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74-443: Several Soviet and Russian rocket engines use the approach of clustering small combustion chambers around a single turbine and pump. During the early 1950s, many Soviet engine designers, including Valentin P. Glushko , faced problems of combustion instability while designing bigger thrust chambers. At that time, they solved the problem by using a cluster of smaller thrust chambers. The RD-170 engine featured four combustion chambers and

148-421: A spaceport (cosmodrome), which may be equipped with launch complexes and launch pads for vertical rocket launches and runways for takeoff and landing of carrier airplanes and winged spacecraft. Spaceports are situated well away from human habitation for noise and safety reasons. ICBMs have various special launching facilities. A launch is often restricted to certain launch windows . These windows depend upon

222-496: A sub-orbital spaceflight the spacecraft reaches space and then returns to the atmosphere after following a (primarily) ballistic trajectory. This is usually because of insufficient specific orbital energy , in which case a suborbital flight will last only a few minutes, but it is also possible for an object with enough energy for an orbit to have a trajectory that intersects the Earth's atmosphere, sometimes after many hours. Pioneer 1

296-512: A "time buffer" and substantially widened the allowable launch windows . The parking orbit gave the crew and controllers time to thoroughly check out the spacecraft after the stresses of launch before committing it for a long journey to the Moon. Robotic missions do not require an abort capability and require radiation minimalization only for delicate electronics, and because modern launchers routinely meet "instantaneous" launch windows, space probes to

370-443: A counter measure to United States bomber planes in the 1950s. The Tsiolkovsky-influenced Sergey Korolev became the chief rocket designer, and derivatives of his R-7 Semyorka missiles were used to launch the world's first artificial Earth satellite , Sputnik 1 , on October 4, 1957. The U.S., after the launch of Sputnik and two embarrassing failures of Vanguard rockets , launched Explorer 1 on February 1, 1958. Three years later,

444-416: A flight that normally lasts over twenty hours , could be traversed in less than one hour. While no company offers this type of transportation today, SpaceX has revealed plans to do so as early as the 2020s using Starship . Suborbital spaceflight over an intercontinental distance requires a vehicle velocity that is only a little lower than the velocity required to reach low Earth orbit. If rockets are used,

518-451: A launch tower and flame trench. It is surrounded by equipment used to erect, fuel, and maintain launch vehicles. Before launch, the rocket can weigh hundreds of tons. The Space Shuttle Columbia , on STS-1 , weighed 2030 metric tons (4,480,000 lb) at takeoff. The most commonly used definition of outer space is everything beyond the Kármán line , which is 100 kilometers (62 mi) above

592-595: A liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926. During World War II , the first guided rocket, the V-2 , was developed and employed as a weapon by Nazi Germany . During a test flight in June 1944, one such rocket reached space at an altitude of 189 kilometers (102 nautical miles), becoming the first human-made object to reach space. At the end of World War II, most of the V-2 rocket team, including its head, Wernher von Braun , surrendered to

666-502: 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

740-597: A new control system. First test sample was manufactured in early 2019. Tests were reported to have been successfully completed in September 2021. The RD-180 uses only two combustion chambers instead of the four of the RD-170. The RD-180 used on the Atlas V replaced the three engines used on early Atlas rockets with a single engine and achieved significant payload and performance gains. This engine had also been chosen to be

814-611: A pre-programmed list of operations that will be executed unless otherwise instructed. A robotic spacecraft for scientific measurements is often called a space probe or space observatory . Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to lower cost and risk factors. In addition, some planetary destinations such as Venus or the vicinity of Jupiter are too hostile for human survival, given current technology. Outer planets such as Saturn , Uranus , and Neptune are too distant to reach with current crewed spaceflight technology, so telerobotic probes are

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888-624: 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

962-491: Is done by a set of orbital maneuvers called space rendezvous . After rendezvousing with the space station, the space vehicle then docks or berths with the station. Docking refers to joining of two separate free-flying space vehicles, while berthing refers to mating operations where an inactive vehicle is placed into the mating interface of another space vehicle by using a robotic arm . Vehicles in orbit have large amounts of kinetic energy. This energy must be discarded if

1036-887: Is effective mainly because of its ability to sustain thrust even as the atmosphere thins. Many ways to reach space other than rocket engines have been proposed. Ideas such as the space elevator , and momentum exchange tethers like rotovators or skyhooks require new materials much stronger than any currently known. Electromagnetic launchers such as launch loops might be feasible with current technology. Other ideas include rocket-assisted aircraft/spaceplanes such as Reaction Engines Skylon (currently in early stage development), scramjet powered spaceplanes, and RBCC powered spaceplanes. Gun launch has been proposed for cargo. On some missions beyond LEO (Low Earth Orbit) , spacecraft are inserted into parking orbits, or lower intermediary orbits. The parking orbit approach greatly simplified Apollo mission planning in several important ways. It acted as

1110-586: Is impossible. To date several academics have studied intergalactic travel in a serious manner. Spacecraft are vehicles designed to operate in space. The first 'true spacecraft' is sometimes said to be Apollo Lunar Module , since this was the only crewed vehicle to have been designed for, and operated only in space; and is notable for its non-aerodynamic shape. Spacecraft today predominantly use rockets for propulsion , but other propulsion techniques such as ion drives are becoming more common, particularly for uncrewed vehicles, and this can significantly reduce

1184-541: Is known as Kessler syndrome . There are several terms that refer to a flight into or through outer space . A space mission refers to a spaceflight intended to achieve an objective. Objectives for space missions may include space exploration , space research , and national firsts in spaceflight. Space transport is the use of spacecraft to transport people or cargo into or through outer space. This may include human spaceflight and cargo spacecraft flight. The first theoretical proposal of space travel using rockets

1258-556: 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

1332-647: Is more fuel-efficient for a craft to burn its fuel as close as possible to its periapsis (lowest point); see Oberth effect . Astrodynamics is the study of spacecraft trajectories, particularly as they relate to gravitational and propulsion effects. Astrodynamics allows for a spacecraft to arrive at its destination at the correct time without excessive propellant use. An orbital maneuvering system may be needed to maintain or change orbits. Non-rocket orbital propulsion methods include solar sails , magnetic sails , plasma-bubble magnetic systems , and using gravitational slingshot effects. The term "transfer energy" means

1406-455: Is not generally recognized by the public that the increase in potential energy required to pass the Kármán line is only about 3% of the orbital energy (potential plus kinetic energy) required by the lowest possible Earth orbit (a circular orbit just above the Kármán line.) In other words, it is far easier to reach space than to stay there. On May 17, 2004, Civilian Space eXploration Team launched

1480-650: Is the fifth spacecraft put on an escape trajectory leaving the Solar System . Voyager 1 , Voyager 2 , Pioneer 10 , Pioneer 11 are the earlier ones. The one farthest from the Sun is Voyager 1 , which is more than 100 AU distant and is moving at 3.6 AU per year. In comparison, Proxima Centauri , the closest star other than the Sun, is 267,000 AU distant. It will take Voyager 1 over 74,000 years to reach this distance. Vehicle designs using other techniques, such as nuclear pulse propulsion are likely to be able to reach

1554-547: 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

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1628-863: 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

1702-528: 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

1776-484: The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation , can be used to find the total Δ v {\displaystyle \Delta v} , or potential change in velocity. This formula, which is still used by engineers, is a key concept of spaceflight. Spaceflight became a practical possibility with the work of Robert H. Goddard 's publication in 1919 of his paper A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes . His application of

1850-461: The USSR made one orbit around the Earth. In official Soviet documents, there is no mention of the fact that Gagarin parachuted the final seven miles. As of 2020, the only spacecraft regularly used for human spaceflight are Soyuz , Shenzhou , and Crew Dragon . The U.S. Space Shuttle fleet operated from April 1981 until July 2011. SpaceShipOne has conducted three human suborbital space flights. On

1924-457: The de Laval nozzle to liquid-fuel rockets improved efficiency enough for interplanetary travel to become possible. After further research, Goddard attempted to secure an Army contract for a rocket-propelled weapon in the first World War but his plans were foiled by the November 11, 1918 armistice with Germany . After choosing to work with private financial support, he was the first to launch

1998-736: The 1950s with the launches of the Soviet Sputnik satellites and American Explorer and Vanguard missions. Human spaceflight programs include the Soyuz , Shenzhou , the past Apollo Moon landing and the Space Shuttle programs . Other current spaceflight are conducted to the International Space Station and to China's Tiangong Space Station . Spaceflights include the launches of Earth observation and telecommunications satellites, interplanetary missions ,

2072-657: 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

2146-403: The Earth's surface. (The United States defines outer space as everything beyond 50 miles (80 km) in altitude.) Rocket engines remain the only currently practical means of reaching space, with planes and high-altitude balloons failing due to lack of atmosphere and alternatives such as space elevators not yet being built. Chemical propulsion, or the acceleration of gases at high velocities,

2220-721: 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

2294-645: The Gemini program ended just before the Apollo 1 tragedy. Following multiple uncrewed test flights of the Saturn 1B and the Saturn V , the U.S. launched the crewed Apollo 7 mission into low earth orbit . Shortly after its successful completion, the U.S. launched Apollo 8 (first mission to orbit the moon), Apollo 9 (first Apollo mission to launch with both the CSM and the LEM ) and Apollo 10 (first mission to nearly land on

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2368-459: The GoFast rocket on a suborbital flight, the first amateur spaceflight. On June 21, 2004, SpaceShipOne was used for the first privately funded human spaceflight . Point-to-point, or Earth to Earth transportation, is a category of sub-orbital spaceflight in which a spacecraft provides rapid transport between two terrestrial locations. A conventional airline route between London and Sydney ,

2442-459: The Moon and developed continuous crewed human presence in space with a series of space stations , ranging from the Salyut program to the International Space Station . Rockets are the only means currently capable of reaching orbit or beyond. Other non-rocket spacelaunch technologies have yet to be built, or remain short of orbital speeds. A rocket launch for a spaceflight usually starts from

2516-423: The Moon and other planets generally use direct injection to maximize performance by limiting the boil off of cryogenic propellants . Although some might coast briefly during the launch sequence, they do not complete one or more full parking orbits before the burn that injects them onto an Earth escape trajectory. The escape velocity from a celestial body decreases as the distance from the body increases. However, it

2590-649: 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

2664-514: The USA on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin 's flight, on 12 April 1981. During the Shuttle era, six orbiters were built, all of which flown in the atmosphere and five of which flown in space. The Enterprise was used only for approach and landing tests, launching from the back of a Boeing 747 and gliding to deadstick landings at Edwards AFB, California . The first Space Shuttle to fly into space

2738-537: The USSR launched Vostok 1, carrying cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into orbit. The US responded with the suborbital launch of Alan Shepard on May 5, 1961, and the orbital launch of John Glenn on February 20, 1962. These events were followed by a pledge from U.S. President John F. Kennedy to go to the moon and the creation of the Gemini and Apollo programs. After successfully performing a rendezvous and docking and an EVA ,

2812-644: The United States, and were expatriated to work on American missiles at what became the Army Ballistic Missile Agency , producing missiles such as Juno I and Atlas . The Soviet Union , in turn, captured several V2 production facilities and built several replicas, with 5 of their 11 rockets successfully reaching their targets. (This was relatively consistent with Nazi Germany's success rate.) The Soviet Union developed intercontinental ballistic missiles to carry nuclear weapons as

2886-546: 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

2960-432: The ability to deorbit themselves. This becomes a major issue when large numbers of uncontrollable spacecraft exist in frequently used orbits, increasing the risk of debris colliding with functional satellites. This problem is exacerbated when large objects, often upper stages, break up in orbit or collide with other objects, creating often hundreds of small, hard to find pieces of debris. This problem of continuous collisions

3034-504: 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

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3108-609: 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

3182-561: 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

3256-508: 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

3330-413: 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

3404-671: 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

3478-567: The finest example of Glushko's technical abilities when he was at his best. Space flight Spaceflight (or space flight ) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft , into or through outer space , either with or without humans on board . Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in orbit around Earth , but also includes space probes for flights beyond Earth orbit. Such spaceflights operate either by telerobotic or autonomous control. The first spaceflights began in

3552-685: The main propulsion system for the first stage of the now cancelled Russian Rus-M rocket. The RD-191 is a single-chamber version used in the Russian Angara rocket. Variants of RD-191 include RD-151 in South Korean Naro-1 rocket, RD-181 in American Orbital ATK Antares rocket, and the proposed RD-193 for the Soyuz-2-1v project. On 28 July 2011, NPO Energomash summarised the results of

3626-409: The moon). These events culminated with the first crewed moon landing, Apollo 11 , and six subsequent missions, five of which successfully landed on the moon. Spaceflight has been widely employed by numerous government and commercial entities for placing satellites into orbit around Earth for a broad range of purposes. Certain government agencies have also sent uncrewed spacecraft exploring space beyond

3700-406: The nearest star significantly faster. Another possibility that could allow for human interstellar spaceflight is to make use of time dilation , as this would make it possible for passengers in a fast-moving vehicle to travel further into the future while aging very little, in that their great speed slows down the rate of passage of on-board time. However, attaining such high speeds would still require

3774-518: 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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3848-402: The only way to explore them. Telerobotics also allows exploration of regions that are vulnerable to contamination by Earth micro-organisms since spacecraft can be sterilized. Humans can not be sterilized in the same way as a spaceship, as they coexist with numerous micro-organisms, and these micro-organisms are also hard to contain within a spaceship or spacesuit. The first uncrewed space mission

3922-399: The position of celestial bodies and orbits relative to the launch site. The biggest influence is often the rotation of the Earth. Once launched, orbits are normally located within relatively constant flat planes at a fixed angle to the axis of the Earth, and the Earth rotates within this orbit. A launch pad is a fixed structure designed to dispatch airborne vehicles. It generally consists of

3996-402: The remainder heats the atmosphere. The Mercury , Gemini , and Apollo capsules splashed down in the sea. These capsules were designed to land at relatively low speeds with the help of a parachute. Soviet/Russian capsules for Soyuz make use of a big parachute and braking rockets to touch down on land. Spaceplanes like the Space Shuttle land like a glider . After a successful landing,

4070-426: The rendezvouses and dockings with space stations , and crewed spaceflights on scientific or tourist missions. Spaceflight can be achieved conventionally via multistage rockets , which provide the thrust to overcome the force of gravity and propel spacecraft onto suborbital trajectories . If the mission is orbital , the spacecraft usually separates the first stage and ignites the second stage , which propels

4144-463: The size of the rocket relative to the payload is similar to an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Any intercontinental spaceflight has to surmount problems of heating during atmospheric re-entry that are nearly as large as those faced by orbital spaceflight. A minimal orbital spaceflight requires much higher velocities than a minimal sub-orbital flight, and so it is technologically much more challenging to achieve. To achieve orbital spaceflight,

4218-431: The spacecraft to high enough speeds that it reaches orbit. Once in orbit, spacecraft are at high enough speeds that they fall around the Earth rather than fall back to the surface. Most spacecraft, and all crewed spacecraft, are designed to deorbit themselves or, in the case of uncrewed spacecraft in high-energy orbits, to boost themselves into graveyard orbits . Used upper stages or failed spacecraft, however, often lack

4292-640: The spacecraft, its occupants, and cargo can be recovered. In some cases, recovery has occurred before landing: while a spacecraft is still descending on its parachute, it can be snagged by a specially designed aircraft. This mid-air retrieval technique was used to recover the film canisters from the Corona spy satellites. Uncrewed spacecraft or robotic spacecraft are spacecraft without people on board. Uncrewed spacecraft may have varying levels of autonomy from human input, such as remote control , or remote guidance. They may also be autonomous , in which they have

4366-610: The tangential velocity around the Earth is as important as altitude. In order to perform a stable and lasting flight in space, the spacecraft must reach the minimal orbital speed required for a closed orbit . Interplanetary spaceflight is flight between planets within a single planetary system . In practice, the use of the term is confined to travel between the planets of our Solar System . Plans for future crewed interplanetary spaceflight missions often include final vehicle assembly in Earth orbit, such as NASA's Constellation program and Russia's Kliper / Parom tandem. New Horizons

4440-411: The total amount of energy imparted by a rocket stage to its payload. This can be the energy imparted by a first stage of a launch vehicle to an upper stage plus payload, or by an upper stage or spacecraft kick motor to a spacecraft . In order to reach a space station , a spacecraft would have to arrive at the same orbit and approach to a very close distance (e.g. within visual contact). This

4514-460: The use of some new, advanced method of propulsion . Dynamic soaring as a way to travel across interstellar space has been proposed as well. Intergalactic travel involves spaceflight between galaxies, and is considered much more technologically demanding than even interstellar travel and, by current engineering terms, is considered science fiction . However, theoretically speaking, there is nothing to conclusively indicate that intergalactic travel

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4588-413: The vehicle is to land safely without vaporizing in the atmosphere. Typically this process requires special methods to protect against aerodynamic heating . The theory behind reentry was developed by Harry Julian Allen . Based on this theory, reentry vehicles present blunt shapes to the atmosphere for reentry. Blunt shapes mean that less than 1% of the kinetic energy ends up as heat reaching the vehicle, and

4662-460: The vehicle's mass and increase its delta-v . Launch systems are used to carry a payload from Earth's surface into outer space. Most current spaceflight uses multi-stage expendable launch systems to reach space. The first reusable spacecraft, the X-15 , was air-launched on a suborbital trajectory on 19 July 1963. The first partially reusable orbital spacecraft, the Space Shuttle , was launched by

4736-841: The work on Rus-M rocket engine and considered the possibility of construction several new variants of RD-170 family engines. According to the information, new and proposed variants will be marked as: In 2017, Director General of RKK Energia Vladimir Solntsev referred to a "simplified" and "cheaper" version of the RD-171 engine in connection with the Soyuz-5 (Sunkar) project. Valentin Petrovich Glushko Valentin Petrovich Glushko ( Russian : Валенти́н Петро́вич Глушко́ ; Ukrainian : Валентин Петрович Глушко , romanized :  Valentyn Petrovych Hlushko ; born 2 September 1908 – 10 January 1989)

4810-453: Was Sputnik , launched October 4, 1957 to orbit the Earth. Nearly all satellites , landers and rovers are robotic spacecraft. Not every uncrewed spacecraft is a robotic spacecraft; for example, a reflector ball is a non-robotic uncrewed spacecraft. Space missions where other animals but no humans are on-board are called uncrewed missions. The first human spaceflight was Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, on which cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin of

4884-480: Was NASA's first space probe intended to reach the Moon. A partial failure caused it to instead follow a suborbital trajectory to an altitude of 113,854 kilometers (70,746 mi) before reentering the Earth's atmosphere 43 hours after launch. The most generally recognized boundary of space is the Kármán line 100 km (62 mi) above sea level. (NASA alternatively defines an astronaut as someone who has flown more than 80 km (50 mi) above sea level.) It

4958-604: 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

5032-523: 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

5106-602: 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

5180-398: Was developed for use on the Energia launch vehicle – both the engine and the launch vehicle were in production only for a short time. Energia was launched twice. Each Energia vehicle had 4 boosters, each powered by one RD-170. The engine was designed for 10 reuses but tests showed they could stand up to 20 burns. Building on the technology from the Energia's liquid fuel booster the Zenit

5254-669: Was developed, which uses a RD-170 variant, the RD-171. While the RD-170 had nozzles which swiveled on two axes, the RD-171's nozzles only swivel on one axis. Models called the RD-172 and RD-173 were proposed, upgrades that would provide additional thrust, and the RD-173 proposal was finalized as the RD-171M upgrade in 2006. A modification of RD-171M being developed for the Irtysh rocket. Unlike RD-171M it only uses Russian components and features

5328-596: 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

5402-603: Was published by Scottish astronomer and mathematician William Leitch , in an 1861 essay "A Journey Through Space". More well-known is Konstantin Tsiolkovsky 's work, " Исследование мировых пространств реактивными приборами " ( The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices ), published in 1903. In his work, Tsiolkovsky describes the fundamental rocket equation: Δ v = v e ln ⁡ m 0 m f {\displaystyle \Delta v=v_{e}\ln {\frac {m_{0}}{m_{f}}}} Where: This equation, known as

5476-466: 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

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