GIRD-X


Exhibits of the Museum of Space and Rocket Technology Saint Petersburg : Left picture: Replicas of the experimental rockets GIRD-09 (left) and GIRD-X (right) Right picture: Replica of the "Type 10" rocket engine

GIRD-X ( Russian ГИРД-X ) was the first Soviet rocket with a liquid propulsion . She was in the Moscow office of GIRD from 1932 to 1933 a. a. Developed by Friedrich Zander and Sergei Koroljow from the unrealized Project 10 from 1928.

The rocket had a length of 220 cm and a diameter of 14 cm. The span of the stabilization surfaces was 37.5 cm. The mass was 29.5 kg, of which 8.3 kg accounted for the fuel and 2 kg for the payload. 78% ethanol and liquid oxygen were used as fuel . According to Gluschko, the " Type 10 " engine, mainly developed by Zander, delivered a thrust of 70 kilopond (SI-compliant: around 686 N) with a specific impulse of 162 to 175 s (SI-compliant: 1589 to 1716 Ns / kg) during test runs . It was designed to burn for 16 to 22 seconds.

After Zander died of typhus on March 28, 1933, Korolev completed the work on the GIRD-X rocket alone. The first launch took place on November 25, 1933 in Nachabino near Moscow. The engine mount and fuel line broke at a height of around 80 m. As a result, the rocket deviated considerably from the intended vertical flight path and hit 150 m away from the launch point. The launch of the GIRD-X rocket, together with that of the predecessor GIRD-09, marked the birth of Soviet rocket technology.

The Korolev design of the GIRD-X was reused in more advanced missiles from 1935 to 1937. The rocket motor developed by Zander was later forgotten.

literature

Peter Stache: The GIRD's first Soviet liquid rocket . In: Wolfgang Sellenthin (Ed.): Fliegerkalender der DDR 1985 . Military Publishing House of the GDR, Berlin 1984, p. 75-87 .
Peter Stache: Soviet missiles in the service of science and defense . Military Publishing House of the GDR, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-327-00302-5 , p. 32/33 .

Web links

From the History of the Rocket Propulsion Research Group Website of the Russian State Archives for Scientific and Technical Documentation (Russian, accessed June 2, 2020)
GIRD-10 in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e W.P.Gluschko : missile development and space in the USSR , Moscow engineer Verlag, 1987 ( Russian . Глушко В. П .: Развитие ракетостроения и космонавтики в СССР, М .: Машиностроение , online ; retrieved on June 2, 2020)

Remarks

↑ In the case of rocket engines, it is common to describe the mass as its weight under normal fall acceleration, whereby the (weight) specific impulse is shown in the unit s. A specific impulse given in this unit can be converted into the SI-compliant value by multiplying it by the acceleration due to gravity of around 9.806 m / s².

[Gluschko-1] W.P.Gluschko : missile development and space in the USSR , Moscow engineer Verlag, 1987 ( Russian . Глушко В. П .: Развитие ракетостроения и космонавтики в СССР, М .: Машиностроение , online ; retrieved on June 2, 2020)

[2] In the case of rocket engines, it is common to describe the mass as its weight under normal fall acceleration, whereby the (weight) specific impulse is shown in the unit s. A specific impulse given in this unit can be converted into the SI-compliant value by multiplying it by the acceleration due to gravity of around 9.806 m / s².