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3 A Brief History of Space Flight
named Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD in its Russian acronym), with
branches in Moscow and Leningrad, and later with those in Baku, Tiflis, Arkhangelsk,
Novocherkassk, Bryansk and other cities. With the support of Mikhail Nikolayevich
Tukhachevsky (Mixail Hikolaeviq Tyxaqevckii, 1893−1937), who was then
the vice-chairman of the Revolutionary Military Commission of the Soviet Union
and was made a marshal of the Soviet Union in 1935, the Moscow branch of GIRD by
led Tsander and Korolev obtained the contract research funds. The Moscow branch
was organized into four brigades and ten projects to study rocket engines and winged
and un-winged missiles.
The first brigade, led by Tsander, was responsible for the development of liquid
rocket engines, and worked on the three projects: project 01 was the continuation
of the OR-1 experimental engine, investigating the energetic fuels of including
powdered metals mixed with gasoline and the combustion chamber cooled regeneratively by air entering at the nozzle end; project 02 was to develop the OR-2
engine for Korolev’s RP-1 rocket-powered glider; the project 10 was to develop the
engine of burning liquid-oxygen and gasoline for the GIRD-X rocket. The second
brigade, led by M.K. Tikhonravov, was mainly responsible for the development of
the rockets and worked on the four projects: project 03 was the development of a
pump-fed engine called RDA-1, with the liquid-oxygen and gasoline as fuels; project
05 was actually the third rocket designed by the second brigade, using the ORM-50
nitric acid and kerosene engine developed by V.P. Glushko; project 07 was the first
rocket designed by the second brigade, using the OR-2 engine developed by Tsander,
and its purpose was to test a liquid-oxygen and kerosene propulsion system and its
unusual design included fuel tanks in the oversized fins; project 09 produced the first
rocket to actually be flown by GIRD. The third brigade, led by Y.A. Pobedonostsev, was responsible for the development of the ramjet engines and the solid-fuel
rockets respectively in projects 04 and 08, one of which was the development of
the supersonic wind tunnel with a flow of Mach 3.2. The fourth brigade was led by
Korolev, whose mission was to develop PR-1 manned rocket-powered glider and the
unmanned cruise missile for project 06.
On March 28, 1933, after completing the design and first bench test of the GIRDX rocket, Tsander died unexpectedly from typhoid fever. In August of this year, the
launch test of the project-09 rocket, the first semi-liquid rocket in the Soviet Union,
which was designed under the leadership of Tikhonravov, got successful. Its flight
altitude reached 400 m, and the maximum thrust of the project-09 engine was 53
kgf, with a duration of 18 s. In November of this year, the GIRD-X rocket was
launched, and its flight altitude reached 80 mbefore its engine failure. It was the true
liquid-fuel rocket to fly in the Soviet Union, although not particularly successful.
The engine of the GIRD-X rocket burned liquid-oxygen and gasoline, and it could
be cooled regeneratively. Korolev was the over-all chief of GRID, as well as the
fourth brigade’s leader and the chairman of its technical council. It was an early
demonstration of his impressive skill as a project manager. Later, he became the
chief head of the Soviet space program.
3 A Brief History of Space Flight
named Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD in its Russian acronym), with
branches in Moscow and Leningrad, and later with those in Baku, Tiflis, Arkhangelsk,
Novocherkassk, Bryansk and other cities. With the support of Mikhail Nikolayevich
Tukhachevsky (Mixail Hikolaeviq Tyxaqevckii, 1893−1937), who was then
the vice-chairman of the Revolutionary Military Commission of the Soviet Union
and was made a marshal of the Soviet Union in 1935, the Moscow branch of GIRD by
led Tsander and Korolev obtained the contract research funds. The Moscow branch
was organized into four brigades and ten projects to study rocket engines and winged
and un-winged missiles.
The first brigade, led by Tsander, was responsible for the development of liquid
rocket engines, and worked on the three projects: project 01 was the continuation
of the OR-1 experimental engine, investigating the energetic fuels of including
powdered metals mixed with gasoline and the combustion chamber cooled regeneratively by air entering at the nozzle end; project 02 was to develop the OR-2
engine for Korolev’s RP-1 rocket-powered glider; the project 10 was to develop the
engine of burning liquid-oxygen and gasoline for the GIRD-X rocket. The second
brigade, led by M.K. Tikhonravov, was mainly responsible for the development of
the rockets and worked on the four projects: project 03 was the development of a
pump-fed engine called RDA-1, with the liquid-oxygen and gasoline as fuels; project
05 was actually the third rocket designed by the second brigade, using the ORM-50
nitric acid and kerosene engine developed by V.P. Glushko; project 07 was the first
rocket designed by the second brigade, using the OR-2 engine developed by Tsander,
and its purpose was to test a liquid-oxygen and kerosene propulsion system and its
unusual design included fuel tanks in the oversized fins; project 09 produced the first
rocket to actually be flown by GIRD. The third brigade, led by Y.A. Pobedonostsev, was responsible for the development of the ramjet engines and the solid-fuel
rockets respectively in projects 04 and 08, one of which was the development of
the supersonic wind tunnel with a flow of Mach 3.2. The fourth brigade was led by
Korolev, whose mission was to develop PR-1 manned rocket-powered glider and the
unmanned cruise missile for project 06.
On March 28, 1933, after completing the design and first bench test of the GIRDX rocket, Tsander died unexpectedly from typhoid fever. In August of this year, the
launch test of the project-09 rocket, the first semi-liquid rocket in the Soviet Union,
which was designed under the leadership of Tikhonravov, got successful. Its flight
altitude reached 400 m, and the maximum thrust of the project-09 engine was 53
kgf, with a duration of 18 s. In November of this year, the GIRD-X rocket was
launched, and its flight altitude reached 80 mbefore its engine failure. It was the true
liquid-fuel rocket to fly in the Soviet Union, although not particularly successful.
The engine of the GIRD-X rocket burned liquid-oxygen and gasoline, and it could
be cooled regeneratively. Korolev was the over-all chief of GRID, as well as the
fourth brigade’s leader and the chairman of its technical council. It was an early
demonstration of his impressive skill as a project manager. Later, he became the
chief head of the Soviet space program.