Back to Mission Control
| Back to History Page | Back to Pre-War Rocketry
Forward: German
As Tsiolkovsky was the first to discover that the
reaction principle could reach space, it would make sense that
the Russians would do significant developments in rockets. In
1924, 2 Russian rocket programs were founded. They were the
Central Bureau for the study of the problems of rockets (TsBIRP),
and the All-Union Society for the Study of Interplanetary Flight
(OIMS). The main leader of these early Russian rocket efforts was
Fridrikh Tsander, who developed liquid propellant rockets in the
'20's and '30's. However, after Stalin took over the country,
these rocket programs became Len-GRID and Mos-GRID, or
"Group for the study of reactive motion" based in
Leningrad and Moscow respectively. These, in turn, soon became
the State Reaction Scientific Research Institute. During these
years, Tsander, Glushko, and others led groups to test many
different rockets. Also, Government Projects studied
solid-propellant rockets for use in the military. During the time
between W.W.I and W.W.II, the Russian rocket program was 2nd only
to Germany.
Major
Russian Rocket Programs
|
| Name |
Date founded |
Founder |
| Central Bureau for the study
of the problems of rockets (TsBIRP) |
1924 |
Fridrikh Tsander |
| All-Union Society for the
Study of Interplanetary Flight (OIMS) |
1924 |
Fridrikh Tsander |
| Len-GRID "Group for the
study of reactive motion" |
? |
Joseph Stalin |
| Mos-GRID "Group for the
study of reactive motion" |
? |
Joseph Stalin |
| State Reaction Scientific
Research Institute |
1929-1931? |
Nikolai Rynin & Jakov
Perelman |
|
Major
Russian Rocket Scientists
|
| Name |
Contributions:
Designs, Books, etc. |
| Fridrikh Tsander |
Designed the OR-1 & 2
rocket motors |
| Konstantin
Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky |
Proposed and Worked out the
early rocket theories |
| Valentin Glushgo |
Wrote Rockets, Their
construction and Utilization |
| Nikolai Rynin |
Wrote the encyclopedia:
Interplanetary Space Flight |
| Jakov Perelman |
Wrote InterPlanetary Travels |
|
Major
Russian Rocket Literature
|
| Name |
Date Published |
Author |
Subject / Notes |
| Problems of Flight by Means of
Reactive Devices |
1923 |
Fridrikh Tsander |
|
| Rockets, Their construction
and Utilization |
1935 |
Valentin Glushgo |
Designed all of the ORM series
rockets |
| Interplanetary Space Flight |
1932 |
Nikolai Rynin |
Large, detailed, 9-volume
encyclopedia |
| InterPlanetary Travels |
1930's |
Jakov Perelman |
sold 150,000 |
|
Russian
Rocket Statistics
|
| Name |
Date |
Fuel |
Statistics /
Notes |
| OR-1 |
1929-32 |
Gasoline & Air |
Thrust: 10 lbs. |
| ORM-1 |
1930-31 |
toluene and nitrogen tetroxide |
|
| ORM-4 thru 23 |
1932 |
toluene and nitrogen tetroxide |
|
| OR-2 |
1931-33 |
Gasoline & Liquid Oxygen |
Thrust: 100 lbs. |
| ORM-24 thru 49 |
1933 |
kerosene and nitric acid |
Water-Cooled |
| ORM-50 |
1933 |
kerosene and nitric acid |
to power anti-aircraft missile |
| ORM-52 |
1933 |
kerosene and nitric acid |
Regenerative fuel cooling
introduced |
| ORM-53 thru 64 |
1934-36 |
kerosene and nitric acid |
high thrust research |
| ORM-65 |
1937 |
kerosene and nitric acid |
to power rocket planes |
| ORM-67 thru 70 |
1937 |
kerosene and nitric acid |
|
| ORM-101 |
1937 |
kerosene and tetranitromethane |
new combination |
| ORM-102 |
1937 |
kerosene and tetranitromethane |
|
|
Back to Top
Mission Control
Site Map
Bibliography
Russian