Valentin Glushko is the founder of the domestic rocket engine industry. History of space exploration. Valentin Glushko - founder of domestic rocket engine building Founder of domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine building

Scientist, founder of the domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine industry
Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Twice Hero of Socialist Labor
Laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR

Graduated from Leningrad State University (1929), Doctor of Technical Sciences (1957), corresponding member (1953), academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1958). Full member of the International Academy of Astronautics.
From 1974 to 1977 - director and general designer of NPO Energia, from 1977 to 1989 - general designer of NPO Energia MOM USSR, Kaliningrad, Moscow region.
Founder of a scientific school in the field of practical liquid rocket propulsion, member of the first Council of Chief Designers.
Designer of the world's first electrothermal rocket engine (1928-1933), the first Soviet ORM liquid-propellant rocket engines (1930-1931), the family of liquid-fueled RLA rockets (1932-1933), powerful liquid-propellant rocket engines installed on almost all domestic launch vehicles, which launched the first and subsequent satellites, KK with Yu.A. Gagarin and other cosmonauts, provided flights to the Moon and planets of the Solar system.
He led the work on the creation of the Salyut and Mir orbital complexes, the Energia-Buran rocket and space system, and a unified range of domestic launch vehicles. During the same period of time, under his leadership, the world's most powerful liquid rocket engines were created for the Zenit and Energia launch vehicles.
As Chairman of the Council of Chief Designers, he provided in 1974-1989. technical management and coordination of the work of enterprises and organizations of the country's rocket and space industry on projects developed with the leading role of NPO Energia.
He made a contribution to world science: his work on the creation of fundamental reference books on thermal constants, thermodynamic and thermophysical properties of various substances (from 1956 to 1982 - 40 books) is highly appreciated throughout the world. Author of more than 400 scientific papers, articles and inventions. He was the chairman and member of many scientific councils, and was the editor-in-chief of three editions of the Cosmonautics encyclopedia (1968, 1970, 1985). For several decades he headed the Scientific Council under the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the problem of “Liquid Rocket Fuel”. He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the V-XI convocations, a member of the CPSU Central Committee (1976-1989).
Laureate of the Lenin (1957), State (1967, 1984) prizes of the USSR. Twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961). He was awarded the Order of Lenin (1956, 1958, 1968, 1975, 1978), the October Revolution (1971), the Red Banner of Labor (1945), and many medals, including the gold medal named after. K.E. Tsiolkovsky Academy of Sciences of the USSR No. 2 (1958). Monuments were erected to him in Odessa and Moscow. His name was given to NPO Energomash, Khimki, Moscow region. A crater on the Moon is named after him. A memorial bas-relief was installed on the territory of RSC Energia at the main entrance to the building where he worked. V.P. Glushko is an honorary citizen of the cities of Kazan, Kaluga, Leninsk, Odessa, Primorsk, Khimki, Elista.

Academician
Valentin Petrovich Glushko

Academician V.P. Glushko (1908-1989) - the founder of the domestic rocket engine industry, one of the pioneers and creators of rocket and space technology.

Valentin Petrovich Glushko- an outstanding scientist in the field of rocket and space technology, one of the pioneers of astronautics, the founder of domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine building.

V.P. Glushko was born in Odessa on September 2, 1908. During his school years he was interested in astronomy and organized a circle of young amateurs at the Odessa Astronomical Observatory. V.P. Glushko’s first publication was called “Conquest of the Moon by the Earth.” The results of his observations of the meteor shower in January 1924, sketches of Venus, Mars and Jupiter, made from his own observations, were published in 1924 and 1925. in publications of the Russian Society of World Studies Lovers (ROML).

At the same time, V.P. Glushko became interested in the idea of ​​space flights and from 1923 corresponded with K.E. Tsiolkovsky.

V.P. Glushko during his years of work at the Jet Research Institute (RNII). Moscow. 1934

In 1925 he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Leningrad University. The topic of the thesis was the project of an electric rocket engine (ERE). From 1929 to 1933, he worked at the Gas Dynamic Laboratory (GDL) of the Military Research Committee under the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, where he formed a division for the development of electric propulsion engines, liquid propellant engines and liquid fuel rockets. In 1931 - 1933 under the leadership of V.P. Glushko, the first domestic liquid rocket engines were developed - ORM (experimental jet engine). In 1933, the world's first Jet Research Institute (RNII) was organized. The division, led by V.P. Glushko, continued to work as part of the RNII, where the most significant result was the creation of the ORM-65 rocket engine, intended for the RP-318 rocket plane and the 212 cruise missile designed by S.P. Korolev.

ORM-65 is a liquid-propellant rocket engine created by V.P. Glushko in the 30s for installation on the RP-318 rocket plane and the 212 cruise missile designed by S.P. Korolev.

During the period of Stalinist repressions, V.P. Glushko was arrested on March 23, 1938 and, on the basis of a fabricated case by the NKVD, sentenced to 8 years in the camps (in 1939). In conclusion, V.P. Glushko worked on the creation of aircraft jet boosters. For the successful completion of these works in 1944, V.P. Glushko and his employees were released with their criminal records expunged. V.P. Glushko was rehabilitated only in 1955.

In 1945, V.P. Glushko and a group of specialists were sent to Germany to become familiar with captured rocket technology. Beginning in 1947, a series of rocket engines of an original design were created at OKB-456 (in the city of Khimki near Moscow), led by V.P. Glushko.

The RD-107 and RD-108 engines, created at the V.P. Glushko Design Bureau, were installed on the first intercontinental rocket R-7 (1957), on launch vehicles that launched artificial satellites of the Earth and the Moon into orbit, and launched automatic stations to the Moon, Venus and Mars, launch of manned spacecraft "Vostok", "Voskhod" and "Soyuz".

The RD-108 rocket engine is the engine of the second stage of the R-7 rocket and the Vostok, Voskhod, Molniya, and Soyuz launch vehicles. The RD-107 and RD-108 engines, created at the V.P. Glushko Design Bureau, were installed on the first and second stages of these launch vehicles. They ensured humanity's breakthrough into space and today continue to contribute to the Russian space program.

Engines of a new type RD-253 designed by V.P. Glushko were installed on the first stage of the Proton launch vehicle, which has three times the payload capacity of the Soyuz rocket.

V.P. Glushko with cosmonauts Yu.A. Gagarin and P.R. Popovich in his office. 1963

V.P. Glushko with cosmonauts Yu.A. Gagarin and P.R. Popovich in his office. 1963

The RD-253 liquid-propellant rocket engine, created at the V.P. Glushko Design Bureau, is the engine of the first stage of the Proton launch vehicle.

The Proton launch vehicle at the launch site of the cosmodrome.

With the help of the Proton rocket in the second half of the 60s and in the 70s, heavy research satellites of the Earth and automatic stations for the study of the Moon, Venus and Mars were launched, including a flyby of the Moon with the return of the spacecraft to Earth, delivery from Moons of lunar soil samples and delivery of the first lunar rovers to the Moon.

V.P. Glushko in his office. On the bookshelf is a hand-drawn original fragment of the “Complete Map of the Moon” (the area of ​​the Copernicus crater), which was presented to Valentin Petrovich by the Department of Physics of the Moon and Planets of the SAI on his 60th anniversary (1968).

V.P. Glushko paid great attention to the scientific content of research carried out with the help of space technology created under his leadership. He attached great importance to the study of the solar system. With his active support, the SAI MSU, together with specialized cartographic organizations, managed to prepare several editions of lunar maps and globes of the Moon.

V.P. Glushko and Chairman of the State Commission K.A. Kerimov with female cosmonauts V.L. Ponomareva, V.V. Tereshkova and T.D. Kuznetsova in the showroom (1968). In the center of the table there is a globe of the Moon, prepared by the SAI (1967 edition). To the left and below is the very first globe of the Moon (1961 edition), on which about a third of the surface is occupied by a white, empty sector, corresponding to that part of the lunar globe that was not photographed during the first space survey of the Moon in 1959.

Business note from V.P. Glushko, attached to the materials sent to the head of the Department of Lunar Physics, Yu.N. Lipsky. Interaction between V.P. Glushko and the Department of Physics of the Moon and Planets of the State Inspectorate of the Russian Federation took place constantly. 1970

V.P. Glushko presents the medal of the 40th anniversary of the GDL-OKB to the head of the department of the enterprise, M.R. Gnesin (1969). In the background, next to the models of jet engines, there is a globe of the Moon, prepared at the SAI (1967), from the personal collection of V.P. Glushko.

In 1974, V.P. Glushko was appointed general designer of the Research and Production Association "Energia", which united the design bureau founded by V.P. Glushko and the design bureau previously headed by S.P. Korolev. Along with the current launches of orbital stations and spacecraft carried out under the leadership of V.P. Glushko, NPO Energia, on his initiative, began the development of a new rocket and space system "Energia" with a payload capacity of more than 100 tons.

Among other tasks, the super-heavy carrier “Energia”, as conceived by V.P. Glushko, was intended to support manned flights to the Moon and create a long-term habitable base on the lunar surface. The Department of Research of the Moon and Planets of the SAI was attracted by V.P. Glushko to provide scientific support for the project of an inhabited lunar base. Within the framework of the agreement between NPO Energia and SAI, work was carried out for a number of years to scientifically substantiate the choice of a base location on the lunar surface. This cooperation lasted almost 15 years.

The inscription made by V.P. Glushko on his book

The inscription made by V.P. Glushko on his book, which he presented to the head of the Department of Research of the Moon and Planets of the SAI V.V. Shevchenko (1978). The collaboration of the Department’s staff with NPO Energia, headed by V.P. Glushko, entered a new active phase at this time.

In the process of joint work, the leadership of the Department often had requests to V.P. Glushko for assistance in this or that issue. Valentin Petrovich was invariably attentive and friendly. Not a single appeal to him remained unanswered. In this case, his telephone conversation, as a rule, began with a humorous phrase: “Vladislav Vladimirovich, I am reporting to you...”

Regular holiday treats were a sign of attention.

The world's most powerful liquid-propellant rocket engine, the RD-170, was created for the new launch vehicle. The first launch of the Energia rocket took place on May 15, 1987. In November 1988, the Energia-Buran rocket and space system was launched with the return and landing of the Buran orbital ship in automatic mode.

On the morning of March 27, 1943, the first Soviet jet fighter "BI-1" took off from the Koltsovo Air Force Research Institute airfield in the Sverdlovsk region. The seventh test flight to achieve maximum speed was underway. Having reached a two-kilometer altitude and picked up a speed of about 800 km/h, the plane suddenly went into a dive at 78 seconds after running out of fuel and collided with the ground. Experienced test pilot G. Ya. Bakhchivandzhi, who was sitting at the helm, died. This disaster became an important stage in the development of aircraft with liquid rocket engines in the USSR, but although work on them continued until the end of the 1940s, this direction of aviation development turned out to be a dead end. Nevertheless, these first, although not very successful steps, had a serious impact on the entire subsequent post-war development of Soviet aircraft and rocketry...

Joining the Jet Club

“The era of propeller airplanes should be followed by the era of jet airplanes...” - these words of the founder of jet technology K. E. Tsiolkovsky began to receive real embodiment already in the mid-1930s of the twentieth century.

By this point, it became clear that a further significant increase in aircraft flight speed due to an increase in the power of piston engines and a more advanced aerodynamic shape is practically impossible. The aircraft had to be equipped with engines whose power could not be increased without excessively increasing the engine's mass. Thus, to increase the flight speed of a fighter from 650 to 1000 km/h, it was necessary to increase the power of the piston engine by 6 (!) times.

It was obvious that the piston engine had to be replaced by a jet engine, which, having smaller transverse dimensions, would allow reaching higher speeds, giving greater thrust per unit of weight.

Jet engines are divided into two main classes: air-breathing engines, which use the energy of oxidation of combustible air with oxygen taken from the atmosphere, and rocket engines, which contain all the components of the working fluid on board and are capable of operating in any environment, including airless ones. The first type includes turbojet (TRJ), pulsating air-jet (PvRJ) and ramjet (ramjet) engines, and the second type includes liquid-propellant rocket engines (LPRE) and solid-fuel rocket engines (STRD).

The first examples of jet technology appeared in countries where traditions in the development of science and technology and the level of the aviation industry were extremely high. These are, first of all, Germany, the USA, as well as England and Italy. In 1930, the design of the first turbojet engine was patented by the Englishman Frank Whittle, then the first working model of the engine was assembled in 1935 in Germany by Hans von Ohain, and in 1937 the Frenchman Rene Leduc received a government order to create a ramjet engine...

In the USSR, practical work on “jet” topics was carried out mainly in the direction of liquid rocket engines. The founder of rocket engine building in the USSR was V.P. Glushko. In 1930, then an employee of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL) in Leningrad, which at that time was the only design bureau in the world for the development of solid fuel rockets, he created the first domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine ORM-1. And in Moscow in 1931–1933. scientist and designer of the Jet Propulsion Research Group (GIRP) F.L. Tsander developed the OR-1 and OR-2 liquid propellant engines.

A new powerful impetus for the development of jet technology in the USSR was given by the appointment of M. N. Tukhachevsky in 1931 to the post of Deputy People's Commissar of Defense and Chief of Arms of the Red Army. It was he who insisted on the adoption in 1932 of the Council of People’s Commissars resolution “On the development of steam turbine and jet engines, as well as jet-powered aircraft...”. The work that began after this at the Kharkov Aviation Institute made it possible only by 1941 to create a working model of the first Soviet turbojet engine designed by A. M. Lyulka and contributed to the launch on August 17, 1933 of the first liquid-propellant rocket in the USSR GIRD-09, which reached an altitude of 400 m.

But the lack of more tangible results prompted Tukhachevsky in September 1933 to unite the GDL and GIRD into a single Jet Research Institute (RNII), headed by Leningrader, military engineer 1st rank I. T. Kleimenov. The future Chief Designer of the space program, Muscovite S.P. Korolev, who two years later in 1935 was appointed head of the rocket aircraft department, was appointed his deputy. And although the RNII was subordinate to the ammunition department of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry and its main topic was the development of rocket shells (the future Katyusha), Korolev, together with Glushko, managed to calculate the most advantageous design schemes of the devices, types of engines and control systems, types of fuel and materials. As a result, by 1938, his department had developed an experimental guided missile system, including designs for liquid-propelled cruise "212" and long-range ballistic "204" missiles with gyroscopic control, aircraft missiles for firing at air and ground targets, and guided anti-aircraft solid-propellant missiles by light and radio beam.

In an effort to gain support from the military leadership in the development of the high-altitude rocket plane "218", Korolev substantiated the concept of a missile interceptor fighter capable of reaching great heights in a few minutes and attacking aircraft that had broken through to a protected object.

But the wave of mass repressions that unfolded in the army after Tukhachevsky’s arrest also reached the RNII. A counter-revolutionary Trotskyist organization was “discovered” there, and its “participants” I. T. Kleimenov, G. E. Langemak were shot, and Glushko and Korolev were sentenced to 8 years in the camps.

These events slowed down the development of jet technology in the USSR and allowed European designers to get ahead. On June 30, 1939, German pilot Erich Warsitz took into the air the world's first jet aircraft with a liquid-propellant engine designed by Helmut Walter "Heinkel" He-176, reaching a speed of 700 km/h, and two months later the world's first jet aircraft with a turbojet engine " Heinkel He-178, equipped with a Hans von Ohain engine, HeS-3 B with a thrust of 510 kg and a speed of 750 km/h. A year later, in August 1940, the Italian Caproni-Campini N1 took off, and in May 1941, the British Gloucester Pioneer E.28/29 made its first flight with the Whittle W-1 turbojet engine designed by Frank Whittle.

Thus, Nazi Germany became the leader in the jet race, which, in addition to aviation programs, began to implement a missile program under the leadership of Wernher von Braun at the secret training ground in Peenemünde...

But still, although mass repressions in the USSR caused significant damage, they could not stop all the work on such an obvious reactive theme that Korolev began. In 1938, the RNII was renamed NII-3, now the “royal” rocket plane “218-1” began to be designated “RP-318-1”. New leading designers, engineers A. Shcherbakov, A. Pallo, replaced the ORM-65 rocket engine of the “enemy of the people” V. P. Glushko with the nitric acid-kerosene engine “RDA-1–150” designed by L. S. Dushkin.

And now, after almost a year of testing, in February 1940, the first flight of the RP-318-1 took place, towed behind the R 5 aircraft. Test pilot? V. P. Fedorov at an altitude of 2800 m unhooked the towing cable and started the rocket engine. Behind the rocket plane, a small cloud appeared from the incendiary squib, then brown smoke, then a fiery stream about a meter long. “RP-318–1”, having reached a maximum speed of only 165 km/h, began flying with a climb.

This modest achievement nevertheless allowed the USSR to join the pre-war “jet club” of the leading aviation powers...

"Close Fighter"

The successes of German designers did not go unnoticed by the Soviet leadership. In July 1940, the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars adopted a resolution that determined the creation of the first domestic aircraft with jet engines. The resolution, in particular, provided for the resolution of issues “on the use of high-power jet engines for ultra-high-speed stratospheric flights”...

Massive Luftwaffe raids on British cities and the lack of a sufficient number of radar stations in the Soviet Union revealed the need to create an interceptor fighter to cover particularly important objects, the project of which, in the spring of 1941, began to be worked on by young engineers A. Ya. Bereznyak and A. M. Isaev from the Design Bureau of designer V.F. Bolkhovitinov. The concept of their Dushkin-powered missile interceptor or “short-range fighter” was based on Korolev’s proposal put forward back in 1938.

The “close fighter”, when an enemy aircraft appeared, had to quickly take off and, having a high rate of climb and speed, catch up with and destroy the enemy in the first attack, then, after running out of fuel, using the reserve altitude and speed, plan for landing.

The project was distinguished by its extraordinary simplicity and low cost - the entire structure was to be made of solid wood from plywood. The engine frame, pilot protection and landing gear were made of metal, which were retracted under the influence of compressed air.

With the start of the war, Bolkhovitinov attracted the entire design bureau to work on the aircraft. In July 1941, a preliminary design with an explanatory note was sent to Stalin, and in August the State Defense Committee decided to urgently build an interceptor, which was needed by Moscow air defense units. According to the order of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry, 35 days were allotted for the production of the aircraft.

The aircraft, called “BI” (short-range fighter or, as journalists later interpreted it, “Bereznyak-Isaev”), was built almost without detailed working drawings, drawing life-size parts on plywood. The fuselage skin was glued onto a blank of veneer, then attached to the frame. The keel was made integral with the fuselage, as was the thin wooden wing of the caisson structure, and was covered with canvas. Even the carriage for two 20-mm ShVAK cannons with 90 rounds of ammunition was made of wood. The D-1 A-1100 liquid-propellant rocket engine was installed in the rear fuselage. The engine consumed 6 kg of kerosene and acid per second. The total fuel supply on board the aircraft, equal to 705 kg, ensured engine operation for almost 2 minutes. The estimated take-off weight of the BI aircraft was 1650 kg with an empty weight of 805 kg.

In order to reduce the time needed to create an interceptor, at the request of A. S. Yakovlev, Deputy People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry for Experimental Aircraft Construction, the airframe of the "BI" aircraft was examined in a full-scale TsAGI wind tunnel, and at the airfield, test pilot B. N. Kudrin began jogging and approaching in tow . The development of the power plant required a fair amount of tinkering, since nitric acid corroded tanks and wiring and had a harmful effect on humans.

However, all work was interrupted due to the evacuation of the design bureau to the Ural village of Belimbay in October 1941. There, in order to debug the operation of the liquid-propellant rocket engine systems, a ground stand was installed - the “BI” fuselage with a combustion chamber, tanks and pipelines. By the spring of 1942, the ground testing program was completed. Soon, Glushko, who was released from prison, became acquainted with the design of the aircraft and the test bench.

Flight testing of the unique fighter was entrusted to Captain Bakhchivandzhi, who made 65 combat missions at the front and shot down 5 German aircraft. He previously mastered the control of systems at the stand.

The morning of May 15, 1942 forever went down in the history of Russian cosmonautics and aviation, with the takeoff from the ground of the first Soviet aircraft with a liquid jet engine. The flight, which lasted 3 minutes 9 seconds at a speed of 400 km/h and with a rate of climb of 23 m/s, made a strong impression on everyone present. This is how Bolkhovitinov recalled it in 1962: “For us standing on the ground, this takeoff was unusual. Picking up speed unusually quickly, the plane took off from the ground after 10 seconds and disappeared from view after 30 seconds. Only the flame of the engine told where he was. Several minutes passed like this. I won’t lie, my guts were shaking.”

Members of the state commission noted in an official act that “the takeoff and flight of the BI-1 aircraft with a rocket engine, used for the first time as the main engine of an aircraft, proved the possibility of practical flight on a new principle, which opens up a new direction for the development of aviation.” The test pilot noted that the flight on the BI aircraft was extremely pleasant in comparison with conventional types of aircraft, and the aircraft was superior to other fighters in terms of ease of control.

A day after the tests, a ceremonial meeting and rally was organized in Bilimbay. A poster hung above the presidium table: “Hello to Captain Bakhchivandzhi, the pilot who flew into the new!”

Soon followed by the decision of the State Defense Committee to build a series of 20 BI-VS aircraft, where, in addition to two cannons, a cluster bomb was installed in front of the pilot’s cockpit, which housed ten small anti-aircraft bombs weighing 2.5 kg each.

In total, the BI fighter made 7 test flights, each of which recorded the best flight performance of the aircraft. The flights took place without flight incidents, with only minor damage to the landing gear occurring during landings.

But on March 27, 1943, when accelerating to a speed of 800 km/h at an altitude of 2000 m, the third prototype spontaneously went into a dive and crashed into the ground near the airfield. The commission that investigated the circumstances of the crash and the death of test pilot Bakhchivandzhi was unable to establish the reasons for the plane being pulled into a dive, noting that the phenomena that occur at flight speeds of about 800–1000 km/h have not yet been studied.

The disaster hit hard the reputation of the Bolkhovitinov Design Bureau - all unfinished BI-VS interceptors were destroyed. And although later in 1943–1944. A modification of the BI-7 with ramjet engines at the ends of the wing was designed, and in January 1945, pilot B.N. Kudrin completed the last two flights on the BI-1, all work on the aircraft was stopped.

And yet the rocket engine

The concept of a rocket fighter was most successfully implemented in Germany, where since January 1939, in the special “Department L” of the Messerschmitt company, where Professor A. Lippisch and his employees moved from the German Glider Institute, work was underway on “Project X” - “ object" interceptor "Me-163" "Komet" with a liquid-propellant rocket engine running on a mixture of hydrazine, methanol and water. It was an aircraft of an unconventional “tailless” design, which, for the sake of maximum weight reduction, took off from a special trolley and landed on a ski extended from the fuselage. Test pilot Ditmar performed the first flight at maximum thrust in August 1941, and already in October it exceeded the 1000 km/h mark for the first time in history. It took more than two years of testing and development before the Me-163 was put into production. It became the first aircraft with a liquid propellant engine to participate in combat since May 1944. And although more than 300 interceptors were produced before February 1945, no more than 80 combat-ready aircraft were in service.

The combat use of Me-163 fighters showed the inconsistency of the missile interceptor concept. Due to the high speed of approach, the German pilots did not have time to aim accurately, and the limited fuel supply (only for 8 minutes of flight) did not provide the opportunity for a second attack. After running out of fuel during gliding, the interceptors became easy prey for American fighters - Mustangs and Thunderbolts. Before the end of hostilities in Europe, the Me-163 shot down 9 enemy aircraft, losing 14 aircraft. However, losses from accidents and disasters were three times higher than combat losses. The unreliability and short range of the Me-163 contributed to the fact that the Luftwaffe leadership launched other jet fighters, the Me-262 and He-162, into mass production.

The leadership of the Soviet aviation industry in 1941–1943. was focused on the gross production of the maximum number of combat aircraft and improving production models and was not interested in developing promising work on jet technology. Thus, the BI-1 disaster put an end to other Soviet missile interceptor projects: Andrei Kostikov’s “302”, Roberto Bartini’s “R-114” and Korolev’s “RP”. The distrust that Stalin’s deputy in charge of experimental aircraft construction, Yakovlev, felt towards jet technology played a role here, considering it a matter of the very distant future.

But information from Germany and the Allied countries became the reason that in February 1944 the State Defense Committee, in its resolution, pointed out the intolerable situation with the development of jet technology in the country. Moreover, all developments in this regard were now concentrated in the newly organized Jet Aviation Research Institute, of which Bolkhovitinov was appointed deputy head. This institute brought together groups of jet engine designers who had previously worked at various enterprises, headed by M. M. Bondaryuk, V. P. Glushko, L. S. Dushkin, A. M. Isaev, A. M. Lyulka.

In May 1944, the State Defense Committee adopted another resolution outlining a broad program for the construction of jet aircraft. This document provided for the creation of modifications of the Yak-3, La-7 and Su-6 with an accelerating liquid-propellant engine, the construction of “purely rocket” aircraft in the Yakovlev and Polikarpov Design Bureaus, an experimental Lavochkin aircraft with a turbojet engine, as well as fighters with air-breathing motor-compressor engines in the Mikoyan Design Bureau and Sukhoi. For this purpose, the Sukhoi design bureau created the Su-7 fighter, in which the liquid-propellant RD-1, developed by Glushko, worked together with a piston engine.

Flights on the Su-7 began in 1945. When the RD-1 was turned on, the aircraft's speed increased by an average of 115 km/h, but the tests had to be stopped due to the frequent failure of the jet engine. A similar situation arose in the design bureaus of Lavochkin and Yakovlev. On one of the experimental La-7 R aircraft, the accelerator exploded in flight; the test pilot miraculously managed to escape. When testing the Yak-3 RD, test pilot Viktor Rastorguev managed to reach a speed of 782 km/h, but during the flight the plane exploded and the pilot died. The increasing frequency of accidents led to the fact that testing of aircraft with the RD-1 was stopped.

Korolev, who was released from prison, also contributed to this work. In 1945, for his participation in the development and testing of rocket launchers for the Pe-2 and La-5 VI combat aircraft, he was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.

One of the most interesting projects of rocket-powered interceptors was the project of the supersonic (!!!) fighter “RM-1” or “SAM-29”, developed at the end of 1944 by the undeservedly forgotten aircraft designer A. S. Moskalev. The aircraft was designed according to the “flying wing” design of a triangular shape with oval leading edges, and in its development the pre-war experience in creating the Sigma and Strela aircraft was used. The RM-1 project was supposed to have the following characteristics: crew - 1 person, power plant - RD2 MZV with a thrust of 1590 kgf, wingspan - 8.1 m and its area - 28.0 m2, take-off weight - 1600 kg , maximum speed - 2200 km/h (and this was in 1945!). TsAGI believed that the construction and flight testing of the RM-1 was one of the most promising areas in the future development of Soviet aviation.

In November 1945, the order for the construction of “RM-1” was signed by Minister A.I. Shakhurin, but... in January 1946, the notorious “aviation case” was launched, and Shakhurin was convicted, and the order for the construction of “RM-1” 1" was canceled by Yakovlev...

Post-war acquaintance with German trophies revealed a significant lag in the development of the domestic jet aircraft industry. To bridge the gap, it was decided to use the German JUMO-004 and BMW-003 engines, and then create our own based on them. These engines were named “RD-10” and “RD-20”.

In 1945, simultaneously with the task of building a MiG-9 fighter with two RD-20s, the Mikoyan Design Bureau was tasked with developing an experimental interceptor fighter with an RD-2 M-3 V liquid-propellant rocket engine and a speed of 1000 km/h. The aircraft, designated I-270 (“Zh”), was soon built, but its further tests did not show the advantage of a missile fighter over an aircraft with a turbojet engine, and work on this topic was closed. In the future, liquid jet engines in aviation began to be used only on prototypes and experimental aircraft or as aircraft boosters.

They were the first

“...It’s scary to remember how little I knew and understood then. Today they say: “discoverers”, “pioneers”. And we walked in the dark and stuffed huge cones. No special literature, no methodology, no established experiment. The Stone Age of Jet Aviation. We were both complete mugs!..” - this is how Alexey Isaev recalled the creation of “BI-1”. Yes, indeed, due to their colossal fuel consumption, aircraft with liquid-propellant rocket engines did not take root in aviation, forever giving way to turbojet engines. But having taken their first steps in aviation, liquid-propellant rocket engines firmly took their place in rocket science.

In the USSR during the war years, a breakthrough in this regard was the creation of the BI-1 fighter, and here a special merit goes to Bolkhovitinov, who took under his wing and managed to attract to work such future luminaries of Soviet rocketry and cosmonautics as: Vasily Mishin, first deputy chief designer Korolev, Nikolai Pilyugin, Boris Chertok - chief designers of control systems for many combat missiles and launch vehicles, Konstantin Bushuev - head of the Soyuz - Apollo project, Alexander Bereznyak - designer of cruise missiles, Alexey Isaev - developer of liquid propellant engines for submarine and space rockets devices, Arkhip Lyulka is the author and first developer of domestic turbojet engines...

The mystery of Bakhchivandzhi’s death has also been solved. In 1943, the T-106 high-speed wind tunnel was put into operation at TsAGI. It immediately began to conduct extensive research on aircraft models and their elements at high subsonic speeds. The BI aircraft model was also tested to identify the causes of the disaster. Based on the test results, it became clear that the BI crashed due to the peculiarities of the flow around the straight wing and tail at transonic speeds and the resulting phenomenon of the aircraft being pulled into a dive, which the pilot could not overcome. The BI-1 crash on March 27, 1943 was the first that allowed Soviet aircraft designers to solve the problem of the “wave crisis” by installing a swept wing on the MiG-15 fighter. 30 years later, in 1973, Bakhchivandzhi was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Yuri Gagarin spoke about him this way:

“... Without the flights of Grigory Bakhchivandzhi, April 12, 1961 might not have happened.” Who could have known that exactly 25 years later, on March 27, 1968, like Bakhchivandzhi at the age of 34, Gagarin would also die in a plane crash. They were truly united by the main thing - they were the first.

Ctrl Enter

Noticed osh Y bku Select text and click Ctrl+Enter

Academic title: Awards and prizes

- Predecessor: Vasily Pavlovich Mishin Successor: Yuri Pavlovich Semenov

Commemorative coin of the Bank of Russia, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of V. P. Glushko, silver, 2 rubles, 2008

Valentin Glushko on a Russian postage stamp

Valentin Petrovich Glushko(August 20 (September 2), Odessa - January 10, Moscow) - engineer, prominent Soviet scientist in the field of rocket and space technology; one of the pioneers of rocket and space technology; founder of the domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine industry.

Chief designer of space systems (c), general designer of the reusable rocket and space complex "Energia-Buran", academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (; corresponding member c), full member of the International Academy of Aeronautics, member of the CPSU since 1956, deputy of the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Council USSR of the 7th-11th convocations from the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, laureate of the Lenin Prize, twice laureate of the USSR State Prize, twice Hero of Socialist Labor (,).

Biography

On a permit from the People's Commissariat of Education of the Ukrainian SSR, he is sent to study at Leningrad State University. In parallel with his studies, he works as a worker (first an optician and then a mechanic) in the workshops of the Scientific Institute named after. P.F. Lesgaft, and in 1927 - surveyor of the Main Geodetic Directorate of Leningrad.

As a thesis consisting of three parts, Glushko proposed a project for the interplanetary spacecraft “Helioraketoplan” with electric rocket engines. On April 18, 1929, the third part, dedicated to the electric rocket engine, was submitted to the department of the Committee for Inventions.

Further career

Subsequently, under the leadership of Glushko, powerful liquid-propellant rocket engines using low-boiling and high-boiling fuels were developed, used in the first stages and in most of the second stages of Soviet launch vehicles and many combat missiles. An incomplete list includes: RD-107 and RD-108 for the Vostok launch vehicle, RD-119 and RD-253 for the Proton launch vehicle, RD-301, RD-170 for Energia (the most powerful liquid propellant rocket engine in the world) and many other.

Criticism

Memories of Glushko

Two officers entered my office: I recognized the colonel immediately - it was Valentin Petrovich Glushko, and the other - the lieutenant colonel - briefly introduced himself: “Leaf.” Both were not in tunics, riding breeches and boots, but in good quality jackets and well-ironed trousers.

Glushko smiled slightly and said: “Well, it seems you and I have already met.” So, I remember the meeting in Khimki. Nikolai Pilyugin came in, and I introduced him as the chief engineer of the institute. He suggested we sit down and drink tea or “something stronger.” But Glushko, without sitting down, apologized and said that he was first asking for urgent automobile assistance:

We are driving from Nordhausen, the car pulled very poorly and smoked heavily. In the cabin we were choking on smoke. They say you have good specialists in “repair”.

Nikolai Pilyugin went to the window and said:

Yes, she is still smoking. Have you turned off the engine?

No need to worry. This is the handbrake brake pads burning out. We drive from Nordhausen with the handbrake applied.

Pilyugin and I were dumbfounded:

So why didn't you let him go?

You see, Valentin Petrovich set me a condition that if he was driving, I did not dare give him any hints.

“An acute conflict between Korolev and Glushko arose, not without the help of Vasily Mishin, around 1960. But before that, from the time of their work at NII-3, then in Kazan, in Germany, during the creation of all missiles up to and including the “seven”, they were like-minded people...

Glushko has neither royal artistry nor the talent of a commander. If it were not for his purposeful fascination with rocket engines for interplanetary flights from a young age, he could have been a scientist, even a loner: an astronomer, a chemist, a radiophysicist, I don’t know what else, but he was very enthusiastic. Having developed a new theory in great detail, he will not deviate from his principles and will defend them with all passion.

In history, both of them were destined to become chief designers. Before that, they went through the school of “enemies of the people” together. This brought them closer. However, in Kazan, it was difficult for Korolev, even a prisoner, to recognize the authority of the also imprisoned chief designer Glushko. After liberation, both were sent to Germany at the same time. But Glushko is with the rank of colonel, and Korolev is with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Then Korolev formally becomes superior to Glushko. He is the head chief designer, he is the technical director of all State Commissions, he is the head of the Council of Chief Designers. Korolev is power-hungry. Glushko is ambitious. When Korolev was buried, we left the House of Unions together. Glushko said quite seriously: “I’m ready to die in a year if there’s a similar funeral.”

Glushko works tirelessly, but dreams of fame, even posthumous glory. Korolev also spared no effort, but he needed fame during his lifetime.”

Awards

• Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961).
• Order of Lenin (1956, 1958, 1961, 1968, 1978).
• Anniversary medal “For valiant work. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1970).
• Jubilee medal "Thirty years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" (1975).
• Medal "Forty years of victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" (1985).
• Medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" (1945).
• USSR State Prize (1967, 1984).
• Gold medal named after. K. E. Tsiolkovsky USSR Academy of Sciences (1958).
• Diploma named after Paul Tissandier (FAI) (1967).
• Honorary citizen of the city of Korolev.

In cinema

see also

Notes

Links

Glushko, Valentin Petrovich on the website “Heroes of the Country”

• Profile of Valentin Petrovich Glushko on the official website of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• "The Last Love of the Fire God." Documentary. Roscosmos TV studio. (2008)

Heroes of Socialist Labor

Soviet designers of rocket and space systems

Categories:

• Personalities in alphabetical order
• Scientists by alphabet
• Born on September 2
• Born in 1908
• Born in Odessa
• Born in Kherson province
• Died on January 10
• Died in 1989
• Died in Moscow
• Doctors of Technical Sciences
• Full members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
• Heroes of Socialist Labor
• Knights of the Order of Lenin
• Knights of the Order of the October Revolution
• Knights of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor
• Awarded the medal “Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.”
• Awarded the medal “Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.”
• Recipients of the medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"
• Recipients of the Veteran of Labor medal
• Lenin Prize laureates
• USSR State Prize Laureates
• Designers of rocket and space systems
• Graduates of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University
• RKK Energia employees
• Honorary citizens of Odessa
• Russian designers
• Aircraft designers of the USSR
• Founders of astronautics
• Repressed in the USSR
• Academicians of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
• Founders of Soviet cosmonautics
• Twice Heroes of Socialist Labor
• Members of the CPSU Central Committee
• Russian Society of World Studies Lovers
• Persons: Korolev
• Deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 7th convocation
• Deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 8th convocation
• Deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 9th convocation
• Deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 10th convocation
• Deputies of the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 11th convocation
• Deputies of the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
• Buried at Novodevichy Cemetery
• Mechanical engineers

Wikimedia Foundation Encyclopedia "Aviation"

Glushko Valentin Petrovich- V.P. Glushko Glushko Valentin Petrovich (19081989) Soviet scientist in the field of rocket and space technology, one of the founders of Soviet cosmonautics, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1958; corresponding member since 1953), twice Hero of the Socialist... ... Encyclopedia "Aviation"

- (1908 89) founder of the domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine industry, one of the pioneers of rocketry, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1958), twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961). Designer of the world's first electrothermal... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1908 1989), scientist in the field of rocket and space technology, academician (1958), Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961). Graduated from Leningrad University (1929). Worked at the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL, 1929 33). From 1934 in Moscow in (1934 38)… … Moscow (encyclopedia)

Glushko, Valentin Petrovich- GLUSHKO / Valentin Petrovich (1908 1989) Soviet scientist and designer in the field of physical and technical problems of energy, the founder of Soviet liquid-propellant rocket engine building, one of the pioneers of rocket technology, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1958), ... ... Marine Biographical Dictionary

- [r 20.8 (2.9).1908, Odessa], Soviet scientist in the field of physical and technical problems of energy, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1958; corresponding member 1953), twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961). Member of the CPSU since 1956. In 1921 he began to become interested in... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (1908 1989) Soviet scientist in the field of rocket and space technology, one of the founders of Soviet cosmonautics, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1958; corresponding member since 1953), twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961). After graduating from Leningrad... ... Encyclopedia of technology

GLUSHKO Valentin Petrovich- (1906 1989) Soviet scientist in the field of rocket and space technology, one of the founders of Soviet cosmonautics, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1958; corresponding member since 1953), twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961). After graduating from Leningrad... ... Military encyclopedia

- [R. Aug 20 (Sept. 2) 1908] owls. heating engineer, academician (since 1958, member of the correspondent since 1953). Member CPSU since 1956. Main. The works relate to various sections of heating engineering. Glushko, Valentin Petrovich, Soviet scientist in the field of rocket... Large biographical encyclopedia

GLUSHKO Valentin Petrovich

(02.09.1908 - 10.01.1989)

September 2, 2016 marks the 108th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Soviet scientist, designer and founder of the domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine industry Valentin Petrovich GLUSHKO.

V.P. GLUSHKO was born on September 2, 1908 in Odessa. After graduating from Leningrad University in 1929, Valentin Petrovich became the head of the division for the development of engines and rockets as part of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory in Leningrad, and then continued work as part of the RNII in Moscow. In 1938, he was groundlessly arrested and sentenced to 8 years in prison. He worked in the 4th Special Department of the NKVD in Tushino, then in Kazan, where he headed the design bureau for liquid propellant rocket engines. He was released early with his criminal record cleared in 1944, continuing his work at the OKB-SD.

Subsequently, Valentin GLUSHKO headed the development of many domestic rocket engines, being the chief designer, head of the Energomash Design Bureau, NPO Energia.

Valentin Petrovich GLUSHKO is the founder of the domestic rocket engine industry, the pioneer and creator of domestic rocket and space technology. He became the designer of the world's first electrothermal rocket engine (1928-1933), the first Soviet liquid rocket engines ORM (1930-1931), a family of liquid-fueled RLA rockets (1932-1933), powerful liquid rocket engines installed on almost all domestic rockets that have so far flown into space.

V.P. GLUSHKO’s engines launched the first and subsequent Earth satellites, spaceships with Yuri GAGARIN and other cosmonauts into orbit, and also ensured flights of spacecraft to the Moon and planets of the Solar System. Under the leadership of V.P. GLUSHKO, the unique reusable space system “Energia-Buran”, the basic unit of the long-term orbital station “Mir”, etc. were created. Along with the world-famous activities of V.P. GLUSHKO in the field of practical cosmonautics, as the chief and general designer of rocket engines and rocket systems, he also made an enormous personal contribution to world science: his many years of work on the creation of fundamental reference books on thermal constants, thermodynamic and thermophysical the properties of various substances are highly appreciated all over the world. V.P. GLUSHKO headed the Scientific Council under the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the problem of “Liquid Rocket Fuel” for several decades.

The name of GLUSHKO as a pioneer and creator of domestic rocket engine construction in August 1994 was assigned to a crater on the visible side of the Moon. Today, the leading enterprise for the development and production of liquid rocket engines NPO Energomash bears the name of Valentin GLUSHKO.