THE ROCKET

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81-01043R001800190005-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 151
• Document Creation Date: January 4, 2017
• Document Release Date: March 13, 2013
• Sequence Number: 5
• Content Type: REPORT

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13.LYAPUNOV
THE ROCKET
411 trnslated from Russian
by Branimir Kirkov
Co-Operative Publishers
NATIONAL CULTURE
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PREFACE
This volume deals with one of the most interesting achievements of modern me?
chanics: jet?propelled engines.
Jet?propelled aircraft and jet?propelled artillery did not become a reality all
at once, however, since a great deal of effort had to be expended before the rocket
became a powerful engine and a terrible weapon. The noteworthy contributions of
Russian scientists and inventors like Konstantinov, Tsiolovskiy and many others men?
tioned in this book, gave much impetus to its development invoking, at the same time,
a real sense of pride in our national science and mechanics. It is the work of these
men that has done much to secure the growth of rocket mechanics which developed rath?
er rapidly as time went by during the second World War, when jet?propelled weapons
were used extensively and when jet?propelled aircraft first appeared.
We are proud of our success in the field of rocket mechanics. The dreaded pro?
jectile?hurling "katiushas" with which the Red Army had spread havoc during the
Great War for the defense of our fatherland, and the more recent jet aircraft in our
Stalinite Air Force, demonstrated our success to the entire world.
Engines are now on the threshold of far greater possibilities. High?speed avia?
tion, flights at extreme altitudes, and interplanetary travel of tomorrow, these are
--the greater possibilities.. Engines still do not help us to surmount tremendous alti?
tudes and to discover new secrets Of nature. They do not yet permit flying extreme?
ly high, far, or fast. It is precisely in all this that the future contributions of
our own science, will be again of priceless merit, since we are going to be the first
to give the world the scientific theory of flying, 'a theory which stems from the
principles of aviation and the theory of jet propulsion and which will be based on
rocket mechanics and interplanetary travel of tomorrow. This book discusses the
rocket; ? its past, its present, and its future ? with the hope that a vast majority
of the readers will become at first interested in the rocket itself only to engage
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!later actively in its further development with the aim of making our awn rocket the
best in the world.
The author of this book expresses his heartfelt gratitude to academician and
lieutenant general of Aviation Engineering Service, B.N.Yurev, to professor V.I.Duda?
kov and to. the test pilot and lieutenant colonel, M.L.Gallay, all of whom helped im?
mensely in the preparation of this book.
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"Our task consists in utilizing the advantages of the Soviet social system for
the purpose of securing a speedy and uninterrupted development of mechanical progress
in our country... .
"It is imperative that we get to work at once on the implementation of newly in-
troduced concepts in the fields of mechanics and production. I am referring specifi-
cally to this:... work on the development of rocket technology, applying it to new
model engines which will in turn create new speeds and new power."
From the report by N.A.Voznesenskiy, chairman of the State
Planning Commission of the USSR under the Five-Year Plan for the
establishment and development of the people's economy of the USSR,'
years 1946 to 1950.
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ROCKET WEAPONS
History does not record the name of the first missile inventor. Its birth is
traceable to the days when gunpowder first appeared.
Great achievements are often the result of very modest beginnings. Thus, the
soap bubble led to the balloon and the paper kite led to gliders and engine-powered
aircraft. The predecessor of the rocket was substantially a'toy used for fireworks
and ceased being one only when first used in warfare.
The missile was known among different peoples even in the most remote past.
The Chinese named it the "fire arrow" and used it during the siege of enemy strong-
holds. When the ignited tail and the noise of the "fire arrow" no longer were able
to scare the enemy, the Chinese converted it into a bow-catapulted, incendiary mis-
sile which set fires in the enemy camps.
111 The missile was also known in Europe. The medieval science books describe vari-
ous types of missiles, with instructions. .on hoW to construct them.
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Many years were to pass, however, before rocketed weapons were to gain reco7-
nition.
It was not until the end of the Nineteenth Century that rockets were first used
as an appreciable military weapon in India. They were made from the hollow stalk of
lightweight bamboo, filled with gunpowder and provided with a long wooden tail.
While these were their only structural features, the rockets were to become a rather
terrible weapon in due course of time.
:Art.
Fig.1 - Chinese Fire Arrow
....??????????
The British General Congreve, whose soldiers experienced the impact of this
_weapon, understood this future well. As soon as he returned to England, Congreve
began to experiment with rockets. The Indian rockets weighed five to six kilograms.
The rockets with which the British shelled besieged Copenhagen in the year 1807,
weighed already twenty kilograms and had a range of three kilometers.
All of the European States became interested in rocket weapons and started to
form projectile-launching units in their respective armies. There was a boom in the -
number of pyrotechnical laboratories and rocket workshops in which various aspects
of the explosives were studied'and in which different types of rockets were made;
some were made in the form of shells, some were Made with ,grapeshot, some had flares,
etc.
The first European rockets designed tor warfare were crude prototypes. Like
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-7their earlier counterparts in China and in India, the European rockets had esimple
structure. The only difference was in the replacement of the bamboo stalk with...a.,-H I
metal cartridge case.
Those who actually did the firing of artillery projectiles observed that in
practice the speed and range of the projectile depends largely on the volume of gases
which are created by the combustion of the charge, whose amount in turn depends on
the size of the external frame of the projectile.
In the early rockets, the combustive substance burned only on the outside of
the frame. If a channel is drilled through the powder-charge chamber, the charge
will not only burn on the outside but from within the channel as well.
A groove was made in the powder-charge chamber, creating just such a channel,
and the rockets began to fly faster and farther.
An incendiary or explosive fuze was then placed into the rocket head. To pre-
vent rotation in flight of the entire projectile, a long wooden tail was attached
along the side of the cartridge case. Despite all this, however, the rocket remain-
ed unsteady in flight, while the attachment of a tail to the cartridge case was at
best less than comfortable for firing.
When attached to flare and signal rockets of lesser size, such a tail was used
as a ground-launching device. To put it another way, the rocket tail was simply
stuck into the ground and the charge was then ignited.
L'owever, the gas-operated and incendiary rockets increased gradually both in
wei,'It and dimension. The rockets 'egan to weigh several tens of kilograms and
sometimes a -reat deal 7lore. The rocket caliber, or the diameter of its cartridge
case, increased fro:, 5 to 12 cr..
It was difficult to send such rockets flying upward after the tail was inserted
into the -round. launching platforn or ramp was badly needed. In principle, the
simplest device of this ind would be a wooden hipodi It would not, however, be
ver: eav tc do acc'arate firing from shc': a 'Gip)]. Instead, a tube was made and
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niountd on a trilk. -APO!' the' -"purioso: of; anik
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nor-could-be -elevatod-or- lowericilz-Or-it-couli-bavorsocl-imairding-to-nood
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But, no matter how simply the rockets were mounted, their construction iaus by
..*
__no means easy. In one after another of the workshops where rockets were being maide,
'unexpected explosions occurred.
To illustrate the point, let us take a loolcat.enormously magnified powder flak-
es found in the cartridge case of the rocket. These gunpowder flakes will appear to
us like a set of nuts placed in a glass. Between any two of the juxtaposed nuts
there is an air pocket which fills the interspace. If the powder is ignited, the
flame will spread rapidly via these air pockets and the charge will burn up instant-
ly, creating a sudden explosion.
If the rocket is to fly over long distances without exploding, the powder charge
must burn gradually. Therefore, if longer flights are to take place, the powder
flakes must be compacted. This will cause the flakes to group closer together; con-
?In 41,
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sequently, the air pockets will diminish, while the flame will be prevented from
spreading rapidly over the entire charge which, given this added condition, will
burn gradually without setting off an explosion. While the gunpowder is being com-
pacted, air within the charge itself becomes more dense due to the absence of an
-avenue of escape and, in becoming denser, will heat ?up.
' All the rocket loading was being done by hand. Quite frequently, the air would ?
heat up to such a degree that the powder would catch fire and cause the gases to
burst the cartridge case. Moreover, accelerated solidification of gunpowder provok-
ed friction of its individual particles and a single careless tap sufficed in set-
ting off an explosion.
Sometimes, already fired rockets would misfire and disintegrate completely in
an area where they were not supposed to explode. As a result of such misfirings,
the o:ponents of rocket development took a dim view of the fact that the rocket was
unpredictable to the extent that it could inflict damage to lives and materiel not
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only on the enemy but on their own army as well. Tlere was a kernel of truth in
this. Of course, not every rocket would burst at tne wronr ti.e and place. Gn tne
other ?and, it is undeniable that misfirings did occur. Tne soldiers themselves
cared little for such new weapons and looked upon them witn fear and Apprehension.
Some of the other rocket drawbacks were its snort range and its poor accuracy.
Fig.2 - Outer View of Rocket
At the sane time, the rockets were not without certain advantages. Rocket weap-
ons are quite maneuverable, they weigh less and are simpler than artillery pieces.
It is also easy to arm with light rocket weapons such mobile units as cavalry and
small naval craft. Rocket weapon: could also be of enormous usefulness in mountain
warfare.
When necessary, simple rocket-launching devices could be transported in large
quantities from one place to another. The rocket was also less expensive than ar-
tillery shells in general and could be produced more rapidly than an ordinary artil-
lery shell.
The rocket made quite an impression on the enemy unfamiliar with its effect.
It flew with a loud .whistling noise and a tongue of flame would project from its
tail. Frequently, the rocket would ricochet from the ground as if it were seeking
to take mith it 'un,nn lives
even before the actual explosion would take place.
The French soldiers who first saw the rocket in Spain during the year 1814, be-
crc
zo panicky that they jumped with full field packs into the water, many of them
perishing.
Rockets also made a strong impression on the cavalry. As it turned out, caval-
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ry became cne of tne rocket's easiest targets. Cre cr two rockets, fired in its di-
rectias, would send the whole :avalry unit running for cover.
Tnese val,lable warfare cralities of tne rocket caughttne attention of artillery
experts, alt iowi tne rocket was not as yet a weapon in the real sense.
7:e Frence narsnal Yarmont said that "t .e rocket will bring success and glory
to that renius who first -rasps and then develops all of the advanta,-es that can be
expected of it".
A Russian proved to be precisely such a genius.
At t. ie entrance of the main building of the Artillery Academy there is a marble
plaque on which the names of those cadets w'o became known throughout Russia for
their noteworthy work in the field of artillery science are inscribed witl.
letters. The first place among them is occupied by the name of lieutenant general
Konstantin Ivanov Konstantinov.
Konstantinov was graduated from the Artillery Academy during the year 1836 and
devoted his entire energy to the development of rocket weapons. He can be rightful-
ly called the creator of the Russian rocket weapons.
Konstantinov learned the history of the rocket and went abroad in order to fa-
miliarize himself with the production and the use to which the rocket was being put
in foreign armies.
At that time, the foreign armies were leading in terms. of sheer numbers of rock-
et units. Even naval craft of varying size were armed with rockets. Institutes,for
rocket research and pYrotechaical laboratories were appearing everywhere.
Nevertheless, the rocket still had many defects. Konstantinov, being not only
an excellent engineer and inventor but also a Russian artillery expert, understood
and correctly evaluated the enormous importance of the rocket within the, framework
of the Russian artillery. He did not exaggerate the role of the rocket. Instead,
he understood clearly that artillery pieces and rockets were neither enemies nor
friends but, rather, friendly rivals. There was still much work to be done on rock-
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:let improvement. It had to become accurate and able to span long distances and, at
2-4
_the same time, a way had to be found for eliminating its poor accuracy and its enor-
mous consumption of combustible materials if a relatively large and safe production
of the rocket was ever to be attained. It was with such thoughts that Konstantinov
returned to Russia.
The glorious history of the Russian rocket started some two hundred years ago,
Fig.3 - bignal-Type Aocket from the
Times of Peter I
long before Konstantinov began to work on it.
Even Peter the Great was interested in
it and, according to contemporary eyewitnes-
ses, he made rockets by himself in a work-
shop. The signal-type rocket made by Peter
the Great was used for the next two hundred
years without significant changes. The road
toward a rocket that could be used in warfare,
however, was still a long one.
The Russian military rockets were to ap-
pear only at the time of the Russo-Turkish
War of 1828-1829, when general Shilder armed
a few tens of naVal craft with them.
This is then the first page of the glorious history of the Russian military
rocket.
We now pass over the next eighteen years.
In 1846, upon request of the Governor for the Caucasus region, Prince Vorontsov,
the first set of rockets was sent there.. Ten years later, Vorontsov wrote to the
War Ilinistry: ninen I saw the rocket in action..., it became at a:ce clear to me
that the rocket could develop into one of the most useful artillery weapons, especi-
ally in mountain warfare... . Of course, quite an inconvenience is createl where
the supply depot for ,such rockets .is located far away and where only a few arti11er4.;
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?? , :4k ,.k ?,, ?
r6ckits Availabli'4V*142wirts-rio4:s
to make any other type of rockets";
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The early rocket workshops remained primarily small craft workshops in which it
was extremely dangerous to work. Dispite this fact, the demand for rockets increased
constantly. Rockets were then in demand;
by the tens of hundreds and even by the
thousands.
When he became officer in charge of
the rocket workshop in St. Petersburg,
Konstantinov began by making sure that
the work done on the construction of the
rockets would be safe.
Li
How the pyrotechnician sweated in
their efforts to avoid frequent explo-
sions which took place during loading of
the rocket. They were attempting in es-
1 iJTfIji-1. to develop a kind of gunpowder
Fig.4 - hydraulic Press for Rocket Loading
which would ignite only at very high tem-
peratures. As a result, all the testing
efforts were directed toward soaking the
gunpowder in alcohol. Such a "wet" rock-
et required several weeks to dry before it could be actively used, however. Finally,
the pyrotechnicians attempted to make a hole in the rod used for packing the gunpow-
der to let the air escape and thus prevent it from increasing in density and heating.
However, all-these attempts were unsuccessful.
The unique achievement consisted in 'substituting the dangerous method of load-
ing the rocket by ,hand with a safer one, namely that of loading by machine. ' Kon-
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stantinov invented a special automatic press for loading of rockets, a press which
was easy to regulate. Alongside the loading press, he placed a machine for cutting
the cartridge case sheets and another machine for piercing holes into the powder com-
pound. '4e also added other implements which improved and simplified the rocket pro-
duction. Soon thereafter, Konstantinov announced with satisfaction that the St.
Peterst.nrg rocket workshop which, by that time, had become a regular machine factory,
could fill all rocket orders of every military district 'mit of the Russian Army.
In this way, Konstantinov solved the first problem in development of rocket weapons,
nwlely that of estatlishing safe working conditions simultaneously with mass produc-
tion of rockets.
Konstantinov also succeeded in increasing the range and accuracy of the rocket
without a corresponding increase in man-hours. The results of this kind of work
were not slow in becoming apparent: The Russian military rocket began to fly four
times faster than its earlier model.
Konstantinov did not stop at this point either. He invented a simple and easy-
to-use rocket-launching device as well as the means for transport. He selected a
launcher which was lighter than the infantry weapons and which could be carries by
the cavalry with ease. Work on the rockets was rendered less dangerous by a pretec-
tive tube which Konstantinov conceived.
Thus, Konstantinov solved Le second problem in the development of rocket wea-
pons: how to manufacture a long-range rocket which, at the same time, was easy to
manipulate in action. Personnel throughout the Army became interested in the use of
rockets, and it Was not too long before rocket batteries and even a rocket corps
were formed. It was, therefore, necessary to train a large number of instructors
who could explain the use of the rocket. Konstantinov trained such'instructor-spec-
ialists at the St. Petersburg workshop. He even designed a special rocket that was
to be used for training and instruction of artillery personnel in rocket use.
?any officers of the Russian Army began to learn the methods of rocket produc-
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tion and how it can be used in action. Within the framework of the artillery Detach-
ment of the Guards Corps, a separate rocket division was formed. Konstantinov pro-
posed the formation first of a training rocket brigade and then of a corps in which
artillerymen from all the military units would learn the rocket use along with all
types of rocket artillery, namely field, infantry, cav-
alry, blockade and fortress-defense types.
Konstantinov was tireless in his efforts to famil-
iarize Russian artillerymen with the new weapon, and
soon the rocket ceased to be a novelty. Even regimen-
tal commanders asked for permission to form rocket bat-
teries. It was also decided to arm the warships of
the Azov Sea Fleet with rockets. Artillery units con-
ducted constant target practice and experiments with
the rockets.
No matter where it would be decided to use the
Russian military rockets, one would always meet former
students of Konstantinov.
The age-yellowed pages of publications dealing
with the earlier war days of the rocket 'reveal the elm,
Fig.5 - Military Rocket
1 7 Warhead firing pin
cess of the Russian rocket weapons.
2 - Rocket combustible
"The accurate rocket firing forced the enemy to
compound
abandon elevated positions and thus our charging cav-
3 - Empty space
airy met with little opposition", reported the officer
in charge of a rocket battery in Turkestan.
"With frequent and successful firing we broke the enemy attack", reported the
commanding officer of a rocket battery in Siberia.
In this way, Konstantinov solved the third problem in the development of rocket
weapons, namely the availability of personnel skilled in the use of these weapons.
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The rocket underwent a major experime/pt about the middle of the last Century.'
dOn the basis of this experiment, Konstanti;nov_ established_when_and_how_tha-rocket-can.
best be used. He created what was being called the tactics of the new type of
weapons.
His book on military rockets, his lectures, articles, and resourcefulness became
known throughout the entire world.
"The organization of the rocket production should proceed in accordance with the
methods implemented be Konstantinov", recommended the foreign manufacturers engaged
in importing from Russia machinery for their own workshops.
Fig.6 - Ballistic Pendulum
after Konstantinov
Lieutenant general Konstantinov,
who brought great glory to Russian-
made weapons, gained world-wide recog-
nition. For his achievements in the
field of rocket development, Konstan-
tinov was decorated with many Russian
and foreign medals.
As a technician and a scientist,
Konstantinov sought to complete still
another task.
Whenever he worked on the construction and production of rockets, whenever he
lectured, or whenever he wrote books, Konstantinov engaged in empirical observation.
?
The well-known Russian scholar, Pavlov, called him a "tireless fact gatherer with a
bug for learning". Thus, Konstantinov gathered facts, made experiments and kept ob-
serlring the effectiveness of rockets.
Ivistantinov constructed an ingenious device, the ballistic pendulum, which
made it possible to observe the performance of the rocket.
"The rocket pendulum gave US many indications relative to the rocket effective-
ness", stated Konstantinov.
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Thro
servationi
ockat-,constitictias, eimitam,tilabv=
--studying extensive materials, basing it on the sum total of his own experxmon
6
Shortly before his death, ie:1-1-sis.niirT4v wrote: "This is still a science to No'
- developed".
J a
Konstantinov was unable to develop this new science. He died in 1871.
This branch of science was worked out by another notable Russian scientist,
Tsiolkovskiy.
The success of artillery, noted at the end of the last century, led artillery-
rocket experts to double their efforts in.order to prevent the rockets from falling
behind the more advanced artillery pieces.
Camouflaged near-by targets can best be hit from above. In order to do so, the
shell must be fired upward in a rather sharp curve. This is done by the howitzer.
Uncamouflaged distant targets can best be hit by firing the shells at not too
high an angle but over a long distance. This is done by regular artillery pieces.
Thus, two types of rockets were being made. The first type would develop a
very hir;h and sudden speed and would fly upward at an acute angle, dropping head
first on the target. This type was the diving rocket.
The other type would gather speed in progression and would fly over long dis-
tances, destroying remote targets. This type was the delayed-action rocket.
Artillery was becoming increasingly accurate. Various types of artillery piec-
es were being improved. Several of these, in discharging the shell, would make the
latter rotate about its own axis with a tremendous velocity.
A body rotating at such speed is bound to be also very steady. The steadier
,the shell is in flight, the less it will deviate from the target and the more accu-
rate will be the aim.
Rockets that rotate in flight were also manufactured. These rockets not longer
had a tail attached. Gradient or propelling channels for the: escape of gases were
(le)
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located at the rear of the rocket. The gases would propel the rocket forward, while
rotating it like a wheel at the same time.
revertheless, the rocket started to fall behind in the race with artillery
016ces. In principle, the rocket range was not inferior to that of an artillery
piece. lowever, the artillery pieces were considered more successful. Gradually,
tLe rocket was used less and less as reliance on the accuracy and long range of con-
vention ' projectiles increased.
lowever, work on rockets did not cease completely, since the rocket remained of
accasional usefulness to artillery.
socket flares were used, for exx-ple; in the lusso-Japanese War. This is what
A.Stepan- , the author of the historical novel "Port Art:.ur", has to say about
rockets:
"T 'e soldiers carrying rockets... pulled out the launchers, placed a rocket in
each and lit the fuzes... . The flame would travel over the fuze, and the rockets,
releasing a sheaf of sparks, would leap into the sky. &len exploding in the air,
the rocke's would fraff,meat into literally thousands of burning stars, illuminating
al i emplacements in tl'e area."
7.e flu-a-tyre rockets were being launched in still another way.
"Two soldiers crawled out of t'-.e trenches, carrying small rockets in their
Ands. "enral lig'sts were attached to these rockets. On being shot upward, the
rockets wo-ld flare and illu-dnate t...e entire area. The rockets then descended
close 'o grou-d IcrawliT like snakes!, as the soldiers were fond of calling
ten, a::: after traversing forty to fifty steps finally collapsed on the ground.
In t;(1 mean'.ine, soliiers woul! spot the !snake! illuminated targets and fire
salvos frc' their fortified pcsiticr.S.",
C ro:.?.e... is also effective as an and'rwater weapon. For this reason, te;STAT
were co.l.ete'l to e%alle rcket to travel underwater, like torpedoes. It turn-
at -o'ifiel ro,?ret cf tlis type move! -mich faster than the regular torpe-
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?
?
do which is set
in motion by compressed air acting as a force which rotates the pro-
peller. It was also
proposed that a jet-propelled air torpedo be made. In doing so,
an old idea was being used in a new way.
In the earlier days, to make the rocket spin,
its rear section was provided with slanted channels.
Later on, it became apparent that to spin huge
rockets or torpedoss weighing over half a ton, by
using channels, at best inadequate. For this
reason, a chamber in which all the gases converged
was installed ahead of the channel. In order to
,make the rocket fly further, tests were made on in-
stalling, at the gas exhaust, a full-flcdged turbine
which was to act as a gyroscope.
Shortly before the first World War, the Rus-
sian scientist Pomortsev conducted experiments with
rockets. His rocket differed from the ordinary
type. Inside the covering, there was a compartment
filled with air condensed to a pressure of 100-125
t:. Combustibles like gasoline or ether were then
poured in. Over the surface of the rear part of
the rocket body, Pomortsev attached a steel ring.
With these added implements, the rockets were able
to span 8-9 km.
Also in the earlier days, light naval craft
were being armed with rockets. When the first air-
were made to arm them with rockets. In addition, testing
Fig.? - The Rotator of
the Military Rocket
:hips appeared, attempts
was being conducted durin- World War I on arming, airplanes with rockets.
Tens of rockets,
mounted in tubes, were attached to the struts of biplane wings.
14
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*J
?
?
'CZ
1?1-
-] These first aerial rockets were not widelf used, however. The rockets did not fly'
......much farther, and_the targets were frequently_missed_in flight.
Plans were being made to aria also fighter aircraft with incendiary rockets, to
be used against naval craft.
Again, rockets were used for setting fire to captive barrage balloons.
The accuracy of rockets of naval and air-to-sea torpedo type was still far from
being satisfactory. The results of World War I were such that, while very little
was heard on the subject of rockets in action, the artillery and aircraft develop-
ment advanced far ahead of the rocket.
At the end of that War, aircraft flew at speeds of almost 300 km/hr. The air-
craft were armed with bombs and machine guns and tests were being conducted on arm-
ing regular aircraft with artillery.
Artillery had already attained firing ranges of 40 to 50 km. At the end of the
war, artillery pieces capable of covering an area of over 120 km were in existence.
This success of the artillery was quite costly, however. Costly, since each
round fired from these gigantic, long-range artillery pieces would cost up to sever-
al tens of thousands of gold rubles.The gun bores wore out rapidly, and the accuracy
of the artillery piece decreased after firing the first few dozen shells. Averaging
the time during which such an artillery piece is of maximum use, gives the startling
figure of 2.5 sec! This is true enough: It takes 0.05 sed to fire one round from a
long-range artillery piece. If we multiply this time by the amount of rounds, say
50, we will find that the average useful life of such a :.ece amounts to 2.5 sec.
very 50 to 70 rounds, the barrel of the artillery piece would have to be re-
placed. As no Fun carriage could alone sustain the 150-ton load of the huge piece,
it was decided to -nount it on the platform of a railroad car. Subsequently, it was
also molinted on a 200-ton concrete base. Of course, it was not easy to move such a
piece. In addition, it was not difficult to sp-ot such a piece,andsto destroy it
after having spotted it. Fr the new enemy of artillery, the airplane, this was a
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The guns mounted on aircraft were not solidly Mplaced. On ills
....._
1 piece did hamper the plane itself because of its recoil*. During World War II a 1
French aircraft was armed with a large-caliber gun for some time. This aircraftdis4.
integrated in the air after its first shot, so strong was the recoil. Yet, shootinIg
I
The medium-caliber artillery 'pieces with which the infantry had to be outfitted'.
.before going into battle, created a dual difficulty. On the one hand, it was neces-
i
from aircraft could only be effective if a large-caliber gun was used.
sary to provide heavy artillery fire for the support of the advancing infantrymen,
while, on the other hand, the artillery pieces had to be concealed, light, and
mobile.
Any further improvement in artillery posed immense difficulties. A substantial
contribution to the solution of these difficulties was provided by the rival of the
gun - the rocket - whose theory was developed by the Russian scientist Konstantin
Eduardovich Tsiolkovskiy.
* "Recoil" - a violent backward movement of the body of an artillery piece, occur-
ing during the actual firing. In hand weapons, this is known as "kick".
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E.?
Chapter II
ROCKET SCIENCE
Attempts to explore the flight of rockets - as is the case today with aircraft
and projectiles - with the aid of a clearer and more precise mathematical terminolo-
gy, were made even before Tsiolkovskiy/s time.
However, Tsiolkovskiy was first to arrive at the theory which was to become the
0 basis for the new technology of jet propulsion.
Tsiolkovskiy was not just a scientist. He was an inventor who possessed a style
of his own. The path which Tsiolkovskiy followed in his research was imaginative.
Men have dreamed of interplanetary travel for centuries. A large number of
science fiction books dealing with travel between planets began to appear. Is there
anyone who-has not read the absorbing science fiction of Jules Verne and H.G.Wells
dealing with the flights to the Moon.
What were the Means by which science fiction writers proposed to do this, in
their books?
3oMe of the means proposed were artillery, volcanic force and rockets that
,would ascend at tremendous speed, all of which would be able to overcome the force
of gravity; electricity harnessed from the Sun; centrifugal apparatuses; and scores
of others. All of these means had one thing in common only: they were not con-
ceived in vain.
As a youth, TSiolkovskiy dreamed of interplanetary travel and tried to invent
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various means and ways in which it could be attainee.
The first boot he wrote was on the subject of the force of gravity that kept
ran on t.le rround. re conceived an arazing laboratory consisting of a falling trol-
le- and a he rotor with whicn the force of attraction could be altered at will.
Pe drew sketches of life on asteroids cr small planetoids which, once reached
ran, would rive him adequate bases ''or evertual flight into space because of their
insignificant specific gravity.
In his fantasy, TSioll.-ovskiy uvisitedu the Poon and drew sketches of the enig-
ratic lunar world.
"in essence, the intertwining of thought and fantasy is unavoidable. Scientif-
ic observation thrives on this fact", wrote TSiolkovskiy of inventiveness.
Thus, imagination produced scientific observation.
The rocket is capable of speeds that cannot be equaled by any other vehicle.
The rocket is capable of developing such speeds gradually.
The rocket can travel effectively in space as well.
This is what Tsiolkovskiyts scientific calculations were showing.
The fantasy transformed itself into science. What others were only imagining,
Ttiolkovskiy proved.
He went further than that. He also formulated a mathematical theory for the ,
construction of the rocket, a theory at which Konstantinov could not arrive.
Formulas worked out by Tsiolkovskiy demonstrated that the speed of the rocket
depends upon the gas exhaust velocity which, in turn, depends on the heating poten-
tial of combustible materials. Thus, the larger the amount of combustible sub-
stances, the higher will be the speed of the rocket.
This is why black gunpowder, used in rockets for centuries, was a poor combust-
ible substance.
If the combustible and explosive materials are, arranged according to their re-
nical heating media, the gunpowder would be in the last place
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--ranking far below benzene, gasoline, or naphtha. Gunpowder, as a rapidly burning
1. .
2.
substance, is-irreplaceable where artillery-is concerned. In general,-however,_the-
.
000
?
rocket does not require a rapid burning process. "The ultimate speed of a rocket in
_
space will not depend on its own explosion or on how and when this will occur", con -!
cluded Tsiolkovskiy.."In terms of speed, it matters little whether this will be an
evenly spread activity or whether it will be prolonged for a second or for a millen-
ium."
Gunpowder is not usable in rockets designed for long-distance flights since the
energy supplied by it is minimal. For this very reason, its use in aircraft would
require such a large quantity that one kilometer traversed by an aircraft propelled
by gunpowder combustion would cost several thousand gold rubles.
It was only a matter of time before he would be proven correct. Today, long-
range rockets and jet-propelled aircraft use only liquid propellants.
Formula established by Tsiolkovskiy also demonstrated that the rocket can be used
to the best advantage only if flying at enormous speeds. This opinion was also held
IIIby Konstantinov, who presupposed that the use of rockets in balloons, land-operating
vehicles, and naval craft would not be advantageous. What Konstantinay presupposed,
Tsiolkovskiy proved.
The formulas which Tsiolkovskiy worked out showed that a greater speed and alti-
tude could be reached with a composite rocket which was to be made of several simp-
ler rockets. today, the planning of stage rockets, capable of crossing great dis-
-tances - across the Atlantic Ocean - is steadily going on.
For a thousand years, the rocket was made for one purpose only - to destroy.
The use of another type, namely a rocketed vehicle that would help man-to conquer
distances, never went beyond the planning stage. The science formulated by Tsiolkov-
skiy gave life to this second type.
Tsiolkovskiy composed the first set of blueprints for a huge passenger-rocket pro-
pelled by liquid fuel. Subsequently, he devised plans for a jet-propelled rocket
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,? ?
engine -fueled by liciuid-)Irope
9
,here at home_arldjabroads_Wrk9n_the10.4iis_of this. plans.
) I
If we take no matter what contemporaTy class of large rockets (long-range roc
et projectiles, high-altitude meteorological rockets, liquid-fuel jet fighters or
aerial torpedoes), we will find many things that TSiolkovskiy foresaw long before the
era of modern jet propelled aircraft.
TSiolkovskiyis rocket was an en-
tirely new type. As such, it created
new problems which technology had to
face.
No problem existed in reaching the
propellant feeder line within a rocket,
operated on gunpowder. This was done
in the combustion chamber for the com-
bustible materials.
This time the combustible sub-
stances were being kept separately and,
the feed had to be reachable. Tsiol-
kovskiy pointed out various ways in
which this could be done. Tsiolkovskiy's ideas are now being used in modern rocket
, technology.
on gunpowder there is no
problem of Cooling its parts.
Such a rocket does not have a long flight range and never heats up excessively.
The jet-propelled rocket engine, fed by liquid fuels, was designed to fly over
longer distances and thus required cooling. Tsiolkovskiy proposed. several methods
for cooling. This too, is applied in modern rocket technology.
Rockets which run on gunpowder create no problem of guidance in flight. As the
rocket began to fly over longer distances, it became necessary to be able to guide it.
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Wolkovskiy pointed out various ways in which the rocket could be guided in
flight. These ways are also being used in rocket technology.
The gunpowder-operated rocket created no landing problems either. Military
rockets required no landing facilities for obvious reasons. Where there was need
for making the rocket land, as in the case of signal type rockets, a parachute was
used. For huge rockets and for future interplanetary rockets this would no longer
be the ease. It was therefore necessary to invent a way in which the landing of
such rockets could be effected. TSiolkovskiy again pointed out several ways in
which this could be done. Once more,
1 these were applied to rocket technology.
Along the scientific path outlined
by Tsiolkovskiy, the rocket advanced from
rocket cars to rocket aircraft and strato-
1 planes (aircraft able to ascend to great
altitudes).
Tsiolkovskiy was not only working
with an eye on the contemporary technolo-
gy of jet propulsion. He was working to-
ward the technology of jet propulsion of tomorrow.
Approximately three months before his death, TSiolkovskiy was visited by a cor-
respondent of a Moscow newspaper to whom he explained the Work he was doing, in some
detail:
- Much is being said today on the subject of flight to the stratosphere.' Our
daring- pilots have already reached altitudes up to 22 kM. What a courageous upward
trend! My newest research deals with the basic principles of a design for machines
capable of going outside the atmosphere, into the stratosphere, with the aid of jet
propulsion... . .These devices Can be of two kinds: those which ascend perpendicular-
ly without wings but which are capable of returning by means of automatic devices,
Fig.9 - TSiolkovskiy/s Rocket
1 - Liquid oxygen; 2 - Liquid
fuel; 3 - Passenger cabin
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and others like airplanes which are being flown at an angle and which have a cockpit.
The cockpit can be pressurized or else the pilot himself would have to wear a protec-
tive suit known as skafander.* Such jet-propelled machines would not have to depend
at all on atmospheric density and could fly not only into the stratosphere but be-
yond any boundaries as well. - "
?.?
? .? ? ?
? ? ?
4
II
?
. . ? ..
. .
"
7
Fig.10 - Schematic Diagram for Jet-
Propelled Engine, Fueled by Liquids
1 - Storage for liquid oxygen; 2 - Storage
for combustible substance; 3 - Exhaust duct;
4 - Valves; 5 - Combustible substance feed
pump; 6 - Motor for driving the pump;
7 - Oxygen feed pump; 8 - Grating
Tsiolkovskiy became quiet for a
moment and then added thoughtfully:
" - My renewed efforts are a
product of work over a period of
many years and still not everything
has been accomplished by far. I
have to work much longer and harder
before we can conquer the upper lim-
its of the stratosphere and eventu-
ally reach beyond any boundaries.
This can be done only by us, here in
the Soviet Union.
"Beyond the Earth" was the ti-
tle of Tsiolkovskiy's book dealing
with future interplanetary rocket
'travel. In it, he imagined how peo-
ple would gradually conquer the unlimited space of the Universe.
Imagination led to scientific calculations and technological ideas.
We can only marvel today at how elaborately and resourcefully Tsiolkovskiy work-
ed on the development of interplanetary rockets.
He proposed ten types of interplanetary rockets - from a small rocket designed
? for testing purposes to the huge composite rocket capable of carrying a dozen
* A protective suit for diving or flying in the stratosphere,
pq
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_ '7
0 -- '
) dpassengers.
1
.-1- He also proposed devices which could_
_.
tary travelers.
be_used_for_training_or_future_interplanef.:
He developed a launching device (catapult-action) for interplanetary rockets.
He studied the probable living conditions during actual flights of an interplanetary'
rocket., foreseeing everything and including its re-entry into the atmosphere and con-
tact with the Earth.
He invented a method whereby the rocket could safely return to Earth.
Only when keeping in mind how man-made rockets left the laboratory stage to fly
faster than even the fastest of aircraft, can we appreciate the significance and the
intellectual audacity of this Russian scientific genius. A genius who anticipated
the day when the rocket would become the conqueror of the most untameable natural
force - gravity.
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"The technology of reactive motion is the most difficult one in the world",
The entire history of the rocket engine confirms the premise expounded in these
Experiments directed toward the use of a sky?rocket go back to the times of an?
.tiquity, almost coinciding with the appearance of the rocket itself.
An ancient Chinese legend relates how an unsuccessful attempt to ascend to high
altitudes with rockets was made. In due time, military rockets were perfected to
the point where they could carry heavy shells over fairly long distances. It is
therefore quite .natural that inventors directed their thoughts repeatedly toward the
Among those who concentrated their attention on the rocket as a means for fly?
ing was a Russian inventor, Kibalchic, who proposed that rockets operating on gun?
powder should be used. Kibalchichls project was, singularly interesting because he
grasped quite correctly one of the most important of the attributes of rockets: the
Unfortunately, the, outcome of Kibalchichts great ideas remained uncertain unti
time of the great October Revolution.
Kibalchich was the first to approach the rocket as if it were merely another ?
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machine, based on and subjected to the same immutable laws of physics.
What are the laws which guide the rocket in flight? This is wh t the third fun?
damental law of mechanics states: "Every action involves an equal and op. osite re?
action".
Let us first exarine the forces generated at the instant an artillery shell is
set in motion, while still inside the gun barrel.
The force of the gases created by the gunpowder and acting on the shell is enor?
Fig.11 ? N.I.Kibalchich
mous. This means that the artillery
piece ought to move together with the
shell, only in a direction opposite to
that of the shell. This is true enough:
When firing takes place, a bullet or a
shell will fly in one direction while
the rifle or the artillery piece will
move in another. The mass of the bullet
or shell is many times less than the
mass of the rifle or the artillery piece.
Consequently, the effect of this force
acting on the rifle or the artillery
piece is insignificant. lowever, no mat?
ter how minimal the effect of this force, it will be at. exactly as is the case in
firing rifles and artillery pieces. .
We have known this force as "kick" or recoil. Its motion is the result of re?
pulsion and can only accur where motion itself is present. The reactive force which
propels the rocket is essentially the force of recoil. The only difference is that,
in the rocket, this force alone will carry the shell in flight, while the motion of
the shell, will be created by the, artillery piece.
This is how we came across the reactive force which was long hidden under a
??? ?????. '1 Al AA I.?
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wrong designation.
It is possible that this force was solely dependent on gunpowder.
If we ask what moves a car, you will automatically reply that it is being moved'
by the engine. You are wrong, since the enrine does not set a car into motion. It
only rotates its wheels.
The process is essentially as follows: The fuel burns in the combustion chamber
of the cylinder block and moves the pistons which, in turn, set the crankshaft into
motion. The latter then rotates the wheels which exert traction on the ground, fi-
nally causing the car to move forward. This is how long it takes the motion to be
/
- ? "I
??77) "N, t
461.11111 ? "
?
......????????????
Fig.12 - Forces which Propel the Aircraft and the Rocket
1 - Gas stream; 2 - Force of reaction; 3 - Air scooped by
the propeller; 4 - Propeller hub.
transmitted before the car can move from its stationary position. It follows from
this that the engine does not move the car but that it moves the wheels.
What is then the force which moves the car itself? It is produced by traction
or adhesive friction of the ground and the wheels. The force of traction, the re-
coil, and the force of reaction are one and the same.
In traction we thus find still another designation under which the reactive
force was hidden.
The earth is a compact body. Therefore, we can rebound from it. Can we re-
bound from the air? What moves an airplane, for example? Perhaps this time you
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0
-114111 not be too quick in answering that is the engine that sets the airplane into
_
?
motion.
As in the automobile, the aircraft engine produces movement essentially in the
same manner: the shaft rotates, setting the propeller in motion. The propeller sco-
ops the air and, at the same time, hurls it backward.
Within a single second, the propeller of a modern aircraft will hurl backward
about 150 cm3 of air at great speed. In performing this repulsion of air, the pro-
peller moves the entire aircraft.
This is also a force of reaction.
As established later, the force of reaction is involved whenever a motion takes
place. For every action there is a reaction. This is one of the fundamental laws
of mechanics.
This explains the presence of the reactive force. The force of reaction is
thus the counteracting force of this law.
Sometimes it is difficult to perceive this force immediately, as was the case
with automobiles and aircraft. The difficulty lies in the more apparent and mislead-
ing function of the intermediary parts, namely the wheel between the car and the
-ground or the propeller between the aircraft and the air. The motion is not derived
through a direct reaction of these parts.
In rockets, the reactive force is immediately evident. The et engine creates
a set of gas streams which move the rocket forward. The motion in this instance is
derived by direct reaction.
The aircraft propeller hurls backward a large mass of air, but the speed of
this process is relatively minor. Conversely, the rocket engine hurls backward a
minor amount of gases but it does this at an enormous speed which is not the case
with the intermediary part of the aircraft, namely the propeller.
The possibilit:- of doing away with these intermediary parts attracted a great
deal of inter.st among inventors. The first jet engine was constructed approximate-
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A
,_n
recoil of the steam issuing from the two tubes.
I.
ly 126 years before our Ira. It oOr$iItI
ent_tubes_attachod.?Thial ball-like
Inventor Segner constructed a reactive wheel driven by water: "Segnerts Wheel"
111-'
was used a great deal for teaching students attending physics laboratories through-
out various schools.
The
idea for exploring the reactive motion originated at a time when other types
of motion were already being tried.
Along with vessels propelled by paddle
wheels and screw propellers, there appeai'ed
ships which moved by reaction.
The water was sucked in through the for-
ward part of the ship. The water then passed
through the pump which hurled the water mass
backward and out via the stern ducts, setting
the entire vessel into a forward motion.
Fig.13 - Segnerls Wheel
The first vessel propelled by reaction
reached a speed of seven kilometers per hour.
During the next few years, the contro-
versy between the advocates of the screw propeller and the advocates of the jet en-
gine increased considerably. A huge ship, with a powerful steam engine which set
the water pumps in motion, was constructed. At the same time, two ordinary screw-
propelled vessels with dimensions similar to those of the ship propelled by reaction
were being tested for speed. At that particular time, the jet-propelled ships al-
ready reached a speed of about eighteen kilometers per hour. In spite of its suc-
cessful performance, the jet-propelled ship was outrun by its rival, the screw-pro-
pelled vessel, with comparative ease.
The inventors of jet-propelled vessels continued their.disagreement. Their ef-
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forts were now concentrated on finding a way to reduce the energy loss occuring while
the water mass passed through the vessel itself. They perfected the water pump and
constructed a jet-propelled ship that could reverse its motion: The ducts through
which the water flows outward could now be inverted, changing the direction in which
the ship had been moving previously. As soon as this was done, the inventors chal-
lenred the screw-propelled vessels to a speed match.., and, once again, were defeat-
ed. The ship propelled by the force of reaction appeared to be less practical than
conventional vessels since considerable energy was, being lost through its internal
work.
The inventors then proposed that reactive notion be applied to aircraft, also.
In this, they were prompted by considering the possibility of utilizing this type of
motive power as one which is simpler and less costly than any other.
In the case of ships, this power was to be supplied by water while in aircraft
it was to be supplied ty air. The air was scooped up by the aircraft propeller and
then hqrlel backward into the atmosphere, all of which resulted in the creation of
reactive motion. Pro;ects of this kind began to outdistance all others. A strong
resemllance WAS detectable in all these projects. The only difference was in the
method ly which the air was to be compressed.
Some inventors proposed tnat,tne entire craft should spin with its engine: its
centrifui:al force, .by a. rapid rotation of the central shaft, would force the air
particles ontwari, collecting these at the'bottom and thus creating the reactive
motion.
Otlers proposed that a separate fan-like impeller be used for compressing the
Still ot...ers proiosed that the aircraft carry within its structure small ballo-
ons whicn were to le cnarged with the compressed air prior to take-off.
'Nssian inventors carried out a series of tests for application of reactive mo-
tion to aircraft. In this undertaking, they were aided by circumstances which were
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fortunate, namely by the fact that the Russian rocket technology was at a very high
level and, in the realm of rocket construction, Russia occupied one of the first pla-
ces among the nations of the middle of the Nineteenth Century.
"Toward a way of guiding balloons", was the title of a book written by the Rus-
sian inventor, the Engineers' Staff-Captain Treteski, who was working on blueprints
for a let-propelled balloon, back in 1849. The reactive power which was to move the
balloon could be derived either from steam, gases, or compressed air discharged from
openings in the stern of the balloon. Treteskiy named his balloons steam-balloons,
gas-balloons, and air-balloons accordingly.
"The airship c%ght to fly as the rocket does" reasoned inventor N.Sokovnin who
was working on a dirigible jet-propelled airship, as early as 1866. His airship was
to move by the force of reaction, resulting from the streams of compressed air dis-
charged through the bent tubes. In the opinion of the inventor, it was possible to
guide the airship without its stern since these tubes could rotate back and forth.
The Russian inventor Fedoroi advanced, in one of his books, the idea for a re-
active apparatus which would be propelled by the recoil force of the compressed air
or gases, as the case may be. His book was entitled "New method of aviation which
would prevent the atmosphere from being a medium of resistance".
Fedorov was referring to a jet engine as the means for flying beyond the atmos-
phere and into interplanetary space.
Although projects of this kind failed to materialize, they showed that the Rus-
sian inventors were extremely interested in the idea of flying by means of reaCtive
motion. They persistently continued to work on this idea.
Many inventors were working on the idea of flying by means of reactive motion,
while they were engaged in experiments for the use of steam or gases generated by
combustion of fuel, as was the case with the rocket.
All of them added something new, and patents or grants to inventors conferring ?
upon them exclusive author rights, began to appear one after another.
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' ? Patenti were especially widespread id the field of technical literature, which
listed millions af.inventions and as manylauthors... but which had_few_readers. The
4-"-1
1
few who did read this literature mere mostly experts from the patent office and the
. inventors themselves.
411 There was virtually no branch of technology that were not representedin the
patent literature. There were also branches of technology presented only by a few
patents and again others presented by hundreds and thousands of patents. The rocket
branch was among the latter.
The emergence of the theory of reactive motion, as stated by Tsiolkovskiy, great?
ly facilitated the task of inventors by giving them the right direction, namely a
direction founded upon science.
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CHAPTER IV
BETWEEN THE TWO WARS
Aircraft preceded the liquid?fuel rocket by a quarter of a century.
However, the airplane appeared only after the rocket science was already formu?
lated and the rocket technology already developed and firmly entrenched as such.
Both the rocket and the airplane served one major purpose ? to help man get off
the ground.
With the flying craft, man aspired to conquer the air space.
With the rocket, an planned to climb fuither and get beyond the range of the
aircraft.
Aircraft and rocket did not have the same fate.
The first World War led to the development of a new kind of weapon, military
aviation. The airplane itself predated this weapon by fifteen years.
The new rocket appeared .only during the second World War, since it took all of
four decades to develop it.
The new rocket was developed through the joint efforts of a whole army of sci?
entists and technicians. Their work resembled an active order' of battle formation.
Over and above the entire army, there were reconnaissance men ? the scientists. ,
They discovered new avenues of approach, pointed the way, and crystallized problems
that had to be solved. Next came the advance patrols - tha inventors, who Sought to
find immediate solutions to these problems. They were finally followed into the bat?
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tie by the rmin bulk of forces: the enrineers, technicians, overseers, and designers
who, in turn, experimented, tried out, checked, constructed, and applied.
In this instance, as in any battle, the immediate deployment of forces may have
varied as one action led to another, but the main objective remained the same: to
construct a rocket that can fly fast, high, and over long distances.
Twenty-five years were to pass since the turn of the century, which is when Tsi-
oliwvskiy formulated the rocket science, before such a rocket would be ready for
its actual take-off.
Many difficulties had to be resolved first.
Above all, a suitable type of fuel for the rocket had to be found. This fuel
would have to have a high heating value. Its relative efficiency would have to be
very high if bulky fuel chambers were to be avoided.
This fuel would have to boil at high temperatures without evaporating premature-
ly, if it was to supply a steady heat requirement from the fuel chamber.
Two heating agents, fuel and oxygen, .would have to mix well within the chamber.
These agents would have to he Ieadily inflammable and capable of rapid combustion.
Finally, such fuel would have to be readily available at low cost.
There are many forms of liquid fuel. When the actual selection of the fuel
most suited for the rocket propulsion took place, lc form of fuel was found
to be adequate - not even emulsions of highest quality. In order to get such a fuel
form then, a suitable oxidizer had to be discovered.
As the search for the final fuel product that would best suit the rocket went
on, a series of emulsions involving fuel substances and oxidizers were tried out.
Hundreds and even thousands of experiments and observations to this effect were made.
Nor were these the only difficulties.
As the fuel burns, the pressure within the internal combustion engine mounts
rapidly.
This also occurs lu the cylinder blocks of ordinary engines, with the following
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important difference: The pressure increases and decreases at regular intervals al?
lowing the fuel to enter at the moment when the pressure is lowest.
In the rocket, the chamber is working under constant high pressure which pre?
vents an easy inflow of fuel. To resolve the problem of feeding the fuel into the
chamber, it was decided that a kind of compressed gas ought to be used. This gas was
to be forced into balloon?like containers located directly above the combustion cham?
ber. As the as expands, its counterpressure would drive the fuel into the chamber.
LI iffeljoral
Fig.14 ? Sketch of a Liquid?Fuel Rocket
1 ? Tank for liquid oxygen; 2 ? Fuel chamber; 3 ? Combustible
chamber; 4 ? Gas exhaust duct
Feeding the chamber in this way turned out to be exceedingly awkward. Besides
the constant .high pressure within the chamber, its walls were thick and too heavy.
This very problem had already taxed the imagination of Tsiolkovskiy.He proposed that
a fuel pump be constructed instead. In this way, the walls Of the combusion chamber
could be made considerably thinner and the whole bulk thus lightened.'
The jet engine requires a huge amount of fuel many more times than the ordinary
aircraft engine. Only a pump could do the job of feeding the engine with hundreds
of kilograms of fuel without great-difficulty.
A great deal of effort was still required before the fuel could be fed into the
combustion chamber with ease. Much work ensued. The oxidizer and the fuel had to? ,
be well matched. The fuel had to burn up rapidly without creating a deposit of cow.
bustion products.
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,
As a result, it was proposed that a' w.-part chanter be constructed Althin'th
.1
, 1
,
first part, the mixing of fuel components would take place along with the_fuel_igmier_
tion. The actual combustion of the ignited fuel would be completed in the second
part. Constant mixing of the fuel components would be ensured by their constantly
being agitated during the flight.
The ignition of the fuel itself provided still another difficulty.
The first rockets frequently exploded on take-off.
No one knows exactly how many ways of igniting the fuel were tried at one time
or another - from the simplest way of placing guncotton at the end of a rod, to igni-
tion by electrical or chemical reaction. This problem was finally solved also.
At present, the fuel is fed into the combustible chamber where it is burned.
Here another difficulty, that of heat occurs. The chamber temperature reaches as
much as 35000. At such temperatures, many substances not only melt but boil as well.
This difficulty is by no means restricted to the chamber alone. The end opening of
? the duct from which the discharged gases issue is subjected to intense heat and
tends to wear rapidly as a result of the enormous exhaust velocity which may be as
hirh as two thousand meters per second.
Tsiolkovskiy pointed out that the combustion chamber and the nozzle of the gas
exnaust duct would have to he made of the strongest heat-resistant steel alloys.
Since this alone mi-ht not be adequate, he maintained that both the chamber and the
nozzle should be coo]ed.
Tsiolkovskiy came uP with a simple way for doing this: The fuel itself would
act as the coolinr ar,ent. It would first absorb the heat from the metal parts of
encine and then diffuse it, after intensification, throughout the fuel chamber. i
Sucn a transfer of heat would also facilitate the ignition of the fuel itself. Thus,
one more problem was solved.
At the 'einning, the combustion .within the rocket engine lasted only a brief
interval.of time. Later, liquid-fuel rockets capable of continuous internal combus7
.3 5
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W4i2 .tM?tt ,?0 .? ?
? Y,'"%irr47 ;.117?2&N.
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s PRLIAWO,Mtli
on7?
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the two Weis.
The gases issue from tice-nozzle of the exhaust duct, propelling the recketfor7::.
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-ward at ever increasing speeds.
But, the rocket still had to be guided in its flight trajectory.
To this end, Tsiolkovskiy proposed-that a rudder impeller, made of strong heat-
resistant materials, be placed in the path of the gas stream, as was the case in the
juxtaposition of the aircraft control surfaces and the air flow. When tilted to one
side, the rudder vane would change the direction of motion of the exhaust which would
in turn change the course of the rocket. The rudder vane could be tilted automati-
cally.
This is how the large rockets were to be steered in flight.
Large rockets appeared relatively late.
The first liquid-fuel rockets were rather small in size and were never used for
actual flights. They were mounted on the launching platform while observations re-
lative to their gas-stream performance were made. Serious mishaps occurred even
with these small rockets, since occasionally the fuel chamber exploded or the com-
bustible chamber burned completely in its own flames.
When the construction of larger rockets took place, additional protective meas-
ures had to be taken. The rocket engine would be set in motion by remote control
from a great distance, while its effect would be observed with binoculars and field .
glasses, as if the rocket were a wartime enemy.
All the observing Was lone behind a heavy concrete wall. Explosions and ensu-
ing fragmentation were not infrequent and closely resembled actual combat conditions.
Nevertheless, the day when the victory was won finally came. The liquid-fuel
rocket, developed by the Soviet inventor and Fellow of the Artillery Science Academy,
M.K.Tikhonravov, underwent a series of highly successful flight tests. As the news-
36
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? ? ? ? - - . diep
? ' .? ;i:4 '43, a ?'??, S'31???4' '7
4'71 1.- ?
.nliz.1\,?,. ?
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the two Wars.
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aliiln:
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The gases issue from the nozzle of the exhaust duct, proPelling the rocket for-
ward at ever increasing speeds.
But, the rocket still had to be guided in its flight trajectory.'
To this end, Tsiolkovskiy proposed-that a rudder impeller, made of strong heat-
resistant materials, be placed in the path of the gas stream, as was the case in the
juxtaposition of the aircraft control surfaces and the air flow. When tilted to one
side, the rudder vane would change the direction of motion of the exhaust which would
in turn change the course of the rocket. The rudder vane could be tilted automati-
cally.
This is how the large rockets were to be steered in flight.
Large rockets appeared relatively late.
The first liquid-fuel rockets were rather small in size and were never used for
actual flights. They were mounted on the launching platform while observations re-
lative to their gas-stream performance were made. Serious mishaps occurred even
with these small rockets, since occasionally the fuel chamber exploded or the com-
bustible chamber burned completely in its own flames.
. When the construction of larger rockets took place, additional protective meas-
ures had to be taken. The rocket engine would be set in motion by remote control
from a great distance, while its effect would be observed with binoculars and field
glasses, as if the rocket were a wartime enemy.
All the, observing was done behind a heavy concrete wall. Explosions and ensu-
inc fragmentation were not infrequent and closely resembled actual combat conditions.
Nevertheless, the day when the victory was won finally came. The liquid-fuel
rocket, developed by the Soviet inventor.and Fellow of the Artillery Science Academy,
M.K.Tikhonravov, underwent a series of hichq.y successful flight tests. As the news-
36
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papers reported at the time: "The flight of the rocket presents an extremely beauti-
ful spectacle. The cirar-shaped silvery body of the rocket is placed upon the launch-
inr platform several ;%eters high. The actual take-off is triggered by means of an
electric switch located half a kilometer fro r the launching site. As soon as the
switch is thr
, a stronr oise is heard and almost simultaneously a narrow flame
tongue appears at the rear of the rocket and mushrooms into a light-yellow flower
bud. The rocket then slides upward along t.e strairht rails built into the launching
platfor!. and, finally, is hurled into the air. Upon reaching its uppermost point of
-.4at;;.-- _
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