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47-456: The engine testing was underway when the decision was made to cancel the program. Development was stopped with all other work on corresponding rocket projects on 11 December 1970. The development of RD-270 started on 26 June 1962. Preliminary investigations and development of the engine and its further production were performed under the guidance of Valentin Glushko and finished in 1967. It became

94-542: A man to the Moon. He consolidated the Soviet space program, moving Vasily Mishin 's OKB-1 (Korolev's former design bureau), as well as other bureaus, into a single bureau headed by Glushko, later named NPO Energia . Glushko's first act, after firing Mishin altogether, was to cancel the N-1 rocket , a program he had long criticized, despite the fact that one of the reasons for its difficulties

141-552: A series of ORM (from "Experimental Rocket Motor" in Russian) engines ORM-1  [ ru ] to ORM-52  [ ru ] . This research was continued at RNII with engines ОРМ-53 to ОРМ-102 developed, with ORM-65  [ ru ] powering the RP-318 rocket-powered aircraft. In 1938 Leonid Dushkin replaced Glushko and continued development of the ORM engines, including the engine for

188-613: A single propellant feed line. The RD-170 powered strap-on boosters designed for Energia became the basis for the Zenit booster family which began flying in 1985. Since the Buran space shuttle was not ready for operations, Energia's maiden flight in May 1987 carried aloft a prototype space station module called Polyus . Ultimately, Buran did fly the following summer, a few months before Glushko's death. While Energia and Buran fell victim to loss of funding after

235-468: Is clear that the work at RNII was not only productive but also extremely important in terms of the later achievements of the Soviet rocketry program. Apart from the purely technological advancements and the mastery of important practical processes, the years at RNII also gave the young engineers their first active involvement in issues of organization and management. and Chertok: All of our rocket-space technology historians consider it obligatory to mention

282-546: Is known to have written a letter to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1923. He studied at an Odessa trade school, where he learned to be a sheet metal worker. After graduation he apprenticed at a hydraulics fitting plant. He was first trained as a fitter, then moved to lathe operator. During his time in Odessa, Glushko performed experiments with explosives. These were recovered from unexploded artillery shells that had been left behind by

329-537: The Butyrka prison . By 15 August 1939 he was sentenced to eight years imprisonment; however, Glushko was put to work on various aircraft projects with other arrested scientists. In 1941 he was placed in charge of a design bureau for liquid-fueled rocket engines . He was finally released in 1944. In 1944, Sergei Korolev and Glushko designed the RD-1 ;kHz auxiliary rocket motor tested in a fast-climb La-7R for protection of

376-815: The Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL), where a new research section was set up for the study of liquid-propellant and electric engines. He became a member of the Reactive Scientific Research Institute , founded in Moscow in 1931 when GDL merged with the Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD) On 23 March 1938 he became caught up in Joseph Stalin 's Great Purge and was rounded up by the NKVD , to be placed in

423-610: The Katyusha rocket launcher and its research and development were very important for later achievements of the Soviet rocket and space programs. The 'Reactive Scientific Research Institute' (RNII) was officially established on 21 September 1933 by combining the Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD) with the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL). Personnel based in Leningrad were relocated to Moscow. Before 1931 there were two Soviet organizations devoted to researching rocket technology,

470-568: The Leningrad -based GDL, and the mainly Moscow -based GIRD. The benefits of combining the two groups were recognized, particularly by Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky , the deputy People’s Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs (Narkomvoyenmor) and Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council (Revvoyensovet) . Tukhachevskiy, as a leading Soviet military leader, understood the benefits of rocket technology to military affairs and

517-517: The R-12 Dvina (SS-4 Sandal), which had been designed by Mikhail Yangel . He also became responsible for supplying rocket engines for Sergei Korolev , the designer of the R-9 Desna (SS-8 Sasin). Among his designs was the powerful RD-170 liquid propellant engine. In 1974, following the six successful American Moon landings, premier Leonid Brezhnev decided to cancel the troubled Soviet program to send

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564-569: The UR-700 project. The RD 270 was also considered for the R-56 rocket (although never formally adopted) until work on the design stopped in June 1964. During development, Glushko studied the use of pentaborane "zip" propellants in a modified RD-270M engine. This would have created immense toxicity problems but increased the specific impulse of the engine by 42 seconds (0.41 km/s). The engine throttle range

611-500: The Winter War . In June 1938, RNII began developing a multiple rocket launcher based on the RS-132 rocket. Gvay led a team of designers and engineers to build multiple prototype launchers firing the modified 132 mm M-132 rockets over the sides of ZIS-5 trucks. The trucks proved to be unstable, as a solution to this V.N. Galkovskiy proposed mounting the launch rails across the top of

658-638: The Americans were assembling the Saturn V launcher. Also, Glushko's design bureau consistently failed at building a rocket engine powered by LOX/Kerosene with a large combustion chamber to rival the American F-1 used on the Saturn V ; instead, his solution was the RD-270 , a single large combustion-chamber engine powered by hypergolic propellants which had almost the same thrust and better specific impulse when compared to

705-569: The BM-13-16 with launch rails for sixteen rockets was authorized for production. Only forty launchers were built before Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. By the end of the war 12 million rockets of the RS type were produced for the Soviet armed forces. Development of Liquid propellant rocket engines had previously commenced at both GDL and GIRD. At GDL Valentin Glushko had designed and built

752-705: The F-1 engine. In addition, the RD-270 used the very advanced full-flow, staged, closed-cycle combustion concept instead of the simple open-cycle gas generator design used by the F-1 rocket engine. This was a primary reason for the failure of the N-1, which was forced to rely on a multitude of smaller engines for propulsion since Sergei Korolev, its chief designer, insisted on using the LOX/Kerosene combination, which Glushko felt would take much more time and money to design. Glushko never did overcome

799-630: The OKB-1 design bureau. Mishin succeeded in getting the Kremlin to terminate the UR-700/900 project and the RD-270 engine Glushko planned for the launch vehicle family. His main arguments were the tremendous safety risk posed by a low-altitude launch failure of the UR-700 and the waste of money by developing two HLV families at once. After the complete failure of the Soviet crewed lunar effort, uncrewed Mars missions, and

846-820: The RS-82 rocket, including the MO-class small guard ship . The earliest known use by the Soviet Air Force of aircraft-launched unguided anti-aircraft rockets in combat against heavier-than-air aircraft took place in August 1939 , during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol . A group of Polikarpov I-16 fighters under command of Captain N. Zvonarev were using RS-82 rockets against Japanese aircraft, shooting down 16 fighters and 3 bombers in total. Six Tupolev SB bombers also used RS-132 for ground attack during

893-536: The White Guards during their retreat. From 1924 to 1925 he wrote articles concerning the exploration of the Moon, as well as the use of Tsiolkovsky's proposed engines for space flight . He attended Leningrad State University where he studied physics and mathematics, but found the specialty programs were not to his interest. He reportedly left without graduating in April, 1929. From 1929 to 1930 he pursued rocket research at

940-497: The capital from high-altitude Luftwaffe attacks. At the end of World War II , Glushko was sent to Germany and Eastern Europe to study the German rocket program. As part of this he attended an Operation Backfire launch as Colonel Glushko. In 1946, he became the chief designer of his own bureau, the OKB 456, and remained at this position until 1974. This bureau would play a prominent role in

987-690: The collapse of the USSR, the RD-170 engines and its derivatives are still flying today and the experience in LH2 engines made during the Energia project would be used in later upper stages such as Briz. Glushko's team was part of the Soviet Ministry of General Machine Building headed by Minister Sergey Afanasyev . Before his death, he appointed Boris Gubanov to become his successor. Glushko died on January 10, 1989. His obituary

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1034-547: The combustion instability problems of large rocket engines using kerosene propellants; his eventual solution for this is seen on the RD-170 which is basically four smaller combustion chamber/nozzle assemblies sharing common fuel delivery systems. This solution and engine gave the Soviets the large thrust propulsion needed to build the Energia super heavy-lift launch vehicle , and is probably

1081-499: The counterargument that the US was launching the crewed Gemini spacecraft atop a Titan II rocket with very similar propellants and it was not a safety issue for them. He also argued that the N-1 was not a workable solution because they could not develop RP-1/LOX engines on the scale of the Saturn F-1. When Korolev suggested developing a liquid hydrogen engine for the N-1, Glushko said that LH2

1128-468: The deaths of four cosmonauts, Mishin was fired in 1973 and the Kremlin decided to consolidate the entire Soviet space program into one organization headed by Glushko. One of Glushko's first acts was to suspend the N-1 program, which, however, was not formally terminated until 1976. He then began work on a completely new HLV. During this time, the US was developing the Space Shuttle . Glushko decided that

1175-598: The development of rocket engines within the Soviet Union. His OKB 456 (later NPO Energomash ) would design the 35- metric ton (340 kN ) thrust RD-101 engine used in the R-2, the 120-ton (1,180 kN) thrust RD-110 employed in the R-3, and the 44-ton (430 kN) thrust RD-103 used in the R-5 Pobeda (SS-3 Shyster). The R-7 ("Semyorka") would include four of Glushko's RD-107 engines and one RD-108. In 1954, he began to design engines for

1222-466: The finest example of Glushko's technical abilities when he was at his best. Reactive Scientific Research Institute Reactive Scientific Research Institute (commonly known by the joint initialism RNII ; Russian : Реактивный научно-исследовательский институт , romanized :  Reaktivnyy nauchno-issledovatel’skiy institut ) was one of the first Soviet research and development institutions to focus on rocket technology . RNII developed

1269-818: The fuel components. One of the turbines uses the fuel-rich gas to power a fuel pump, another one uses the oxidizer-rich gas to power the oxidizer pump. As a result, the main combustion chamber ( MCC ) burns only generator gas. The engine controller regulates the functions of the two independent fuel and oxidizer circuits. With the purpose to cool MCC it has layered wall structure with four internal belts of slots. Some parts of nozzles are covered by zirconium dioxide for thermal protection. Valentin Glushko Valentin Petrovich Glushko ( Russian : Валенти́н Петро́вич Глушко́ ; Ukrainian : Валентин Петрович Глушко , romanized :  Valentyn Petrovych Hlushko ; born 2 September 1908 – 10 January 1989)

1316-465: The initial period, RNII had four departments: Total personnel at RNII ranged from 403 in 1935 to a peak of 836 in 1941. During RNII's existence the following were created: Design work on RS-82 and RS-132 rockets (RS for Reaktivnyy Snaryad , 'rocket-projectile') began in the late 1920s at GDL. In 1932 in-air test firings of RS-82 rocket from an Tupolev I-4 aircraft armed with six launchers successfully took place. After September 1933 development

1363-607: The institute merged with Design Bureau OKB-293 , led by Soviet engineer Viktor Bolkhovitinov , which had developed the short-range rocket powered interceptor called Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1 . The new organisation was named Scientific-Research Institute 1 ( NII-1 ), and became the responsibility of the People’s Commissariat of Aviation Industry . In 1965, NII-1 was re-named the Scientific-Research Institute for Thermal Processes ( NII TP ) and became part of

1410-417: The most powerful engine in the world to date that used storable propellants. During 1967–1969, several test firings were performed with experimental engines that were adapted to work at sea level and had a short nozzle. In total, 27 test firings were performed with 22 engines, three engines were tested twice, and one of them was tested three times. All works stopped later together with corresponding activities on

1457-564: The new HLV, Energia , would use entirely liquid-fueled engines, with an LH2 core stage taking the place of the Shuttle main engines, and the Shuttle's solid-propellant strap-on boosters with liquid boosters using LOX/RP-1 RD-170 engines. While the RD-120 engine used for the Energia core stage was developed quickly and with little difficulty, the RD-170 proved harder to work out. Glushko instead decided to use an engine with four combustion chambers fed from

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1504-511: The newly created Ministry of General Machine Building , which was responsible for all issues related to strategic ballistic missiles and space technology in the USSR . In 1992, NII TP became part of Rosaviakosmos and in 1993 was renamed the Keldysh Research Center . A number of writers have noted the importance of RNII to the future Soviet space program , including Siddiqi: …it

1551-427: The requirement that it be supported by research, development, and engineering support. The first Director of RNII was Ivan Kleymyonov , (1931–1937) the former head of GDL. Sergey Korolev , the previous head of GIRD, was appointed as his deputy. However in 1934, following a disagreement over the direction of RNII, Korolev was demoted to section chief of winged missiles and was replaced by Georgy Langemak . Langemak

1598-480: The research was productive and very important for later achievements of the Soviet rocket program. The RP-318 was USSR 's first rocket-powered aircraft (Rocketry Planer or Raketoplan ) which "RP" stands for in Russian language. Built in 1936 by Sergei Korolev as an adaptation of his SK-9 glider, the RP-318 was originally designed as a flying laboratory to test rocket engines and ORM-65 designed by Valentin Glushko

1645-511: The rocket engine and accelerating the aircraft to 140 km/h and an altitude of 2,900 m. In all, the RP-318 flew nine times before World War II ended its development. During the 1930s Soviet rocket technology was comparable to Germany 's, however Joseph Stalin 's Great Purge severely damaged its progress. RNII was particularly affected with Director Kleymyonov and Chief Engineer Langemak arrested in November 1937, and later executed. Glushko

1692-516: The rocket powered interceptor, the Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1 . At GIRD Mikhail Tikhonravov had built the GIRD-09 rocket, fueled by liquid oxygen and jellied gasoline, which launched on August 17, 1933. At RNII Tikhonravov worked on developing oxygen/alcohol liquid-propellant rocket engines. Ultimately liquid propellant rocket engines were given a low priority during the late 1930s at RNII, however

1739-507: The vehicles. In August 1939, the completed rocket was the BM-13 (BM stands for боевая машина (translit. boyevaya mashina ), 'combat vehicle' for M-13 rockets). Towards the end of 1938 the first significant large scale testing of the rocket launchers took place, 233 rockets of various types were used. A salvo of rockets could completely straddle a target at a range of 5,500 metres (3.4 mi). Various rocket tests were conducted through 1940, and

1786-432: Was 95–105%, the thrust vector control range was ±12° (project R-56 ) and ±8° for UR-700 rocket family. The oxidizer-to-fuel ratio was 2.67 and can be changed by up to 7%. To achieve such a high specific impulse and pressure in combustion chamber as RD-270 has, two circuits of full-flow staged combustion cycle were applied. The pair of turbines with preburners turns the fuel into the gaseous form and circulates all of

1833-588: Was a Soviet engineer who was program manager of the Soviet space program from 1974 until 1989. Glushko served as a main designer of rocket engines in the Soviet program during the heights of the Space Race between United States and the Soviet Union , and was the proponent of cybernetics within the space program. At the age of fourteen he became interested in aeronautics after reading novels by Jules Verne . He

1880-400: Was also the chairman of the initial technical advisory board, which provided the sanctioned scientific direction of RNII. The initial advisory board was composed of Glushko, Korolev, Pobedonostsev, Tikhonravov, and Dudakov. Other leaders of RNII consisted of Director Boris Slonimer  [ ru ] (30.10.1937 – 1941) and Director Andrey Kostikov  [ ru ] (1942–1944). In

1927-519: Was an outspoken opponent of hypergolic propellants due to their toxicity, often citing the 1960 Nedelin catastrophe as evidence of the danger posed by them, and had also objected to the UR-500 for the same reason. Glushko meanwhile was an advocate of Vladimir Chelomei's UR-700 as well as an even more powerful UR-900 with a nuclear-powered upper stage. When Korolev continued protesting about the safety risk posed by hypergolic propellants, Glushko responded with

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1974-650: Was arrested in March 1938 and with many other leading engineers was imprisoned in the Gulag . Korolev was arrested in June 1938 and sent to a forced labour camp in Kolyma in June 1939. However, due to the intervention by Andrei Tupolev , he was relocated to a prison for scientist and engineers in September 1940. From 1937 to 1944 no serious work was carried out on long range rockets as weapons, or for space exploration. In February 1944,

2021-593: Was completely impractical as a rocket fuel. The UR-700, Glushko said, could enable a direct-ascent trajectory to the Moon, which he considered safer and more reliable than the rendezvous-and-dock approach used by the Apollo program and Korolev's N-1 proposals. He also imagined the UR-700 and 900 in all sorts of applications, from lunar bases to crewed Mars missions to outer planet probes to orbiting battle stations. When Korolev died in January 1966, his deputy Vasily Mishin took over

2068-601: Was continued by RNII, including designing several variations for ground-to-air, ground-to-ground, air-to-ground and air-to-air combat. The RS-82 rockets were carried by Polikarpov I-15 , I-16 and I-153 fighter planes, the Polikarpov R-5 reconnaissance plane and the Ilyushin Il-2 close air support plane, while the heavier RS-132 rockets could be carried by bombers. Many small ships of the Soviet Navy were also fitted with

2115-533: Was his own refusal to design the high-power engines Korolev needed because of friction between the two men and ostensibly a disagreement over the use of cryogenic or hypergolic fuel. In 1965, after the UR-500 booster began flying, the Chelomei Bureau offered a counterproposal to Korolev's N-1 in the UR-700 , a Saturn V-class booster with nine F-1 sized engines powered by dinitrogen tetroxide and UDMH . Korolev

2162-462: Was signed by multiple Communist Party of the Soviet Union leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachev . He was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. His most significant engineering failure, as noted by division chief Yuri Demyanko, was his insistence that hydrogen fuel was unsuitable for use as a rocket fuel. As a result, the Soviet space program was still discussing using hydrogen-fueled engines while

2209-493: Was the one selected to be used. In 1938, when both Korolev and Glushko were arrested in suspicion of Anti-Soviet activity, development of the RP-318-1 was continued by Alexei Scherbakov ( Щербаков, Алексей Яковлевич ) and Arvid Pallo ( Палло, Арвид Владимирович ), culminating in the first powered flight on Feb. 28, 1940. Test pilot V. P. Fedorov ( Владимир Павлович Фёдоров ) was towed to 2,600 m and cast off at 80 km/h before firing

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