He died on January 10, 1989 at the age of 80 from atherosclerosis of the cerebral arteries.
In 1919 he was enrolled in the Real School named after St. Paul (renamed the IV Vocational School "Metal" named after Trotsky), which he graduated in 1924. Simultaneously with his studies at the school, he led the Circle of the Society of World Studies Lovers at the Odessa branch of the Russian Society of World Studies Lovers (ROLM ). During these same years (from 1920-1922) he studied violin at the conservatory with Prof. Stolyarov, and then was transferred to the Odessa Academy of Music. From 1923 to 1930 was in correspondence with K.E. Tsiolkovsky. In addition, he is collecting materials for writing a book on interplanetary communications, the purpose of which is to prove the need to conquer world space.
After graduating from the IV Vocational School in 1924, he completed an internship at the Elektrometal Valve Plant named after V.I. Lenin (first as a mechanic and then as a turner), after which he received a school diploma. At the same time, he completed work on the first edition of his book “The Problem of Exploitation of Planets”; his popular science articles about space flights “Earth’s Conquest of the Moon” in 1924, “Station Outside the Earth” in 1926 were published in newspapers and magazines. etc.
Using a permit from the People's Commissariat of Education of the Ukrainian SSR, he was sent to study at Leningrad State University, where he arrived in August 1925, but due to his late arrival, did not have time to pass the exams. As a result, he attended the first year of the University as a volunteer student. In 1926, he enrolled in the second year of the physics department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. 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 a 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, entitled “Metal as an Explosive,” was submitted to the department of the Committee for Inventions. The military became interested in this work. At the beginning of May 1929, Glushko was summoned to the commissioner of the committee in Leningrad, N.Ya. Ilyin, and he was asked to immediately begin experimental work to implement this proposal.
On May 15, 1929, Glushko joined the staff of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL) as the head of the division for the development of electric and liquid rockets and rocket engines. In 1930, the design was developed and production of the first domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine ORM-1 began. In 1930, Glushko proposed nitric acid, solutions of nitric tetroxide, hydrogen peroxide, etc. as components of rocket fuels. A profiled nozzle was developed and tested, thermal insulation of the rocket engine chamber with zirconium dioxide and other compounds was developed (the patent was received in 1931) . In 1932, simultaneously with his work at the GDL, he worked as a consultant in the Laboratory Department of the Putilov Plant. During his work at GDL, designs were developed and tested for engines of the ORM series: ORM-1 ... ORM-52 using nitric acid-kerosene fuel. In addition, missile designs of the RLA-1, RLA-2, RLA-3 and RLA-100 series have been developed. In January 1934, Glushko was transferred to Moscow and appointed head of the sector of the RNII of the People's Commissariat of Defense. In 1933-1934. he read two courses of lectures: “Liquid fuel for jet engines” and “Liquid rocket engine design” at the N.E. Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy, and in 1935, in parallel with his work at the Russian Research Institute, he was the head and teacher of Jet Retraining Courses engineers at the Central Design Bureau of Osoaviakhim. In December 1935, the book “Rockets, Their Design and Application” was published, edited by
G.E.Langemaka and V.P.Glushko. In March 1936, the work of V.P. Glushko “Liquid rocket fuel for jet engines” (course of lectures) was published. In 1936, Glushko received the title of chief designer of the rocket engine. On November 5, 1936, official bench tests of the ORM-65 liquid-propellant rocket engine with a thrust of up to 175 kg on nitric acid-kerosene fuel were carried out for the RP-318 rocket plane and the 212 cruise missile designed by S.P. Korolev, and on December 16, 1936, the first fire ground test of the liquid-propellant rocket engine was carried out ORM-65 on the RP-318 rocket plane designed by S.P. Korolev. On August 27, 1937, official bench tests were carried out on the first domestic gas generator GG-1, operating on nitric acid and kerosene with water injection. In 1937, 7 articles were published in collections of scientific works of the RNII "Rocket Technology". Member of the Scientific and Technical Council.
In March 1938, Glushko was unreasonably repressed and until August 1939 he was under investigation in the internal NKVD prison at Lubyanka and in Butyrka prison. On August 15, he was convicted by a Special Meeting of the NKVD of the USSR for a period of 8 years, and was subsequently left to work in the technical bureau. Until 1940, he worked in the design group of the 4th Special Department of the NKVD at the Tushinsky Aircraft Engine Plant No. 82. During this time, a project for an auxiliary installation of liquid propellant engines on the S-100 and Stal-7 aircraft was developed. In 1940, Glushko was transferred to Kazan to Plant No. 27, where he continues to work as the chief designer of the design bureau of the 4th Special Department of the NKVD at Kazan Plant No. 16 on the development of auxiliary aircraft liquid propellant engines RD-1, RD-1KhZ, RD-2 and RD-3.
On August 27, 1944, by decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, he was released early with his criminal record expunged, and in December 1944. appointed chief designer of OKB-SD. From 1944 to 1945 ground and flight tests of the RD-1 liquid propellant engine were carried out on Pe-2R, La-7, Yak-3 and Su-6 aircraft. A three-chamber nitric acid-kerosene liquid-propellant rocket engine RD-3 with a thrust of 900 kg is being developed, and official bench tests of the liquid-propellant rocket engine RD-1KhZ with chemical re-ignition have been carried out. In 1945, Glushko was appointed head of the department of jet engines at the Kazan Aviation Institute.
From July to December 1945 and from May to December 1946, a business trip to Germany to study captured German
rocket technology.
On July 3, 1946, by order of the MAP, aircraft plant No. 456 in Khimki was repurposed for the production of liquid rocket engines with the relocation of the OKB-SD team from Kazan. By the same order, V.P. Glushko was appointed chief designer of OKB-456.
On September 29, 1946, by order of the USSR Government, the OKB-SD, headed by V.P. Glushko, was transferred from Kazan to Khimki.
Under the leadership of V.P. Glushko, state bench tests of the RD-2 engine for aircraft were carried out in 1947.
At this point, work on the low-thrust liquid-propellant rocket engine was completed. OKB switches to reproducing the RD-100 rocket engine. The first launch of the R-1 rocket was carried out on September 17, 1948, and on October 10, 1948, the R-1 rocket was successfully launched from the liquid rocket engine-100. Work continues on modifications of the RD-100 engine: RD-101, RD-103, as a result of which on April 19, 1953, the R-5 rocket was successfully launched from the liquid rocket engine-103.
Along with his main work from 1947 to 1954. V.P. Glushko gave a course of lectures at the Higher Engineering Courses at the Moscow Higher Technical University named after N.E. Bauman, which were published in 1948 under the title “Fundamentals of the design of jet engines running on liquid fuel.”
On October 23, 1953, V.P. Glushko was elected corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and on October 26, 1957, by decision of the Higher Attestation Commission, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences without defending a dissertation. In 1958 he was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. From 1965 to 1989 Chairman of the Scientific Council on the problem of "Liquid Fuel" at the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia "Cosmonautics" 1968, 1971 and 1985, since 1969 Chairman of the Scientific and Methodological Council on Astronomy and Cosmonautics of the All-Union Society "Knowledge". Scientific director and executive editor of the reference book "Thermodynamic and thermophysical properties of combustion products."
Under the leadership of V.P. Glushko, until 1988, more than 50 of the most advanced liquid propellant engines and their modifications were created at high and low boiling
oxidizers used on 17 combat and space rockets.
On May 22, 1974, V.P. Glushko was appointed director and general designer of NPO Energia, which included the power engineering design bureau. He worked in this position until June 1977. As a result of changes in the management scheme of NPO Energia, V.P. Glushko retained the position of general designer.
According to his project and under his direct leadership, the reusable space system "Energia-Buran" and the permanent multi-module station "Mir" were created. In addition, he heads the work on improving the manned Soyuz spacecraft and developing their modifications Soyuz T and Soyuz TM, as well as the Progress cargo ship, improving the Salyut orbital stations, implementing the manned flight program, including including international ones.
For his many years of activity, V.P. Glushko was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor twice, awarded five Orders of Lenin, Orders of the October Revolution, Red Banner of Labor and many medals. He is a laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes. He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Council of the 7th-11th convocations. He was a member of the CPSU since 1956, was elected as a delegate to the XXI-XXVII Congresses of the CPSU and a member of the CPSU Central Committee since 1976. In 1994, by decision of the XXII General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, the name of V.P. Glushko was assigned to a crater on the visible reserved side of the Moon.
Has four children: daughter Evgenia (born 1938), daughter Elena (born 1948), son Yuri (born 1952) and son Alexander (born 1972).
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 “Earth’s Conquest of the Moon.” 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 Dynamics 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 implementation of 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. V.P. Glushko’s interaction with the Department of Physics of the Moon and Planets of the State Aviation Institute 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.
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 (since 1974), general designer of the reusable rocket and space complex "Energia - Buran", academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1958; corresponding member since 1953), full member of the International Academy of Aeronautics, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 7-11- th convocations, laureate of the Lenin Prize, twice laureate of the State Prize, twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961).
The main works are devoted to theoretical and experimental research on the most important issues of the creation and development of liquid propellant rocket engines and spacecraft. Designer of the world's first electrothermal rocket engine, the first domestic liquid-propellant rocket engines, liquid-propellant rockets RLA. Designer of liquid rocket engines: ORM, ORM-1 - ORM-70, -101, -102, RD-1 - RD-3, RD-100 - RD-103, RD-107 and RD-108 for the Vostok LV, 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 others. etc. Under his leadership, powerful liquid-propellant rocket engines using low- and high-boiling fuels were developed, used in the first stages and in most of the second stages of all Soviet launch vehicles and many long-range combat missiles. In 1930, he proposed nitric acid, solutions of nitrogen tetroxide in nitric acid, tetranitromethane, hydrogen peroxide, perchloric acid, beryllium (with hydrogen and oxygen), gunpowder with beryllium as components of LRE fuel, developed a profiled nozzle and thermal insulation of the combustion chamber with zirconium dioxide. In 1931, he proposed chemical ignition and self-igniting fuel, and a gimbal rocket engine for controlling the flight of a rocket. In 1931-1933 developed units for supplying fuel to liquid rocket engines - piston, turbopump with centrifugal pumps, and many others. etc.
Repression
In March 1938, Glushko was arrested and until August 1939 was under investigation in the internal NKVD prison at Lubyanka and Butyrka prison. On August 15, he was sentenced by a Special Meeting of the NKVD of the USSR to a term of 8 years, and was subsequently left to work in the technical bureau. Until 1940, he worked in the design group of the 4th Special Department of the NKVD at the Tushino Aircraft Engine Plant. During this time, a design for an auxiliary liquid-propellant rocket engine installation on S-100 and Stal-7 aircraft was developed. In 1940, Glushko was transferred to Kazan to plant No. 27, where he continues to work as the chief designer of the design bureau of the 4th Special Department of the NKVD at Kazan plant No. 16 on the development of auxiliary aircraft liquid propellant engines RD-1, RD-1KhZ, RD-2 and RD -3.
On August 27, 1944, by decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, he was released early with his criminal record expunged, and in December 1944 he was appointed chief designer of the OKB-SD. In 1946-1947 worked at the Nordhausen Institute on the R-1 rocket. In 1956 he was rehabilitated.
Member of the CPSU since 1956.
Criticism
Glushko was never able to overcome the problems with the instability of the combustion process in large rocket engines, which until the mid-1980s did not allow the creation of super-heavy launch vehicles of the Saturn-5 class.
Always feeling in the shadow of Korolev, at his funeral in 1966 Glushko said: “If I had such a funeral, I could die tomorrow.”
Awards
Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961)
Order of Lenin (1956, 1958, 1961, 1968, 1978)
Order of the October Revolution (1971)
Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1945)
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)
Medal "Veteran of Labor" (1984)
Medal "In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow" (1948)
Lenin Prize of the USSR (1957)
USSR State Prize (1967, 1984)
Gold medal named after. K. E. Tsiolkovsky Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1958)
For the Buran reusable spacecraft, Valentin Glushko created the most powerful liquid-propellant jet engine in history
Valentin Petrovich Glushko is from Odessa: he was born in the “pearl by the sea” in 1908. As a teenager, he read the novels of Jules Verne, although the idea of a trip to the moon in the early 1920s seemed nonsense even to his enthusiastic peers: why dream about space when there are enough blank spots on earth! His peers were inspired by the exploits of brave pilots and tough sailors, and the boy, following Verne, discovered the works of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky: sitting in the cold building of the Odessa public library, he made notes in a notebook. The library had only one work by the “Kaluga dreamer”; To read others, Valentin sent a letter to his idol asking him to send his other books. Tsiolkovsky responded, and a correspondence began that lasted seven years. At the age of 16, Glushko wrote his own “scientific” work - a work with the serious title “The Problem of Exploitation of the Planets”, which, nevertheless, the publishing houses did not accept: the author’s fantasies about the exploration of Mars and Venus seemed too naive. It is curious that the book featured the depletion of the Earth’s resources as the main justification for the need to develop astronautics - an idea on which the plots of dozens of science fiction works (for example, the Hollywood film Interstellar) would later be built: “A consequence of the progress of human culture is the depletion of the Earth’s vital juices , than humanity ultimately puts itself at risk of the collapse of both its civilization and its existence. The way out of the brewing crisis is to replenish the dwindling reserves of energy and matter from the outside, from the depths of world space, from other bodies. It is quite natural now to put our neighboring planets in the same position as the continents previously unknown to us were in. Colonizing new planets, organizing operational units on them to supply the impoverished Earth is a completely natural and understandable step of the ever-expanding industry and the power of human intellect.”
And yet, Glushko began to publish, and regularly: his popular science articles about the creation of stations on the Moon and in low-Earth orbit appeared in newspapers and magazines. Then I managed to bring my dream a little closer - to enter the Leningrad State University at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. Glushko remained faithful to his dream throughout his studies: his diploma work was the project of the interplanetary spacecraft “Helioraketoplan” with electric rocket engines.
While he was studying, a lot had changed in the country: destroyed universities again received funding, the government stopped perceiving rocket science as a marginal field of interest only to enthusiasts. After graduating from the university, Glushko was accepted into the staff of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL), the first Soviet research and development laboratory. Here he began to work on the creation of the first domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine (LPRE) ORM-1. During his time at the laboratory, Glushko designed several rockets of various series, and also tested ORM series engines using nitric acid kerosene fuel.
The talented engineer was noticed by the People's Commissariat of Defense and in 1934 he was transferred to Moscow, appointed head of the sector of the Missile Research Institute. Here he completed work on his second book, “Rockets: Their Design and Application,” which, unlike his first brainchild, was published and was highly praised by his colleagues. However, the work that Glushko did at the Rocket Research Institute was primarily practical: for example, in 1936, under his leadership, official bench tests of the ORM-65 rocket engine with a thrust of up to 175 kg on liquid fuel were carried out for the RP-318 rocket plane and the 212 cruise missile designs by Sergei Korolev.
Prisoner Scientist
Like most prominent scientists of his era, Glushko had the opportunity to work in the “sharashka”: in March 1938 he was arrested. It took Lubyanka investigators only two days to extract a confession: “I am a member of an anti-Soviet organization in the defense industry, on whose instructions I carried out destructive subversive work. In addition, I was engaged in espionage work for Germany." True, once in Butyrka prison, Glushko immediately expressed disagreement with the unfounded accusations and began writing letters to state prosecutor Vyshinsky, and then to Yezhov and Stalin himself, asking to reconsider his case.
No one was going to answer: Glushko became a cog in the system of slave scientific labor. At a special meeting of the NKVD he was sentenced to eight years, and until 1940 he worked as part of the design group of the 4th Special Department of the NKVD at the Tushinsky Aircraft Engine Plant. Here the scientist led a group that developed a design for an auxiliary unit with a liquid jet engine for the S-100 twin-engine fighter. The use of rocket engines in the design of the aircraft made it possible to significantly increase the speed of its ascent. It was planned to equip the long-range bomber "Steel-7" with the same missile launcher, which would increase its speed when climbing by a third.
The work of Glushko’s group, carried out in conditions comparable to the working conditions of serfs at Peter’s factories, was highly praised by the Air Force Technical Committee, and the scientist was even offered a choice: to continue development work, stay in Moscow, move to Leningrad or to Kazan to the aircraft engine plant under construction . “Prisoner Glushko” chose Kazan because there was more freedom for research. He was even given the right to choose his employees. Of course, from among the same “inmates”: having compiled a list of former colleagues to whom he was going to give work, Glushko was horrified to discover that most of them had already been shot. However, even with a team recruited from those who survived, Glushko managed to develop auxiliary rocket engines for combat aircraft during the war years. By the way, it was at the request of Glushko that Korolev was transferred to Kazan in 1942.
Glushko's prison odyssey marked the time when the liquid-propellant jet engine took its rightful place in Soviet rocketry. During the war years, the Pe-2, Yak-3, Su-7 and La-7 aircraft were equipped with a rocket launcher with liquid propellant engines, thereby increasing their speed to 200 km/h. For his contribution to the development of the military industry of the USSR, Glushko was “awarded”: on August 27, 1944, he was released early by decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Council. True, the scientist was rehabilitated only in 1956, after the death of Stalin and the 20th Congress. Glushko did not leave his comrades in misfortune: soon after he was released, he gave Stalin a list with the names of 30 specialists whose early release he insisted on. When in 1945 Glushko headed the department of jet engines at the Kazan Aviation Institute, most of the engineers released at his request remained to work with him.
As part of the "Magnificent Six"
After the war, Glushko, as part of a special commission, went to Germany to study German V-2 rockets. The successes of the Germans in the field of rocket technology, as is known, spurred the development of space programs in the USSR and the USA. Upon the return of the designers from Germany, Glushko became one of the “magnificent six” founding fathers of the Soviet rocket and space program. He was transferred to aircraft plant No. 456 in Khimki (later, in the 1970s, the famous NPO Energia was created on the basis of this enterprise), converted for the production of liquid rocket engines. And already in September 1948, the first R-1 rocket equipped with a liquid propellant engine was launched. In 1953, Valentin Petrovich was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in 1957, the Higher Attestation Commission awarded him the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences without defending a dissertation.
As a member of the informal council of chief designers, Glushko took part in the preparation of all major Soviet launches: his team developed and improved engines for the Vostok and Soyuz manned spacecraft, and Progress cargo ships. In the 1960–1970s, he was the initiator of the most daring projects for the study and development of other planets. He had been nurturing many of them since his student days. Thus, back in articles published in the 1920s, Valentin Petrovich talked about an observatory located on the natural satellite of our planet: “An observatory built on the Moon, with a 354-hour night followed by an equally long day, would provide a lot of invaluable observations ... What enormous discoveries could be made by long-term observations and research, spectral analysis, photometry, photography and other tools for exploring the secrets of the universe of a modern astronomer while conducting consistent studies of our companion.” In the 1960s, Glushko (together with Korolev) was one of the initiators of the construction of a station on the Moon: Academician Barmin’s design bureau even began to design models of a lunar settlement. Alas, most of the bold ideas proposed by Valentin Petrovich (including manned flights to Mars, Venus and the asteroid belt) were not implemented. And yet, some of the ideas outlined in his early opus “Problems of Planetary Exploitation” found application in Soviet cosmonautics: for example, it talked about “observation stations” constantly in orbit - this is the role played by the Salyut and "Mir", in the development of which Glushko took part. In total, under the leadership of the outstanding designer, more than fifty liquid-propellant rocket engines were created, used in 17 models of combat and space rockets.
Shuttle astronautics
In 1972, the United States launched a program to develop space shuttles that could make multiple flights into space. The authors of the program were guided by the ability to launch with unprecedented frequency. In the USSR, the problem of a domestic reusable space system was discussed in the same year: at a meeting of designers headed by Glushko, the main issues of constructing such a system were outlined. The main problem, paradoxically, was that our cosmonautics could do perfectly well without shuttles - launches of disposable rockets were more effective and less expensive. However, analytical studies conducted by the Institute of Applied Mathematics of the USSR Academy of Sciences and NPO Energia showed that after the launch of the Space Shuttle program, the United States will have an advantage in terms of launching a preemptive nuclear strike on the territory of our country. This decided the matter: in 1976, the strictly secret Energia-Buran program was approved. It is estimated that about a million people took part in its development - directly and indirectly. Note that the cost of creating a reusable launch system turned out to be much lower than the American development: 16 billion rubles versus $160 billion. For the new launch vehicle, Glushko’s team built the most powerful liquid-propellant rocket engine ever created (the engine still holds this honorary “title”) days) - RD-170. Its power was about 20 million horsepower: this is enough to provide energy to a city with a population of up to a million inhabitants. As a result, Buran was not only not inferior to the shuttles, but was superior to them in a number of technical parameters.
On November 15, 1988, the first launch took place in stormy weather: having separated from the launch vehicle, the Buran spacecraft entered a circular orbit and, having completed two full orbits around the planet, landed automatically on the Baikonur runway. Despite the complete success of the project, the first launch of Buran, alas, was also the last: the program fell victim to the destruction of the USSR, and in 1992 it was frozen due to lack of funding. The legendary developer did not live to see the inglorious collapse of an outstanding program: he died in 1989 at the age of 80. Five years later, the International Astronomical Union decided to perpetuate the memory of Valentin Glushko by naming a crater on the Moon after him - where there was supposed to be a Soviet base.
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Fans of Soviet power are proud of the achievements of the USSR, but they were made by the intelligentsia, most of whom were class “enemies of the people”: Vavilov, Korolev, Tupolev, Glushko, Landau, Sakharov and thousands of other lesser known ones. We can say, well, it’s not all that bad, because some talented people survived, and humiliation and broken jaws are no big deal. Yes, some (mostly physicists and engineers, with others not on ceremony) of them remained alive, but only because the Soviet government needed them as scientific slaves.
Korolev’s guilt was “proved” and he was given 10 years in the camps. Instead of launching rockets, he was forced to start mining gold in Kolyma. Closer to the war, the leadership became concerned with the development of bombers and “discharged” Korolev to the capital - in 1940 he was tried a second time and sent to the Moscow NKVD special prison TsKB-29. Ironically, the same Tupolev became his leader here - teacher and student no longer met in freedom, but within the walls of the “sharashka”. As part of the Tupolev team, Korolev took part in the development of the Pe-2 and Tu-2 bombers, projects for a guided aerial torpedo and a new missile interceptor. During the war, Korolev was transferred to another “sharashka” - OKB-16 at the Kazan Aviation Plant No. 16, where work was carried out on rocket engines that could be used for aviation needs.
In the short biographies of outstanding Soviet engineers, the words “arrested”, “arrested”, “arrested” inevitably appear... As if the word “arrested” was an eternal and unchanging attribute of any biography, as natural as “born” or “died”... Many of the people listed here still enjoy worldwide fame and respect today. Dirt and all kinds of accusations will never stick to their names, because they have proven their devotion to their fatherland with their entire lives. And when some next unscrupulous “historian” begins to claim that they were arrested correctly, that the victims of repression were in fact traitors and scoundrels, remember that we are also talking about these people whose biographies are given here.
Robert Bartini, little known to the general public and also to aviation specialists, was not only an outstanding designer and scientist, but also the secret inspirer of the Soviet space program. Sergei Pavlovich Korolev called Bartini his teacher. At different times and to varying degrees, the following were associated with Bartini: Korolev, Ilyushin, Antonov, Myasishchev, Yakovlev and many others. The main works on aerodynamics, the term “Bartini effect” appears in the literature.
The first manned flight into space took place on April 12, 1961. Even before cosmonaut Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin entered orbit, everyone realized that this event would forever be inscribed in the history of mankind, and those involved in it would gain symbolic “immortality” in the eyes of their descendants. And since at that time the manned flight had also become the main breakthrough achievement of the Soviet Union, it seemed that nothing should prevent the study of all its details and nuances. However, contrary to expectations, the concealment of information began almost immediately, in which Gagarin himself was forced to take part. The situation is such that even now, fifty years after the historic flight, there is no confidence that we know all its details.
In March 2002, the International Society "Memorial" and the Archive of the President of the Russian Federation released the electronic disk "Stalin's execution lists" (Stalin's execution lists. M.: Zvenya, 2002. ISBN 5-7870-0057-9). These are lists of persons whose fate was determined by members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks - I.V. Stalin, V.M. Molotov, L.M. Kaganovich, K.E. Voroshilov, A. Mikoyan, S. Kosior and candidate members Politburo A.A. Zhdanov and N.I. Ezhov. The lists cover the period from February 27, 1937 to September 29, 1938, and there are also two fragments of the October 1936 list and several lists from 1940, 1942 and 1950. Until December 1998, these lists were classified as “secret”. Now, thanks to the efforts of Memorial and the staff of the Archive of the President of the Russian Federation, historians have finally gained access to these lists.
Valery Soifer
Biophysicist, geneticist, science historian and human rights activist Valery Soifer, author of the book “Stalin and Fraudsters in Science”, republished in 2016, gave a lecture at the London Open Russia club on how science and scientists were destroyed in the Soviet Union and what role he played in this is Stalin.
Natella Boltyanskaya
This lecture by Natella Boltyanskaya is based on unique historical documents - a CIA report on the potential for resistance within the communist bloc, Congressional investigations into repressed peoples, known and unknown attempts to link international economic relations and human rights. The lecturer will tell you details about real and imaginary American spies, about congressmen who visited the Perm camps, and senators expelled from the USSR, as well as about the participation of completely unexpected people in supporting Soviet citizens.
Valentin Petrovich Glushko was born on August 21 (new style - September 2), 1908 in Odessa. Ukrainian by nationality.
Was married four times. Wives: Susanna Mikhailovna Georgievskaya (married from 1927 to 1930), children's writer; Tamara Sarkisova (married from 1937 to 1944, renounced her husband after his arrest), Magda Maksovna Glushko, foreign language teacher at Moscow State University; Lydia Peryshkova (since 1961). Four children: daughters Evgenia and Elena, sons Yuri and Alexander.
While still at school, Glushko actively corresponded with K. E. Tsiolkovsky and published articles on space topics. In 1924 he graduated from a vocational school, and in 1925 he entered the physics department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Leningrad State University. In February 1929, Glushko was expelled for non-payment of tuition, but in the spring he managed to submit the third part of his graduation project “Metal as an Explosive” to the Committee for Inventions. He was asked to implement this development.
Since May 1929, Glushko worked as the head of the 2nd sector (later department) of liquid-fuel rockets of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory. He became one of the founders of the Soviet liquid engine industry, having developed and tested ORM-52 engines running on nitric acid-kerosene fuel. In addition, during his work in the laboratory, he created an electric rocket engine and rockets of the LA-1, RLA-3 and RLA-100 models. In 1933-1934, Glushko gave a course of lectures “Liquid fuel for jet engines” and “Design of liquid rocket engines” at the Air Force Engineering Academy named after N. E. Zhukovsky.
In September 1933, Glushko headed the 1st department, and in January 1934 - the nitric acid sector of the Leningrad branch of the Rocket Research Institute (since 1937 - NII-3). In 1936-1938 he was the chief designer of liquid-propellant rocket engines. In those years, he created a whole line of ORM engines, including the world's first engine for human flight, ORM-65.
On March 23, 1938, Glushko was arrested by the NKVD of the USSR on charges of sabotage. The reason for this was the denunciation of the head of the jet engines department of NII-3 A.G. Kostikov. In addition to Glushko, the head of the research institute I.T. Kleymenov, his deputy G.E. Langemak and the head of the rocket aircraft department were arrested and subsequently convicted. On August 15, 1939, a Special Meeting of the NKVD of the USSR sentenced Glushko to 8 years in forced labor camps. He served his sentence in a sharashka, headed the design group of the 4th Special Department of the NKVD of the USSR at the Tushinsky Aircraft Plant No. 82, then for four years he was the chief designer of the Design Bureau of the 4th Special Department of the NKVD of the USSR at the Kazan Aircraft Engine Plant No. 16. During these years He developed projects for the auxiliary installation of liquid-propellant rocket engines on aircraft and aircraft engine boosters. On August 2, 1944, Glushko was released from prison with his criminal record expunged. He was completely rehabilitated only on September 29, 1956.
Since December 1944, Glushko worked as the chief designer of OKB-SD. He was involved in testing RD-1 engines on various models of Soviet aircraft, and developed a three-chamber RD-3 engine with a thrust of 900 kg. Subsequently he became the head of the department of jet engines at the Kazan Aviation Institute. After the end of the war, he was twice sent to Germany for several months to study captured products of German rocketry.
In July 1946, Glushko was again appointed chief designer of OKB-SD, holding this position until May 1974. Over the years, he led the development of more than 50 liquid rocket engines and their modifications, which were used on 17 space and combat rockets. Glushko engines were installed on all Soviet launch vehicles launched between 1949 and 1976. The RD-107 and RD-108 engines were installed on the R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile, which later became the launch vehicle for the Vostok and Soyuz spacecraft; the RD-216 and RD-251 engines were installed on the Kosmos launch vehicles. and Proton, RD-170 - on the Energia launch vehicle.
In May 1974, Glushko was appointed director and general designer of the Research and Production Association "Energy", located in the city of Kaliningrad (now Korolev, Moscow region). He supervised the creation of the Salyut-6, Salyut-7, and Mir orbital space stations, designed the Energia-Buran reusable transport and space system, and developed modifications of the Soyuz manned spacecraft.
Valentin Petrovich Glushko is the author of 250 scientific works and inventions. In 1958 he was elected academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. For his scientific achievements, he was twice awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor by closed Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In addition, he was elected a member of the CPSU Central Committee (since 1976) and a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for five convocations (1966-1989).
