ves.
'Archives of Academy of Sci ences USSR, F 573, d 269, p. 10,
50
pl anni ng, manufacture and testi ng, characteri zed both the enthu-
siasm and optimism of the contractor, and the underesti mati on
of the di f f i cul ti es which would ari se i n compl eti ng the obl i ga-
ti ons undertaken. Thi s was a resul t of the l ack of experi ence
i n development of LRE, as well as the mismatch between the com-
pl ex technol ogy of manufacture of the engi ne and the rel ati vel y
low producti on capaci ti es which coul d be found at the time.
I n 1931, Osoaviakhim al l ocated F. A. Tsander 1000 rubl es
f or the study of reacti on moti on, on 25 February 1932 another
13,000 rubl es - f orthe testi ng of rocket ai rcraf t, fol l owed by
80,000 rubl es i n March of the same year.
I t soon became clear that the preparati on of detai l ed work-
i ng drawings and the compl eti on of f ul l cal cul ati ons of - a reac-
ti on engi ne wi th a complex control system were si mpl y too much
f or F. A. Tsander al one. The need thus arose t o concentrate
the ef f orts of sci enti sts and engi neers working i n the area of
reacti on technol ogy.
F. A. Tsander al so bel i eved that f or practi cal development
of rocket technol ogy, the l argest possi bl e number of engi neeri ng
and techni cal workers, parti cul arl y tal ented young peopl e, would
be needed. We w i l l di scuss i n detai l the creati on and devel op-
ment of the creati ve team headed by F. A. Tsander.
I n 1932, Tsander's work "The Problem of Fl i ght Using
Reacti on Apparatus'' was publ i shed as a separate book. Here,
i n addi ti on to the presentati on i n the theory of the f l i ght
of rockets and ai rpl anes, we f i nd methods of sel ecti on of f uel
and desi gn of vari ous reacti on engi nes.
I n 1932, F. A. Tsander began working on the creati on of
hi s f arst LRE, cal l ed the OR- 2. The engi ne was tested f or the
fi rst time i n 1933, burni ng l i qui d oxygen and gasol i ne. Later,
at the RNII, the desi gn of the engi ne was si gni f i cantl y changed
i n order t o improve i ts ef f i ci ency, and i n versi on 02 it used
l i qui d oxygen and hi ghl y concentrated ethyl al cohol .
Li qui d oxygen (l i ke l i qui d l uori ne, l i qui d hydrogen) is
a cryogeni c rocket f uel componeirt. I t is a compressed gas,
cool ed to a low (cryogeni c) temperature. Cryogeni c f uel must
be used when thi s is j usti f i ed by the i ncreased speci f i c i mpul se
which i t provi des, for example i n the boosters of spacecraf t.
Cryogenic f uel i s not sui tabl e f or l ong-term storage, due to the
evaporati on l osses.
A t GI RD from the very f i rst days of organi zati on of thi s
group and formati on of the f i rst team, Fri dri kh Arturovi ch
worked on other problems as well. He turned h i s attenti on to
the constructi on of a rocket, l ater cal l ed the GIRD-X. Work was
5 1
begun on thi s rocket i n J anuary of 1933, and it was l aunched on
2 5 November of the same year, but wi thout Tsander. The creati on
of the CIRD-X rocket was preceded by many cal cul ati ons, rough
pl ans and experi ments, performed and conducted by Fri dri kh
Arturovi ch.
/56
F. A. Tsander spent most of hi s day i n cal cul ati on, whi l e
al so working on producti on, hel pi ng the mechanics who encoun-
tered sl i ght di f f i cul ti es i n the manufacture and tuni ng of
apparatus new f or the time. The engi neers and desi gners, wi th
F. A. Tsander as thei r chi ef , worked together i n a small room.
They worked morning, noon and ni ght, whenever needed, as l ong
as they had strength.
thought about the desi gn of i ndi vi dual uni ts of the rocket, which
he cal l ed a "spaceshi p."
I n addi ti on to hi s pl an tasks, F. A. Tsander cal cul ated and
"Forward to Mars!" "Faster to Mars" -- these words symbol-
i zed the goal of hi s l i f e. He f requentl y shared hi s thoughts
wi th hi s coworkers on the f i r st team, tossi ng of f drawings df
i ndi vi dual parts of the spacecraf t. Gradual l y, the form of the
f uture rocket devel oped, the rocket which Tsander dreamed would
f l y to our nei ghbor pl anet.
During the l ast months of hi s l i f e, Fri dri kh Arturovi ch
worked especi al l y hard. As a resul t of overf ati gue, systemati c
l ack of slecrp, poor and i rregul ar feedi ng, F. A. Tsander began
t o l ose hi s abi l i ty to work. On the i nsi stance of hi s coworkers,
Fri dri kh Arturovi ch travel ed to Ki sl ovodsk f or treatment. On
the way, he contracted typhus and di ed on 28 March 1933.
publ 'shed under the ti tl e "The Problem of Fl i ght Using Rocket
Apparatus." The col l ecti on was rei ssued i n 1961, expanded t o
i ncl ude many works publ i shed f or the f i r st ti me.
I n 1947 1 col l ecti on of the works of F. A. Tsslnder was
The archi ves contai n many more unpwl i shed works of the
sci enti st. Most of the remai ni ng manuscri pts requi re l ong and
tedi us work to translate Tsander's shorthand t o ordi nary text.
The di f f i cul ty of decodi ng is expl ai ned by the f act that F. A.
Tsander used a l ong-forgotten type of shorthand, which he him-
sel f al tered somewhat, wri ti ng on speci f i c problems of the
theory of engi nes and rockets i n German. Thus, the work wi th
the manuscri pts of F. A. Tsander requi res speci al i sts f ami l i ar
wi th hi s system of wri ti ng, f l uent i n German and f ami l i ar wi th
rocket technol ogy.
The f i r st deci pheri ng of the workseof F. A. Tsander was
performed at RNII.
di recti on of Ye. K. Moshkin decoded several notebooks f i l l ed
I n 1934, a group of stenographers under the
52
wi th wri ti ngs recorded by F. A. Tsandcr duri ng the earl y
peri od of hi s acti vi ty. Up to 1960, the study of the heri tage
of F. A. Tsander was conducted wi th no stri ct pl an, unsystem-
ati cal l y. The appearance of earl i er unpubl i shed i deas of F. A.
Tsander i n pri nt and the organi zati on of a number of meeti ngs,
j ubi l ees and conferences dedi cated to the memory of F. A.
Tsander, the daughter of the sci enti st, who al so prepared J
col l ecti on of the works of F. A. Tsander "From hi s Sci enti f i c
Heri tage" f or pri nti ng (Nauka Press, 196;). The documents i n
thi s col l ecti on, from the archi ves of Tsander, are i nteresti ng
i n many respects. I n parti cul ar, it i s noted here that Tsander
began pl anni ng the OR- 1 eagi ne i n 1928. A method of the cal -
cul ati on of llHydrogen-Oxygen Rockets** is presented (Apri l , 192?),
i n which the thermodynamic cal cul ati on of LRE is accuratel y
expl ai ned.
Tsander are l argel y due to the ef f orts of Astra Fri dri khovna
/57
Si nce 1965, the drci pheri ng and study of the works of
F. A. Tsander have been i ncl uded i n the pl an of the I nsti tute of
the Hi story of Natural Sci ence and Technology of the Academy of
Sci ences, USSR.
I n May of 1970, the f i r st "readi ngs" dedi cated t o the study
and real i zati on of the sci enti f i c heri tage of F. A. Tsander were
hel d i n Riga, and adopted a resol uti on t o hol d "Tsander readings1'
systemati cal l y. The second "readi ngs" were hel d i n May of 1972
i n Leningrad.
si de of the moon.
The name of Tsander has been gi ven to a crater on the f ar
The Works of F. A. Tsander on Rocket Engines
F. A. Tsander, a great sci enti st i n the area of the devel -
opment of a broad range of problems on the theory of space
f l i ght, dedi cated a si gni f i cant porti on of hi s sci enti f i c and
techni cal acti vi ty to theoreti cal studi es of the possi bi l i ty of
constructi ng hi ghl y ef f i ci ent reacti on f l i ght vehi cl es, as well
as theoreti cal and practi cal work on the mastery of l i qui d-
f uel ed rocket engi nes duri ng the i ni ti al peri od of thei r devel -
opment i n the USSR.
Many of the theoreti cal and experi mental works of F. A.
Tsander are dedi cated t o the f i ndi ng of means f or achievement
of hi s basi c i dea, that the combustion of the metal parts of
the rocket al ong wi th the l i qui d f uel al ter the parts were no
l onger needed coul d i ncrease the exhaust vel oci ty of the combus-
ti on products and al so i ncrease the rati o of the mass of f uel
burned duri ng the process of a f l i ght t o the f i nal mass of the
rocket
53
Thi s idea attracted F. A. Tsander as earl y as the 1920ts,
but was most compl etel y presented by him i n hi s work "The
Problem of Fl i ght Using Reaction Apparatus."
presents a descri pti on of two f l i ght vehi cl es: an airplane wi t .
a rocket engi ne, the wings of the ai rpl ane an some other parts
bei ng drawn i nto the vehi cl e and mel ted t o be used as f uel , and
rockets surrounded by a set of contai ners f i l l ed wi+h f uel com-
ponents, wi th the contai ners drawn i nto the central rocket after
thei r fuel content was exhausted, then mel ted and used as f uel .
I n thi s work he
/59
F. A. Tsander bel i eved that onl y the desi gns which he sug-
gested caul d achi eve i nterpl anetary speeds.
F. A. Tsander's Pl an f or the I nterpl anetary
Spacecraft
Li
4'
Pl an of Central Rocket Surrounded by Si de
Rockets and Fuel Tanks Af ter F. A. Tsander
54
H i s tetal confi dence i n the correctness of the sci enti f i c
and techni cal di recti on he had sel ected al so determi ned the
nature of hi s theoreti cal and practi cal developments. He
turned hi s attenti on to theoreti cal study of possi bl e means of
i ncreasi ng the sepci f i c impulse of hi s engi ne and the effi c!ency
of i ts i ndi vi dual uni t; theoreti cal study and experi mental
development of possi bl e appl i cati on of metals as addi ti ves t o
f uel ; and theoreti cal study and experi mental development of L E .
I n the earl y 30' s , the l evel of technol ogy and avai l abl e
structural materials di d not al l ow a rocket wi th a hi gh rati o of
launch wei ght to f i nal wei ght to be constructed (f or example,
i n the first Sovi et rocket wi th L E , the GIRD-X, thi s rati o was
approxi matel y 1.4), so that the i dea of F. A. Tsander was pro-
Ei si ng, but was found to be practi cal l y i mpossi bl e.
I n the best modern rockets, thanks to the use of the l atest
structural materials, opti mal desi gn of al l rocket uni ts and
operati on i n the most sui tabl e modes, very hi gh rati os of
launch weight to f i nal wei ght have been achieved.
I nvesti gati on of Fuel s
F. A. Tsander was a proponent of the use of f uel s wi th low-
boi l i ng oxi di zers. He based thi s opi ni on on the fact that
thi s type of fuel has excepti onal l y great capabi l i ti es as con-
cerns f urther i ncreases i n speci f i c impulse. As an oxi di zer,
he bel i eved it desi rabl e to use l i qui d oxygen, wi th l i qui d
hydrogen, gasol i ne or al cohol as the f uel . Gasol i ne, i n par-
ti cul ar, drew Tsantier's attenti on not onl y by i ts hi gh heat
content, but al so -che possi bi l i ty of i ts use i n the avi ati on
and rocket engi nes which he pl anned f or i nterpl anetary f l i ght
vehi cl es .
As we have stated, F. A. Tsander performed i nvesti gati ons
on the possi bi l i ty and expedi ency of usi ng metals as addi ti ves
to l i qui d f uel . As we know, when some metals burn, more heat is
l i berated than when l i qui d f uel s are burned, even such l i qui ds
as gasol i ne; theref ore, the addi ti on of metal to a l i qui d f uel
under certai n condi ti ons might cause an i ncrease i n the speci f i c
impulse .
/60
For example, the heati ng abi l i ty of COL. usti on products i n
oxygen, per kg of f uel , accordi ng t o F. A. Tsander, are as
follows: f or gasol i ne - - 2350 kcal , f or aluminum - - 3730 kcal ,
for l i thi um as hi gh as 4710 kcal.
oxide parti cl es are general l y formed. I t i s theref ere i srpossi bl e
to cal cul ate the exhaust vel oci ty, thrust and speci f i c i mpul se
However, at the temperatures characteri sti c f or LRE, sol i d
by the formul as desi gned on the assumpti on of gas flow al one.
F. A. Tsander studi ed the condi ti ons of motion of products con-
si sti ng of a mi xture of gases and sol i d oxi des. For example,
i n hi s arti cl e, "The Use of Netal Fuel s i n Rocket Engi nes,"l he
presents an approxi mate determi nati on of the reacti on force
produced by an engi ne expel l i ng parti cl es from i ts nozzl e at two
si gni f i cantl y di f f erent vel oci ti es. "I t is possi bl e," F. A.
Tsander wrote, "to burn metal wi th l i qui d f uel s i n proporti ons
such that no decrease i n thrust is observed."2
I n order t o check hi s cal cul ati ons and the practi cal
possi bi l i ty of uti l i zi ng the burni ng of metal i n the chambers
of reactim engi nes, F. A. Tsander f i r st performed a nueber of
si mpl e l aboratory experi ments on the i gni ti on and combustion of
metals. Then, the combustion of metals was studi e1 usi ng the
OR-1. Later, the program of experi ments was expanded.
F. A. Tsander suggested that the metal f uel be made of
those parts and units which had performed thei r f uncti ons and
were no l onger needed for f l i ght or l andi ng of the ai rpl ane-
rocket or central rocket wi th many si de rockets t;nd l i qui d f uel
and oxygen tanks which he desi gned.
For thi s reason, F. A. Tsander attempted to determi ne the
possi bi l i ty of processi ng i ndi vi dual structural elemenas i nto
powdered or mel ted metal (magnesium, aluminum) and devel oped
pl ans f or engi nes al l owi ng thi s idea to be real i zed. F. A.
Tsander came to the concl usi on that it was expedi ent to use
l i thi um as not onl y an addi ti ve t o the f uel , but al so as, the
structural material of a spacecraf t.
I n hi s arti cl e, "Problems of the Design of a Rocket Using
Metal Fuel," publ i shed i n 1937, the requi rements are set f orth
f or metals of which the structural el ements l ater t o be burned
i n the combustion chamber were t o be made. They are as
fol l ows: the metal shoul d be suf f i ci entl y strong at normal tem-
peratures, the l i ght and heat of mel ti ng shoul d not be too
great, the heat generati ng capaci ty shoul d be as great as pos-
si bl e; the mel ti ng poi nt - - low. H i s work presents a method for
determi nati on and selection of the opti mal dependence between
the mass of a metal on the one hand, and of the l i qui d oxi di zer
and f uel on the other; between the masses of al l structures and
of the metal burned, between the sol i d and gaseous combustion
products.
'Raketnaya Tekhni ka, 1936, No. 1.
'Tsander, F. A., Problema Pol eta pri Promoshchi Reaktivnykh [The
Problem of Fl i ght Using Reacti on Apparatus -- Col l ecti on of
Works], Moscow~Oboroni i z Press , 1961, p. 241.
56
I n hi s work #'The Problem of Fl i ght Using Reaction Appara- .
tu5,'#
the f uel , suggested earlier by Yu. V. Kondratyuk, was studi ed.
eeHowever, boron w i l l probabl y be used onl y as a powder f or i nsu-
l ati on (amorphous boron) or i n the form of rods subj ect t o com-
pressi on (crystal l i ne boron). Li qui d boron hydri de coul d al so be
taken i f kept very cold."1 When boron bums i n oxygen, the min-
i mum quanti ty of sol i d product i s produced wi th very hi gh heat
l i berati on, which Tsander cal cul ated at 3900 kcal /kg.
the use of boron or l i qui d boron hydri de as an addi ti ve t o
This work al so suggests that sol i d nonmetal l i c materials
such as cel l ul oi d, etc. be used as addi ti ves to l i qui d f uel .
"Experi rents coul d also be conducted to f i nd pressed masses,
used i n almost al l areas of chemi cal technol ogy and possi bl e
f or our purposes as wel l . " And f urther ... "We can imagine
masses contai ni ng naphthal ene or other f uel s i n mi xture wi th
materials which, when heated, would me l t and then be f ed from
the mel ti ng vessel i nto the motor pumps of the rocket as l i qui d
fuel .e*2
Study of Processes Wi thi n the Chamber and Cool i ng Condi ti ons
F. A. Tsander devel oped methods f or thermal and therao-
- /62
dynamic cal cul ati on of a reacti on engi ne, presented i n two
arti cl es under the ti tl e "Thermal Cal cul ati on of a Li qui d-
Fuel ed Rocket Engine," f i r st publ i shed i n 1936-1937.
I n these arti cl es, the author presented examples of cal-
cul ati ons f or a f uel consi sti ng of ai r enri ched i n oxygen and
gasol i ne. There al so he anal yzed the i nf l uence of the adi abati c
i ndex, gas constant, gas temperature and degree of expansi on on
the i deal exhaust vzl oci ty of gases from the nozzl e; he presented
a method f or determi nati on of the area of the cri ti cal and exi t-
pl ane cross secti ons of the nozzl e; he studi ed the fl ow of
actual gases consi deri ng l oses and consi deri ng the i nf l uence of
gas f ri cti on on the wall on the characteri sti cs of the nozzl e.
F. A. Tsander determi ned the combustion temperature con-
si deri ng di ssoci ati on of gases and constructed graphs character-
i zi ng the thermal parameters of an engi ne as a f uncti on of the
oxygen content i n the oxi di zer.
I n these arti cl es, F. A. Tsander performed hi s calculations
not only analytically, but also using entropy diagrams.
'Tsander, F. A. , Problema Pol eta pr i Promoshchi Reaktivnykh [The
Problem of Fl i ght Using Reacti on Apparatus - - C ol l ecti on of
Works], Moscow, Oborongiz Press, 1961, p. 119.
'I bi d -. ' p. 117.
57
A number of the works of F. A. Tsander have been dedi cated
to deterai nati on oL' the heati ng and cool i ng of the walls of a
rocket engi ne combustion chaaber. These works anal yze the
pecul i ari ti esof heat transf er from the gases to the walls of
LRE. The most detai l ed thermal cal cul ati on of the cool i ng
system f or a rocket engi ne is presented i n the arti cl e "Thermal
Cal cul ati on of a Rocket Engine Designed f or Li qui d Fusl ."l
I n i t, the heat transf er coef f i ci ent i s cal cul ated on the basi s
of the formula of Nussel t, af ter which formul as f or determi na-
ti on of the external , i nternal and average temperature of the
engi ne chamber wall are gi ven, methods are studi ed f or detcr-
mi nati on of the physi cal parameters of cool i ng media and the
requi red flow rates.
Cal cul ati on of the cool i ng system hel ped F. A. Tsander to
deterni ne the l i mi ti ng possi bl e pressure i n the chamber f or
each speci f i c f uel composi ti on. Using the resul ts of cal cul a-
ti ons, he determi ned the thermal ef f i ci ency, thrust of the
engi ne, exhaust vel oci ty and selected the volume of the com-
busti on chamber. Thus we see that the pl anni ng and construc-
ti on of the OR-1 and OR-2 engi nes were preceded by cal cul ati on.
- /63
The sci enti st set hi msel f the problem of transf eri ng rocket
technol ogy from the area of theory to the area of engi neeri ng
practi ce. "I am pri mari l y a mathematician," Fri dri kh Arturovi ch
sai d of hi msel f. However, anal yzi ng the resul ts of hi s acti vi ty,
we can bravel y state that F. A. Tsander was a great sci enti st,
i nventor, engi neer, desi gner and experi menter. He created a
number of experi mental i nstal l ati ons, a fl ame stand, created
and experi mental l y devel oped the OR- 1 reacti on engi ne, devel -
oped the OR-2 rocket engi ne and the i ni ti al versi on of the
GIRD-X rocket wi th the type 10 rocket engi ne.
I ncreasi ng Speci f i c I mpulse and Ef f i ci ency
F. A. Tsander studi ed vari ous means f or i ncreasi ng speci f i c
impulse. Gi vi ng thi s problem prime i mportance, he based hi 5
studi es on the use of ii f uel wi th hi gh speci f i c heat content,
consi sti ng of l i qui d oxygen and gasol i ne, and consi dered the
use of oxygen most promi si ng. I n addi ti on t o the use o f metal
as an addi ti ve t o f uel i n order to i ncrease i ts heat-produci ng
capabi l i ty, he al s o suggested that speci f i c i mpul se be i ncreased
by acti ng di rectl y on the gases l eavi ng the chamber of the
rocket engi ne by i nstal l ati on of restri cti ng f i tti ngs at the end
of the expandi ng nozzl e, the so- cal l ed reverse cone.
'Raketnaye Tekhni ka, No. 1, 1936.
58
As heat is transf erred from the supersoni c stream to the
The i ncrement i n work of the cycl e i s obtai ned by the
constri cti ng f i tti ng, the gas vel oci ty shoul d i ncrease.
addi ti onal adi abat c expansi on (l i ne CE) and subsequent i so-
thermal compressiot. ( l i ne EF). F. A. Tsander cal l ed thi s
cycl e the improved working cycl e. The pressure at the outl et
of the nozzl e pa remains at the desi gn l evel , and opti mal
thrust is achi eved; the temperature of the gases l eavi ng the
nozzl e Ta is decreased, consequentl y i ncreasi ng the heat drop
generated i n the combustion chamber. However, F. A. Tsander
di d not consi der the presence of compressi on jumps i n the super-
soni c stream and di d not study the possi bi l i ty of produci ng
ef f ecti ve cool i ng of the enti re mass of exhaust gases.
A t the present time, thermal ef f i ci ency i s i ncreased b y
i ncreasi ng the degree of expansi on of the gas by i ncreasi ng tho
pressure i n the chamber wi th the opti mal gas pressure at the
exi t pl ane of the nozzl e.
Resul ts of Thermodynamic Cal cul a-
ti ons of the OR- 1 Reacti on Engine
After F. A. Tsander
i n the USSR by V. P. Glushko, A. P. V
and other sci enti sts.
The OR- 1 Reacti on Engine
I n 1930, F. A. Tsander
devel oped an approxi mate
method f or cal cul ati on .,f a
reacti on engi ne. He gave
parti cul ar attenti on to the
cal cul ati on of thermodynamic
processes i n the combustion
chamber, al l owi ng him t o
determi ne the basi c para-
meters of the LRE wi th the
necessary accuracy as they
were pl anned. During these
years, the approxi mate
method of desi gn of a rocket
engi ne was devel oped and
successf ul l y used by V. P.
Clushko at GDL. L ater,
methods of thermodynamic
cal cul ati on consi deri ng
di ssoci ati on were improved
ani chev, A. I . Polyarnyy
The f i r st experi mental reacti on engi ne (OR-1) used com-
pressed ai r and gasol i ne. The pl anni ng and constructi on o,C the
OR-1 were preceded by l aboratory experi ments and cqref ul cal cu-
l ati ons performed by F. A. Tsander. I n 1917, he performed
59
ex eri ments on the burni ng of metal; begi nni ng i n 1922, he
se P ected and systemati zed the cal cul ati on dependences, wi thout
which it was i mpossi bl e t o create the method of cal cul ati on of
L E , devel oped pl ans and drawi ngs f or an experi mental reacti on
at Moscow Uni versi ty enti tl ed "Prel i mi nary Work on the Construc-
ti on of a Rocket Apparatus," i n which he presented the resul ts
of prel i mi nary cal cul ati ons and a pl an which served as the
basi s f or development of the OR-1.
engi ne, and on 30 November 1928, F. A. Tsander read a report /65
I n October of 1929,
F. A. Tsander began
detai l ed desi gn cal cu-
l ati on of the OR- 1
engi ne.
b The i ni ti al cal cul a-
ti on data were: gasol i ne
consumption 350-400 g/hr,
E theoreti cal ai r consump-
consumption was approxi -
I ndi cator Diagram of Theoreti cal l y matel y 1.6? g/sec.
Improved Engine of F. A. Tsander Thermodynamic cal cul ati ons
determi ned the composi ti on
of the combustion products, gas temperature i n the combustion
chamber, approxi matel y 2440 K, thermal ef f i ci ency, or, the order
of 0.105-0.125, exhaust vel oci ty, about 840 in/sec, and desi gn
thrust - - 0. 145 kg.
P
1 -- ti on per kg of gasol i ne - -
?I 14.2 kg. Thus, the f uel
F. A. Tsander began assembl i ng hi s engi ne i mmedi atel y af ter
compl eti on of the cal cul ati ons and manufacture of the parts.1
On 30 September 1929, he wrote: "Due to the fundi ng problem,
I suddenl y got the i dea to redesi gn the torch f or the f i r st
reacti on engi ne ... I redesi gned the f i tti ng and surrounded i t
wi th a sl eeve, i nto which ai r was blown under pressure. I nsi de
the sl eeve was a speci al tube forming the space f or combustion.
A t the end of thi s tube was an i nterchangeabl e coni cal f i tti ng
to produce exhaust vel oci ti es greater than the speed o f sound.
"The copper tube f or l i qui d gasol i ne was repl aced L-i th a
l onger one, whi ch was wound around the coni cal f i tti ng to preheat
the gasol i ne. Furthermore, the tank was equi pped wi th a mano-
meter t o measure the gasol i ne feed pressure and a ni ppl e t o l et
'The doscri pti ons of the OR- 1 presented by a number of authors
i ncl ude many i ndi vi dual errors; we theref ore consi dered i t
expedi ent t o present the descri pti on of the OR- 1 gi ven by Tsander
hi msel f.
60
out ai r. A thermometer was attached to the tank to measure the
tank cover temperature. A speci al val ve was f i tted to regul ate
the consumption of f uel .
''The compressed ai r f or combustion and cool i ng of the com-
busti on chamber was fed i nto the cool i ng l i ne through a ni ppl e
attached to the sl eeve i n f ront af the nozzle. he mi xture was
i gni ted by a spark pl ug sol dered i nto the head." T
The first tests
of the OR- 1 were
conducted by F. A.
Tsander i n the
l aboratory f or ai r
avi ati on engi nes of
the screw-motor sec-
ti on of TsAGI i n 1930.
The engi ne was sus-
pended so that the
gases exi ti ng from
the nozzl e were
di rected toward a
small metal di sc con-
nected to a bal ance.
The i ndi cati ons of
the bal ance were used
to determi ne the pres-
sure of the gases on
* - -
Y
The F i r st Reacti on Engine - the OR- 1 the di sc.
I n 1931, the OR- 1 engi ne bas f i nal l y devel oped and begi n-
ni ng i n 1932 it was used t o study the i nf l uence of the addi ti on
of metals to the l i qui d f uel on thrust.
measurements characteri sti c of the time and the i nsuf f i ci ent
thrust devel oped by the OR-1 di d not al l ow any i nf l uence of these
addi ti ves on the operati ng mode of the engi ne to be measured, but
cal cul ati ons sti l l i ndi cated the expedi ency of the use of metal
addi ti ves to the f uel . Therefore, studi es were conti nued i n
later years.
The low accuracy of the
The OR-2 Rocket Engine
The OR-2 engi ne was devel oped by F. A. Tsandcr. The pl an-
ni ng of the enbi ne was begun i n September of 1931, but prel i mi nary
cal cul ati on of the uni ts and of the engi ne as a whole had been
conducted by Tsander even earl i er. The engi ne was desi gned f or
'Tsander, F. A., Problema Pol eta pri Promoshchi Reaktivnykh [The
Problem of Fl i ght Using Reacti on Apparatus - - Col l ecti on of
Works], Moscow, Oborongiz Press, 1961, p. 47.
61
i nstal l ati on on a pi l oted vehi cl e - - the RP-1 "f l yi ng wing"
gl i der desi gned by V. I . Cheranovskiy. Thi s gl i der was manufac-
tured by Osoaviakhim acti vi sts.
Thus, the OR-2 is the fi rst domesti c LRE desi gned f or a
Li qui d oxygen and gasol i ne were sel ected as pi l oted vehi cl e.
the f uel . The operati ng t i me of the engi ne was desi gned t o be
30 sec, wi th a thrust of 50 kg and a chamber pressure of 6 t o 8
atm. However, the OR-2 was never i nstal l ed on the RP-1 gl i der,
si nce the engi ne was never sucL essful l y devel oped. Later, not
at GI RD but rather at RNII, a modi fi cati on of the engi ne (02) was
devel oped, di f f eri ng from the OR-2 i n desi gn and f uel used.
The combustion chamber of the OR-2 had an el engated cyl i n-
dri cal shape, the nozzl e was coni cal and supersoni c. The ai xi ng
head carri ed sprayers and an i nl et valve f or the fuel .
val ve al l owed thrust t o be vari ed by gradual l y changi ng the f uel
consumption. I gni ti on was by an electric spark pl ug. The
cyl i ndri cal porti on of the chamber of the engi ne was cool ed
external l y by the l i qui d oxygen, which entered the chamber i n
gaseous form, and the nozzl e was cool ed wi th water.
Thi s same
The extracti ve feed system i ncl uded pear-shaped f uel tanks,
which were t o be suspended i n the i nternal secti ons of the gl i der.
The f uel components were fed t o the chamber under pressure
created by gaseous ni trogen. Thi s was achi eved by the use of
a "ni trogen compensator" - - a separate tank contai ni ng l i qui d
l i qui d oxygen evaporators, the ni trogen compensator heat
exchanger, a water tank and pup. The water, heated i n the
nozzl e cool i ng cavi ty, passed through the pump and tank i nto the
ni trogen compensator and evaporators. Heat exchange between the
water and the l i qui d ni trogen caused the l atter t o evaporate.
Addi ti onal cool i ng of the water occurred i n the oxygen evapor-
ators.
The col d water was returned t o the nozzl e cool i ng cavi ty. A l l
parts of the OR-2 were pl aced i n the gl i der.
OR-2 engi ne was completed i n December of 1932.
ni trogen. The water cool i ng system f or the nozzl e i ncl uded two
/69
The oxygen gas was used to pressuri ze the oxygen tanks.
Assembly of the
By earl y March 1933, the engi ne was i nstal l ed on a test
stand at the Nakhabinsk range and prepared f or testi ng.
Fri dri kh Arturovi ch was then i n Ki sl ovodsk f or treatment, the
flame tests were performed by hi s working col l eagues.
The f i r st test of the OR-2 was hel d on 18 March 1933. The
feed pressure was f i r st hel d rather low - - from 3 to 4 atm. The
f uel i n the chamber i gni ted, but the combustion was unstabl e and
rough and i n a few seconds the engine had to be shut of f . During
the second test on 21 March 1933, one oxygen evaporator operated.
During the seventh secbrid, the motor burst i n the regi on of the
head. The thi rd test was conducted on 26 March. The f eed
Si nce
/70
62
. -
---=E.- -
= Fuel
- Water
-- Nitrogen
Diagram of the OR-2 Engine and External View
of Its Chambers: 1, Gasoline Tank; 2, Safety
Valve; 3, 20, Oxygen Tanks; 4, Evaporator; 5,
Combustion Chamber; 6, Valve; 7, Puinp; 8, Water
Tank; 9, Additional Heating; 10, Roller; 11,
Line; 12, Nitrogen Under Pressure; 13, Evapor-
ator; 14, Control Panel; IS, Manometers; 16,
Thermometers; 17, Valves; 18, Magnito; 19,
Valves; 21, Cylinder of Hot Water; 22, Nitrogen
Compensator
63
system was operated wi th two evaporators, but the combustion of
the f uel i n the chamber was rough, and i n a few seconds the
chamber burst on a welded seam. The cool i ng jacket burned
through. During the f ourth test, on 28 Apri l 1933, the pressure
i n t he chamber changed suddenl y, but at times bri ef l y stabi l i zed
and hel d al most constant at 8 atn; the feed system operated wi th
two evaporators.
l oads devel oped, the engi ne was shut down i n the 35th second.
I n danger of damage due to the great dynamic
Diagram of Placement of OR-2 Engine
Components on the RP-4 Gl i der
ati on and cl earer determi aati on of the
processes occurri ng i n the engi ne.
i n t
During the fi rst
tests of the OR-2, the
members of the team
hel d to the working
styl e of F. A. Tsander
and fol l owed hi s
i nstructi ons t o test
the enti re motor at
once, i re., the com-
busti sn chambers
together wi th the
f uel feed system and
suppl ementary appa-
ratus. Thi s method
of testi ng is more
complex than stage-
by - s t age deve lopmen t
of uni ts but, as
Fri dri kh Arturovi ch
bel i eved, it al l owed
more compl ete consi der-
:errel ati onshi p of al l
I t is hard to deci de what pl an of f urther testi ng F. A.
Tsander would have suggested after anal ysi s of the resul ts of
the f i r st flame tests. We know that he di d not deny the passi -
bi l i ty of usi ng oxygen-al cohol f uel ; theref ore, after processi ng
of the experi nental data, gasol i ne was repl aced by ethyl al cohol
i n f urther experbent: .
The combustion chamber was si mpl i f i ed and equi pped wi th a
ref ractory heat i asul ati ng l i ni ng consi sti ng of aluminum oxi de
and magnesium oxi de; an extracti ve fuel component feed system
was i nstal l ed, consi sti ng of the f uel tanks and a gas accumula-
tor - - a hi gh pressure cyl i nder.
i nstal l ed between the cyl i nder and tanks i n order t o reduce the
pressure. Thi s new versi on of the engi ne was cal l ed the 4 2 .
Subsequentl y, onl y the combustion chamber, rather than the
enti re engi ne wi th al l of i ts uni ts was devel oped. The descri p
ti on of the 02 engi ne i s presented below.
A vohre an reducer were
64
n
Plans of Rocket
Engines
I n addi ti on t o
t'ie OR-2 engi ne wi th
the extracti ve f eed
system, F. A.
Ts ander devel oped
several other
desi gns wi th i nj ec-
tor f uel component
feed. K. E. Tsi ol -
kovski y bel i eved
that i nj ectors
coul d use a porti on
of the energy
l i berated i n the
combustion chamber
t o feed l i qui d f uel
components by means
of a stream of gas.
F. A. Tsander di d
not produce such
systems.
Diagram of Second Versi on of ST Rocket
Engine After F. A. Tsander: 1, Li qui d
Fuel ; 2, Oxi di zer; 3, I nj ector; 4, Heater
or I nj ector; 5 , Combustion Chamber; 6 ,
Oxi di zer Evaporator; 7, Compensator
F. A. Tsander made up a general engi ne pl an wi th a turbi ne-
pump f uel - f eed system, and suggested that a gas turbi ne be used
t o dri ve the pump, the working f l ui d f or which would be the com-
busti on products of the f uel , drawn away from the main combustion
chamber. A t the present time, i n order to produce turbi ne gas of
rel ati vel y low temperature, the turbi nes tare suppl i ed not by the
combustion chamber, but rather by gas generators.
/ 7 2
One i nteresti ng
desi gn devel oped by
F. A. Tsander i s an
engi ne pl an i n which,
i n addi ti on t o the
usual l i qui d f uel ,
powdered and l i qui d
metal f uel were t o be
used. The powdered
metal was t o be f ed
i nto the combustion
chamber by an i nj ec-
Diagram of Thi rd Versi on of 5T Rocket tor. The l i qui d
Engine Af ter F. A. Tsandcr: 1, I nto metal was to be
Evaporator; 2, 02 or NgO4 or Ozone, 3, produeed by mel ti ng
Alcohol or Other Fuel ; 4 , Pumps; 5 , Com- metal structural
busti on Chamber; 6, Gas Turbi ne; 7, elements of the
Evaporator; 8, Double Cone; 9, Water rocket no l on er
Compensation Tank; 10, Water Pump necessary i n ?l i ght.
65
The studi es
performed i n the
30's and 40' s wi th
i nj ectors showed
that, i n spi te of
some promi si ng
theoreti cal data,
they operate onl y
at very low ef f i -
ci enci es.
Attempts to
devel op an accep-
tabl e engi ne desi gn
usi ng metal as an
addi ti ve to the
primary fuel were
unsuccessful .
to cor.-
struct uni ts f or
Di tgrm of Engine 10 f or I ni ti al Versi on
of Li qui d Fuel Rocket After F. A.
Tsander: 1, Powdered Metal Fuel ; 2, Pump;
3, Sol i d Fuel ; 4, Li qui d Fuel
mel ti ng or yul ver-
i zi ng of metal were al so unsuccessful . Therefore, two very
i nteresti ng i deas from the pl ans of F. A. Tsander, the use of
i nj ectors and of metal f uel , have not as yet been practi cal l y
real i zed.
Fri dri kh Arturovi ch Tsander was one of the pi oneers of
rocket technol ogy, combining the tal ent of a great theoreti cal
sci enti st and that of a gi f ted experi menter and engirreer.
devel oped the pri nci pl es of the theory m'd desi gn of LRE and
performed detai l ed cal cul ati ons of hi s f i r st experi mental speci -
mens. The theoreti cal and experi mental developments of Fri dri kh
Arturovi ch ai ded f urther development of research on LRE and
rockets, whi l e the propagandi sti c acti vi ty of Tsander and other
enthusi asts l ed not onl y to the creati on of GIRD i n Mescow, but
al so i n many other ci ti es of the country. Thanks t o the practi cal
acti vi ty of F. A. Tsander at GIRD, the f i r st Sovi et rocket wi th
LRE was created and the OR-2 engi ne was devel oped.
He
66
kkve forward bravely, great and
small laborers of the world, and
know t hat w? a l he of your work
wf l J be l e a i , b ut w i l l bear for
you great f rui t .
K. E. Tsiolkovskiy
Chapter 2. The F i rst Rocket Sci enti f i c Research and
Experi mental Design Organi zati ons i n the USSR
- / 74
The works of the earl y sci enti sts of our country, thei r
students and fol l ower5 formed a basi s f or the development of
sci enti f i c research and experi mental desi gn work on the creati on
of rocket engi nes and rockets i n the early 1920's.
The reason f or thi s development was not onl y tkc successf ul
resul ts of the studi es of our sci enti sts, but al so, t!, a si gni -
fi cant extent, the demands of vari ous branches of sci ence and
technol ogy, parti cul arl y avi ati on and arti l l ery
Thus, i n the 20' s the time had come f or the tyanytti on t o
experi mental Work, f or the creati on of creati ve teams a d the
expansi on of the range of sci enti f i c research work. Rocket
technol ogy had t o be brought from the area of theory to the
area of engi neeri ng practi ce, had t o be gi ven statewi de si gni -
f i cance. "But we must undertake experi ments. We must c nsi der
nothi ng i n our theoreti cal works to be absol utel y true,ttP sai d
K. E. Tsi ol kovski y.
The development of the nati onal economy, the rapi d growth of
sci ence und technol ogy i n the USSR, the successf ul f ul f i l l ment of
the fi rst f i ve- year pl an al l owed sci enti f i c research organi za-
ti ons to be sot up on the counary for the development of rockets
and l i qui d- f uel ed rocket engi nes.
During these same years i ni the Sovi et Union, many publ i c
LE
organi zati ons were devel oped which were of great si gni f i cance
i n the popul ari zati on and development of rocket and space tech-
nology. Some i ndi vi dual sci enti sts made great contri buti ons t o
the development and popul ari zati on of the sci ence of rockets and
engi nes
The l eadi n organi zati ons i n the USSR were the Gas Dynamics
Laboratory (GDL P under mi l i tary auspi ces, which began i ts
'Tsi ol kovsti y, K. E., Col l ected Works, Vol. 2, Academy of
Sci ences USSR Press, Moscow, 1954 , p. 274.
67
acti vi ty i n the spri ng of 1921, the Group f or the Study of
Rocket Motion (GIRD), a publ i cal l y suppcrted grcup begu, i n
.~ie f al l of 1931, and the Reacti on Sci enti f i c Research I nsti -
tute (RNI I ), devel aped nn the basi s of GDL and GIRD l ate i n
1935. The rocket orsai l i tati ons expanded, changed thei r purposes,
new l arge government enterpri ses were devel oped, sol vi ng complex
problems of the mastery of space.
Now, probabl y, i t would be si mpl y i mpossi bl e t o l i st al l
of the l arge and small probl ems, the enti re range of problems
studi ed by the subduers of space.
nology which has not been uti l i zed to some extent i n the study
of space; it i s di f f i cul t to name a sci ence whose development
has not been i nfl uenced by the resul ts of the study of space.
The performance of such a grandi ose program of di f f i cul t i nves-
ti gati on, l eadi ng t o the accumul ati on of a new weal th of know-
l edge by mankiird, requi res the harmonious development or' al l
areas of sci ence and technol ogy, lcadino, t r ap aval anche of
i nventi ons and di scnreri es.
There i s no sci ence or tech-
However, thi ngs were di f f erent duri ng the fi rst years of
development of rocket technol ogy. I t vas i mpossi bl e then t o
begi n immediately t o sol ve problems of cosmic scale,
Sergey Pavl ovi ch Korolev bel i eved that dreams of f l i ghts to the
moon and of new speed records by rocket ai rpl anes not yet i n
exi stence were usel ess unti l sci enti sts coul d create at l east
smal l l i qui d- f ael ed rockets. For thi s reason, every researcher,
every worker i n the area of rocket rechnol ogy had t o hol d the
reacti on engi ne at the center of hi s attenti on, I f a rel i abl e
engi ne coul d be bui l t, Sergey Pavl ovi ch bel i eved, al l other
problems ari si ng i n the process of work wi th the f l i ght vehi cl es
coul d be successf ul l y sol ved, "Our success," S. P. Korolev
wrote, "requi res f i r st of al l a rel i abl e, hi gh qual i ty motor."l
I t i s theref ore qui te cl ear that the main task of GDL,
GIRD and RNXI was the creati on of LRE correspondi ng f ul l y to the
requi rements pl aced upa them.
Even
-- / 75
2.1. The I ni ti al Peri od of Development of GDL - - the
N. I , Tikhomirov Laboratory
Nikolay I vanovi ch Tikhomirov and hi s immediate col l eagues,
Vl adi mi r Andreyevich Artem'yev, Ceorti yey Eri khovi ch Langemak,
Boris Sergeye;i ch Petropavl ovskj y and many others made a great
contri buti on to the problem of creati on of mi l i tary rockets wi th
powder rocket engi nes,
'Korolev, S. P., Raketnyy Pol et v Stratosf ere ERock1.t. Fl i ght i n
the Stratosphere] ONTI Press, Moscow,199/. -
68
of military rockets in 1913. At that time, he was serving at
the Brcst-Litovskaya fortress and, as head of a laboratory, was
studying the improvement of the three-inch rocket flares produced
by the Nitiolayevskiy Plant and used by the armed forces.
- / 78
In 1921, shops, a pyrotechnical laboratory and a chemical
laboratory were set up. This complex was called the "N. I.
Tikhorirov Laboratory" and was subordinate to the Military
Oepartment. However, the work on the creation of military
rockets moved forward very slowly; difficulties arose primarily
due to the lack of high-enetgy, slow-burning powders. It become
obvious that development of self-powered mines would require sig-
nificant funds and tire. Therefore, in April of 1923 the inven-
tors were ordered to perform experimental tests of the applica-
bility of reaction power for existing mines in order to increase
their range.
3etween 22 March and 3 April 1924, 21 launches of these
rockets were conducted at the main artillery range in Leningrad
under the direction of V. A. Artem'yev, showing a ten-times
increase in range of the mortar shells used, These experimental
tests confirmed the promise of the new type of shell and the need
to perform further work in this direction.
The experience of preceding investigations had indicated
the inapplicability of available powders for the manufacture of
rockets, since they did not burn evenly, or were not sufficiently
effective. Smokeless pyroxylin powder, widely used in artillery,
did not yield positive results.
Smokeless powder (pyroxylin cartridge powder) was first
suggested for rockets in 191s by I. P. Grave, but the rockets
being developed required slow-burning powder charges with great
top thickness.
formulas for pyroxylin powder based on volatile solvents cncoun-
tered unswmountable difficulties. The charges were warped and
cracked during drying, resulting in variations in burning time
and speed. Consistent results also could not bc achieved in the
percent conterbt of solvent remaining in the charges after drying.
During storage of the charges, the solvent evaporated, also
causing variation in the parameters of combustion of the powder
charges.
The preparation of such charges using known
In order to avoid these shortcomings, N. I. Tikhoairov
decided to try smokeless powder with a nonvolatile solvent.
development of this smokeless powder was undertaken in 1922 under
the leadership of N. I. Tikhomirov in Leningrad with the partici-
pation of 0. G. Fillipov aqd S. A. Serikov. This work was of
grea+ scientific and practizal significance for the development
of rockets and space technology. The first specimens of thick-
top powder drains of the new formula - - trotyl-pyroxylin powder
The
- / 7S
70
(using trotyl as the nonvolatile solvent) - - were produced in
1924. This powder, called PTP, was then manufactured in the
powder shops of the Leningrad Steamship Port.
assigned to N. I. Tikhomitov, and became a part of the laboratory.
Powder testing was conducted at the Scientific Research Artillery
Range near Leningrad.
Nilitary-Technical Academy ireni F. E. Dzerzhinskiy in Leningrad.
The basic model used in testing and experimental develcpment
of charges was a grain with an external diameter of 24 M and an
internal channel 6 u in diameter. Later, the grain diameter was
increased to 100 m.
These shops were
Powder studies were continued at the
The creation of a stable high-energy smokeless grain powder
with great top thickness was a great achievement, providing a
qualitative jump in the development of solid-fuel rocket design.
All of the most important work of the laboratory, related to
the development and manufacture of a smokeless powder, test
stand operation and experimental firing, was conducted at
Leningrad. As a result, in 1925 the laboratory was transferred
to Leningrad completely.
After careful development and testing of grains and launching
devices, on 3 March 1928 the first firing of rockets with charges
of smokeless trotyl pyroxylin powder was conducted at the main
artillery range.
found indicating that foreign armies successfully tested rockets
using smokeless powder earlier than our own.
tion for the design of the "Katyusha" military rockets.
In his memoirs, V. A. Artem'yev wrote that no data have been
The creation of a smokeless powder rocket laid the fcunda-
2.2. The Gas Dynamics Laboratory - /80
Following the successful launch of smokeless powder rockets
in 1928, the N. 1. Tikhomirov Laboratory was expanded and
renamed the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL), subordinate to the
Military Scientific Research Committee of the Revolutionary
Military Council, USSR. The first task o f the GDL was the
development of solid-fueled rockets utilizing high-quality
smokeless powder charges.
of powder takeoff assist and landing brake rockets for airplanes.
Based on the successful results of experimental work by N. 1.
Tikhomirov and V. A. Artem'yev involving the creation of rockets,
the Main Artillery Administration of the Red Army decided to
send specialists to the GDL and to expand its production and
laboratory base.
Soon, GDL also undertook the creation
71
less powder was developed, the principles of design of solid-
fueled rockets were determined and flight testing was begun; in
the second stage (1930-1933), rockets were produced, passed
official testing and during the third stage (1933-1941), the
Katyusha rocket launcher was developed.
Experimental work with solid-fueled aircraft takeoff boos-
ters and landing braking devices began in 1927 using a powder
catapult, then later with the U-1 training aircraft. Beginning
in late 1931, work on a solid-fueled takeoff assister was
conducted with the TB-1 aircraft. On 14 October 1933, the
TB-1 aircraft, equipped with a rocket-assisted takeoff device,
successfully passed state testing; the use of RATO reduce takeoff
run length by 77% with a flying weight of 8 t. RATO devices
were developed by B. S. Petropavlovskiy, G. E. Langeraak and
other. V. N. Dudakov, pilot S. I. Mukhin and mechanic A. 1.
Critskevich assisted significantly in the development of
takeoff techniques.
- / 82
In 1933, work was begun on a RATO device for the TB-3
aircraft, flying weight 20 t. In 1934, the Red Army Air Force
Command decided to conduct tests of reaction takeoff boosters on
three TB-1 aircraft. One test aircraft undertook a special test
trip from Leningrad to Moscow and back. On the whole, the tests
confirmed the effectiveness of the use of such boosters. The
advantages of aircraft takeoff with boosters became obvious to
all.
In addition to the development of rockets and rocket engines
based on solid fuels, beginning on 15 Nay 1929, GDL began to work
on the first domestic rocket engines: electric engines (ERE) and
liquid-fueled engines ( LRE) . In 1931, GDL was divided into seven
sectors (called sections after 1932) : 1 - - Pokder Rockets (Chief
6. E, Langemak); 2 - - Liquid-Fueled Rockets (Chief V. P. Glushko);
3 - - Aviation Applications of Rockets (Chief V. I. Dudakov); 4 - -
Military Rockets (Chief N. A. Dorovlev); 5 - - Powder Production
(Chief I. I. Kulagin); 6 - - Production Section (Chief Ye. S.
Petrov); 7 - - Administrative and Financial Section. Between
1930 and 1933, the number of workers increased from 23 to
approximately 200 persons.
The organizer and leader of the work of ERE and LRE, the
designer of the world's first electrothermal rocket engine and
the first domestic L E , was Valentin Petrovich Glushko.
tion of V. I. Serov, A. L. Malyy, Ye. N. Kuz'min, I. I. Kulagin,
Ye. S. Petrov, P. I. Mitrayev, B. A. Kutkin, V. P. Yukov, N, G.
Chernyshev, V. A. Timofeyev, N. M. Mukhin, I. $4. Pan'kin and
others.
given to craters on the far side of the moon.
The development of the ERE and LRE involved the participa-
The names of many of the scientists of GDL have been
73
V. P. Clushko was born on 2 September 1908 in Odessa. He
began to study probleas of rocket flight in 1921. In 1923, he
began corresponding with K. E. Tsiolkovskiy, who mentioned
V. P. Glushko in the foreword to his books "Investigation of
Space with Reaction Devices" (1926), "Space Rocket Trains" (1929)
and other publications among those persons facilitating the
popularization of the ideas of star flight by their publications.
From 1922 to 1924, V. P. Glushko worked at the Odessa
astronomical observatory as an astronomical observer. The
results which he produced were published in 1924-192s in the
Astronomical Bulletin and the Journal of "Mirovedeniye" Society.
The young astronomer was selected as an Associate Member, then
an Active Member of the Russian Society of Astronomy Enthusiasts
(ROLM). Upon completion of his studies at the Department of
Physics and Mathematics of ieningrad State University (1925-
1929), V. P. Glushko began work at the Gas Dynamics Laboratory.
His thesis, dedicated to the development of rocket engines,
attracted interest and was approved by the experts of the
Department of Military Inventions (N. I. Tikhomirov and M. V.
Shuleykin). The materials of his thesis served as the first
basis for the development of experimental ERE and LRE at the
Gas Dynamics Laboratory. V. P. Glushko is the author of a
number of scientific articles and fundamental works, including
the books "Rockets, Their Design and Application" (together with
6. E. Langemak, 1935), "Liquid Fuel for Reaction Engines" (1936),
etc.
A leading scientist in the area of physical and technical
problems of energetics, V. P. Glushko was selected in 1953 as
a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences USSR, in 1958
as an Academician. He has been twice named a Hero of Socialist
Labor, is a Lenin and State Prize Laureate. Valentin Petrovich
Soviet. In 1972, the International Aviation Federation (FAI)
avarded V. P. Glushko an international certificate as a great
Soviet scientist in the area of development of rocket technology
and investigation of the physical and technical problems of
energetics. The FA1 resolution is an international acknowlcdgement
of the great contribution of Our cor*-try to the study and investi-
gat ion of space.
has been repeatedly elected as a deputy to rhe USSR Supreme
- / a4
A t the Gas Dynamics Laboratory, the possibility of practical
creati.on of an electric rocket engine was proven in 1929-1930.
However, it was not possible at that time to solve the entire
range of problems related to the final development of ERE.
tory was concentrated on the development of LRE and the investiga-
tion of processes of operation of these engines. In 1930, V. P.
Glushko suggested and subsequently strldied various "uel
Therefore, the primary attention of the Gas Dynamics Labora-
74
components: nitric acid, solutions of nitrogen tetroxide in
nitric acid, tetranitromethane, hydrogen peroxide, perchloric
acid, beryllium, liquid fuels and powders with dispersed
beryllium; in 1933, he suggested a mixture of liquid oxygen and
liquid fluorine as oxidizer, and solutions of pentaborane in
kerosene as fuel, as well as a fluorine-hydrogen fuel and many
others.
The fuels used included gasoline, kerosene, toluene, benzene and
others.
In 1931, he suggested hypergolic fuel and chemical ignition. 1
During these same years, experimental development of indivi-
dual elements of liquid-fueled rocket engines was conducted.
Ceramic insulation based on zirconium oxide and magnesium oxide
was tested in the combustion chambers of experimental powder
engines (1930). These combustion chambers were also used for
ballast pendulum tests to determine the most favorable for the
time exponential nozzle contour (1930). Measurement apparatus
was created for test stand studies of engines: spring and capaci-
tive pressure recorders and thrust recorders, inductive flow-
rate sensors and time recorders utilizing magnetoelectric
oscilloscopes, etc. LRE devices with automatically controlled
variable thrust with constant pressure in the combustion chamber
were developed.
ORM-1 laboratory engine was designed. *
Unitary
fuels, solutions of a fuel (toluene or gasoline) in nitrogen
tetroxide, were tested in the ORM laboratory engine.3 The O W - 1 ,
manufactured in 1930-1931, was designed to use nitrogen tetroxide
and toluene.
- 185
in 1930, the first LRE developed in the Soviet Union, the
In 1931, flame testing of engines was begun at GDL.
Test stand operations were performed with liquid
'A hypergolic fuel is a two-component liquid rocket fuel which
ignites at room temperature when the two components contact each
other.
Chemical ignition raeans ignition of the basic fuel in an
LRE, in which the basic fuel cons'ists of hypergolic components
or a hypergolic supplementary starting fuel is used, introduced
to the combustion chamber only during the initial period of
operation of the engine.
'The basic designation O M was given to all LRE develcped under
the leadership of V. P. Clushko in the GDL and at RNII.
3Nitrogen tetroxide is a high-boiling-point oxidizer for LRE.
provides greater specific impulse than nitric acid, but is
inferior in tne operational respect, since it has a narrower
liquid-state storage temperature interval.
It
75
oxygen and gasoline, since experiments performed earlier with the
ORM showed that it was very dangerous to start the engine with a
high-boiling oxidizer, particularly considering the complex
shape of the O W - 1 combustion chamber.
In 1932, eiigines from ORM-4 to ORM-22 were developed, con-
structed and tested for experimental purposes. Liquid oxygen,
nitric acid, nitrogen tetroxide and solutions of nitrogen tetrox-
ide in nitric acid were used as oxidizers. Nitrogen tetroxide
was produced on a pilot-scale installation at the laboratory,
developed and put in use in 1931. Fuels tested included gasoline,
benzene, toluene and kerosene.
During the tests, start-up was developed and the organization
of processes within the chamber was improved, and methods were
developed for reliable cooling of the combustion chamber.
In 1933, experimental LRE from ORM-23 to ORM-49 were pro-
duced at the GDL and used to continue studies of problems of
LRE design. In order to create LRE providing sufficiently
high specific impulse and operating stably with identical indi-
/86
cators in a scries of tests, i.e., reproducibly, reliably and
devcloping the required thrust, it was necessary to select fuel -
components and the most favorable ratio of components, to develop
methods of feeding the fuel to the combustion chamber, and to
learn to mganize the process of its combustion. This same
year, practicgi LRE were produced - - the OW-50, ORM-S1 and ORM-52,
burning kerosene and nitric acid both in pure form and mixed
with oxides of nitrogen.
chemical ignition developed at JPL, i.e., ignition by means of
hypergolic fuel. A number of experimental rocket-powered flight
vehicles were planned in 1932-1933 to test the engines under
flight conditions.
These engines used the principle of
2.3. Liquid and Electrical Rocket Engines and Rockets
of GDL
The Gas Dynamics Laboratory studied and developed an electric
rocket engine (ERE), liquid-fueled rocket engines (LRE), called
at that time O W , and experimental models of rockets, called RLA.
Step by step, the design of the individual elements and of
the engine as a whole was improved, which finally led to the
creation of a rather good liquid-fueled rocket engine for the
time, the ORM-52.
"Of particular promise,'I wrote M. N. Tykhachevskiy in
1932, "are the experiments at GDL on a liyid-fueled reaction
76
nwtor, which has recently been produced in their laboratory. ,, 1
In the summer of 1932 and in January of 1933, GDL was
visited by S. P. Korolev, F. A. Tsander, M. K. Tikhonravov,
Yu. A. Pobedonostsev and other leaders and workers of GIRD,
who witnessed the operation of the LRE constructed at GDL.
Thus were the first meetings between the workers of GDL and
GIRD conducted.
Experimental Electric Rocket Engine
K. E. Tsiolkovskiy mentioned the possibility of using
electricity to drive rocket engines. In 1933, K. E. Tsiolkov-
skiy wrote, "The best transmission of energy is transmission by
verted to mechanical work? ... Electric current can be used to
means of electric current. But how can electric energy be con-
produce high temperatures and chemical decomposition of matter. ,I2
- 187
The designer of the world*s first operating electrothermal
rocket engine was V. P. Glushko.
In 1928-1929, he developed a plan for a space rocket ship - -
a heliorotket plane, driven by electric power produced by means
of solar batteries surrounding the ship in the form of a disc.
In April of 1929, the Military Scientific Research Committee of
the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR received the work
Veta1 as an Explosive Substance. A Reaction Engine with a High
Exhaust Velocity," by V. P. G l ~ s h k o . ~ This work, a part of his
plan, served as a basis for the creation of the electric rocket
engine at GDL.
At first, the GDL division involved in the development and
testing of ERE (1929-1930) was colocated with the high voltage
laboratory of the Institute of Physics and Technology, directed
by Academician I. A. Ioffe. The laboratory itself, headed by
Academician A. A. Chernyshev, was located at Lesnoy near Lenin-
grad and in 1930 was reorganized as the Electrophysical Institute.
In 1932-1933, work on ERE was conducted on the territory of the
Ioanncvskiy ravelin of Petropavlovskaya fortress.
Then, engines of various types were made and tested; studies of
The experimental work was preceded by analytic calculation.
l*tCosmonautics," Moscow, The Soviet Encyclopedia, 1970, p. 93.
'Tsiolkovskiy, K. E., Collected Works, Vol. 2, Academy of
Sciences USSR Press, Moscow, 1954 , p. 417.
3GDL-OKV Archives, d. 1, pp. 1-16.
77
cool i ng, and t he desi gn of cer t ai n i ndi vi dual par t s and sec-
t i ons was si mpl i f i ed. The OMl-2 par t i al l y used t he same t ype
of cool i ng as OMf - 1, i . e. , capaci t i ve cool i ng ( l i ber at i on of
heat i nt o nat ur al l y ci r cul at i ng l i qui d sur r oundi ng t he engi ne) ,
so- cal l ed st at i c cool i ng.
By t he t i me ORN-2 was f i ni shed, new and bet t er desi gns
had been devel oped, and so OM- 2 was never t est ed.
The 0. W- 1 and ORTI-2 engi nes wer e desi gned f or el ement -
by- el ement t est i ng of some of t he mai n i deas upon whi ch t he
URN- 3 engi ne was based. Thi s engi ne cal l ed or mai nt enance
of const ant pr essur e i n t he combust i on chamber wi t h changi ng
t hr ust , an exponent i al nozzl e, i nt ensi ve ( dynami c) cool i ng of
t he combust i on chaaber by f uel , heat i nsul at i on of t he com-
bust i on chamber on t he i nsi de, sl i t - t ype spr ayer s and chemi cal
s el f - i gni t i on.
The exponent i al nozzl e devel oped at GDL i s a pr of i l ed
nozzl e i n whi ch t he i nner sur f aces ar e gi ven t he pr oper geo-
met r i c shape t o assur e opt i mal f l ow char act er i st i cs of t he
combust i on pr oduct s. The best cont our af t he nozzl e i s t hat
whi ch achi eves t he ext r eme of speci f i c i mpul se.
The met hods of cal cul at i on of t he nozzl e wer e f i r st
publ i shed i n t he USSR i n 1957 by Yu. D. Shmygl evski y and L. Ye.
St er ni n. Si mpl i f i cl i pr of i l i ng met hods ar e f r equent l y used - -
t he nozzl e cont our i s a ci r cul ar ar c, par abol a, exponent i al
cur ve, et c.
The OW- 3 engi ne used hyper gol i c f uel , el i mi nat i ng t he
need f or speci al i gni t i on devi ces. Const ancy of pr essur e i n
chamber 1 was achi eved by movi ng nozzl e 5 , seal ed ar ound t wo
bel t s 3 wi t h a hydr aul i c or pneumat i c devi ce. As t he nozzl e
moved, t he cr i t i cal cr oss sect i on changed, si nce t he r el at i ve
posi t i on of t he pr qf i l ed pr oj ect i on at t he cent er of t he head
of t he chamber whi ch ent er ed t he nozzl e was changed. I n 1930-
1931, exper i ment al and desi gn wor k was cont i nued on t he
devel opment of i ndi vi dual el ement s of t hi s engi ne, i n par t i cul ar
usi ng t he ORM- 1 engi ne.
component s, had j et - t ype spr ayer s and r epr esent ed f ur t her
devel opment of t he desi gn of annul ar ( sl i t - t ype) combust i on
chamber s. They wer e devel oped and pr oduced i n 1932.
- / 96
The CRM- 6 and ORM- 7 engi nes wer e cool ed by t he f ucl
The Omi-3, ORM- 6 and ORM- 7 engi nes wer e not t est ed, si nce
by t hat t i me t he dat a f r omt est i ng of t he ORM- 1 i ndi cat ed t hat
annul ar combust j mchamber s wer e undesi r abl e, as was l at er
conf i rm: d. Act ual l y, t he r at i o of heat ed sur f ace ( wal l s) t o
vol ume wher e combust i on occur s i s gr eat er i n an annul ar
combust i on chamber t han i n a cyl i ndr i cal chamber ; dur i ng combus-
t i on, t he combust i on pr oduct s change t hei r di r ect i on of mot i on
by 180, whi ch does not occur i n cyl i ndr i cal chamber s. Bot h
of t hese f act or s cause over heat i ng of t he wal l s, par t i cul ar l y
si gni f i cant di f f i cul t y i s i n t he or gani zat i on of pr ocesses
wi t hi n t he chamber .
/ 97
t he end por t i on, and compl i cat e cool i ng condi t i ons. The most -
Fur t her mor e, t he cr eat i on of
an engi ne wi t h const ant pr essur e
i n t he chamber but var i abl e t hr ust
was f ound t o be an i ndependent
pr obl emof some di f f i cul t y.
Exper i ment s conduct ed i n 1929-
1931 conf i r med t he possi bi l i t y of
cr eat i on of r el i abl e LRE. However ,
i t was al so qui t e obvi ous t hat an
engi ne of const ant t hr ust shoul d be
cr eat ed f i r st , r equi r i ng t hat a
mul t i t ude of new pr obl ems be
sol ved; t hey i ncl uded or gani zat i on
Di agr amof Regul at i on of of hi gh qual i t y mi xt ur e f or mat i on,
ORM- 3 Engi ne: 1, Combus- pr ovi si on of compl et e f uel COI I I U~S-
t i on Chamber ; 2 , Cool i ng t i on, assur ance of hi gh speci f i c
Fl ui d; 3, Seal i ng Bel t ; i mpul se, or gani zat i on of r el i abl e
4 , Cont r ol l i ng Gas or chamber wal l cool i ng, et c.
Li qui d; 5, Nozzl e Ther ef or e, t he pr ogr amof f ur t her
st udi es cal l ed f or st age- by- st age
devel opment of desi gn el ement s and or der l y, deep st udy of t he
i ndi vi dual pr ocesses.
Engi nes wi t h Radi al l y Pl aced Nozzl es
Thi s gr oup of engi nes i ncl udes t he ORM- 4, ORM- 5, ORM- 8,
ORi i - 10 and CMl - 13, devel oped i n 1932.
These engi nes wer e cr eat ed t o st udy t he pr ocesses of mi xi ng
of f uel component s, i gni t i on, st ar t i ng and shut down. I n or der
t o si mpl i f y t he desi gn of t he combust i on chamber and t est st and,
t o t est t he engi ne i n t he posi t i on wi t h t he head upwar d, t he
nozzl e was made i n t he for,l i of t wo r adi al l y pl aced aper t ur es
opposi t e each ot her i n t he l ower por t i on of t he combust i m
chamber wal I.
The engi nes used pyr ot echni c or el ect r i c- spar k i gni t i on,
wi t h t wo spar k pl ugs wi t h massi ve copper el ect r odes i nst al l ed
t o ;. '. r- ease t he r el i abi l i t y of i gni t i on. I n t he f i r st t hr ee
moc?t i 3 of t hi ; gr oup of engi nes, t he f uel component s xer e f ed
di r ect l y i nt o t he combust i on chamber , wher e t hey wer e mi xed.
85
., / ; : . - q -
. , - L? engi nes di f f er ed f r omeach ot her i n
The ORM- 4, ORM- 5 and ORM- 8
,.
, I
spr ayer desi gn, wi t h t he spr ayer s
l ocat ed on t he ht ad of t he cyl i ndr i cal
combust i on chamber : t he ORM- 4 engi ne
had sl i t - t ype spr ayer s, ORM- 5 was
equi pped wi t h j et - sl i t spr ayer s ki t h
i nt er sect i ng st r eams, whi l e i n ORM- 8
t he component s wer e f ed i n t hr ough
j et - t ype spr ayer s, al so wi t h i nt er -
sect i ng st r eams. I n al l t hr ee
model s, t he t hi ck- wal l st eel body
of t he cyl i ndr i cal chamber was
at t ached by means of a t hr eaded
j oi nt at i t s end t o t he pl at e of t he
t est st and. The i nt er nal di amet er
of t he combust i on chamber of t hese
engi nes was 40 mm.
t est i ng i n 1932. Li qui d oxygen,
l i qui d ai r , ni t r i c aci d, ni t r ogen
t et r oxi de i n ni t r i c aci d wer e used
- / 98
These engi nes under went f l ame
The ORM- 6 Engi ne t et r oxi de and sol ut i ons of ni t r ogen
as oxi di zer s; gasol i ne, a mi xt ur e of gasol i ne wi t h benzene and
t ol uene wer e i qsed as f uel s.
El ect r i c spar k i gni t i on was
f ound t o be unr el i abl e. Met al -
ni t r at e caps wer e devel oped t o
assur e r el i abl e i gni t i on of f uel s
wi t h hi gh- boi l i ng oxi di zer s, whi l e
t r ot yl pyr oxyl caps, el ect r i cal l y
i gni t ed, wer e used f or f uel s wi t h
cr yogeni c oxi di zer s.
These t est s yi el ded val uabl e
mat er i al on pr obl ems of saf e st ar t i ng
and st oppi ng of engi nes, r el i abl e
i gni t i on and st ar t - up when oper at i ng
wi t h var i ous f uel s. The dat a f r om
t est i ng of t he ORM- 4, ORM- 5 and
ORM- 8 engi nes al l owed a compar at i ve
eval uat i on of t he qual i t y of engi nes
equi pped wi t h j et and sl i t spr ayer s.
Tn t he basi c oper at i ng mode, t he
pr essur e i n t he chamber r eached
sever al at mospher es, t he oper at i ng
t i me - - some t ens c - seconds. Dur i ng
The ORM- 10 Engi ne
86
i ndi vi dual , br i ef t est s, t he pr essur e i n t he chamber reaci . ed
50 at m.
I n or der t o st udy t he possi bi l i t y of hi gh qual i t y mi xi ng
of f uel component s i n t he l i qui d phase bef or e t hey wer e f ed t o
and ORM- 13 engi nes wer e pl anned wi t h pr echamber s.
t he combust i on chamber and at omi zed, t hus i ncr ea i ng t he com-
- /99
pl et eness of combust i on and t he t hr ust per l i t er 3 , t he ORM- 10
The f or e- chamber or pr echamber was a smal l chamber i n whi ch
pr el i mi nar y mi xt ur e f or mat i on and par t i al combust i on of t he
f uel componont s occur r ed, af t er whi ch t he component s wer e
del i ver ed t o t he mai n chamber , wher e combust i on was
compl et ed.
I n t he ORM- 10, t he pr echamber was made i n t he f or mof an
axi symmet r i cal channel ; sect i ons of i dent i cal l engt h but di i -
f er ent di amet cr al t er nat ed al ong t he l engt h of t hi s chamber ,
t o i mpr ove mi xi ng of t he component s whi ch wer e f ed i n t hr ough
spr ayer s, t he i nt er nal cavi t i es of khi ch cont ai ned spi r al
snakes t o spi n t he st r eamof l i qui d f l owi ng f r omt he spr ayer .
The combust i on pr oduzt s f l owed out t hr ough t wo opposi t el y pl aced
r adi al aper t ur es.
t r i cal l y pl aced sl i t spr ayer s i nt o an annul ar pr echamber . Af t er
mi xi ng, t hey wer e t hen sent t o t he spher i cal por t i on of t he
pr echamber and t hen, t hr ough t he expandi ng por t i on, i nt o t he mai n
combust i on chamber , whi ch WES cyl i ndr i cal .
I n ORM- 13, t he f uel component s wer e f ed i n t hr ough concen-
I n one ver si on, ext r a- r i ch or ext r a- pur e l i qui d f uel mi x-
t ur e of oxi di zer and f uel , i ncapabl e of expl odi ng due t o i t s
composi t i on, was f ed i n t hr ough one spr ayer , whi l e t he ot her
spr ayer suppl i ed t he r emai ni ng component r equi r ed f or compl et e
combust i on.
The di f f i cul t y of manuf act ur i ng engi nes wi t h t hr ee cham-
ber s, t he possi bi l i t y of over heat i ng of t he heads and expl osi on
dur i ng st ar t - up, l ed t o new desi gn sol ut i ons and st opped t he
manuf act ur e and t est i ng of t he ORM- 10 and ORM- 13 engi nes.
However , as we know, pr echamber s di d come t o be used i n
cer t ai n engi nes pr oduced i n t he f i r st f ew year s af t er t he war ,
par t i cul ar l y i n t he engi nes of t he V2A and VSV geophysi cal
1- ocket s. Thi s r esul t ed f r Dmt he achi evement of posi t i ve r esul t s
-
' The t hr ust per l i t er r ef er s t o t he r at i o of t hr ust devel oped
by t he engi ne i n kg t o t he vol ume of t he combust i on chamber i n
l i t er s.
The OW-9 engine had a combustion chamber with an internal
diarreter and height of 90 m, covered on the inside with a layer
of ceramic heat insulation 10 u thick of zirconium dioxide or
magnesium dioxide mixed with binder materials.
the engine, located in the flat cover, was clad with a layer of
cuprite 8 nm thick; its critical cross section was 15 mm in dia-
meter.
was of the critical cross section.
Fuel
(gasoline) entered through a center channel with several out-
put apertures, while the oxidizer (liquid oxygen) entered
through a multiple-jet sprayer, the channels of which were
located around the central channel, parallel to its axis.
output apertures of the central channel were tilted to make the
streams of fuel components intersect.
in a steel cup in the test stand and tested with nozzle upward.
Several firings of some tens of seconds each were performed in
1932. One of these was visited by Professor V. P. Vetchinkin
(TsAGI), who concluded: "The most important part of the work for
the manufacture of a rocket -- the production of a liquid-fueled
reaction motor - - has been performed at GDL... FTOIR this
standpoint, the achievements of the GDL (primarily of Engineer
V. P. Glushko) must be considered outstanding.**l
The nozzle of
The entry to the nozzle was rounded, the exit plane
The two-cor onent sprayers
were located in the head of the combustion cham E er.
The
The engine was placed
1102
-
In ORM-11, the chamber and nozzle were also clad with
cuprite. The sprayers were also two-conponent jet type sprayers
with concentric placement of the fuel-feeding channels.
Frovided fine, even atomization of the fuel; two-component
sprayers were found to be the best and are successfully used
in a number of LRE designs to.:ay.
They
The ORM-12 engine had the same dimensions as the ORM-9.
The chamber and nozzle in this engine were also clad with
cuprite, but the fuel components entered the combustioa chamber
thrwgh individual snake sprayers located opposite each other
approximately at the middle cross section of the chamber. Back
valves were placed bsfcie the entry to the sprayers.
ORM-11 and O W - 1 2 engir.es were tested on oxygen-gasoline and
nitric acid-kerosene fuels.
The .
The ORM-14 and ORM-15 engines were planned but not manu-
factured, since their design, similar to certain foreign
Podels, was considered to be clearly unpromising. The primary
shortcoming of the engines was the fact that the fuel components
were fed into the combustion chamber from the direction of the
nozzle rather than toward the nozzle as is usuallv done.
~ ~ ~. ~~~~~ ~
'**Cosrnonautics,'* Moscow, The Soviet Encyclopedia, 1970, p. 93.
89
The next model was the O W - 1 6 engiire. It has a supersonic
conical nozzle.
improved centrifugal sprayer. OW-16 underwent flame testing
in 1932.
The fuel entered the chamber through an
The OW-17-ORM-21 engines, developed in 1932 on the model
of the OW-16, differed only in length of cylindrical portion of
the combustion chamber and were designed to study the influence
of chaber vomme on processes within the chamber.
The O W - 2 3 engines with two centrifugal sprayers, the
delivery of which wa9 regulated by a hydraulically moved
needle, had a combustion chamber placed between the sprayers
and could be repeatedly started.
fed to the chamber and ignited by two spark plugs.
was successfully tested with nitric acid fuel in early 1933.
/lo3
-
An air-gasoline mixture was
This engine
The centrifugal
sprayer, first used by
GDL in rocket engine con-
struction, allowed a sig-
nificant improvement in
the quality of LRE and
practically almost COY-
pletely solved the
problem of preparation
of the fuel for complete
combustion. In
centrifugal sprayers,
the fuel components,
fed under pressure, are
twisted as they pass
through a nonmoving
multipass spiral in the
inner cavity of the
sprayer or by tangential
injection of the liquid
cavity of the sprayer.
As they fly from the sprayer into the combustion chamber, the
components form a so-called atomization cone, consisting of a
thin film which rgpidly breaks down into tiny drops of various
diameters. Vi s new sprayer, used on the ORM-12 and ORM-16,
assured fill -~tomization of the components and good mixing and,
as a result, complete combustion of the fuel.
property, spiral sprayers later became widely used and were /lo4
firmly fixed in domestic rocket engine construction.
The ORM-16 Engine into the inner cylindrical
Due to this
At the same time, it was established that even when ceramic
heat insulation is used, the operating time of a rocket engine
is quite limited, and that it is more promising to use copper
90
alloys with good heat conductivity for the manufacture of
nozzles, particularly in the area of the critical cross s ec f i . . i ,
However, in either case unchanging design temperature t,F
the chamber wall can be achieved only if a portion of the heat
is carried away from the outer surface of the wall.
studies of combustion chambers and nozzles cooled from without
were planned.
Therefore,
Engines with External Cooling
A. Air Cooling
This series includes the first LRE beginning with the
OW- 24 developed and tested in 1933. Experiments with preceding
engine models confirmed the need to equip the LRE with a cooling
system which would carry the heat away fron the walls of the
chamber continuously during its entire operating time to provide
stable thermal conditions for the engine.
The OW-24 Engine The ORM-26 Er?gine
At first, attempts were made to cool the engine with an
air stream. Therefore, the OW-24, ORM-25, OW-26 and OW-30
engines were maae with air-cooled nozzles. The chamber of the
91
ORM-24, like the OM-16, was cylindrical in shape; the subsonic
portion of the nozzle was conical and ended in a flat nozzle of
critical. diameter.
ribbed cuprite radiator. Spiral sprayers with ball back valves
were used to feed the fuel components.
head was a device to detersine the maximum pressure in the
combustion chamber.
The upper portion of the nozzle carried a
At the center of the
ORM-26 had a shaped nozzle with a well-developed super-
sonic portion and longitudinal external fins to cool the air
The
cooling fins encompassed both the subsonic and the supersonic
portions of the nozzle.
massive, short nozzles with air cooling. In ORM-30, the inner
surface of the nozzle was not coated and was protected from
rupture by a film along the wall created by aiditional fuel
sprayers installed at the entry to the nozzle. This method of
heat protection of the nozzle walls was found tq be effective
and has been widely used in practice.
/lo6 stream drawn by the gas stream of the operating engine.
-
The ORM-29 and ORM-30 engines had
Tests of the ORM-24,
ORM-2S, ORM-26, ORM-29 and
ORM-30 engines showed that
air cooling could not pro-
vide for long-term operation
of noz-les.
/lo7
B. Liquid Cooling -
An external dynamic
liquid cooling system is
capable not only of assuring
reliable operation of the
engine, but also of improving
the conditions of processes
within the chamber due to the
heating of one of the fuel
components in the cooling
cavity.
of sue: engines - - ORM-2 with
fluid cooling of the head by
fbel and ORM-3, ORM-6-0,
ORM-3 and ORM-7 - - had
The ORM-30 Engine practically complete cooling
by the oxidizer and fuel.
Due to t!xe difficulty of manufacture of engines with fluid cool-
ing and the nocessity in the first stage of repeated short-term
The first representatives
92
start-ups to develop fuel spraying and ignition systems, start-
up and shut-down modes, the development of a reliable cooling
system for long-term operation was delayed to the second stage.
Element-by-element development of engines accelerated its
creation.
OW-27 is also a fully cooled engine. The nozzle of
OW-27 had longitudinal finning; the combustion chamber had
external fluid cooling. The internal wall was made massive
and had an elongation temperature compensator.
Beginning with model OM-34, all nozzles of engines devel-
oped had flobting fluid cooling.
critical cross section of the mzzle was cooled by liquid flow-
ing through a line at insufficient speed. In order to improve
cooling, the contour of the fluid-carrying portion of OW-35
was somewhat improved, and the speed of the liquid was increased.
The nozzle of O W - 3 9 had an initial section with transverse
finning, cooled by liquid. The fully nitric-acid-cooled nozzle
of O W - 4 0 was found to be more stable in tests. In OW-40,
the cooling fluid flowed in a spiral pattern through a thin
cooling jacket over the ribbed nozzle wall. Heat transfer from
wall to cooling fluid was increased by further increasing the
flow speed and its turbulization, a result of the ribbing in
the flow line.
In OW-34, the region of the
As the design of OW-series engines improved, the pressure
in the combustion chamber and specific impulse increased, and it
became possible to increase the operating time and thrust of
the engines. For example, OW-39 and O W - 4 0 developed thrusts
of 100-150 kg. The critical cross section of the nozzles of
these enpines were 25 mm in diameter, the pressure in the com-
bustion chamber reached 20- 25 atm.
- /lo8
The nozzle of O W - 4 4 and
all subsequent engines had
spiral ribbing, washed with
nitric acid. In these
designs, in order to give
the fluid-carrying portion
the necessary shape, a split
aluminum insert was installed.
A gap was formed between the
outer surface of the nozzle
wall and the inner surface of
Diagram of External Liquid the insert, through which the
Cooling of ORM-44 Nozzle cooling fluid flowed. The
diameter of the critical
cross section of the ORM-44 nozzlc was 32 mm. The engine
developed a thrust of 250 kg. The ORM-45 and ORM-46 engines,
93
designed for the same thrust, were sealed by the temperature
expansion of the nozzle.
The combustion chambers of all the engines mentioned from
O W - 3 4 to O W - 4 6 were cylindrical in shape with an internal
diameter of 120 mm and were cooled from without by the fuel
components, fed by centrifugal spray pumr;.
controlled centrifugal sprayers with back valves and filters.
Studies performed with O M - 4 8 allowed the concepts of the
nature of the distribution of pressure over the length of
the nozzle to be refined. The experimental installation on
which this engine was tested was simple and quite convenient;
these installations were later widely used in scientific
research organizations and educational institutions.
The O M - 4 7 engine utilized four supercritical mechanically
The O M - 4 9 engine had centrifugal sprayers with plate-type
- /lo9
back valves. In order to assure soft start-up of the engine,
some of the output apertures of the sprayers were sealed with
low-melting Wood's alloy.
was by 7-second metal-nitrate pyrotechnic caps, suitable for
all oxidizers. Furthermore, in 1933 5-second chlorate caps
40 mm in diameter and height, consisting of 505 Berthollet's
salt and 508 sugar were developed, which left no residue upon
combustion and were also suitable for all oxidizers. The
chlorate caps were also suitable for chemical ignition, since
they ignite spontaneously upon contact with nitric acid.
caps were used in 1933 in a number of ORM-series engines for
chemical ignition by early oxidizer feed upon engine start-up.
Starting in mid-1933 (OM-44, OW-50, etc.), chemical ignition
was provided using a start-up fuel developed at GDL which
ignited spontaneously when mixed with nitric acid.
fuel included a solution of phosphorus in a mixture of carbon
disulfide and turpentine. The hypergolic fuel was first
carried in a starting tank on the mtin fuel line near the
entry to the combustion chamber; t.ater, it was supplied only
through the lines feeding the kerosene sprayers.
became common in rocket engine construct-on.
Ignition in the O W - 2 4 2nd immediately subsequent engines
These
This
Chemical ignition, developed and I-.,. used at GDL, later
GDL Engines for Flight Vehicles
The result of the scientific research and experimental
design development at GDL prior to 1933 was the creation of the
ORM-SO, O W - 5 1 and O M - 5 2 rocket engines.
94
The si t uat i on was qui t e di f f er ent at t hat t i me as concer ns
r el i ebl e cal cul at i on of l i qui d f uzl ed r ocket engi ne cool i ng
syst ems. I n hi s r epor t , *%eat Losses and Cool i ng of R M , I t
publ i shed by V. P. Gl ushko on 2 J ul y 19311, t he aut hor pr e-
sent s t he r esul t s of t heor et i cal and exper i ment al wor k on t he
cool i ng of ORM per f or med at LDL up t o t hat t i me. The r epor t
pr esent s a met hod f or cal cul at i on of t he cool i ng ..i t he ORM
combust i on chamber , and t he aut hor not es t hat "t he nat ur e of
t her modynami c cal cul at i on of cool i ng of r ocket engi ne combus-
t i on chamber s wi t h l i qui d i s wel l known. However , t he
pr obl emcannot be sol ved by t heor et i cal cal cul at i ons f or a
si ngl e speci f i c case i n whi ch heat t r ansi er f r omt he gas t o
t he i nt er nal wal l occur s at t he pr es' ; ur es and +emper at ur es
whi ch ar e f ound i n r ocket engi ne combust i r . ' ch. i rnbers. Our
l ack of knowl edge of t he hest t r ansf er coel ?i ci mt s makes t he
cumber some t her modynami c cal cul at i ons usel ess J.i?d f nr zes u s t o
t ur n t o exper i ment at i on as t he onl y sat i si act or y aet hod f or
sol ut i on of t hese pr obl ems. "
Act ual l y, we know t hat over est i mat i on of t he accur acy of
anal yt i c cal cul at i on of cool i ng syst ems r esul t ed i n dest r uct i on
of bot h of t he LRE of E'. A. Tsander ( OR- 2 and 10) dur i ng t hei r
f i r st t est sr and oper at i on ( i n 1933).
The cool i ng syst emdevel oped at GDL by t he exper i mencal
met hod al l owed engi nes t o be oper at ed r epeat edl y.
The OM-50 engi ne was devel oped at GDL f or t he 05 r ocket ,
pl anned and bui l t at GI RD.
The OW-50 engi ne bur ned ni t r i c aci d and ker osene, had
a r el at i vel y shor t , spi J *al l ! p f i nned, oxi d. . zer - cool ed n. >zzl e
l i qui d oxi di zer heat ed i n t he cool i ng j acket was f ed t o t wo
spi r al spr ayer s, pl aced r adi al l y on t he cyl i ndr i cal por t i on
of t he combust i on chamber . The f uel ent er ed t he chambei . , al so
r adi al l y, t hr ough t wo cent r i f ugal spr ayer s. Al l spr ayer s had
back val ves, The mi ddl e cyl i ndr i cal por t i on of t hp combust i on
chamber : . ad no ext cr nal l i qui d cool i ng, Lut was cool ed by arA
i nt er nal cur t ai n; i gni t i on was chemi cal ,
/ l l Z
pr oduci ng a gas ptessur:? a t t he exi t pl ane of 1 st m. The -- -
Thc ORM- 50 engi ne, of 1vl hc. h a si ngl e model was bui l t ,
pasoed t hr ee r ei i nement , opGr at i ng l i f e and accept ance st and
r ocket ver e conduct ed, power ed by t hi s engi ne, t o t est t he
f uel f eed syst em.
/ 113
t est s i n 1933. Then, i n 1934, f i ve t est l aunches of t he 05 -
.- I_ -.
' The Pi oneer s of Rocket Technol ogy.
Xor ol ev, Ti khonr avov, Sel ect eG Yor ks, Moscow, 1972, pp. 208-
212, 770.
Vet chi nki n, Gl ushko,
96
Fuel Feed Systems and Stands
Beginning in 1929, together with the search for efficient
combustion chamber designs, work was performed on the creation
of stand measurement and fuel component feed systems. In 1930,
based on analysis of
weights, it was estab-
lished that the most
efficient type of fuel
feed for low-thrust LRE
is an extractive (cylin-
der) system, using either
compressed gas from a
pressure accumulator or
liquefied gas evaporated
in an evaporator. It
was clear in the 30's
that a pump feed system
was preferable for high-
thrust LRE. Let us
recall that K. E. Tsiol-
kovskiy planned this
type of fuel feed system
in his theoretical
studies.
compact turbine-pump
units and the applica-
064- tion of the latest struc-
tural materials has
allowed pump feed systems
to be used not only in
large engines, but also
The development of
Cross Section of the OW-52 Engine
in LRE producing relatively low thrust, in recent years.
At GDL, a feed system was developed both for flame test
stands and for engines installed in flight vehicles of
various types.
in which the fuel components were driven from their tanks by
compressed nitrogen.
fuel were large-caliber artillery cartridges, lined on the
inside with aluminum if they were to contain nitric acid or
other corrosive fuel components.
The 20-liter liquid oxygen tank was placed in a sealed
brass jacket, made from the cartridge of a 12-inch shell; the
gap was filled with carbon dioxide and activated charcoal.
When the tank was filled with liquid oxygen, the gaseous
carbon dioxide was frozen, and the other gaseous products
In 1930-1932, LRE were tested at GDL on a stand
The test stand containers for oxidizer and
99
pr esent as i mpur i t i es wer e absor bed by t he char coal , cr eat i ng / 117
a hi gh vacuumt o i nsul at e t he t ank.
Dur i ng 1931- 1932, wor k was per f or med at GDL on a speci al
f uel f eed syst emusi ng pi st on pumps. I n 1931, a f uel f eed
syst emwas devel oped usi ng a pi st on uni t consi st i ng of f our
doubl e- act i ng pi st on pumps pl aced r adi al l y ar ound t he combust i on
chamber . Thi s pumpi ng uni t was pl anned f or use wi t h ORM- 3.
I n 1931, t he ORM- A engi ne was const r uct ed accor di ng t o
a pl an suggest ed by B. S . Pet r opavl ovski y. Thi s engi ne had a
pumpi ng uni t dr i ven by t he combust i on pr oduct s; a char ge of
smokel ess t r ot yl pyr oxyl i n powder was bur ned i n t he chamber
f or t he f i r st f ew seconds i n or der t o pr oduce t he pr oduct s f or
engi ne st ar t .
I n 1931- 1932, a pi st on pumpi ng uni t was devel oped, manu-
f act ur ed and t est ed t o f eed a ni t r ogen t et r oxi de- t ol uene
engi ne wi t h a t hr ust of 300 kg.
One common f eat ur e of pump f uel f eed syst ems i s t he use of
a por t i on of t he ener gy of t he gases i n t he combust i on chamber ,
causi ng a cer t ai n i ncr ease i n t he ef f i ci ency of t he ent i r e
engi ne. However , t hese syst ems have been f ound pr act i cal l y
i nconveni ent , pr i mar i l y due t o t he unevenness of f uel f eed
dur i ng t he cour se of one cycl e. Ther ef or e, i n 1933 t he devel -
opment was begun of a t ur bi ne- pump uni t f or a ni t r i c aci d-
ker osene engi ne devel opi ng 300 kg t hr ust wi t h a f uel componet
f eed pr essur e of up to 75 at m ( shaf t r ot at i on speed 25, 000 rpm).
A desi gn pl an was sel ect ed f or t he TPU [ t ur bi ne pump uni t ] ,
consi st i ng of a gas t ur bi ne wi t h one st age and t wo si ngl e-
st age cent r i f ugal pumps ( f or oxi di zer and f uel ) seat ed on a
common hor i zont al shaf t .
The vanes had bi di r ect i onal i nput t o r el i eve t he axi al
f or ces.
al l oy. The t ur bi ne was power ed by t he combust i on pr oduct s of
t he f uel at a t emper at ur e of 500' C and a pr essur e of 15 at m.
The body and vanes of t he pump wer e made of an al umi num
Dur i ng t est i ng of an exper i ment al model at a t est st and
of t he met al pl ant , a si ngl e- st age pump pr oduced a guage
del i ver y pr essur e of 75 at m, whi ch many had consi der ed i mpos-
suppl ement ar y mar i ne engi ne. Accor di ng t o an ai r f or ce or der
( 1932) , t hi s TPU was desi gned t o be i nst al l ed t oget her wi t h a
300 kg- t hr ust combust i on chamber on t he 1 - 4 ai r cr af t .
/ 119
si bl e at t he t i me. The gas t ur bi ne r ot or was t aken f r oma -
100
L-
A Di agr amof t he OW- A
/ 118
The Rocket of GDL -
I n 1932, 1933, RLA
r ocket s wer e pr oduced
at GDL f or f l i ght
t est i ng of LRE - - t he
and RLA- 3. They wer e
pr eceded by devel opment
of i ndi vi dual RLA sys-
t ems.
RLA- 100, RLA- 1, RLA- 2
The basi c desi gn
par amet er s of t he RLA-
100 r ocket , t he pl an
f or whi ch was devel oped
i n 1932. wer e as f ol -
l ows. Fl yi ng al t i t ude - -
up t o 100 km, l aunch
mass - - 400 kg, f uel
mass - - 250 kg, engi ne
t hr ust - - 3000 kg,
payl oad mass - - 20 kg,
oper at i ng t i me - - 20
sec. The r ocket con-
si st ed of t wo st eel
bodi es i nt er connect ed
by t he nose por t i on.
Ni t r i c- aci d LRE 2
was i nst al l ed above
t he cent er of gr avi t y
of t he r ocket on a
gi mbal suppor t , was
gyr oscopi cal l y st abi l -
i zed and ser ved not
onl y as t he dr i vi ng
power sour ce, but al s o
as t he act uat i ng el ement
of t he cont r ol syst em.
The nose por t i on of t he
r ocket 1 car r i ed weat her
i nst r ument s, a par a-
chut e and an aut omat i c devi ce f or ej ect i on of t he i nst r ument s
af t er compl et i on of t he f l i ght t est pr ogr am. The f uel com-
ponent s wer e f ed i nt o t he engi ne usi ng an ext r act i ve syst em
t hr ough t he hol l ow gi mbal r i ngs, whi ch wer e seal ed i nt o t he
j our nal s ar ound t hem. The l ower por t i on of t he r ocket body 4
car r i ed a compr essed gas cyl i nder , t he upper por t i on 3 car r i ed
t he f uel t anks, whi l e t he nose por t i on 1 car r i ed t he oxi di zer
101
t anks. The dur al umi n f i ns 5 i n t he t ai l por t i on of t he r ocket
assur ed t hat i t s cent er of l at er al r esi st ance was l ower t han t he
cent er of gr avi t y.
A t est st and wi t h a gi mbal suppor t was made t o t est t he
engi ne and det er mi ne t he st abi l i zi ng i nf l uence of t he exhaust
st r eam. Wor ki ng dr awi ngs of a mot i on pi ct ur e camer a wi t h a
t i me r ecor di ng syst emt o be i nst al l ed i n t he t ai l sect i on of
t he r ocket i n or der t o det er mi ne t he t r aj ect or y of f l i ght of
t he r ocket wer e devel oped. I n 1932, t hr ee r ocket bodi es wer e
under const r uct i on at a machi ne bui l di ng pl ant .
The RLA- 1, RLA- 2 and RLA- 3 r ocket s wer e desi gned f or
f l y ver t i cal l y t o al t i t udes of 2 t o 4 km. The desi gn of t hese
r ocket s cal l ed f or r i gi d mount i ng of t he engi nes i n t he t ai l
por t i on of t he r ocket . The f uel f eed syst emwas ext r act i ve
usi ng compr essed gas f r oma pr essur e cyl i nder . The f uel t ank
was l ocat ed concent r i cal l y wi t hi n t he oxi di zer t ank. The
l aunch was t o be ver t i cal , wi t hout a gui di ng suppor t , f r oma
l aunchi ng st age.
f l i ght t est i ng of LRE wi t h up t o 250 kg t hr ust . They wer e t o /120
The si mpl est desi gn was t hat of t he RLA- 1 r ocket , wi t h t he
ORM- 47 LRE. The body of t he r ocket was st eel , but i t s nose
por t i on and t ai l f i ns wer e made of wood. The ext r act i ve f eed
syst emhad no pr essur e r educer . The l engt h of t he r ocket was
1880 mm, t he di amet er of t he body - - 195 mm.
di f f er ed f r omt he RLA- 1 i n t hat i t had a dur al umi numnose
cone, i n whi ch wer e l ocat ed a par achut e and weat her i nst r u-
ment s, and an aut omat i c devi ce f or openi ng and ej ect i on of
t he par achut e; f ur t her mor e, t he cent r al por t i on of t he
r ocket body car r i ed an equi pment sect i on wi t h a pr essur e
r educer , assur i ng even f uel f eed t o t he combust i on chamber ;
t he r ocket had dur al umi numt ai l f i ns. These r ocket s wer e manu-
f act ur ed i n t he shops of t he Nat i onal Mi nt . Pr el i mi nar y t est
st and oper at i on of t he RLA- 2 r ocket wi t h t he ORM- 52 engi ne
The RLA- 2 r ocket , l i ke t he RLA- 1, was uncont r ol l ed, but
( not shown on t he f i gur e) was conduct ed i n 1933. / 122
The RLA- 3 r ocket was a cont r ol l ed r ocket , and di f f er ed
f r omt he RLA- 2 i n t hat t he body cont ai ned an i nst r ument
sect i on wi t h t wo gyr oscopi c devi ces wi t h ai r pr essur e power
( gyr oscopes f r oma mar i ne t or pedo wer e used) ; t hey cont r ol l ed
t wo pai r s of r udder f i ns at t he t ai l of t he r ocket by means of
pneumat i c ser vo dr i ves and mechani cal l i nkages.
pr ovi di ng t he mi ni mumdi spl acement of t he cent er of pr essur e
upon movement of t he r udder s.
Munk aer odynami c pr of i l es wer e sel ect ed f or t he r udder s,
The RLA- 3 was never compl et ed.
102
I n ear l y 1934, t he document a-
t i on and mat er i al s sect i on of t he
RLA pr oj ect was t r ansf er r ed t o
RNI I , wher e a sect i on f or devel opment
of l i qui d- f uel ed r ocket s was set up.
Si nce by t hi s t i me RNI I al r eady had
an appr oved pl an of oper at i ons, t he
RLA r ocket s wer e never devel oped
f ur t her .
Thus, t he basi c r esul t of t he
sci ent i f i c r esear ch and exper i ment al -
desi gn wor k per f or med at GDL i n
1929- 1933 w?s deep and compr ehensi ve
st udy of t he pr ocesses occur r i ng i n
L E , t he devel opment of good, eco-
nomi cal and r el i abl e engi nes ( f or
t he t i me) and t he sol ut i on of a br oad
r ange of pr obl ems r el at ed t o r ocket
engi ne cont r uct i on. Li qui d r ocket
f uel s wer e devel oped and st udi ed,
as wel l as met hods of f uel f eed t o
t he combust i on chamber , condi t i ons
of mi xt ur e f or mat i on and pr epar at i on
of f uel s f or combust i on, and met hods
and means wer e devel oped f or pyr o-
t echni cal and chemi cal i gni t i on i n
engi nes, as wel l as t he st ar t - up
and shut - down of engi nes, pr ocesses
wi t hi n t he combust i on chamber wer e
st udi ed, met hods of cool i ng of com-
bust i on chamber s wer e devel oped,
t he condi t i ons of f l ow of t he com-
Di agr amof t he RLA- 100 bust i on pr oduct s f r omnozzl es of
Rocket var i ous shapes wer e st udi ed, and
f act or s i nf l uenci ng t he t hr ust and
speci f i c i mpul se wer e det er mi ned. Fi nal l y, GDL mast er ed
t echni ques of exper i ment at i on and oper at i on of LRE, devel oped
t est st and equi pment and appar at us f or r ecor di ng of par amet er s
dur i ng t est i ng and devel oped t he desi gn of engi nes devel opi ng
t hr ust up t o 300 kg wi t h speci f i c i mpul ses of up t o 210 sec at
gr ound l evel wi t h r epeat ed st ar t - up capabi l i t y.
The vi abi l i t y of LRE was convi nci ngl y pr oven by ext ended,
r el i abl e and economi c oper at i on of t he ORM- 50 and ORM- 52. The
pat h was shown f or f ur t her i mpr ovement of engi nes. The cr eat i on - / 124
of t hese model s was of deci si ve si gni f i cance f or f ur t her devel op-
ment of Sovi et r ocket engi ne const r uct i on.
103
/121
D .. ;ram of the RLA-1
Rocket
Diagram of the RLA- 2
Rocket
104
* .
. .
Memor i al Pl aque I nst al l ed on t he Bui l di ng of
t he I oannovski y Ravel i na of Pet r oyavl ovskaya
For t r ess. [ Tr ansl at i on of Pl aque:
I n 1932- 1933, her e a t I oannovskaya Ravcl i na wer e l ocat ed
t he t est st ands and shops of t he USSR' s f i r st exper i ment al - desi gn
or gani zat i on for t he devel opment of r ocket engi nes -- t he Gas
Dynami cs Labor at or y ( GDL) of t he Mi l i t ar y Sci ent i f i c Resear ch Com-
mi t t ee of t he Revol ut i onar y Mi l i t ar y Counci l , USSR. Her e wer e con-
duct ed t est st and oper at i on of t he wor l d' s f i r st el ect r ot her mal
r ocket engi ne and t he f i r st Sovi et l i qui d- f uel ed r ockct engi nes,
devel oped by CDL i n 1929- 1933. GDL l ai d t he f oundat i on f or domes-
t i c r ocket engi ne const r uct i on. The t eamwhi ch gr ew out of GDL, B
par t of t he t wi ce awar ded Exper i ment al - Desi gn Bur eau, cr eat cd t he
power f ul engi nes of t he boost er r ocket s whi ch pl aced sat el l i t es i n
or bi t ar ound t hc Ear t h, no 7 and sun, sent aut omat i c spacecr af t t o
t he moon, Venus and Mar s, and l aunched t hc manned spacecr af t Vost ok,
Voskhod and Soyuz.]
/ 1 2 3
105
I t has been 44 year s si nce t he subdi vi si on f or devel opment
of ERE and LRE was cr eat ed at GDL ( 1929- 1933) , bebi nni ng t he
l ong and di f f i cul t pat h of devel opment t hr ough subdi vi si ons i n
RNI I ( 1934- 1938) t o t he f or mat i on of t he i ndependent gr oup
( 1939- 1940) , whi ch i n 1941 was expanded i nt o t he Exper i ment al
Desi gn Bur eau. Thi s was t he cr eat i ve pat h of devel opment f r om
GDL t o Exper i ment al Desi gn Bur eau of t he or gani zat i on cal l ed
GDL- OKB. The f oundat i ons of domest i c r ocket engi ne const r uct i on
wer e l ai d down at GDL. Most of t he wor ker s who hel d cr eat i ve
posi t i ons i n t he t wi ce- awar ded Exper i ment al Desi gn Bur eau GDL-
OKB, whi ch cr eat ed t he power f ul l i qui d- f uel ed r ocket engi nes
f or al l Sovi et boost er r ocket s whi ch have f l own i n space, came
f r omt hese wal l s.
V. P. Gl ushko, t he gr eat l eader of GDL- OKB, was t he
desi gner of t hese engi nes.
I n cel ebr at i on of t he 40t h anni ver sar y of GDL- OK3 ( 1929-
1969), memor i al pl aques wer e i nst al l ed on t he bui l di ngs of t he
Mai n Admi r al t y and t he I oannovskaya Ravel i na of Pet r opavl ovsk
For t r ess ( Leni ngr ad) , wher e GDL was l ocat ed i n t he 1930' s when
t he ERE and LRE wer e i nvent ed.
2 . 4 . The Moscow Gr oup f or t he St udy of React i on Mot i on,
CS Osoavi i khi mUSSR ( MosGI RD)
By t he ear l y 19301s, ef f i ci ent f or ms of par t i ci pat i on of
soci et y i n t he sol ut i on of pr act i cal pr obl ems of ast r onaut i cs
had been f ound. Par t y and st at e or pani zat i ons pr ovi ded gr eat
ai d t o i ndi vi dual cl ubs and gr oups i nvol ved i n t he st udy of
r eact i on equi pment .
A si gni f i cant st ep i n devel opment of wor k on r ocket t ech-
nol ogy i n t he USSR consi st ed of t he or gani zat i onal measur es
per f or med by Osoavi akhi mUSSR, whi ch cooper at ed gr eat l y i n t he
devel opment of new mi l i t ar y t echnol ogy.
Fr omt he ver y begi nni ng of t he act i vi t y of Osoavi akhi u,
i t s t heme and st r uct ur e i ncl uded t he conduct of sci ent i f i c
r esear ch wor k, whi ch was t hen br oadl y devel oped. I n par t i cul ar ,
t he Sci ent i f i c Resear ch Cent er of t he CS Osoavi akhi mi ncl uded
t he Bur eau of Ai r Technol ogy (BVT), t he t ask of whi ch i ncl uded
sci ent i f i c r esear ch wor k and t he devel opment of new t ypes of
set up f or t hi s pur pose.
pr obl ems of r ocket t echnol ogy, based on t he wor ks per f or med
si nce 1921 i n t he l abor at or y of N. I . Ti khomi r ov, and somewhat
f l i ght vehi cl es. Desi gn bur eaus, shops and l abor at or i es wer e / 125
I n par t i cul ar , ser i ous at t ent i on was gi ven t o t he st udy of
106
l at er i n t he sect i ons, cl ubs and soci et i es of r ocket t echnol ogy
ent husi ast s.
The f i r st publ i c gr oup f or t he st udy of r eact i on mot5. ert
began f or mi ng i n Moscow i n connect i on wi t h t he wor ks of F. ',.
Tsander , who was di scussed sbove. I n December of 1330, wor ki ng
at Ts I M, F. A. Tsander at t empt ed t oget her wi t h CS Osoavi akl i i m
t o cr eat e such a gr oup of r ocket t echnol ogy ent husi ast s whi ch
coul d sol ve i ndependent l y t he gr eat sci ent i f i c r esear ch pr ob-
l ems and per f or mt he necessar y pl anni ng and exper i ment al wor k.
On 18 . J ul y 1931, t he f i r st meet i ng of t he new Osoavi akhi m
Or gani zat i on, cal l ed t he Bur eau f or t he St udy of React i on
M o t i m ( BI RD) , was hel d, under t he chai r manshi p of F. A.
Tsander . The pl an f or t he wor k of BI RD cal l ed, i n par t i cul ar ,
f or or gani zat i on of BI RD cel l s at ent er pr i ses, and a r epor t by
F. A. Tsander at a gener al meet i ng of member s of cel l s on t he
condi t i ons of i nt er pl anet ar y voyages.
or gani zat i on by t hi s dat e ( 18 J ul y 1931).
Thus, BI RD, whi ch l at er gr ew i nt o GI RD, was a f ul l y f or med
The name GI RD i s f i r st encount er ed on 20 Sept ember I 351 i n
a l et t er by one of i t s member s, comr ade For t i kov, t o K. E.
Tsi ol kovski y, who was f ami l i ar wi t h t he pr act i cal and or gani za-
t i onal af f ai r s of GI RD.
Accor di ng t o anot her poi nt of vi ew, GI RD was f ounded on
18 August 1931, on t he i ni t i at i ve of F. A. Tsander and
N. K. Fedor enkov, who spoke t o Osoavi akhi mUSSR on t he cr ea-
t i on of an "I nt er pl anet ar y Soci et y. " N. K. Fedor enkov
announced t hr ough t he pr ess l at e i n 1930 and ear l y i n 1931 t hat
al l t hose i nt er est ed i n pr obl ems of i nt er pl anet ar y voyages wer e
i nvi t ed t o j 0i r. t t oget her and wr ot e i n a l et t er t o Ya. I.
Per el l man t hat "t he dr oup f or t he st udy of r eact i on mut i on"
was or gani zed on 18 August 1931. Thi s dat e i s ment i oned i n
t he ar t i cl e "The Rocket and i t s Devel opment " (1935).
Fi nal l y, a t hi r d poi nt of vi ew i s def ended by t hose who
consi der t he dat e of f oundi ng of GI RD t o be t he day of t he
begi nni ng of pr act i cal wor k on r eact i on equi pment , namel y 18
November 1931, when F. A. Tsander , who at t hat t i me headed t he
st udy of r eact i on mot i on i n MOSCOW, concl uded a "soci al i st
agr eement f or st r engt heni ng t he def ense of t he USSR" wi t h t he
Bur eau of Ai r Technol ogy of t he Sci ent i f i c Resear ch Sect i on of
CS Osoavi akhi mf or pl anni ng and devel opment of wor ki ng dr aw-
i ngs, manuf act ur e and pr oduct i on of model s of a r eact i on engi ne,
i ncl udi ng i nst al l at i on of t hi s LRE on an ai r cr af t .
sel ect ed by a gr oup 04: vet er ans of r ocket t echnol ogy of t he
We not e t hat i t i s t hi s dat e, 18 November 1931, whi ch was
107
Sovi et Nat i onal Uni on of Hi st or i ans of Nat ur al Sci ence and
i ng dedi cat ed t o t he 40t h anni ver sar y of t he or gani zat i on of
GI RD i n Moscow. Thi s di sagr eement i n t he det er mi nat i on of t he
pr eci se dat e of or gani zat i on of GI RD i s expl ai ned by t he f act
t hat t he gr oup was cr eat ed gr adual l y, i t s or gani zat i onal f or ms
changed, wer e i mpr oved and st r engt hened wi t h each new st ep.
1126 Technol ogy, Academy of Sci ences USSR, t o hol d tl cr eat i ve meet -
-
I n 1932, CS Osoavi akhi madopt ed a r esol ut i on cal l i ng f or
br oad devel opment of wor k i n t he ar ea of avi at i on t echnol ogy.
I n par t i cul ar , t he Tsander gr oup was encour at ed t hr oughout
1932 t o compl et e wor k on t he cr eat i on of a r eact i on engi ne f or
an ai r cr af t . I n J une of 1932, t he Pr aesi di umof CS Osoavi akhi m
adopt ed a r esol ut i on cal l i ng f or t he or gani zat i on of an exper i -
ment al sci ent i f i c r esear ch base ( GI RD) , whi ch was gi ven t he
t ask of pl anni ng, const r uct i on and t est i ng of engi nes and
r ocket s of var i ous t ypes,
Thus, t he gr oup, whi ch wor ked up t o J une of 1932 by popul ar
suppor t , was conver t ed t o a sci ent i f i c r esear ch and exper i ment al -
desi gn or gani zat i on wi t h i t s own st af f and base.
bot h t hr ough Osoavi akhi mand t hr ough t he Admi ni st r at i on f or
Mi l i t ar y I nvent i ons ( UVI ) of t he Peopl e' s Commi ssar i at f or t he
Navy.
Fi nanci ng was
I n 1932, GI RD was gi ven space f or t he cr eat i on of a
sci ent i f i c r esear ch pr oduct i on desi gn base beneat h No. 19
Sadavo- Spaskaya St r eet i n Moscow.
By J ul y of 1932, t he basi c t r ends i n t he act i vi t y of G i b
and i t s st r uct ur e had been det er mi ned. An or der of CS Osoavi a-
khi mof 14 J ul y 1932 names Ser gey Pavl ovi ch Kor ol ev as t he head
of GI RD, begi nni ng 1 May 1932.
The st r uct ur e of GI RD whi ch had devel oped by mi d- 1932
r ef l ect ed t he t r ends of i t s act i vi t y. Four i nt er r el at ed
t r ends of wor k ar e char act er i st i c:
- - sci ent i f i c r esear ch and exper i ment al wor k on t he appl i ca-
t i on of r eact i on engi nes;
- - br oad t echni cal popul ar i zat i on of t he appl i cat i on of
r eact i on engi nes;
- - t r ai ni ng of wor ker s i n r ocket t echnol ogy;
- - l eader shi p and coar di na i on of t he act i vi t y of t he
GI RD cr eat ed acr oss t he country!, al l wi ng t he Moscow gr oup t o
be cal l ed t he cent r al gr oup ( TsGI RD) . ?
'By t hi s t i me, some 100 gr oups had been f or med f or t he st udy of
r eact i on mot i on.
' The name TsGI RD i s f i r st encount er ed i n of f i ci al document s on
31 Mar ch 1932.
108
"Fr omt he shor es of t he uni ver se, whi ch our Ear t h has now
become, " Ser gey Pavl ovi ch sai d, "Sovi et shi ps wi l l r epeat edl y
f l y f ar i nt o space, l i f t ed by power f ul r ocket boost er s. Each
f l i ght and r et ur n wi l l be a hol i day f or t he Sovi et peopl e, f or
al l f or war d- t hi nki ng nanki nd - - a vi ct or y of i nt el l i gence and
pr ogr ess. "
The out st ar di ng or gani zat i onal capabi l i t i es of Ser gey
Pavl ovi ch, t he br i l l i ant mi nd of t hi s gr eat sci ent i st , al l owed
hi mt o sol ve a number of i mpor t ant pr obl ems of r ocket const r uc-
t i on. Dur i ng t he post war per i od, S . P. Kor ol ev di r ect ed t he
wor k of t he desi gn, sci ent i f i c r esear ch or gani zat i ons and
t est f i r i ng r anges f or many year s.
of S . P. Kor ol ev i s connect ed t o epochal achi evemec: s. The
sci ent i f i c and t echni cal i deas of Ser gey Pavl ovi ch have been
br oadl y r eal i zed i n pr act i ce. Many bal l i st i c and geophysi ca:
r ocket s, boost er r ocket s, manned spacecr af t and aut omat i c
i nt er pl anet ar y spacecr af t ( AI S) and ar t i f i ci al Ear t h sat el l i t es
wer e cr eat ed under hi s l eader shi p. Ser gey Pavl ovi ch Kor ol ev
di r ect ed t he l aunchi ng of t he wor l d' s f i r st ar t i f i ci al Ear t h
sat el l i t e, cr eat ed t he space r ocket syst ems used f or t he f i r st
manned f l i ght i n space, t he f i r st f l i ght s of aut omat i c space-
cr af t t o t he moon, Venus, Mar s and t he l andi ng of an AI S on t he
moon.
I n t he hi st or y of t he st udy and mast er y of space, t he name
S . P. Kor ol ev was made a Cor r espondi ng Member of t he
Academy of Sci ences USSR i n 1953, an Academi ci an i n 1958.
Ser gey Pavl ovi ch Kor ol ev, a CPSU member , i s a t wi ce Her o of
Soci al i st Labcr and a Leni n Pr i ze l aur eat e.
The name of Kor ol ev, one of t he f ounder s of ast r onaut i cs,
has been gi ven t o t he l ar gest f or mat i on on t he f ar si de of t he
moon.
i nt
an
mas
GI RD consi st ed of f our pl anni ng- desi gn t eams, combi ned
o sect i on I , pr oduct i on shops and a t est st at i on ( sect i on I V),
admi ni st r at i ve di vi si on ( 11) and t he or gani zat i onal and
s oper at i ons di vi si on ( 111) . GI RD was subor di nat e t o CS
Osoavi akhi m. Sect i ons I , I 1 and I V wer e l ocat ed i n t he base-
ment of No. 19 Sadovo- Spasskaya St r eet and wer e a secr et ent er -
pr i se; sect i on I 11 f unct i oned as an open and somewhat i nde-
pendent or gani zat i on i n Osoavi akhi m.
The f i r st t eamwas headed by F. A . Tsander . The t eam
i ncl uded L. K. Kor neyev ( who l at er became t he t eaml eader i n
Mar ch 1933) , A. I . Pol yar nyy, L. S. Dushki n, A. V. Sal i kov,
S. S. Smi r nov, V. V. Gr i yaznov, Ye. K. Moshki n, I . I . Khovanski y, / I 30
N. M. Vever , L. I . Kol basi na and A . I . Podl i payev. Thi s t eam
110
tested the OR-1, worked on the preparation of suspensions of
metal slid kerosene, experiments on the ignition of metallic
fuel in air.
gested for the engines designed by F. A. Tsander as fuel.
The suspension was produced using ball mills, and also by means
of an electric arc. The OR-2 engine was tested with liquid
oxygen and gasoline, the LRE 02 aviation-type engine was
planned and tested, burning liquid oxygen and ethyl alcohol
as well as the LRE 10, designed for the GIRD-X rocket.
A suspension of magnesium and kerosene was sug-
/129
'
-
Technical
Cnief of GIRD Counci 1
-
Party
Organi zat ion
Organitat ional Production
Operat ions
Administrative and Mass
entific Research
and Experimen-
I
Organizational Plan of GIRD
The second team was headed by M. K. Tikhonravov. It
included: V. A. Andreyev, V. N. Galkovskiy, Ya. A. Golyshev,
N. 1. Yefremov, V. S. Suyev, Z. I. Kruglova, 0. K. Parovina,
Ye. I. Snegirev, V. A. Fedulov, N. I. Shul'gina and F. A.
Yakaytis.
Under the leadership and according to the plan of M. K.
Tikhonravov, the second team developed the GIRD-09 rocket with
the 09 hybrid-fuel engine. The second team developed the 07
rocket, flight tested in 1935. This team ,ttempted to create
an aviation engine with pump feed of liquid oxygen and gasoline.
Other developments were also conducted.
111
Mikhail Klavdiyevich Tikhonravov was born 29 July 1900. He
began his creative activity in 1923 when he was still a student
at the Military Air Academy imeni Zhukovskiy. After graduating
from the Academy in 1925, M. K. Tikhonravov was sent to work at
the Aircraft Design Bureau of N. N. Polikarpov. In 1930, M. K.
Tikhonravov was transferred to work at the Central Design Bureau
imeni Menzhinskiy, where he used his work on aircraft motor
equipment as a basis for his brochures "Aviation Tanks" (1934)
and "Aviation Motor Supply and Lubrication Systems" (1936). In
1932, M. K. Tikhonravov, after meetings and discussions with
S. P. Korolev, was transferred to GIRD. At RNII, M. K. Tikhon-
ravov, together with a team from the Department of Wingless
Rockets, began the development of a rocket to carry man into
the stratosphere. Then 14. K. Tikhonravov headed the Laboratory
of Alcohol-Oxygen LRE. As a result of his scientific stucies on
L E , Tikhonravov published the articles "Use of Rockets for
Investigation of the Stratosphere" (1936), "An Oxygen Rocket
Engine '' (1937), and "Principal Characteristics of a Rocket
Engine" (1938) in the collections Raketnoye Tekhnika [Rocket
Technology] and Raketnoye Dvizheniye [Rocket Motion].
In 1938, M. K. Tikhonravov began to study the stability
of flight and reproducibility of trajectories of uncontrolled
solid-fueled rocket weapons. The results of his studies were
published in Raketnoye Tekhnika under the title "Study of
Factors Influencing Firing Accuracy of Rocket Shells."
/131 When he was leading the work on the investigation cf
--
flight conditions of the artificial Earth satellite in 1950-
1951, M. K. Tikhonravov was one of the authors of "Principles
of the Theory of Flight and Elements of Planning of Artificial
Earth Satellites." M. K. Tikhonravov also wrote many other
works on problems of rocket technology.
Mikhail Klavdiyevich Tikhonravov highly, awarding him orders
of the Soviet Union, and giving him the Lenin Prize and the
rank of Hero of Socialist Labor.
The government of the USSR has evaluated the works of
In January 1970, Mikhail Klavdiyevich Tikhonravov was
selected a Corresponding Member of the International Academy
of Astronautics.
The third team, headed by Yu. A. Pobedonostsev, studied
Yu. Alekseyevich Pobedonostsev was born in 1907 and became
arid developed air-reaction engines.
a Doctor of Technical Sciences and Professor. He participated
in the organization of GIRD. In 1932 he was transferred to GIRD
as a full-time worker, where he led the development of direct-
flow air-breathing reaction engines using solid fuel. Working
112
par t y on pr obl ems of mast er y of t echnol ogy. We have i n mi nd
her e t he r esol ut i on of t he CC VEP(b), adopt ed i n 1931- 1932 and
desi gned t o encour age br oad devel opment of t echni cal pr opaganda
i n whi ch, i n par t i cul ar , t he need f or compr ehensi ve encour agement
of al l t ypes of i ni t i at i ves advanci ng t he devel opment of domest i c
sci ent i f i c and t echnol ogy was emphasi zed.
Bet ween 30 J anuar y and 4 Febr uar y 1932, t he 17t h Conf er ence
of t he par t y gave par t i cul ar at t ent i on t o t he need f or t he
devel opment of ext ensi ve sci ent i f i c and t echni cal pr opaganda.
Cour ses or gani zed by GI RD i n 1932 on r ocket t echnol ogy and / 133
t he hi st or y of ast r onaut i cs wer e par t i cul ar l y si gni f i cant i n
t he t r ai ni ng of speci al i st s i n t he new t echnol ogy. The cour se
on t he t heor y of r ocket engi nes was r ead by F. A. Tsander , t he
cour se on t he dynami cs of r eact i on appar at us by V. P. Vet chi nki n,
t he cour se on t he t heor y of ai r br eat hi ng r eact i on engi nes by
B. S . St echki n, t he cour se on hydr odynami cs and gas dynami cs by
B. S . Zemski y, whi l e N. A . Zhur avchenko r ead t he cour se of
l ect ur es on exper i ment al aer odynami cs.
I n or der t o act i vat e wor k i n t he f i el d, t he or gani zat i onal
and mass oper at i ons sect i on of GI RD devel oped a pr ogr amof
cour ses f or pr opagandi st s i n 1932, desi gned f or 40 hour s. The
t r ai ni ng pl ans of t he cour ses wer e sent out t o per i pher al or gan-
i zat i ons.
I n Apr i l of 1932 t her e wer e si x communi st s at GI RD,
or gani zed i nt o a par t y gr oup. The f i r st par t y gr oup or gani zer
was L. K . Kor neyev. I n ear l y 1933, an i ndependent par t y
or r hni zat i on was set up at GI RD. The f i r st secr et ar y of t he
paLt y bur eau was t he Deput y Chi ef of t he second t eamof GI RD,
Ni kol ay I vanovi ch Yef r emov.
The communi st s of GI RD wer e t he f i r st combat det achment
of t he or gani zat i on. The communi st s act i vel y i nf l uenced t he
sci ent i f i c and pr oduct i on l i f e of al l subdi vi si ons of GI RD,
and were: l eader s i n t he shock movement and i n soci al i st compet i -
ti o?. When di f f i cul t i es ar ose i n t he wor k of any t eam, t he
pan, or gani zat i on al ways mobi l i zed t he communi st s and gave
b+!p t o l aggi ng sect i ons.
Dur i ng t he t i me of most i nt ensi ve wor k, t he communi st s
gave per sonal exam?l es, wor ki ng di y and ni ght , as f or exampl e
dur i ng t he t i me of t he f i r st l aunchi ng of t he 09 and GI RD- X
r ocket s.
114
2. 5. Li qui d- Fuel ed Rocket Engi nes and Rocket s of GI RD
The pr i mar y r esul t s of t he wor k of t he f i r st and second
t eams of GI RD wer e t he 02 r ocket f or t he RP- 1 gl i der , t he 10,
09 and 03 engi nes f or t he GI RD- X, GI RD- 09, GI RD- 07 and GI RD- 05
r ocket s. Fur t her mor e, exper i ment s wer e per f or med wi t h OR- 1 and
i : di vi dual LRE uni t s.
Cr oss Sect i on of 02 Engi ne wi t h Pr echamber
The 02 Engi ne
Ser gey Pavl ovi ch Kor ol ev ( even bef or e t he or gani zat i on of
GI RD) at t ached gr eat si gni f i cance t o t he cr eat i on of a pi l ot ed
f l i ght vehi cl e wi t h an LRE. Thi s i s i ndi cat ed by hi s i nt er est
i n t he pl ans of F. A. Tsander , hi s gr eat suppor t of t he wor k
per f or med i n t he f i r st t eamof GI RD on t he OR- 2 engi ne, t he
cr eat i on and per sonal l eader shi p of t he f our t h t eamof GI RD,
whi ch devel oped t he r ocket pl ane f l i ght vehi cl e, on whi ch t he
OR- 2 l i qui d f uel ed r ocket engi ne was t o be i nst al l ed.
t he f or mi n whi ch i t was pl anned by F. A . Tsander .
The 02 engi ne' was f i r st t est ed i n t he OR- 2 ver si on, i . e. ,
Af t er t hr ee t est s ( 18, 21 and 26 Mar ch 1 9 3 3 ) , i n or der t o
i mpr ove t he oper at i ng capaci t y of t he 02 engi ne, f ur t her t est i ng
was per f or med wi t h a f uel wi t h l ower heat cont ent , consi st i ng
of l i qui d oxygen and 85%et hyl al cohol . Fur t her mor e, t he
desi gn of t he l i qui d- car r yi ng por t i on of t he cool i ng syst emand
of t he combust i on chamber i t sel f was si mpl i f i ed; t he cool i ng
agent used was t he l i qui d oxygen, t he heat i ng and par t i al
evapor at i on of whi ch i n t he cool i ng chamber had a f avor abl e
i nf l uence on pr ocesses wi t hi n t he chamber ; t he chamber was
equi pped wi t h cer ami c i nser t s, r equi r i ng st udi es on t he sel ec-
t i on of r ef r act or y heat i nsul at i ng mat er i al s. Thus, t he 02
engi ne di f f er ed si gni f i cant l y f r omt he OR. 2 desi gned by F . A .
Tsander .
/134
'In many document s t hi s engi ne i s cal l ed t he "ORD-2."
115
Dur i ng i t s devel opment , t he desi gn of t he 02 engi ne changed / 135
f r ommodel t o model . Accor di ng t o t he speci al pr ogr amof
i nvest i gat i ons, i n J ul y of 1933 a chamber was t est ed wi t h a
gr aphi t e i nser t , whi ch bur st dur i ng t he 55t h second of oper a-
t i on due t o t he pr esence of i mpur i t i es i n t he gr aphi t e mass.
I n Oct ober , t he chamber was t est ed wi t h an i nser t made of
car bon el ect r odes; t he i nser t bur ned out dur i ng t he 62nd second
of oper at i on. The i nser t or l i ni ng was a separ at e par t ( of
gr aphi t e, al umi numoxi de or magnesi umoxi de) , pl aced t i ght l y
i n t he chamber and nozzl e dur i ng assembl y. I n many cases, t he
r ef r act or y i nsul at i ng mat er i al was appl i ed i n t he f or mof a
t hi ck mass to t he i nner sur f aces of t he chamber ai d nozzl e,
t hen subj ect ed t o t he r equi r ed heat and mechani cal t r eat ment s.
I n subsequent exper i ment s, t he gr aphi t e f aci ng was cover ed by a
pr ot ect i ve r ef r act or y mass i n or der t o avoi d oxi dat i on of t he
car bon.
By December of 1933 when t he f i r st t eamof GIRD had
become a par t of t he RNI I , i t was f i nal l y est abl i shed t hat t he
chamber shoul d be l i ned wi t h cor undum, t he nozzl e wi t h magnesi um
oxi de, and on 20 December 1933 a chamber wi t h t hi s i nsul at i on
oper at ed 2 mi nut es 40 seconds wi t hout damage.
At GI RD, t he devel opment and t est i ng of t he 02 engi ne wer e
conduct ed by A. I. Pol yar nvy ( Chi ef Desi gner ) , L . S . Dushki nym,
L . K . Kor neyev and ot her member s of t he f i r st t eam. The devel -
opment of heat i nsul at i ng r ef r act or y coat i ngs i nvol ved t he par -
t i ci pat i on of Ye. K . Moshki n. Fi nal devel opment of t he engi ne
was per f or med i n t he oxygen t eamof RNII, headed by M. K.
Ti khonr avov. Test i ng of t he 6 mai n ver si ons of t he 02 engi ne
on t he st and of t he t hi r d l abor at or y of RNII was conduct ed by
L. S . Dushki n, A. I . Pol yar nyy, B . V. Fr ol ov and ot her s.
bust i on chamber made of sheet copper 1. 5 mmt hi ck. The com-
bust i on chamber was l i ned on t he i nsi de wi t h al umi numoxi de,
t he nozzl e - - wi t h magnesi umoxi de. The shel l of t he chamber
and t he nozzl e wer e made of l ow- car bon st eel . The head of t he
engi ne car r i ed a pl at e ( cal l ed t he j et pl at e) act i ng as a
spr ayer . The pl at e had 35 aper t ur es 0. 5 mm i n di amet er , t hr ough
whi ch t he al cohol was spr ayed. The oxygen, heat ed i n t he cool i ng / 136
sect i on and par t i al l y vapor i zed was f ed i nt o t he combust i on
chamber t hr ough t wo t ubes wel ded t o t he assembl y r i ng i n t he
ar ea of t he ent r y t o t he cool i ng sect i on and aper t ur es ( wi ndows)
l ocat ed i n t he cyl i ndr i cal por t i on of t he chamber wal l near
t he head. I gni t i on wasby spar kpl ug, i nt r oduced t o t he combus-
t i on chamber bef or e st ar t - up t hr ough t he nozzl e.
The f i r st ver si on of t he 02 engi ne was a cyl i ndr i cal com-
116
Cross Secti on of Fi nal Versi on of
02 Engine
The second versi on had a shaped nozzl e, cal cul ated by t he
method of Professor F. I . Frankel . Consi deri ng the compl exi ty
of manufacture of shaped nozzl es and the mul ti tude of problems
not yet sol ved, GIRD di d not conti nue to use thi s type of
nozzl e. Shaped nozzl es became wi del y used onl y duri ng the
post war years.
versi on, but wi th a broader cone angl e. The f ourth and f i f th
versi ons were equi pped wi th the nozzl e of the thi rd versi on and
a prechamber. After a l ong seri es of tests performed i n 1934-
1935, the f i nal versi on - - the 02- s engi ne - - was desi gned.
T hi s engi ne underwent testi np i n 1935.
The basi c data of the f i nal versi on of the 02- s engi ne
are as fol l ows. Length 570 mm, outsi de di ameter 90 mm, di ameter
of cri ti cal nozzl e cross secti on 26 mm, volume of combustion
chamber 930 cm3.
the consumption of 96% ethyl al cohol was 0. 162 kg/sec. With a
feed pressure of 20 atm, the pressure i n the combustion chmber
reached 11 atm. The engi ne devel oped a thrust of 100 kg and
operated wi thout damage up to 60 sec. The cyl i ndri cal porti on
of the combustion chamber was l i ned wi th a ref ractory heat
i nsul ati ng materi al based on aluminum oxi de, the nozzl e was
l i ned wi th magnesium oxi de.
The thi rd versi on of the engi ne had a nozzl e l i ke the f i rst
The l i qui d oxygen consumption was 0.338 kg/sec,
Thus, an LRE was created as a resul t of work begull at
GIRD and completed at RNI I .
The 0 2 - s engi ne was tested i n 1936 on the 216 winged
rocket. Thi s rocket was l aunched from a catapul t truck accel - /137
erated by sol i d f uel ed engi nes. Four tests were conducted;
i n two cases, the 216 rocket l ef t the truck normal l y, cl i mbi ng
one time on an i ncl i ned, strai ght traj ectory to an al ti tude of
about 500 m.
117
The 10 Engi ne
The f i r st t eamcr eat ed t he 10 engi ne f or t he GI RD- X r ocket .
I t was desi gned t o devel op a t hr ust of 60- 70 kg f or a dur at i on
of 30 sec wi t h a chamber pr essur e of 8- 10 at m. The wor k on t he
engi ne was begun i n J anuar y of 1933 under t he di r ect l eader shi p
of F. A. Tsander .
The f i r st ver si on, devel oped by F. A. Tsander , was an
engi ne whi ch bur ned l i qui d oxygen and gasol i ne wi t h t he addi t i on
of met al , whi ch was t o be f ed i nt o t he combust i on chamber i n
powder ed and mel t ed f or m. I n par al l el wi t h t he pl anni ng of t he
engi ne, st udi es of t he f eedi ng and i gni t i on of met al f uel wer e
conduct ed, as a r esul t of whi ch i t became cl ear t hat t he pr epa-
r at i on of met al f uel f or coni busLi on and use i n t he engi ne
i nvol ved t oo gr eat t echni cal and oper at i onal di f f i cul t i es.
Ther ef or e, t he f i r st ver si on of t he engi ne was not manuf act ur ed,
and t he second ver si on was desi gned onl y f or l i qui d oxygen and
gasol i ne, wi t hout t he addi t i on of met al f uel .
The sccond ver si on was an al l - met al wel ded st r uct ur e.
The i nner wal l of t he chamber was made of st ai nl ess st eel , t he
out er wal l ( j acket ) of or di nar y st r uc: . r al st eel . The engi ne
was pear - shaped and f eat ur ed ext er nal l i qui d cool i ng. I t
consi st ed of a mi xi ng chamber wi t h spr ayer s, a di f f user , and a
cent r al por t i on, i . e. , t he combust i on chamber i t sel f , and t he
nozzl e. Li qui d oxygen was f ed t o t he l ower por t i on of t he
nozzl e t hr ough a col l ect or i nt o a cool i ng cavi t y 3 mmwi de, t hen
washed over t he out si de of t he chamber wal l and ent er ed t he
chamber t hr ough j et - t ype spr ayer s. Gasol i ne was f ed i nt o t he
upper por t i on of t he mi xi ng chamber t hr ough j et - t ype spr ayer s,
f or med by dr i l l i ng hol es i nt o t he si de sur f ace of t he chamber .
The wor ki ng mi xt ur e t hus f or med passed t hr ough a di f f user i nt o
t he cent r al por t i on of t he chamber .
/ 138
Second Ver si on of t he 10 Engi ne
The t est i ng of t he 10 engi ne, begun i n August of 1933, and
t he i mpr ovement of i t s desi gn wer e per f or med by L. S. Dushki n,
L. K . Kor neyev, A. I . Pol yar nyy, V. P. Avdoni n, M. G. Vor ob' yev
118
and ot her s. Dur i ng f l ame t est i ng, changes wer e made i n t he
desi gn of t he chamber .
+- ped cont our was used; t he pr echamber was connect ed wi t h t he
chamber by means of a di f f usor . The engi ne was t est ed on
l i qui d oxygen and gasol i ne. Dur i ng f l ame t est s, t he excess
pr essur e i n t he chamber var i ed l i t t l e and di d not exceed 2. 5
at m.
A zhamber wi t h a pr echamber wi t h a
The assi gned t i xe f or f ul f i l l ment of t he pl an came t o an
end, and t he engi ne had not yet been devel oped. Rupt ur e of t he
combust i on chamber r equi r ed t hat f ur t her t est i ng be per f or med
usi ng a f uel consi st i ng of l i qui d oxygen and et hyl al cohol . The
concent r at i on of t he al cohol ( most f r equent l y an 85% sol ut i on
i n wat er ) was sel ect ed as a f unct i on of t he assi gned oper at i ng
mode of t he engi ne, and oxygen was used as bef or e as t he cool i ng
f l ui d.
The t hi r d ver si on of t he 10 engi ne had a mi xi ng chamber ,
i . e. , a pr echamber wi t h a f l at bot t om, car r yi ng t he j et - t ype
spr ayer s f or al cohol f eed. The f uel used was 78%et hyl al cohol .
The oxygen spr ayer s wer e l ocat ed on t he cyl i ndr i cal sur f ace of
t he chamber , cl oser t o t he component mi xi ng zone. The cool i ng
of t he cent r al por t i on of t he combust i on chamber was i nt ensi f i ed
by addi t i onal i nput of l i qui d oxygen t o t he cool i ng cavi t y i n t he
r egi on wher e t he combust i on chamber was j oi ned t o t he nozzl e.
Dur i ng f l ame t est i ng, t he combust i on chamber bur st due t o
excessi ve t her mal st r esses.
The f our t h ver si on of t he engi ne, made of SKh- 8 st eel , was
t est ed on 2 Oct ober 1933 on t he powder t est st and at RNI I .
The pr essur e i n t he chamber r eached 8 at m, t he t hr ust - - 75 kg.
Dur i ng t he t est , t he peak of t hr ust was r ecor ded when t he oper -
at i ng mode was r eached, t hen t he t hr ust decr eased dur i ng t he
16t h second. The engi ne was shut down af t er 21 seconds. An
i nspect i on r eveal ed a cr ack i n t he i nner wal l of t he cent r al
por t i on of t he chamber .
/ 139
Oxygen
park plug hol e Fuel
measurement
LIJ
ni-asurement
Four t h Ver si on of t he 10 Engi ne
119
The next model of t hi s engi ne was made of ENERZh- 7 st eel .
I t was t est ed t oget her wi t h t he f uel f eed syst emon a bal ance
f r ame whi ch car r i ed t he t anks, el ement s of t he f eed syst em
and combust i on chamber . The f or ce devel oped by t he engi ne was
t r ansmi t t ed by t hi s f r ame t o t he t hr ust - measur i ng devi ce.
The basi c dat a of t he engi ne wer e as f ol l ows. Lengt h
312 mm, out si de di amet er 92 mm, nozzl e cr i t i cal cr oss sect i on
di amet er 24 mm, vol ume of combust i on chamber 450 cm3. The
consumpt i on of 85%et hyl al cohol was 0. 280 kg/ sec. Wi t h a
pr essur e i n t he chamber of 10 at m, t he t hr ust was 65- 75 kg.
The speci f i c i mpul se, accor di ng t o t he dat a of t hr ee successi ve
t est s, was 162- 175 sec.
Based on t he r esul t s of t he t est i ng, t he deci si on was made
t o i nst al l l t he engi ne i n a r ocket . The t est r epor t i ncl uded t he
f ol l awi ng : "Si nce t he desi gn dat a have been exceeded and a
t hr ust of 75 kg achi eved, wi t h a pr essur e i n t he combust i on
chamber of 10 am, oper at i ng t i me of 20 sec, and keepi ng i n mi nd
t he sl i ght , easi l y r epai r ed damage t o t he chamber occur r i ng
dur i ngZt wo t est s, i t i s consi der ed possi bl e t o l aunch t he 10
r ocket bur ni ng l i qui d f uel i nt o t he ai r usi ng t he mot or
t est ed .
Wor k wi t h t he 10 engi ne was cont i nued at RNI I . Begi nni ng / 140
i n Febr aur y 1934, adj ust ment t est s and f ur t her st udi es of t hi s
engi ne wer e conduct ed on t he RNI I t est st and. The f uel was
f ed i nt o t he combust i on chamber t hr ough j et - t ype spr ayer s.
Two speci mens wer e devel oped: an al l - met al and a cer ami c, i . e. ,
wi t h cer ami c l i ni ng. The al l - met al chamber di f f er ed l i t t l e
f r omt he l ast GI RD chamber .
The ot her ver si on of t hi s engi ne had a nozzl e wi t h a
r ef r act or y cer ami c i nser t . The oxygen cool ed onl y t he cent r al
por t i on of t he chamber and t he mi xi ng chamber . On 25 November
1934, dur i ng t est i ng of t he engi ne at RNI I , i t was consi der ed
possi bl e t o use t he 10 mot or wi t h cer ami c nozzl e t o l aunch
r ocket s wi t h power ed f l i ght t i mes of 25- 30 sec, si nce t he
t hr ust pr oduced exper i ment al l y was 70 kg. The f l ame r esi st ance
of t he nozzl e made of cer ami c was consi der ed sat i sf act or y,
si nce no mel t i ng was obser ved af t er 25- 30 sec oper at i on of t he
engi ne.
The f eat ur es of t he 10 combust i on chamber i ncl uded t he
use of l i qui d oxygen and et hyl al cohol as f uel component s, t he
GI RD Ar chi ves, d. No. 3- 050, p. 3 .
1
'At GI RD, t he r ocket was cal l ed t he 10.
GI RD- X l at er .
I t was gi ven t he name
120
pr esence of pr ezhamber s, t he pear shape of t he combust i on
chamber , and t he ext er nal l i qui d oxygen cool i ng.
The 10 l i qui d- f uel ed r ocket engi ne was t he f i r st Sovi et
LRE t est ed by r ocket f l i ght .
The 09 Engi ne
The second t eamdevel oped t he 09 engi ne f or t he GI RD- 09
r ocket . Af t er l ong sear ch f or t he most expedi ent desi gn, i . e. ,
t he most r el i abl e desi gn pr ovi di ng f or t he most r api d devel op-
ment , t he t eamsel ect ed a hybr i d f uel engi ne. Thi s was f aci l i -
t at ed by t he suggest i on t hat sol i di f i ed ( gel l ed) gasol i ne be
used as f uel . Thi s gel was pr oduced by di ssol vi ng col ophony
i n gasol i ne. Li qui d oxygen was used as t he oxi di zer . The
ent i r e frJ el r eser ve was pl aced i n t he i nner cavi t y of t he com-
bust i on chamber , whi l e t he l i qui d oxygen was pour ed i ntcj t he
f uel t ank.
Dur i ng pl anni ng of t he GI RD- 09 r ocket , use of t hi s pl an
al l owed a r educt i on i n r ocket wei ght , si mpl i f i ed t he desi gn f 141
of t he f uel f eed syst em ( onl y t he oxi di zer had t o be f ed i nt o
t he chamber ) . Tr ue, t he devel opment of t he mode of pr ocesses
wi t hi n t he chamber was made mor e compl ex, and t he evenness,
st abi l i t y and r epr oduci bi l i t y of combust i on of t he f uel wer e
r educed.
The chamber of t he 09 r ocket engi ne was made and t est ed i n
var i ous ver si ons di f f er i ng i n t he desi gn of i ndi vi dual el ement s.
The f i r st model sui t abl e f or t est i ng was compl et ed on 31
December 1932, f l ame t est s wer e begun i n Apr i l of 1933.
The chamber of t he r ocket engi ne consi st ed of a spr ayer
di sc, a cyl i ndr i cal por t i on ( combust i on chamber ) wi t h a scr een
and t he nozzl e.
The spr ayer di sc was a di sc wi t h t i ny aper t ur es t hr ough
The combust i on chamber i ncl uded a cyl i nder wi t h aper t ur es
whi ch t he l i qui d oxygen was spr ayed i nt o t he combust i on chamber .
cal l ed t he scr een. The di amet er of t he cyl i nder was l ess
t han t he di amet er of t he combust i on chamber . The sol i di f i ed
gasol i ne was pl aced i n t he cavi t y bet ween t he scr een and t he
chamber wal l bef or e st ar t - up. The oxygen f l owed t hr ough t hese
hol es i n t he scr een t o t hc gasol i ne and t he combust i on pr oduct s
f l owed back t hr cugh t hese hol es i nt o t he cent r al por t i on of
t he combust i on chamber and t o t he nozzl e.
121
The chamber di d not have ext er nal
l i qui d cool i ng. The wal l s of t he
chamber wer e pr ot ect ed f r ombur ni ng by
a l ayer of asbest os and by t he f uel
i t sel f , whi ch bur ned r adi al l y, i . e. ,
i n t he di r ect i on f r omt he scr een / 142
t owar d t he chamber wal l . Thus, i f
t he gasol i ne bur ned evenl y, t he com-
bust i on pr oduct s coul d cont act and
heat t he chamber wal l onl y dur i ng t he
l ast i nst ant s of mot or oper at i on.
The nozzl e wzs f ast rri rd t o t he
cyl i ndr i cal por t i on 0 ' e chamber ;
i t al so had no ext er n i qui a cool i ng .
as f ol l ows. Thr ust 25- 53 kg, l i qui d
oxygen f eed pr essur e 13. 5 at m, pr essur e
i n t he combust i on chamber 5- 6 at m,
l engt h of chamber 320. 5 mm, ma: , i mum
di amet er 145 mm, di amet er of nozzl e
cr i t i cal cr oss sect i on 26 mm.
Fi nal Ver si on of t he
Fl ame t est s of t he engi ne wer e
09 Engi ne
used t o devel op i t s i ndi vi dual uni t s. I n May of 1933, t he
t eamt est ed t he combust i on chamber f or st r engt h under st zt i c
l oad and hydr aul i c shock condi t i ons. I n Apr i l and May of' 1933,
t he oxygen val ve, r educt i on val ve and ot her uni t s wer e
t est ed .
The basi c dat a ox engi ne a?e
I n Apr i l of 1933, wor k was per f or med on t he sel ect i on of
t he t ype of i gni t i on. Fi r st , pyr ot achni cal i gni t i on was
t est ed. The i gni t er consi st ed of gun powder , wood char coal
and a ( t hi r d) bal l ast componcnt . Consi der i ng t he i nsuf f i ci ent
r el i abi l i t y of t he pyr ot echni cal i gni t i on syst em, i t was
deci ded t o use el ect r i c spar k pl ugs power ed by a magni t o
f or i gni t i on.
The engi ne was t est ed under t he l eader shi p of S. P.
Kor ol ev and M. K. Ti khonr avov wi t h t he par t i ci pat i on of
N. I . Yef r emov, V. S. Zuyev, Yu. A. Pobedonost sev, Z. I .
Kr ugl ovaya and ot her member s of t he gr oup.
The chamber was f i r st made of st r uct ur al st eel , t hen of
copper . Seven t est s per f or med begi nni ng i n J ul y of 1973
showed t hat t hese chamber s di d not pr ovi de t he r equi r ed oper -
at i ng t i me, even when l i ned wi t h asbest os. Chamber s made of
ENERZh st eel wer e t hen t est ed. The f i nal ver si on of t he
chamber was made of br ass,
122
The nozzle, first made of structural steel, was replaced
with a copper nozzle, then with nozzles of ENERZh steel.
nozzles worked fairly well, although in some cases they were
burned through in the region of the critical cross section.
Chambers with screens of various types were tested - -
with ribs, to hold the solid gasoline in place and facilitate
even burning, and wi*Lhout them; the material of the screen
was varied (celluloid, aluminum, structural steel, chrome
steel, etc.).
These
The chambers tes-ed were equipped with heads of various
types, differing in the direction of the jets, structural
material and number of apertures, which was varied from 5 to
14. Each number of apertures produced a different thrust
leve' ,
Some tests resulted in explosions, as for example on
28 April 1933.
The pressure in the oxygen tank was developed by evapora-
tion of a portion of the liquid oxygen in the tank due to
heat exchange with the surrounding medium, and the design
pressure was maintained in the tank by means of a safety
valve.
Stable and reproducible gressure was not achieved
immediately, resulting in repeated changes in the design of
the oxygen valve, safety valve and other elements.
By mid-August 1933, the rocket engine, in the form in which
it was installed in the rocket, passed final adjustment testing.
The 03 Engine
The 03 engine was designed for the GIRD-07 rocket devel-
oped in the second team by M. K. Tikhonravov, N. I. Yefre.irov,
V. S. Zuyev and other workers of GIRD. It was constructed in
1933.
In this engine, spiral sprayers similar to the sprayers
The combustion
used in 1932 in the ORM-12 engine were used to inject the
fuel (gasoline). The combustion chamber of the 03 engine was
connected to the nozzle by a threaded joint.
chamber did not have external liquid cooling. Testing of the
engine began 17 0cr jber 1933. Beginning in February of 1934,
ethyl alcohol was used as the fuel rather than gasoline.
The engine had i;he followin design data; pressure in
chamber 18-20 atm, thrust 80-85 E g, operating time 22-27 sec.
123
After a number of unsuccessful tests, work on the 03
engine was halted, and the 10 engine was installed on the
GI RD- 07 rocket.
One of the peculiarities of the operation of GIRD was
the assignslent of each LRE developed to a given rocket in order
to power its flight. Therefore, in analyzing the activity of
GI RD, we cannot limit ourselves to analysis of work performed
with LRE on the test stand. GIRD set itself the primary task
frequently called the rocket organization.
/144 of achievement of rocket flight with LRE. It was therefore
-
The GIRD-09 Rocket
The first Soviet experimental rocket, with the 09 hybrid-
fuel engine, was created in the second team of GI RD under the
leadership of M. K. Tikhonravov.
In August, 1933, the GIRD-09 rocket passed preliminary
tests and attempts were made to launch it, unsuccessful for
various technical reasons. After elimination of individual
problems, on 17 August 1933, under the direct leadership of
S. P. Korolev, the rocket was launched and the first hybrid
fuel rocket in the world flew.
This date has entered the history of astronautics as the
day of the launch of the first Soviet liquid-fueled rocket.
The basic data on the GIRD-09 rocket are': length 2.4 m,
diameter 0.18 m, launch weight 19 kg, including 5 kg of fuel,
payload weight (parachute and several instruments) 6.2 kg.
The 09 engine installed on the rocket developed a thrust on
the order of 25-33 kg.
alloys.
which carried four stabilizers.
oxygen tank, made of a pipe.
between the tank and the body acted as thermal insulation.
Between the oxygen tank and the chamber of the rocket engine
was a manually operated starting valve. The nose portion of
the rocket carried the parachute and its ejector.
as follows. After it was placed on its vertical guides, the
rocket was filled with liquid oxygen.
The main parts of the GIRD-09 rocket were made of aluminum
The rocket consisted of a body, the lower portion of
Inside the body was the
The large annular clearance
The launch of the rocket on 17 August 1933 was conducted
Heat exchange with the
'At GIRD, this rocket w-
given the rocket signifAlantly later.
called the 09. The name GIRD-09 was
124
five to six persons. The scientific secretary of the oblast
Osoaviakhim Soviet, V. I. Shorin, took part actively in the
format ion of LenGIRD.
In 1932, courses on rocket technology organized by LenGIRD
were conducted.
In 1932, three rockets were planned at LenGIRD with p o w d x
engines (a photographic, illumination and recording rocket), as
well as a recording rocket with LRE, and in 1933, high altitude
rockets with LRE were planned.
In order to develop rocket engines, two sections were
organized in the Planning-Design Group of LenGIRD.
headed by V. A. Artem'yev, created a number of solid-fueled
rocket engines between 1932 and 1935, which were installed on
all the experimental rockets of LenGIRD which were successfully
flight tested. The second section, headed by A. N. Shtern,
developed a rotary reaction LRE, the LRD-D-1, which burned
liquid oxygen and gasoline. However, this engine was never
completely constructed.
One of these,
LenGIRD maintained communications with MosGIRD. MosGIRD
had as many as 400 members.
The Powder Rockets of LenGIRD
The photographic rocket, planned on the order of the
Leningrad section of the Scientific Research Institute for
Geodesy and Cartography, carried foru SRE designed by V. A.
Artem'yev.
Calculated data: altitude of flight 10 km; total weight
26 kg, inciuding 6 kg powder; total length 1.32 m; diameter of
body 0.25 m; launch thrust 270 kg; engine operating time
4.33 sec; fuel - - smokeless trotyl pyroxylin powder.
The illuminating rocket was designed to supplement or
replace searchlights, and also to blind enemy aircraft, as an
air defense measure.
made of aluminum, the combustion chamber and nozzle of the
SRE - - of heat-resistant steel.
The nose portion and stabilizers were
/157
-
The calculated data of the illuminating rocket were:
altitude of flight 5 km; total weight 18 kg, including 3 kg
powder; total length 1.2 m; body diameter 0.15 m; launch
thrust 81 kg; operating time of engine 4.35 sec; fuel - -
smokeless trotyl pyroxylin powder.
134
The LenGIRD
Recording Rocket
Liquid-Fueled
The plan for the rocket was completed
in February of 1932. September of this
same year, several experimental models were
made at the Leningrad Mechanical Plant,
which successfully passed flight testing
at the Osoaviakhim range.
The recording rocket was designed to
record data on the pressure and tempera-
ture of the atmosphere at altitudes of up
to 10 km.
The rocket consisted of a nose portion
with the required instruments, a body with
stabilizers and rudders and four V. A.
Artem'yev SRE.
rocket are: total weight 30 kg, including
10 kg powder; total length 2.11 m; body
diameter 0.23 m; launch thrust 148 kg;
engine operating time 12.7 sec; fuel - -
trotyl pyroxylin powder.
was produced in March of 1932 for the
Leningrad Geographical Institute. Later,
the dssign of the rocket was simplified.
the dimensions were reduced and three
versions were built: a high altitude
racket, an agitation rocket (with leaf-
lets) and a shrapnel rocket. They were
flight tested at the firing range in the
Osoaviakhim camp. After summarizing the
experience produced, the group of M. V.
Gazhala planned, then manufactured in the
mechanical shops another 20 rockets with
similar SRE. The rockets, designed to
reach an altitude of 1 km, were tested at
the Aerological Institute in Slutska.
The calculated data of the rxording
The plan for the recording rocket
Engines
For the recording rocket, LenGIRD developed a plan for two-
chamber LRE, the LRD-D-1, which was to use liquid oxygen and
gasoline. The nozzles of the two chambers had an inclined
cross section, causing the rocket to rotate about its longitu-
dinal axis; the centrifugal force caused the fuel components
to enter the combustion chamber.
rotating reaction engine. The basic element: of the LRD-D-1
The engine was called a
3
135
rocket were made of steel. The walls of the combustion chamber
and nozzle were to be cooled with the liquid oxygen, evaporating
in the cooling spaces.
The calculated data of the rocket with LRE are: maximum
altitude 5 km; launch thrust 200 kg with ai;,aust gas velocity
2000 m/sec; total weight 90 kg, including 17.5 kg oxygen, 4.89 kg
gasoline; weight of engine 16.0 kg; total length 2.665 m; diameter
of body 0.35 m.
The rocket was manufactured in 1932. Individual parts of
the engine, combustior1 chamber and nozzle were exhibited during
the first All-Union conference on the study of the stratosphere,
hela 31 March-6 April 1934 at Leningrad. Since the engine was
never completely constructed and developed, the rocket was
launched to determine its aerodynamic characteristics late in
1934 using the V. A. Artem'yev SRE.
of the design of two recording rockets with design altitudes of
60 and 300 km with LRE burning liquid oxygen-gasoline fuel.
The combirstion chamber and nozzle were cooled with liquid oxygen,
evaporated in the cooling space. The fuel component feed system
was by compressed gas cylinder.
In 1933, the group of V. V. Razumov began the development
The calculated data for the rocket designed to reach an
altitude of 60 km are: totpl weight 90 kg, including fuel 43.7 kg;
total length 3.62 m; body diameter 0.35 m; launch thrust 1000 kg;
engine operating time 28 sec.
tudes up to 300 km: total weight 150 kg, including 110 kg fuel;
total length 5.9 m; body diameter 0.5 m; launch thrust 1571 kg;
engine operating time 51 sec.
1158 The calculated data far the rocket designed to reach alti-
-
Since the necessary production base and funds were not
available, this rocket was never manufactured.
During these years, a great deal of attention was given in
LenGIRD to the selection of fuel for LRE, the search for the most
favorable flight trajectories, the search for efficient rocket
and engine element (combustion chamber, nozzle)forms, the gas
dynamic studies of LRE, and the selection of materials for rockets
and engines.
The workers of LenGIRD constantly conducted extensive
explanatory work and gave consultation and practical aid in
problems of reaction motion both to various teams which arose
within the walls of military and civil e'ucational institutions,
and to individual enthusiasts.
136
In 1934, LenCIRD was converted to
tho section for reaction motion, which,
under *:he leadership of M. V.
Machinskiy, continued propaganda work,
performed experiments on the effects of
accelerations on animals and continued
development and testing of LRE and
rocket models right up to the beginning
of the Great Patriotic War.
2.7. The Work of the Society
Problems of interplanetary voyages
attracted the interest of many
specialists. In addition to the state
enterprises and groups for the study of
Diagram of Rotating reaction motion, indil-idual perbons,
Reaction Engine societies, sections, and clubs worked
across the USSR, making no small contri-
bution to the development of domestic rocket engine construction.
On 20 January 1924, at a session of the thedtetical section /lGO
of the Moscow Society for Astronomy Enthusiasts, P. A. Tsander
read a report "On the Design of an Interplanetary Ship and FJight\
to Other Planets," and suggested that a "Socjety for the Study of
Interplanetary Voyages)) (OIMS) be formed in the USSR.
imeni N. Ye. Zhukovskiy created a sectioii AI ,,.terp! anetary
voyages in the Military Scientific Society of the Academy. The
founders and most active participants in the section Mere V. P.
Kaperskiy, M. G. Leyteyzen and M. A. Rezmov. The work of the
section was supported by K. E. Tsiolkovskiy, F. A, Tsander and
V. P. Vetchinkin.
c
In April of 1924, students at the -,*I* . ' y Air Acadcny 4
On 30 May 1924, in the Great Auditorium o f the Polytechnical
Museum, a lecture was read by a great engineer and widely educated
scientist, Mikhail Yakovlevich Lapirov-Skoblo, the subject of
which was interplanetary voyages. The lecture showed how modern
science and technology were capable of solving this problem.
Then, members were signed up for the "Society for the Study of
Interplanetary Voyagesff (OIMS)
in the building of the Astronomical Observatory of the Moscow
Division of Popular Education - - at 13 Bol'shaya Lubyanka (now
F. E. Dzerzhinskiy Street). The society set very difficult tasks
before itself - - the unification of all organizations, all
scientists involved in problems of the study of interplanetary
voyages, and the creation of a scientific research laboratory.
First, the society had some 200 members. They were located
137
The first, organizational meeting of OIMS was held on 20
June 1924. The officers of the society were elected at this
meeting - - a presidium consisting of: President-- the then
well-known publicist and old Bolshevik G. M. Kranarov, Secre-
tary - - M. G. Leyteyzen, members - - F. A. Tsander, V. P.
Kaperskiy, M. A. Rezunov, V. I. Chernov, M. G. Serebrennikov.
K. E. Tsiolkovskiy was elected as an honorary member. The
society attracted the attention of talented scientists,
engineers and designers to problems of astronautics and helped
to popularize the ideas of rocket building and igrterplanetary
voyages. K. E. Tsiolkovskiy, V. P. Vetchinkin, M. Ya.
Lapirov-Skoblo and other famous scientists took part in the *- rk
of the society.
OIMS systematically held scientific-popular lectures. When
it was reported that the USA planned to launch a shell designed
by Professor Goddard to the moon to celebrate Independence Day,
July 4, OIMS held a debate on 1 October 1924 on the theme "Fligth
to Other Worlds." Although the auditorium was large, it was not
sufficient to contain all those who wanted to attend. Therefore,
the debate was repeated twice - - on 4 and 5 October - - in the
Great Auditorium of the First University Physics Institute. F. A.
Tsander appeared on 4 October 1924 to report on a new ship which
he had invented for space flight.
propaganda activity. On 31 October and 2 November 1924, V. P.
Vetchinkin read lectures in the Great Auditorium of the Poly-
technical Museum on the possibility of interplanetary flight.
Here also an informative report was read by V. I. Chernov on the
construction of a rocket which he had designed. Lectures were
read on interplanetary voyages at aviation plants, in the club
of the Moscow Higher Technical School imeni N. E. Bauman, at
the Astronomical Institute imeni Shternberg and elsewhere.
Journeys by specialists were organized to read reports and
lectures in other cities: Leningrad, Khar'kov, Saratov, Ryazan'
and Tula.
- /161
The society worked for comprehensive expansion of its
OIMS existed but a single year, then broke up due to the
fact that the tasks which the society had set before itself could
not be performed with the funds available or the help provided by
other organizations.
In June of 1925, Academician D. A. Grave spoke on the
subject " A Request for Clubs to Study and Master Space.I1
same year, D. A. Grave, together with the great scientists Ye. 0.
Paton, B. I. Sreznevskiy, K. K. Seminskiy, V. I. Shaposhnikov and
other enthusiasts, created a "Club for the Studv of Space (the
Cosmos)11 in Kiev. The efforts of this club resulted in the open-
ing of an exhibit dedicated to problems of the study of inter-
planetary space in the section of inventors of the Kiev Associa-
tion of Engineers and Technicians on 19 June 1925.
That
138
I n Apr i l - J une of 1927, t he wor l d' s f i r st exhi bi t of model s
and pl ans f or i nt er pl anet ar ) ' appar at us and mechani sms was hel d at
t he Moscow Associ at i on of I nvent or s. Thi s exhi bi t di spl ayed
i nt er est i ng and uni que mat er i al s on t he wor k of Russi an and
f or ei gn r esear cher s.
The or gani zer s of t he exhi bi t wer e M. S . Bel yayev, G. A.
Pol evoy, Z. G. Pyat et ski y, 0. V. Khol shcheva. I n l at e J anuar y
1927, per sons i nt er est ed i n or wor ki ng on pr obl ems of i nt er -
pl anet ar y voyages r ecei ved i nvi t at i ons t o t ake par t i n t he
or gani zat i on of an exhi bi t .
i nvent or s sent i n manuscr i pt s, pl ans, dr awi ngs and model s. The
exhi bi t was hel d i n Moscow, at No. 68 Tver skaya St r eet ( now
Gor' ki y St r eet ) and was qui t e popul ar . The mai n por t i on of t he
exhi bi t consi st ed of t he f ol l owi ng sect i ons: ast r onomi cal ,
avi at i on and ai r f l i ght , sci ence f i ct i on, wher e t he wor ks of
J ul es Ver ve and H. G. Wel l s wer e pr esent ed, sci ence- r eal i st i c, a
si gni f i cant por t i on of whi ch was dedi cat ed t o t he cr eat i vi t y of
N. I . Ki bal ' chi ch, t hen an i nvent or s sect i on, i n whi ch t he
cent r al posi t i on was occupi ed by mat er i al s descr i bi ng t he cr ea-
t i vi t y of K. E. Tsi ol kovski y. The f i nal , desi gn sect i on,
pr esent ed pl ans f or r ocket s of var i ous t ypes and t hei r met hods
of f l i ght . Her e al so wer e exhi bi t ed model s of r ocket s and
r ocket appar at us desi gned by K. E. Tsi ol kovski y, F. A. Tsander ,
A. Ya. Fedor ov, G. A. Pol evoy (USSR), Eno- Pel ' t r y ( France) ,
Goddar d (USA), G. Ober t h an3 Max Wal i er ( Germany) , F. A.
Ul i nski y ( Aust r i a) and ot her . The exhi bi t was const r uct ed so
t hat i t was al l l ocat ed ar ound t he Tsi ol kovski y sect i on, t he
cent er of t he t heor et i cal di vi si on.
I n a shor t t i me, macy sci ent i st s and
/ 162
-
A si gni f i cant r ol e i n t he devel opment of r eact i on mot i on was
pl ayed by t he sci ent i f i c soci et y and r esear ch or gni azat i ons of
' eni ngr ad. For exampl e, a sci ent i f i c r esear ch sect i on on
i nt er pl anet ar y voyages was set up at t he Leni ngr ad I nst i t ut e of
Rai l r oad Engi neer s on t he i ni t i at i ve and under t he l eader shi p
of N. A. Ryni n. Thi s sect i on consi der ed i t s mai n t ask t he
det ai l ed devel opment of pr obl ems r el at ed t o "r eact i on f l i ght . "
The sect i on hel d sessi ons qui t e r egul ar l y, di scussi ng
var i ous pr obl ems of space f l i ght . At one sessi on, on 25 Febr uar y
1929, Ya. I . Per el ' man r ead a r epor t , not i ng t he f i r st pr act i cal
st eps whi ch needed to be t aken by member s of t he sect i on: namel y
t he const r uct i on of r ocket s wi t h engi nes bur ni ng l i qui d f uel
( pet r ol eumand i t s der i vat i ves) ; exper i ment al l aunchi ngs, / 163
gi nni ng wi t h smal l powder r ocket s and gr adual l y goi ng over t o
mor e power f ul r ocket s, i n or der t o end t hi s st age wi t h t he
cr eat i on of a "st r at ospher e r ocket , I ' capabl e of r eachi ng an
al t i t ude of 100 kmor mor e. Pr of essor N. A. Ryni n t ook act i ve
par t i n t he wor k of t hi s sect i on.
I n connect i on wi t h t he or gani zat i on of RNI I i n 1933,
absor bi ng Moscow GI RD, t he publ i c act i vi t y of t he l at t er
139
or gani zat i on was cont i nued b. t he r eact i on gr oup of t he
Mi l i t ar y Sci ent i f i c Commi t t ee of CS Osoavi akhi w, f ounded i n
J anuar y of 1934. The r eact i on gr oup, soon r eor gani zed as t he
r eact i on sect i on, was subor di nat e t o t he Mi l i t ar y Sci ent i f i c
Commi t t ee i n t he Osoavi akhi msyst em.
On 6 J anuar y 1934, t he f i r st meet i ng of t he r eact i on gr oup
was hel d, headed by I . A. Mer kul ov.
Fr om31 Mar ch t hr ough 6 Apr i l 1934, t he r eact i on gr oup,
on t he i ni t i at i ve of t he Acadertl y of Sci ences USSR, hel d t he
f i r st Al l - Uni on Conf er ence on t he St udy of t he St r at ospher e i n
Leni ngr ad. Pr i mar y at t ent i on was t ur ned at t hi s conf er ence t o
pr obl ems of t he cr eat i on of hi gh al t i t ude r ocket s.
I n 1935, t he r eact i on sect i on hel d t he f i r st USSR con-
f er ence on t he appl i cat i on of r ocket s and r ocket pl anes f or t he
st udy of t he st r at ospher e. I n 1935- 1937, exhi bi t i ons on r ocket
t echnol ogy at t he pl anet ar i um, Cent r al Par k of Cul t ur e and
Rest i meni M. Gor' ki y and Cent r al Hal l of t he Red Ar my wer e qui t e
successf ul .
The l ect or s gr oup, cr eat ed i n t he r eact i on sect i on r ead
sever al hundr eds of r epor t s on r eact i on mot i on and i nt er pl ane-
t ary voyages dur i ng t he t i me of i t s exi st ence. The wor k of t he
sect i on was publ i cal l y suppor t ed, and i nvol ved t he act i ve
par t i ci pat i on of A . I . Pol yar nyy, I . A. Mer kul ov, L. S. Dushki n,
0. S. Oganesov, L. E. Br yukkcr , G. V. Over bukh, as wel l as
pr of essor s B. S. St echki n, V. P. Vet chi nki n, F. I . Frankel ' ,
A. V. Kvasni kov, K. L. Bayev, B. M. Zemski y and ot her s.
col l ect i ons on "r eact i on mot i on, " i ncl udi ng t he ar t i cl es of
domest i c sci ent i st s - - K. E. Tsi ol kovski y, M. K. Ti khonr avov,
V. I . Dudakov, Ye. S . Shet i nkov, V. S. Zuyev, I . A. Mer kul ov,
F. D. Yakayt i s, N. G. Cher nyshev and ot her s. A t ext book on
LRE was pr epar ed. The USSR' s f i r st t ext book on t he desi gn of
l i qui d- f uel ed r ocket engi nes was wr i t t en by Ye. K. Moshki n and / l 64
publ i shed i n 1947. I t was used i n many hi gner educat i onal
i nst i t ut i ons i n t he count r y f or some 10 year s.
act i vi t y of t he r eact i on sect i on of CS Osoavi akhi mwas t he
sci ent i f i c l eader shi p of t he l eadi ng sci ent i st s of RNI I .
Especi al l y hel pf ul wer e G. E. Langemak, M. K. Ti khonr avov, V. P.
Gl ushko, S. P. Kor ol ev, Yu. A. Pobedonost sev and A. P. Vani chev.
Bet ween 1935 and 1938, t he r eact i on sect i on publ i shed t hr ee
One of t he pr i mar y condi t i ons r esul t i ng i n t he successf ul
The r eact i on sect i on al so per f or med desi gn devel opment .
For exampl e, i n t he f al l of 1934 under t he l eader shi p of A. I .
Pol yar nyy, a weat her r ocket wi t h LRE was pl anned. The f uel com-
ponent s used wer e et hyl al cohol and l i qui d oxygen.
140
In this rocket, liquid oxygen was supplied from the tank to
the combustion chamber under its vapor pressure; alcohol - - under
compressed nitrogen pressure, with nitrogen occupying 65% of the
volume of the alcohol tank. The LRE was made of stainless steel
and cooled externally by its fuel. The fuel was electrically
ignited.
proper altitude was reached and a parachute was ejected from the
nose, returning the rocket smoothly to Earth. The tail section
of the rocket carried four stabilizers.
The nose portion of the rocket was opened when the
In 1937, the reaction section created a second rocket with
L E , also burning ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen, but water was
sprayed into the combustion chamber to improve cooling. This
naturally reduced the specific impulse and increased the weight
of the rocket.
In 1938-1939. the reaction section planned the first
Soviet two-stage rocket. It was nade and tested under the
leadership of I. A. Merkulov. The first stage had an engine /166
which burned a solid fuel - - smokeless powder. The second stage
utilized an air breathing reaction engine (ARE). The launch
weight of the rocket was 7.07 kg, the first stage weighing 3.51
kg, the second stage - - 3.56 kg.
The first successful launch was conducted 5 March 1939.
During a flight on 1 September 1939, the engine of the first
stage lifted the rocket to an altitude of 625 m, and achieved a
flight velxity of 105 m/sec. After this, the first stage was
separated by aerodynamic braking and the ARE of the second stage
was ignited. It lifted the rocket to 1800 m; the rocket achieved
a velocity of 224 m/sec. In 1939, t5ese rockets were launched
16 times. All launches were conducted from a special vertical-
type launch support unit with four guides.
During this time, there was yet another reaction section
in Moscow, a part of an independent organization called the
Stratosphere Committee of the All-Union Aviation Scientific
Engineering and Technical Society "Aviavnito." This public
organization was also involved in the study of the stratosphere
and the development of the problem of reaction motion.
and technical propaganda and the development of a rocketltrans-
ferred there from RNII, called the 05 rocket until 1935 . At
first, the rocket carried the ORM-50 engine designed by GDL, and
utilized nitric acid and kerosene as fuel. In the reaction
section, the 05 was renamed the Aviavnito rocket, and a type 12K
oxygen engine was installed.
The reaction section of Aviavnito was involved in scientific
'Planning of the OS rocket was begun in the second team of GIRD
under the leadership of M. K. Tikhonravov.
142
The Avi avni t o r ocket had 3 st r eaml i ned shape, t he nose por -
car r i ed a par achut e and pyr ot echni cal devi ce, whi l e t he t ai l por -
t i on car r i ed t he engi ne and equi pment . The mi ddl e por t i on of t he
r ocket car r i ed f our t anks made of dur al i umt ubes: t wo t anks f or
et hyl al cohol and t wo f or l i qui d oxygen.
The desi gn dat a of t he r ocket ar e as f ol l ows: l engt h 3. 2 m,
maxi mumdi amet er 0 . 3 m; l aunch wei ght 97 kg; dr y wei ght 64. 8 kg;
f uel wei ght 32. 6 kg ( et hyl al cohol 13. 4 kg, l i qui d oxygen 19. 2
kg); engi ne t hr ust 300 kg; engi ne oper at i ng t i me 21 sec; f l yi ng
al t i t ude 10 km.
The wal l s of t he engi ne wer e pr ot ect ed f r omover heat i ng by / 167
a cer ami c l i ni ng, cpnsi st i ng of a mi xt ur e of magnesi umoxi de and
al umi numoxi de. The f uel was i gni t ed by an el ect r i c spar k pl ug.
on 15 August 1937. Dur i ng t he second l aunch, t he r ocket cl i mbed
smoot hl y upwar d, af t er whi ch i t l ost st abi l i t y and began t o
descent r api dl y wi t h t he engi ne oper at i ng.
par t s and assembl i es f r omear l i er r ocket s. A l aunch suppor t
48 m hi gh was const r uct ed t o l aunch t he r ocket .
The f i r st l aunch was conduct ed 6 hpr i l 1937, t he second - -
The r ocket ut i l i zed
The r eact i on sect i on of Avi avni t o pl anned t wo mor e l i qui d-
f uel ed r ocket s. One at a maxi mumdesi gn f l yi ng al t i t ude of
40 km, t he ot her - - 65 km. Subsequent l y, wor k was cont i nued
onl y on t he second pl an, but t he r ocket was never bui l t due t o
t he l ack of suf f i ci ent f unds.
I nt er pl anet ar y and r eact i on sect i ons and gr oups wer e devel -
oped i n many hi gher educat i onal i nst i t ut i ons and ot her or gani za-
t i ons.
For exampl e, i n 1930 a st udent avi at i on bui l der s cl ub met
at t he Pal yt echni cal I nst i t ut e i meni M. 1. Kal i ni n.
I n 1938 a r eact i on sect i on was or gani zed at t he Moscow
I nst i t ut e f or Mechani zat i on and El ect r i f i cat i on of Soci al i st
Agr i cul t ur e ( MI MESSKh) , i nvol vi ng some SO st udent s i n t he seni or
cl asses. One r esul t of t he wor k of t hi s sect i on was a pl an f or
a mot or vehi cl e wi t h an LRE.
The begi nni ng of t he Gr eat Pat r i ot i c War hi nder ed t he
cont i nuat i on of exper i ment al wor k. Af t er t he war , an engi ne was
const r uct ed and ut i l i zed i n cer t ai n hi gher educat i onal i nst i t u-
i i ons f or a number of year s f or t he per f or mance of sci ent i f i c
r esear ch and l abor at or y wor k.
The soci et y was ver y ef f ect i ve i n i t s wor k of sci ent i f i c and
t echni cal pr opaganda, publ i cat i on of sci ent i f i c l i t er at ur e and
t r ai ni ng of engi neer i ng and t echni cal wor ker s i n t he ar ea of
r ocket t echnol ogy.
143
basic equation for the flight velocity of a rocket and "Tsiol-
kovskiy nuuber" for the ratio of the mass of fuel reserve to the
final mass of a rocket, suggesting that this ratio be represented
by the letter "Ts."
3.2. The Activity of the Institute
Thc institute developed scientific research and experimental
I173
design work on solid-fueled rocket engines, LRE and flight -
vehicles, most of which had been begun at GDL and GIRD.
Powder Rocket Weapons
Powder rockets Gf various types and launch installations were
developed at RNII under the leadership of G, E. Langemak by
subdivisions headed by L. E. Shvarts, K. K. Glukharev, I. I.
Gvay, V. I, Aleksandrov and others. During the initial period of
existence of RNII, the workers of the institute were aided in the
solution of many theoretical problems by scientists from the
Artillery Academy such as D. A. Venttsel', M. Ye. Serebryakov,
I. P. Grave and others, who took part earlier in the work of GDL.
The search for the most effective and economically favorable
types of solid fuel (powde,) for various models of reaction
weapons was conducted in the powder shop, which was first located
in Leningrad, but was transferred to Moscow in the first quarter
of 1936.
Problems of the theory of interior and exterior ballistics
of powder rockets were also studied in the late 1930's by Yu. A.
Pobedonostsev, M. K. Tikhonravov, M. S. Kisenko, V, G. Bessonov
and others.
By 1934, work had been widely developed on the creation of
solid-fuel rockets of various sizes both for field artillery and
for anti-aircraft purposes.
Solid-fueled rockets differ frqm rockets with LRE in their
simplicity of design, high reliability, safety for the users and
convenience of operation. Furthermore, the level of technology
achieved in the 1930's was quite sufficient to support rapid
development of mass production of solid-fueled rockets.
In July of 1937, the RS-82 air-air and air-ground reaction
devices were fired.
pleted in November-December 1937 with group firing against surface
targets on a training firing range from 1-15 aircTaft.
Late in 1937, the KS-82 was adopted for armament of the 1-15
fighter. The airborne launchers were developed by A, P. Pavlenko
The military tests of the RS-82 were com-
148
and N. G. Belov. Improved launchers were later developed by I. I.
Gvay, A. S. Popov and others. In July of 1938, military tests /174
of the RS-132 missiles, to be installed on bombers, were con-
ducted. The tests were successful, and the RS-132 was also put
in military use.
Air-to-air powder-fueled missiles were used in combat for
the first time on 20 August 1939 by Soviet troops fighting the
Japanese militarists in the region of the Khalkhyn-Go1 River,
when 5 1-153 fighters (**Chayka**), each armed with eight missiles,
attacked a larger detachment of Japanese fighters.
The five first Soviet missile planes were led by test pilot
Captain N. I. ivonarev. This group, on five missions, shot down
10 fighters, 2 heavy bombers and 1 light bomber, without losing
a single aircraft.
In 1938, RNII began workink on a surface launcher for the
RS-132 missile.
were mounted across the chassis of a truck. In the summer of
1939, considering the experience accumulated, a 16-missile
launcher with guides directed along the chassis of a three-axle
truck, was created. By late 1940, W I I had constructed six such
installations. The missiles were fired, after jacking up the
vehicle, in the forward direction, and the launcher was loaded
from the rear. These devices, developed by engineers I. I. Gvay,
V. N. Galkovskiy, A. 3. Pavlenko, A. S. Popov and others, were
prototypes of the BM-13-16 or Katyusha launchers.
series manufacture of rocket launchers was signed in June of 1941.
The first models, with a capacity of 24 missiles,
A resolution of the State Defense Committee calling for
laic BM-13-16 launcher was first used in combat on 14 July
1941 in the battery of Captain I. A. Flerov, a graduate of the
Artillery Academy imeni F. E. Dzerzhinskiy. The German fascist
troops occupying the railroad station at Crsh were quite sur-
prised by a barrage of uncommon force at 15:30 hours. The entire
station went up in flames, and powerful explosions went off one
after another.
During the years of the Great Patriotic War, combat rocket
launchers were used successfully in massive numbers, carried by
wheeled and tracked vehicles as well as combat aircraft.
The rocket artillery fully confirmed its high combat
qualities - - mobility and maneuverability, the capability for
sudden concentration of fire at high densities over large areas
with a rapid rate of fire,
149
Liquid-Fueled Rocket Engines
As we have noted, the second section of the institute worked
The nitric acid team, headed by V. P. Glushko, continued the
- /175
on the study and development of LRE.
study and development of LRE begun at GDL, using nonvolatile
nitrogen-containing compounds, primarily nitric acid with 0xidr.s
of nitrogen, as well as tetranitromethane, as Qxidizers.
Between 1934 and 1938, this team developed engine models
from O W - 5 3 to OW-71, plus the ORM-101 and OM-102.
The primary task of this team was the creation of rocket
engines and supplementary devices.
also given to problems related to the use of promising materials
such as stainless, heat resistant, aluminum and other materials.
New methods of welding and soldering were introduced, and experi-
ments were conducted on increasing service life by chrome plating
of worn surfaces.
manned and unmanned flight vehicles, one important task performed
by the team was reduction of the period required to reach nominal
operation and automation of the launch.
The ORM-53 through O W - 6 3 engines were planned in 1934 and
developed in 3935, followed by the ORM-64 and ORM-65.
The O M - 6 5 engine succes-fully passed adjustment and official
testing in 1936, followed by surface testing on the RY-318 rocket
plane and the 212 winged rocket in 1937-1938.
Considerable attention was
Since the engines were desiczned for both
In 1939, the ORM-65 engine passed flying tests on the 212
winged rocket quite successfully and was highly evaluated.
After processing of a great deal of experimental data and
conducting a series of scientific research operations in 1936-
1938, the team developed the ORM-66, ORM-67, ORM-68, O M - 6 9 and
O M - 7 0 engines with higher characteristics.
Furthermore, the team created various systems for LRE:
turbine pump units, gas generators, automatic control elements,
etc. In 1935-1936, for example, the first domestic gas
fluid for the TNA turbine, was developed under V. P. Glush 0 .
generator, the GG-1, designed for production of the workin
This gas generator passed official interdepartmental tests
successfully in 1937.
subdivision of the Aviation Motor Plant, separated from RNII.
Therefore, the work of V, P. Glushko at RNII ended in 1938.
In 1939, V. P. Glushko was made thc leader of an independent
/176
-
1 so
1
By 1939, after further testing, the RDA-1-150 liquid-
fueled rocket engine for the RP-318-1 engine was plamed on the
basis of the ORM-65 engine, under the leadership of L. S.
Dushkiri.
However, the RDA-1-150 engine, due to its low thrust, was
found to be unsuitable for unaided takeoff of an aircraft.
Therefore, a more powerful nitric acid engine, the RDA-300, was
planned and manufactured in the first half of 1939.
same year of 1939, the RDK-1-150, burning alcohol and oxygen,
was created.
During this
The oxygen team, headed by M. K. Tikhonravov, developed
engines burning liquid oxygen and an aqucous solution of ethyl
alcohol. Means were sought to assure the most complete possible
combustion of the fuel and increase the .,herma1 efficiency. The
results of theoretical and experimental work indicated that this
required an increase in combustion chamber pressure. Therefore,
even Lhough increasing the pressure complicated the cooliag
problem, new engines were designed for combustion chamber
pressures of around 15 atm, in place of the 5-8 atm used earlier.
Several versions of the 12K engine were first tested; in
1936, the cxygen team began deve1opmar.t of the 205, 206, 207 and
208 engines, designed, like the 12K, for installation in
rockets. The technical assignment for planning of the engines
noted the need to eliminate the shortcomings of alcohol-oxygen
engines developed earlier. It was also required to increase the
reliability c,id reproducibility of test results and the yccific
impulse.
development of GIRD engines in order to increase the reltability
and reproducibility of test results, was separated from RhII.
Some of its workers later took part in tht t i -- k of Design Bureau
No. 7 (KB-7), organized as a part of the Main Artillery Adminis-
tration of the Red Army and headed by L. K. Korneyev.
In early 1934, the group of L. K. Korneyev, working on the
Air-Breathing Reaction Engines
In 1934-1935, RNII performed experimental work with direct
flow air-breathing reaction engines (PVRD). Preliminary calcu-
lations and testing of PVRD models were performed at GIRD in 1932-
1933. The experiments performed at RNII confirmed that PVRD,
based on the theory of B. S. Stechkln, were suitable for use for
flight at supersonic speeds. This work was performed under the
'The symbol RDA-1-150 stands for "Rocket Engine, Nitric Acid,
No. 1, Thrust 150 kg,))
151
Flight Vehicles
WI I , under the leadership of S. P. Korolev, continued work
on winged rockets - - air torpedos - - with both solid- and liquid-
fueled engines, following the work undertaken on his initiative
at GIRL).
winged rockets were performed by Ye. S. Shchetinkov and A.
hrkin under the leadership of A. V. Chesalov. The first rockets
with LRE, called the 06 rockets, were flight tested in early
1934.
Frelirinary calculations of tho flight stability of
During the process of work on unmanned winged rockets,
several flying versions of the 216 winged rocket with the 02
alcohol-oxygen !-RE Rere created, then (1936) the improved 212
rocket, with the OW-65 engine.
testing of the various units of the engine and 212 and 301 rockets
was undertaken, followed by flight testing of improved versions.
ing sections: nose section, carrying the payload and parachute;
instrument section, for the statilization and control system
apparatus; fuel section, carrying the tanks; nitrogen section,
carrying the pre.;sure cylinder; m d the engine section.
An extensive program of stand
The 212 rocket, an all-metal device, consists of the follow-
The fuel and oxidizer tanks, tubular in shape, were located
The fuel components were fed to the combustion within the wing.
chamber by compressed nitrogen pressure, The pressure reducers - /179
for the nitrogen which was fed to the tanks from the pressure
cylinder and the fuel valves were located at the plan center of
the rocket.
The OW-65 engine was carried in the tail portion of the
rocket on a frame and covered by a fairing with a metal sleeve
located above the nozzle exit plane to protect the rudders from
the flame.
The device was launched from a catapult truck powered by a
powder-fueled rocket, the combustion chamber of which contained
packets of trotyl pyroxene powder (15 packets measuring 75 x 10
x 92 mm). The catapult truck rode on r ai l s 1SO w in length.
The takeoff run required for the winged rocket during flight
tests was 26 w.
The planned flight range of the winged rocket, with a launch
weight of 210 kg and a fuel reserve of 30 kg, was 50 h.
The design of the RP-318 rocket plane was as follows: wooden,
free flying monoplafte, fuselage of oval cross-section with mid-
section area 0.75 m ; length 7.44 m, wing span 17 m, bearing
surface of wing 7.85 I$. Initial flying weight 700 kg.
from Earth as normal for gliders.
Launched
153
The steel fuel tanks located behind the metal back of the
pilots seat carried 75 kg of fuel, sufficient for 100 sec con-
tinuous operation of the engine at a thrust of 150 k .
scat, was 20 11, while the two oxidizer tanks, located at the
canter of gravity of the aircraft, had a capacity of 40 L. In
case of leakage, the oxygen tanks were contained in duralumin
baths with a drain la8ding outside the aircraft. The oxidizer
and fuel uerc fed to the engine under compressed air pressure,
with the air carried in four tanks of S liter capacity, two !n
each wing.
reducer. The engines were started by rotating a control laver,
which mechanically opened the fuel valves located in the tail por-
tion of the fuselage immediately before the engine.
valves were opened when a signal lamp installed on the pilot's
instrument panel lit up.
The
capacity of tho fuel tank, located directly behind t II e pilot's
The air was fed to the fuel tanks through a pressure
The fuel
The RP-318 rocket plane designed by S. P. Korolev was
tested with LRE about 40 tines.
The en ine was carried on a frame in the tail of the
fuselage an !l mounted beneath a metal shield to protect the tail
section frona the flare.
the rudder closest to the engine was covered with a sheet of
stainless steel 0.3 mm thick.
of the creative workers and specialists in the area of rocket
technology labored within its walls.
of rockets and engines were developed, operating models were
created, which later saw practical application and development.
RNII made a significant contribution to widely varied areas of
rocket technology, thus providing a reliable foundation for
Soviet rocket science.
For this same purpose, the portion of
During the pre-war period of activity of RNII, almost all
/I80
The principles of tho theory
3.3. Nitric Acid LRE
The OW-53 - OM- 63 Engines
The nitric acid tear worked on the crzation o f engines,
utilizing the last LRE of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory, the QRM-52,
as a prototype.
engines developed, as before, were nitric acid and kerosene.
Suarnariting the experience of the work of GDL, the designers came
to the conclusion that the reliability of engine starting in a11
nozzle positions would have to be improved, by using chemical
and pyrotechnical ignition, that the fuel feed system would have
to be developed to bring the engine up to full design thrust
more rapidly, that the operating time o f the ensins would have
to be increased, as well as the spscific impulse, by inproving
The basic fuel components utilized in the
154
aixture formation.
the feed pressure had t e be reduced by improving the hydraulic
chlrracteristics while corrserving the sa- pressure in the cmbus-
tion chanber.
In order to decrease the weight of the engine,
Taking these initial ideas, RNII developed a series of
In the OW-S3 engine, a number of design elsreirts were
Tho OW- S4 had external C6Oling of
engines fro. OW-53 through OW-63 in 1934-1935,
improved over the OW- S2.
the nozzle by the oxidizer and higher spiral ribbing; the spray
head and combustion chamher, as before, were pratected from tha
effects of the high heat fluxes by an internal film (vapor cur-
tain).
The OW-57 8-sprayer high-thrust engine had a critical laozzle
cross section diaueter of 40 BUU, an ex3t
consisted of 6 parts.
tured. The first domestic two-chamber engine was the OW-58,
designed for a thrust o 600 kg.
from OW-53 to OW-62, the designers selected the best features
and created the OM- 63 engine.
lane diameter of l Oi i
IP, with a cone aperture angle of ZOO. T R c aluminum i r ot ~l o insert
This engine wa& planned but not ranufac- 1181
Summarizing the experience gained in planning the engines
The OW-63 was a fully cooled experimental engine developing
a thrust of 300 kg, It underwent elerent-by-element technological
development in production in order to assimilate a nwbcr of new
technological operations: roller electric welding of the corpen-
sator, stamped from a sheet of stainloss steel, to the nozzle and
its jacket, butt electric welding at the critical cross section of
the nozzle, high temperature hermetic soldering of various joints
with high-temperature solder, etc, Particular attention was
givea to the uality of manufacture of parts, testing of sub-
assemblies an 3 the quality of assembly of the entire engine.
The combustion chamber of the GW-63 utilized Membrane-type
hydraulically controlled spiral sprayers,
braires were stamped of sheet stainloss steel.
The corrugated gem-
The OW-64 - OW-70 Engines
In early 1936, tactical and technical requirements were
developed for an engine for use in the RP-318 rocket plane and
the 212 remote controlled winged rocket.
develop a thrust of 150-160 kg, to operate continually for at
least 75 sec per start and develop a s acific impulse of at least
180 sec; its weight was limited to 10 E: 8.
mean thrust from start to start of the engine during the period
The engine W P . ~ tu
The variation in
of stable operation was not to exceed i3 kg; the difference
betwtert values of mean thrust and m u i n n and minimum thrust
during a single stmt of the engine during the period sf stable
operation should not ex-eed i3 kg; the fuel f e d pressure was
not to be over 35 atr. .he engine should operate normally in
the horizontal and vertical position, and also with the inlet
pressure choked from 35 to 12 8tr by aoration of fuel flow rate.
Particular attention was given to the assarance of high relia-
bility of starting and operation. According to these require-
OR#-6S engine, as the basic operating version, were planned,
constructed and tested in 1936.
mats, the OM- 64 engine, as an experimental version, and the 1182
The OW-61 was an experimental
engine with a thrust of 1SO kg,
siailar in design to the OW- S2
el rine; It was a four-sprayer
engine, combustion chamber volume
2.23 L, diameter of nozzle critical
cross section 20 mm, exit plane
diameter 40 II, nozzle expansion
angle ZOO. At the center of the
head was a device for ignition con-
sisting of a sleeve carrying a
current conductor (ES-Kh sparkplug),
an electric cap and a 6-S second
retal-nitrate ignition cap, seated
on a rod. The material of the
chamber was carbon steel, the nozzle
was made of EYa36 steel.
the ORM-64 engine in the vertical
positions, the required technical and
technical characteristics were
achived, including the weight, which
With a pressure in the combustion chamber of 22. 5 atm
During test stand operation of
-- - (nozzle downward) and horizontkl
The ORM-64 Engine
was 10 kg.
and a feed pressure of 27.5 atr, the engine developed a specific
impulse of 216 sec.
The combustion chamber operated for a total time of SO2 sec
without defects; start-ups were shock-free, the engine operated at
its design mode stably, without oscillations. With a continuous
engine operating time reaching 120 sec, the cylindrical portion of
the combustion chamber, due to the intensive process of fuel cor-
bustion, glowed bri ht yellow. This was due to the fact that the
walls being cooled only by the spraying of the fuel components on
its inner surface, In later designs of OW, in order c3 assure
higher reliability of the cylindrical portion of the combustion
/183
combustion chamber a ad not external cooling, the combustion chamber
chamber, it was cooled by a flow of nitric acid on the outside.
Based on analysis of the results of these tests, the main ver-
sion of the engine, the OM- 6 5 , was developed, and successfully
passed official stand tests in 1936, also in the vertical
(nozzle downward) aad horizontal positions. The OW-dS engine
was the most highly developed engine of its time.
The main data produced in the tests of 1936 were superior
to the assigned tactical and technical requirements , excapt for
Weight, and Were as fOllOUS.
Thrust at ground level in maximum mode 175 kg, in nominal
d e 155 kg, in mininal mode SO kg; specific impulse in maximum
node 195 sec, in nominal node, average node for the entire time
of stable operation, 215 sec; combustion chamber pressure in
uutiru rode 25 atm, in nominal rode 23 atm and in minimal rode
8 a m ; fuel consumption in maximum mode 0.900 kg/sec, in nominal
rode 0.738 kg/sec. Method of start-up manual on signal lamp or
autorat ic .
The O M - 6 5 combustion Chamber, with a voluae of 2.01 8 , con-
sisted of three steel rain parts: the spray head, chamber nozzle
and jacket, sealed with an asbestos liner. The chasber head,
designed to prepare the fuel for combustion, with internal
film cooling, hold an operating surface temperature of 300-400 C.
The combination chamber and nozzle consisted of the cylindrical
portion of the combustion chamber, made in one piece with the
nozzle. It was equipped with external flow cooling; in order to
increase heat transfer, the chamber-nozzle had spiral ribbing in
two places. The pressure drop throu h the cooling fluid line was
3.5 atr when operating in nominal 10 x e.
The necessary jacket gap at the nozzle was provided by the
The nozzle was equipped with a compensator - - a lead liner,
- /186
installation of two shaped aluminum inserts.
held under pressure by a threaded ring.
thermal elongation of the chamber and nozzle relative to the
cooler jacket (with the lead flowing into the circular c ~ p
between the jacket and Ch~ber-nOZZle), while raintainia,; the
tightness of seal. After each test, the pressure ring hhd to
be tightened up to restore the seal.
This compensator allowed
Tho fuel components were sprayed into the combustion chamber
through centrifugal-typo sprayers (three oxidizer sprayers and
three fuel sprayers alternating at intervals of 60O). The
oxidizer sprayers were installed in the head portion of the
chamber at an angle of 60' to the axis and directed opposite to
the nozzle.
perpendicular to its axis.
The fuel sprayers were installed in the head
157
Cross-section of the OW-65 Engine
/184
The ignition device -
consisted basically of a
current conducting plug,
cartridge with an electric
cap and pyrotechnical
igniter (metal-nitrate) cap.
When the ignition
circuit was closed, the
wire in the elcctrlc cap
burned out, i siting the
in the cartridge. The
hot powder gasses, flying
out through the channels in
the cartridge, ignited the
cap. The ignition cap,
which burned froa one end,
was cylindrical in shape,
24 m~ in diameter and 40 mm
long with a central inner
channel protected by a
duralumin tube. The fuel
components were fed to the
chamber only after good
ignition of the igniter cap.
charge of SRO ff eless powder
This was achieved by
connecting a low-resistance
shunt, which passed through a
hole drilled in the side of
the cap, in the ignition
circuit in parallel to the
control lamp installed on the
control Dane1 or the autorratic
starting device. When the shunt burned throhgh, the l m p lit
fully, which was the signal to open the fuel valves for manual
start or put the automatic start mechanism in operation. The
distance of the shunt from the end of the cap was selected so
that it would burn through in about 4 seconds, when the cap would
be well ignited.
OM-65 No. 1 was started 49 tines and operated 30.7 minutes on
the ground, including: 20 starts on the test stand (17 September-
5 November 1936), 8 starts on the model 212 winged rocket designed
by S. P. Korolev (29 April-9 September 1937 and 2 October-8 Octo-
ber 1938), 21 starts on the RP-318 rocket plane designed by S. P.
Korolev (16 December 1937-11 January 1938).
The ORM-65 engines were operated repeatedly. For exaqple, /187
158
combustion chamber. In contrast to the ORM-66, the ORM-67
engine could be completely disassembled; the joints between the
head, combustion chamber-nozzle and their jackets were sealed
with asbestos strips. The head and chamber-nozzle were made of
EYa3A steel, the jackets of duralumin. The engine weighed about
S kg.
Vi e w A
View B
6
-
The ORM-66 Engine
The ORM-68 (1937) differed from the ORM-67 in that the head,
chamber-nozzle and their jackets were made of duralumin, further
decreasing the weight of the device to 3.5 kg. The ORV-67 and
ORM-68 engines underwent only hydraulic testing and development
of a new ignition device in early 1938.
The 3RM-69 engine was developed in 1938 and differed from
the ORM-68 in that larger, fuel-cooled ribs were used on the
head and an improved ignition device was fitted, following manu-
facture and refinement testing in early 1938.
In 1937, the ORM-70 design was developed. This was an
experimental engine with a thrust of 300 kg, burning nitric
acid-kerosene fuel. The design of the ORM-70 is similar to the
ORM-67. Eight sprayers are used. The maximum diameter of the
combustion chamber is 200 mm, the length is 500 mm. The material
/189
-
/191
-
161
used is stainless and low-carbon steel, and duralumin. The
engine was manufactured in 1937-1938, but was never tested.
/190
The ORM-70 Engine
The ORM-101 - ORM-102 Engines
These experimental engines were planned in 1937 in or.;er to
study the possibility and expediency of using tetranitromethane
as an oxidizer. Corrosion testing of various metals in tetra-
nitromethane allowed structural materials stable in this
oxidizer to be selected.
danger of tetranitromethane in operation were conducted.
was selected as the fuel. The ORM-101, with a thrust of 80 kg,
was designed for brief operation.
100 kg at the same combustion chamber pressure (28 atm) was
fully cooled. The engines were manufactured in 1937-1938, but
did not undergo flame testing due to the determination that the
determination that the use of tetranitromethane was dangerous.
Experimental tests of the explosion
Kerosene
The ORM-102, with a thrust of
The GG-1 and GG-2 Gas Generators
The gas generators (GG) developed were designed to feed the
The zones of com- working fluid for a piston engine or turbine.
bustion of the fuel components (nitric acid and kerosene) and the
162
zones of mixink with the cooling agent (water) were separate;
diaphragms were used to separate the liquid films from the walls
of the chamber.
produced, preference was given to a two-chamber system, although
a one-chamber version was also constructed and underwent stand
flame testing.
Due to the requirement for high purity of the gas
In the GG-1 gas generator, the fuel components were
sprayed into the combustion chamber by 6 sprayers: three oxidizer
sprayers fed through the lower circular collector, three fuel
sprayers fed through the upper circular collector; water was
sprayed in through the two top sprayers. The gas generator was
designed for internal cooling of the walls by a protective
film of fuel components. Overheating of the combustion chamber
walls next to the sprayer belt and connecting collar between
the c..ambers (to 700' C) required that external flow cooling of
the spirally ribbed walls of the chamber with water, which was
then sprayed into the chamber, be used; the GG-1 F..ssed acceptance
- /193
testing in this form.
/192
The ORM-102 Engine
Design and dimensions of the GG-1: material of combustion
chambers, mixing chambers and sprayer nipples - - EYa3S; of
jackets and collectors - - ST4; of sprayers and tubing - - dur-
alumin. Jackets sealed with asbestos cord soaked in liquid
glass.
with simultaneous injection of f&el components and water. In the
winter, antifreeze (75% water and 25% ethyl alcohol) was used in
place of water.
The GG-1 was started after a signal lamp or automatically,
163
component s wer e di r ect ed t owar d t he cent er or t he hemi spi l er e, t r,
- he zone wher e t he head was connect ed t o t he cyl i ndr i cal por t i on
of t he chamber . I n th. 3 upper por t i on of t he head, on t he axi s
of t he chamber , was 3 t hr oat f or t he i gni t er devi ce. The head
was f ast ened t o t he cyl i ndr i cal por t i on of t he chamber by means
of a t hr ead. At t he j unct i on poi nt t her e was a l i near expansi on
compensat or gl and.
Cr oss- Sect i on of t he GG- 1 Gas Gener at or
The cyl i ndr i cal coi i i busti on chamber had doubl e spi r al cool i ng
r i bs. ' I he ni t r i c aci d ent er ed t he cool i ng cavi t y at t he poi nt of
connect i on of t he chamber t o t he nozzl e, t hen passed t hi - ough t he
aper t ur es i n t he head di r ect l y t o t he spr ayer s.
t he j acket at t he nozzl e end and l ef t at t he poi nt wher e i t was
connect ed t o t he chamber . The out si de sur f ace of t he nozzl e
car r i ed a doubr e spi r al set of not ches, t he l ands of whi ch wer e
i n t i ght cont act wi t h t he nozzl e j acket . I n t he l ower por t i on of
t he nozzl e (at t he exi t pl ane) was a l i near expansi on compensat cr
gl and.
was t he al t er ed pl acement of t he f uel spr ayer s i n t he engi ne
head. Wher eas i n t he ORM-65 t he f uel component s wer e spra; ed
r adi al l y or at a sl i ght angl e away f r omt he nozzl e, i n t he
The r emsvabl e nozzl e was cool ed by ker osene whi ch ent er ed
The basi c di f f er ence bet ween t he RDA- 1 . SO and t he ORM-65
165
RDA-1-150, all of the fuel was directed toward the center of the /198
chamber, toward the nozzle, and the sprayers were located around a
circle at identical angles to the chamber - xi s . However, this
difference caused a significant reduction in the primary character-
istics of the engine.
/196
-
Cross-Section of the GG-2 Gas Generator
Stand tests of the RDA-1-150 engine began in the second
half of 1939. Two identical models were tested, and about 20
starts were made.
ated 200 spc without damage. During March through September of
1939, combined tests were performed on a rocket plane, together
with the fuel feed system and the control system. During this
pe-i-.d of time, :he engine withstood 108 flame tests, showing
the following results: thrust 140 kg (compared to 175 kg for the
ORM-65), specific impulse with chamber pressure 18 atm reachcd
186 sec (as compared to 210-215 sec for the OW-65).
In January of 1939, one of these models oper-
As a result of the tests of the RDA-1-1S0, reliable operation
cf the engine w3s achieved, and the procedure for start-up, mode
control and shut-down of the engine from the cabin of the rocket
plane was developed.
engine, allowing the evrr menters to begin flight testing of the
engine following the g- w1i f . testing.
Exy-ience was gaine in the operation of the
The first flight tests of the RDA-1-150 engine were conducted
by pilot V. 2. Fedorov on 28 February 1940, using the RP-318
rocket plane.
166
The RDA- 1- 150 Engi ne
An or di nar y ai r cr af t wi t h 3 pi st on engi ne t owed t he r ocket
pl ane t o an al t i t ude of ZOO0 m, wher e t he pi l ot di sengaged t he
r ocket pl ane f r omt he pi st on- cngi ne pl ane, and began to gl i de.
Af t er separ at i ng a suf f i ci ent di st ance f r omt he t ow pl ane, t he
t est pi l ot t ur ned on t he r ocket engi ne, whi ch cont i nued t o
oper at e unt i l i t s f uel was f ul l y espendcd. Af t er shut - down of
t he engi ne, t he r ocket pl ane cont i nued to gl i de and l anded at
t he i i i rf i el d.
Thi s was t he f i r st manned f l i ght of a f l i ght vehi cl e wi t h
LRE i n t he USSR.
The RDA- 300 Engi ne
The RDA- 300 engi ne was desi gned t o devel op a t hr ust of 300
kg, and was al so i nt ended f or t he RP- 318 r ocket pl ane, i n or dcr
t o al l ow i ndependent t ake- of f , i . e. , wi t hout r equi r i ng o t ow
pl ane.
/ 197
Th- HDA- SO0 engi ne, devel oped i n 1939 under t he l eader shi p - / 199
cf L. S. Dushki n, di f f er ed f r omt he RI M- 1- 150 onl y i n i t s di men-
si ons. I n or der t o i ncr ease t he speci f i c i qpul se t o 200 scc,
t he desi gn pr essur e i n t he RDA- 300 was i r cr eased. By t he! mi ddl e
of 1939, t hc pl anni ng and manuf act ur e of thc engi ne wer e com-
pl et ed. At t he same t i me, anot her ver si on of t he RDA- 300 was
167
I n i t s second ver si on, t he engi ne t.ad a spher i cal combust i on
chamber of st ai nl ess st eel , al l owi ng a r educt i on i n t he speci f i c
wei ght of t he st r uct ur e. The upper hemi spher e was l i ned wi t h
ccr ami c made of r oast ed al umi numoxi de. The l ower por t i on of
t he chamber and nozzl e wer e made of st eel , and wer e gi ven
ext er nal f l ow cool i ng. The l ower hemi spher e of t he chamber
bur ned t hr ough dur i ng t he 19t h second of ;I t est conduct ed i n May
of 1935.
I n i t s t hi r d ver si on, t he engi ne di d not have est er nal f l ow / 202
cool i ng, but t he ent i r e chamber was l i ned wi t h an al umi numoxi de
cer ami c, t he nozzl e was l i ned wi t h a magnesi umoxi de cer ami c. The
st r eams of f uel component s wer e di r ect ed agai nst each ot her , whi ch
achi eved good mi xi ng. The engi ne was t est ed i n Mar ch of 1935.
The engi ne was shut down af t er 27 seconds f or i nspect i on, whi ch
r eveal ed smal l cr acks i n t he cer ami c l i ni ng.
The r esul t s of t est i ng of al l t hr ee vcr si ons of t he engi ne
wer e used 3s a basi s f or anal ysi s of t he r easons why t he r equi r ed
speci f i c i mpul se and st abi l i t y of t her mal i node of t he combust i on
chamber had not been achi eved, l eadi ng t o t he concl usi on t hat i n
or der to achi eve a t hr ust of 300 kg wi t h a pr essur e i n t he chamber
of about 12- 16 at m, t he chamber vol ume woul d have t o bo about
2 E. Fur t her mor e, si nce al l of t he cool i ng and heat pr ot cct i on
syst ems t est ed had f ai l ed t o assur e ext ended r el i abl e oper at i on,
t hese engi ne ver si ons wer e a knowl edged t o he sui t abl e onl y for
br i ef exper i ment al oper at i on i .
I n t he f our t h ver si on, consi der i ng t hat t he r egi on of t he
cr i t i cal cr oss sect i on had f ai l ed i n ear l i er t est s, t he nozzl e
was an al l - met al copper par t wi t h ext er nal f l ow cool i ng but wi t h-
out r i bs. I n or der t o avoi d t he t her mal st r esses whi ch f r equent l y
caused f ai l ur e of t he st r uct ur e, t he nozzl e was cool ed by t he
al cohol f uel r at her t han by t he l i qui d oxygen oxi di zer . tiowevcr,
dur i ng f l ame t est s t he nozzl e f ai l ed af t er 30 seconds. Thi s was
3 r esul t of t he i nsuf f i ci ent cool i ng i nt ensi t y, a r esul t of t he
l ow vel oci t y of movement of t he 3l cOhOl t hr ough t he cool i ng
channel s.
The 205 Engi nes
Based on bal l i st i c pl anni ng of wi ngl ess r ocket s and t he
r esul t s of f l amc t est i ng of t he 12K engi nes, i t was consi der ed
necessar y t o assur e const ant t hr ust , decr ease t he ampl i t udc of
f l uct uat i ons of chamber pr essur e, r educe t he t i me r cqui r ed t o
r each t he nomi nal mode t o 2. 5 sec, i ncr ease t he speci f i c i mpul se
t o at l east 2 1 5 sec at il chamber pr essur e of 20 at m, pr ovi de
Lat er , t he 12); engi ne was t est ed on t hc Avi nvni t o r ocket .
I
170
i mpr ove t he pr ot ect i on of t he wal l s f r omhi gh heat f l uxes.
The l i qui d oxygen evapor at ed i n t he cool i ng syst emwas sent
t o t he t ur bi ne whi ch dr ove t he f uel pump. The oxygen f r omt he
t ur bi ne was t hen sent t o t he combust i on chamber i n gaseous f or m.
Thus, t he engi ne of P. I . Shat i l ov f eat ur ed t he pr ogr essi ve
i deas of t he por ous combust i on chamber and a f eed syst emwhi ch
al l owed t he spent t ur bi ne gas t o be bur ned.
RNI I encount er ed t echni cal and t echnol ogi cal di f f i cul t i es
whi ch wer e i nsur mount abl e at t he t i me i n i t s at t empt s t o const r uct
t he P. I . Shat i l ov engi ne. Ther ef or e, wor k on t hi s engi ne was
hal t ed i n 1936.
3. 5. Devel opment s by Desi gn Bur eau No. 7 ( KB- 7)
I n August of 1935, a desi gn bur eau ( KB- 7) was set up i n t he
Mai n Ar t i l l er y Admi ni st r at i on of t he Red Ar my. Thi s bur eau
i ncl uded some of t he wor ker s f r omt he oxygen t eamof RNI I pl us
a number of speci al i st s f r omvar i ous gener al machi ne bui l di ng
ent er pr i ses. KB- 7 was headed by L. K. Kor neyev; ot her wor ker s
i ncl uded A. I . Fol yar nyy, E. P. Shept i t ski y, P. I . I vanov,
M. G . Vor ob' yev, A. S . Rayet ski y and ot her . KB- 7 had a smal l
pr oduct i on base, t wo l abor at or i es and a t est i ng st at i on. The
l abor at or i es and t est i ng st at i on wer e equi pped wi t h moder n ( f or
t he t i me) measur ement appar at us, si nce t he f l ame t est st and of
KB- 7 was consi der ed a ver y si gni f i cant i nst al l at i on.
Toget her wi t h t he devel opment of LRE, KB- 7 per f or med f l i ght / 209
t est i ng of r ocket s bur ni ng l i qui d oxygen- et hyl al cohol f uel .
Fi r st , t he pl anni ng of t he LRE was based on t he exper i ence of
t he wor k wi t h t he 02 and 10 engi nes ( GI RD) , t hen on cer t ai n
achi evement s of t he t eams at RNI I .
The f i r st model s of engi nes i n t he M f ami l y wer e desi gned
f or t he R- 03 and R- 06 r ocket s. They wer e most r emi nescent of t he
10 engi ne of GI RD, wi t h i t s pear - shaped combust i on chamber wi t h
cer ami c l i ni ng and pr echamber wi t h j et - t ype spr ayer s. One such
engi ne, wi t h a desi gn t hr ust of 100 kg, was i nst al l ed on t he
R- 03 r ocket .
The l engt h of t he r ocket was 2. 18 m; di amet er 0. 2 m; l aunch
wei ght 30- 33. 5 kg, i ncl udi ng 8 kg of oxygen and 4. 5 kg of al cohol ;
ext r act i ve f uel component f eed was used.
1937, Af t er modi f i cat i on of t he r ocket ( i t WDS now cal l ed t he
R- 03- 02) , i t was t est ed wi t h t he same engi ne i n f l i ght 6 t i mes.
The f i r st l aunch of t he r ocket was conduct ed i n Apr i l of / 210
174
The R- 03 Rocket
( f i r st stage). At t he
l i qui d f uel component s
The R- 06 r ocket , t he f i r st ver si on / 208
of whi ch was pl anned and manuf act ur ed
i n 1934 by A. I . Pol yar n' i y f or Osoavi a-
khi m, ut i l i zed an engi ne wi t h a cyl i ndr i -
cal combust i on chamber and a peaked head.
The nozzl e had a shaped cer ami c i nser t .
Af t er moder ni zat i on at KB- 7, t he r ocket ,
wi t h a l aunch wei ght of 39 kg, was t est ed
a number of t i mes i n 1937- 1938 wi t h an
engi ne wi t h a desi gn t hr ust of 100 kg.
A number of ver si ons of t he M- 29
engi ne wer e pl anned f or t he R-OS r ocket ,
made i n 1938- 1933 on or der f r omt he
Geophysi cs I nst i t ut eof t he Academy of
Sci ences USSR. I n t hi s engi ne, bot h
f uel component s ent er ed t he combust i on
ch2mber t hr ough spi r al spr ayer s wi t h
bal l back val ves. The f uel was ext r act ed
f r omt he t anks by means of a powder
pr essur e accumul at or devel oped by A. B.
I onov. The combust i on chamber was
coni cal i n shape; t he head had a cer ami c
l i ner . I n ot her ver si ons, t he chamber
was cyl i ndr i cal . The nozzl e of t he
engi nes had ext er nal f l ow cool i ng by
al cohol f l owi ng t hr ough a spi r al r i bbed
channel space. The M- 29s engi ne, whi ch
passed st and t est i ng, was desi gned f or
t he R- 05 r ocket ; t he desi gn t hr ust was
175 kg.
KB- 7 devel oped and t est ed a combi ned
engi ne whi ch was t r ansf er r ed f r omRNI I .
As a r esul t , t he M- 17 combi ned engi ne,
an LRE whi ch car r i ed a char ge of sol i d
f uel i n i t s combust i on chamber , was
pl anned under t he l eader shi p of V. S .
Zuyev. The sol i d f uel bur ned f i r st ,
pr ovi di ng hi gh t hr ust f or sever al seconds
end of t he bur ni ng of t he sol i d char ge,
wer e f ed t o t he combust i on chamber and t he
engi ne went over t o i t s mai n oper at i ng mode ( second st age) . The
sol i d f uel char ge of t he M- 17 engi ne consi st ed of t wo one- channel
caps and was hel d i n pl ace at t he nozzl e end by an easi l y burn: d
oak pl ug. Bl ack powder i gni t er s wer e pl aced at bot h t he nozzl e
and head ends. The head of t he chamber car r i ed spi r al spi - i yer s
wi t h bal l back val ves. The exi t aper t ur es of t he spr ayer s were
cool ed by al cohol , whi ch began movi ng when t he engi ne shi r t cd t o
t he LRE mode. Dur i ng combust i on of t he sol i d f uel , t he powder
/ 211
pl ugged wi t h powder on t he chamber end. The nozzl e was f l ow- .. --
175
plugs and the oak plug were fully consumed. The engine passed
testing in 1938.
Since the volume of the combustion chambers of modern LRE
would allow the placement of a solid fuel charge incomparably
small in comparison to the quantity necessary for first stage
operation, combined engines have not been further developed.
The activity of KB-7 did not
yield the expected results, and it
was disbanded in 1939, its test stand
and equipment transferred to RNII.
One Version of the M-29
Engine
176
The fi rst great step of mankind w i l l
be when he f l i es beyond his atmos-
phere and or bi t s the Earth.
K. E. Tsiolkovskiy
Chapt er 4 . Li qui d- Fuel ed Rocket Engi nes f or Avi at i on
i ncr eases i n t he speed, al t i t ude and maneuver abi l i t y of al l
t ypes of combat ai r cr af t .
The Gr eat Pat r i ot i c War , f r omi t s ver y begi nni ng, r equi r ed
/ 212
One sol ut i on t o t hi s pr obl emwas t he use of r ocket engi nes
as pr i mar y or suppl ement ar y ( accel er at or ) engi nes. Ther ef or e,
t he suggest i on of l eadi ng speci al i st s i n t he ar ea of r ocket
t echnol ogy t hat LRE be used i n t hi s manner was act i vel y
suppor t ed.
3ngi nes i nt ended t o be t he mai n engi nes f or combat ai r cr af t
must devel op r at her hi gh t hr ust - - about 1000 kg, whi l e r eact i on
accel er at or s must devel op 300 kg or mor e. These engi nes wer e t o
pr ovi de hi gh speci f i c i mpul se, l ong- t er m( t ot al l i ng sever al hour s)
r el i abl e oper at i on, mul t i pl e r est ar t capabi l i t y, pl us t he capa-
bi l i t y of bei ng r ef uel ed r api dl y. Ther ef or e, t hese engi r es wer e
onl y desi gned t o ut i l i ze nonvol at i l e oxi di zer s.
Li qui d- f uel ed r ocket engi nes f or combat f i ght er s ( i nt er -
cept or s) wer e devel oped at OKB under t he l eader shi p of V. P.
Gl ushko, at RNI I under L. S. Dushki n and at t he Desi gn Bur eau ( L
t he Peopl es Commi ssar i at f or t he Avi at i on I ndust r y ( NKAP) by a
t eamheaded by A. M. I sayev.
4. 1. The Li qui d- Fuel ed Rocket Engi nes of OKB NKAP
I n 1934- 1938, V. P, Gl ushko cont i nued t o devel op LRE (ORM-53-
/ 213 i
ORM- 102) and gas gener at or s ( GG- 1, GG- 2) i n t he subdi vi si on of - .
RNI I whi ch he headed, whi ch had been t r ansf er r ed f r omGDL and
r ei nf or ced wi t h addi t i onal engi neer s and t echni ci ans - - F. L.
Yakayt i s, S. S. Ravi nski y, D. P. Shi t ov, V. N. Gal kovski y and
ot her s.
Begi nni ng i n 1939, accor di ng t o a t ask assi gne. 1 by t he
Peopl es Commi ssar i at f or t he Avi at i cn I ndust r y, t he t eamof
desi gner s headed by V. P. Gl ushko began t o speci al i ze pr i mar i l y
i n t he cr eat i on of ai r cr af t LRE - - accel er at or s. By t hi s t i me,
some exper i ence had been gai ned wi t h such engi nes, si nc: as
ear l y as 1932 GDL had begun devel opment of exper i ment al LRE f or
ai r cr af t . Pl ans cal l ed f or t he i nst a1, l at i on of t wo LRE wi t h
t hr ust of 300 kg each beneat h t he wi ngs of an 1- 4 ai r cr af t .
177
I n 1940- 1946, a ser i es of LRE wer e pr oduced wi t h pump
f uel f eed: RD- 1, RD- l KhZ, RD- 2 and RD- 3. Some of t hese engi nes
passed f l i ght and st at e t est i ng and wer e put i n ser i es pr oduct i on.
The pl anni ng and devel opment of t hese engi nes wer e precede(; by
t he devel opment of i ndi vi dual LRE pl ans and pl ans f or subuni t s.
For ex3mpl e, i n 1940 t he Desi gn Bur eau devel oped a pl an f or a
t wo- chamber LRE- accel er at w wi t h a t hr ust of 2 x 300 kg f or i nst al -
l at i on on t he S- 100 ai r cr af t . Thi s engi ne was t a bur n ni t r i c
aci d and ker osene. The f uel component s wer e t o be f ed by a pump
uni t dr i ven by one of th. e mai n ( pi st on) engi nes of t he ai r cr af t .
Dur i ng t hi s same year , a si ngl e- chamber ni t r i c- aci d LRE wi t h
a t hr ust of 300 kg was pl anned.
engi ne had a si ngl e- st age t ur bi ne, a speed r educer , oxygen, ker o-
sene and oi l pumps.
The t ur bi ne pump uni t of t hi s
I n 1940, dev2l opment was begun on a f our chpmber ni t r i c aci d-
ker osene LRE wi t h a t hr ust of 1000- 1200 kg wi t h a si r gl et ur bi ne
pump uni t .
I n 1942- 1945, t hi s t r ubi ne pump uni t was const r uct ed, but i t
was never f ul l y devel oped, si nce by t hi s t i me t he t est i ng of gear
pumps dr i ven by t he i nai n ( pi st on) engi ne was compl et ed.
A t wo- chamber L- shaped gas gener at or , t he GG-3, del i ver i ng
2 kg/ sec gas at 450' C and 25 at mpr essur e, was pl anned i n 1939-
1940 f or pl anned t ur bi nes of mar i ne t or pedos. The gener at or
bur ned ni t r i c aci d and ker osene, but wat er was spr ayed i nt o t he
combust i on pr oduct s i n or der t o r educe t he gas t emper at ur e. Al l
tfi ree component s wer e suppl i ed t o t he gener at or by me- ns of a
suppl ement ar y t ur bi ne- pump uni t .
chamber of t he gener at or t hr ough spi r al spr ayer s. The combust i on
chamber of t he gener at or was cool ed wi t h wat er f l owi ng over t he
spi r al r i bs i n t he space bet ween t he chamber wal l and j acket ,
t hen was spr ayed i nt o t he gas st r eami n t he ar ea wher e t he com-
bust i on chamber and mi xi ng chamber wer e connect ed.
chamber was al so cool ed by wat er f l owi ng t hr ough a spi r al channel .
The wat er was t hen f ed t hr ough cent r i f ugal spr ayer s i nt o t he
combust i on chamber ; her e i t evapor at ed, addi t i onal l y r educi ng
t he t emper at ur e of t he gener at or gas and cool i ng t he wal l s of
t he mi xi ng chamber .
The suppl ement ar y t ur bi ne- pump uni t , desi gned t o f eed t he
zener at v, consi st ed of a t ur bi ne whi ch dr ove t he wor ki ng
wheel s of t hr ee r ot at i ng bl ade pumps t hr ough a r educi ng gear uni t .
The t ur bi ne was t o be st ar t ed hy a pyr ot echni cal st ar t er wi t h a
cap of t r ot yl pyr oxyl i n powder . The consumpt i on of gas and
vapor f or t he t ur bi ne pump uni t amount ed t o 3% of t he del i ver y
of t he g w gener at or ; t he power of t he suppl ement ar y t ur bi ne was
- / 214 .
The ni t r i c aci d and ker osene wer e spr ayed i nt o t he combust i on
The mi xi ng
178
15 hp at 28, 600 r pm; t he GG- 3 i ncl udi ng turbi rte pump uni t wei ghed
54 kg. The pl an was never br ought t o l i f e.
i
I n 1942, t he combust i on chamber of an RD- 1 engi ne wi t h pumy
f eed oper at ed f or 1 hour and 10 mi nut es wi t hout bei ng rcti l oved
f r omt he t est st and, and ser vea as a pr ot ot ype f or t he combus-
t i on chamber f or t he RD- 1- RD- 3 engi nes. I n 1947, t he desi gn of
t he RD- 4 engi ne, suppl i ed by a t ur bi ne- pump uni t , was devel oped.
The RD- 1 Engi ne
The si ngl e- chamber RD- 1 r eact i on engi ne was desi gned as a
suppl ement ar y engi ne - - an accel er at or f or ai r cr af t i n or der t o
br i ef l y i mpr ove t hei r f l yi ng, speed and : i i t i t : - L3e char act e, i st i cs.
The cal cul pt ed dat a of t he RD- 1 ar e as f ol l ows: f uel I -
ni t r i c aci d ( OST- 701- 41) and t r act or ker osene ( OST- 6460) ; maxi mum
t hr ust at gr ound l evel - - 300 kg; f uel consumpt i on i n maxi mum
t hr ust mode - - 1. 5 kg/ sec; pr essur e i n combust i on chamber - -
2 2 . 5 at m; t i me of cont i nuous oper at i on at maxi mumt hr ust - - 30
mi n; nump shaf t r ot at i ng spead - - 2000 r pm; oper at i ng t i me unt i l
f i r sk di sassembl y - - 4 5 mi nut es.
The RD- 1 engi ne consi st ed of t he f ol l owi ng uni t s, separ at el y
i nst al l ed on t he ai r cr af t : t he engi ne i t sel f ( combust i on chamber - / 215 '
wi t h st ar t i ng and cont r ol uni t s) , l ocat ed i n t he t ai l por t i on of
t he f usel age or mot or gondol a or i n t he wi ngs of t he ai r cr af t ;
t he pump uni t , dr i ven by t he mai n engi ne of t he ai r cr af t ei t her
di r ect l y or t hr ough a t r ansmi ssi on shaf t ; t he choke val ve uni t
and ni t r i c aci d and ker osene l i nes. The choke val ve uni t was
cont r ol l ed by t he pi l ot f r omhi s i nst r ument panel , whi ch P I S O
car r i ed a di spl zy and t he t est i ng and cont r ol i nst r umsnt s.
The engi ne mode cont r ol syst emwas suppl i ed by t he el ect r i c
bat t er i es and compr essed ai r cyl i nder s of t he ai r cr af t .
engi ne coul d be st ar t ed as many as f i ve t i mes i n one f l i ght
( l j mi t ed by capaci t y of st ar t i ng tank).
The combust i on chamber was mount ed on t he f r ame of t he r ocket
engi ne t oget her wi t h t he f ol l owi ng uni t s: st ar t i ng uni t , s f * i n <
car bur et or , aci d and ker osene f i l t er s, aci d and ker osene vc i t ' :
and el ect r omagnet i c pneumat i c cont r ol val ve. The cornbust i on
chamber of t he engi ne consi st ed of t he i gni t i on chamber and i be
combust i on chamber i t sel f pl us i t s nozzl e. The i gni t i on chamber
was spl i t ; i t s f or war d hal f was f i nned and ai r cool ed, it!: r ear
hal f was cool ed by ker osene. The combust i on chaml xr r nnsi st ed of
t he ker osene- cool ed head, and t he chamber - nozzl e cr -ol eG by ni t r i c
aci d. A l i qui d f l owgap was mai nt ai ned bet ween t ; w j , ~- . ket sur -
r oundi ng t he head and chamber- no: - l c and t he spl i t , si i Pped
i nser t s.
The
The mi ddl e por t i on cf t hP chamber head car r i ed t he
179
was designed to increase the life of combustion chamber walls.
Schematic Diagram of RD-1 Engine
Installation
Beginning in 1941, methods were de?reloped for intensifica-
tion of heat exchange by decreasing the thickness of the boundary
layer and elimination of the products of vapor formation and
gasification from this layer.
stressed sections of the chamber - - the area of inflow and the
critical cross section of the nozzle - - was achieved by drilling
a system of apertures in the aluminum liner of the nozzle, allow-
ing components to be withdrawn from areas with elevated pressure.
The pump unit was attached to the plate of the iroxtt flange.
Two stainless steel shafts made in one piece with the gears
delivering the nitric acid were placed in the split aluminum body
of the pump unit. Splines on these shafts carried the driving
gears which delivered the kerosene, and a guaranteed minimum gap
was maintained between the teeth of the acid gears, to prevent
them from contacting and wearing.
type journal bearings and two ball thrust bearings on one end.
A guaranteed minimum clearance was also provided between the
body and the -rids of tne gears of the oxidizer pump.
provided by graphitized asbestos glands.
through the glands was carried away through internal drilled
apertures to the intake cavity of the pump.
Turbulization of the boundary layer in the most highly
Each shaft had three middle-
The seal was
The Pump unit carried
The fluid which soaked
reducing valves, which also acted as safety valves protecting the
lines from hydraulic shock.
S. P. Korolev worked in the special design bureay headed by
V. P. Glushko (1942-1946 as Deputy Chief Designer for Flight
D. D. Sevruk, subunit leaders V. A. Vitka, N. N. Artamonov, A. S.
Nazarov, C. N. List, N. L. Umanskiy, N. S. Shnyakin, A. A.
Meyyerov N. A. Zhelr-rkhin, M. A. Kolosov and other highly quali-
fied specialists.
nitro oils and lubricants which did not react with the nitric
acid. They were sixcessfully used in the seals and ball bearings
of the RD-1, RD-lKhZ, RD-2 and RD-3 engines.
/219
Testing], as did Deputy Chief Designers G. S. Zhiritskiy and -
In 1944, the special design bureau of A. A. Meyerov developed
In order to continue development of the RD-1 under flying
conditions and accumulate operating experience, S. P. Korolev in
1943 developed an installation for this engine for the Pe-2 series-
produced aircraft. The engine was installed in the tail portion
of the fuselage. The pump unit, compensation and drainage tanks
were carried in the left motor gondola behind the forward
longeron. The engine had dual controls, carried in the pilots
cabin and the radio operator-gunner's cabin.
The Pe-2 aircraft conducted 24 flight tests at altitudes of
up to 7000 m to develop the ignition system. After ground flame
tests were conducted, in 1943 this same aircraft performed 18
start-ups of the RD-1 engine on the ground and 11 in flight.
The longest time of continuous operation of the RD-1 engine at
full thrust in flight was 10 minutes, determined by the capacity
of the fuel tanks.
Flight testing was performed by test pilots A. G. Vasil'chenko
and A. S. Pal'chikov, with S. P. Korolev and D. D. Sevruk flying
as experimental engineer.
The tests of the Pe-2 aircraft continued in 1944-1943 in
order to increase the reliability and altitude capability of
the ignition system, with 49 flame tests on the ground and 38 in
flight. Preference was given to the system of repeated chemical
ignition, which was well-developed by that time, rather than the
ether-air ignition system with glow plug and oxygen feed used
earlier.
In 1944-1945, the RD-1 engines passed ground and flight
tests on fighter aircraft designed by S. A. Lavochkin (La-7),
A. S. irriwlev (Yak-3), P. 3. Sukhoy (Su-6) and the aircraft
desigiitu by V. k. Yetlyakw (?e-2).
182
The RD-lKhZ Engine /220
An improved version cf the
RD-1 engine, with chsmical
ignition and a number of design
innovations, came to be called
- /221
the RD-1KhZ.
The two internal parts
of the combustion chamber of
the RD-1KhZ - - the chsmber-
nozzle, mzde of EZh-2 stainless
steel, and the head, made of
heat resistant DPS aluminum
alloy - - were connected by means
of steel jackets of EZh-2.
Between the jackets and the
internal parts of the chamber
there was a passage for nitric
acid in the chamber-nozzle and
kerosene in the head. Longi-
tudinal and spiral fins were
made on the outer surfaces of
the chamber-nozzle and head of
the combustion chamber in order
to improve cooling conditions.
Split aluminum sleeves with an
interior profile corresponding
to the profile of the chamber
parts were placed around the
throat of the head and the
no?zle.
jacket of the combustion
chamber head and moved, cooling
the chamber, to its middle por-
tion, toward the belt of
sprayers. The nitric acid was
fed into the jacket around
the chamber-nozzle through a
One Version of the Combustion nipple at the critical cross
Chamber of the RD-1 Engine section, then flowed first
toward the exit plane of the
nozzle, then through the spaces between fins between the insert
and chamber-nozzle to the sprayers.
The kerosene entered the
The sprayers were located at the head of the combustion
chamher, inclined to its axis and directed away from the nozzle.
The sprayers were o f the same design as those u:.~d in the RD-1
engine .
183
The starting sprayer / 223
-
was located on the axis
of the chamber. The
starting fuel was fed in
through the central por-
tion of this sprayer, with
nitric acid fed in through
the annular space around
this valve.
The starting fuel
used in the RD-1KhZ
engine was product B23-75,
hypergolic in combination
with nitric acid, developed
at OKB in 1945 by A. A.
Overall View of the RD-1KhZ Engine
Meyerov. This product consisted of 75% (by weight) carbonal and
251 type B-70 gasoline. Chemical ignition of the RD-1KhZ engine
was first tested on the stand, then on the PE-2 aircraft.
One Version of the Combustion Chamber of
the RD-1KhZ Engine
The pump unit of the RD-1KhZ engine consisted of two sections:
the nitric acid and kerosene pumps. A gear-type pump was used,
the kerosene gears serving as the driving gears, allowing a
guaranteed minimum clearance between the teeth and gear ends in
acid pump.
184