Советтік ракета ғылымының бастаулары

Early Soviet rocket research bureau

The Moscow based Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (also 'Group for the Investigation of Reactive Engines and Reactive Flight' and 'Jet Propulsion Study Group') (Группа изучения реактивного движения, Gruppa izucheniya reaktivnogo dvizheniya, better known for its Russian abbreviation ГИРД, GIRD) was a Soviet research bureau founded in 1931 to study various aspects of rocketry. GIRD launched the first Soviet liquid propellant rocket in August 1933. In November 1933 it was incorporated into the Reactive Scientific Research Institute (Реактивный научно исследовательский институт, Reaktivnyy nauchno issledovatel’skiy institut, РНИИ, RNII).

The inspiration for establishing the organisation came from Fredrich Tsander, a scientist, inventor, and romantic who dreamed of space travel. Tsander had begun to consider rocket powered interplanetary flight as early as 1907 and was one of the founding members of the Society for the Study of Interplanetary Communication in 1924. In September 1931 Tsander formed the Moscow based 'Group for the Study of Reactive Motion', better known by its Russian acronym “GIRD”. Initial funding was provided by Osoaviakhim however it was insufficient to cover production costs. In April 1932 Tsander began working full time for GIRD, however most other personnel worked at night or in their spare time. The personnel jokingly referred to GIRD as “Gruppa inzhenerov, rabotayushchaya darom” (group of engineers working for nothing). Local GIRDs also developed in other cities, particularly Leningrad, but also in Kharkiv, Baku, Tiflis, Arkhangelsk, Novocherkassk and Bryansk. A key contributor to GIRD came from a young aircraft engineer Sergey Korolev, who would later become the de facto head of the Soviet space programme. In 1930 while working as a lead engineer on the Tupolev TB 3 heavy bomber he became interested in the possibilities of liquid fueled rocket engines to propel airplanes. This led to contact with Tsander, and sparked his interest in space exploration and rocketry. In May 1932, Sergey Korolev replaced the ailing Tsander as the head of GIRD. At this time the group was organized as four brigades to further optimise their efforts, as follows:
1st brigade: Head Tsander (rocket engines). 2nd brigade: head Mikhail Tikhonravov (rockets / missiles). 3rd brigade: head Yuriy Pobedonostsev (direct precision air jet engines and gas dynamic test units). 4th brigade: head Korolev (rocket planes and cruise missiles). Under Korolev's leadership GIRD began to attract additional funding from the Red Army's Directorate of Military Inventions, which enabled GIRD to obtain better equipment and pay personnel, which by 1933 totaled approximately 60 personnel. Tsander died unexpectedly from an illness on March 28, 1933, and his engineer, Leonid Konstantinovich Korneev, became the new leader of his Brigade. An exact copy of the GIRD X can be found on Tsander's headstone in Kislovodsk.

In January 1933 Tsander began development of the GIRD X rocket (Note: "X" is the Roman numeral 10). It was originally to use a metallic propellant, but after various metals had been tested without success it was designed without a metallic propellant, and was powered by the Project 10 engine which was first bench tested in March 1933. This design burned liquid oxygen and gasoline and was one of the first engines to be regeneratively cooled by the liquid oxygen, which flowed around the inner wall of the combustion chamber before entering it. Problems with burn through during testing prompted a switch from gasoline to less energetic alcohol. The final missile, long by in diameter, had a mass of , and it was anticipated that it could carry a payload to an altitude of The GIRD X rocket was launched on 25 November 1933 and flew to a height of 80 meters.