Vladimir Chelomei

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Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomei (Влади́мир Никола́евич Челоме́й) (June 30, 1914—December 8, 1984) was a Soviet mechanics scientist and rocket engineer.

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[edit] Early life

Chelomei was born in Siedlce, Imperial Russia (now Poland). At the age of three months, his family fled to Poltava, when World War I came close to Siedlce.

When Chelomei was 12 years old, the family moved again to Kiev.

In 1932 Chelomei was admitted to the Kiev Polytechnic Institute (later the basis of Kiev Aviation Institute), where he showed himself as a student with outstanding talent. In 1936 his first book Vector Analysis was published. Studying at the institute, Chelomei also attended lectures on mathematical analysis, theory of differential equations, mathematical physics, theory of elasticity and mechanics in the Kiev University. He also attended lectures by Tullio Levi-Civita in the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences. Namely in this time Chelomei became interested in mechanics and in the theory of oscillations and remained interested the rest of his life. In 1937 Chelomei graduated from the institute with honors. After that he worked there as a lecturer, defending a dissertation for the Candidate of Science (in 1939).

[edit] World War II

From the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Chelomei worked at the Baranov Central Institute of Aviation Motor Building (TsIAM) in Moscow, where he created the first Soviet pulsating air jet engine in 1942, independently of similar contemporary developments in Nazi Germany.

In summer 1944 it became known that Nazi Germany used V-1 cruise missiles against Southern England. On October 19, 1944, following a decision by the USSR State Defense Committee and People's Commissar for Aviation Industry Aleksei Ivanovich Shakhurin, Chelomei was appointed the Director and Chief Constructor of Plant N51 (its previous director Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov having died a short time before). Chelomei was to design, build, and test the first Soviet cruise missile at the earliest possible date. As early as December 1944, the missile, code-named 10X, was test fired from Petlyakov Pe-8 and Tupolev Tu-2 aircraft.

[edit] OKB-52 and academic career

Following his success with the 10X, the USSR Special Design Bureau on designing pilot-less aircraft (OKB-52) was established under Chelomei's leadership. In 1955 Chelomei was appointed the Chief Constructor of the OKB-52, where he continued to work on cruise missiles.

Chelomei continued his scientific research, earning a doctorate in science from Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School. After his dissertation defense in 1951, he became a professor at the School in 1952.

In 1958, OKB-52 put forward a proposal for a multi-stage Intercontinental ballistic missile. Although their UR-200 rocket design was rejected in favour of Mikhail Yangel's R-36 (NATO designation SS-9 Scarp), their UR-100 design was accepted.

Chelomei's OKB was part of the General Machine-Building Ministry headed by Sergey Afanasiev.

[edit] Spacecraft

In 1959 Chelomei was appointed the Chief Constructor of Aviation Equipment.

OKB-52, along with designing ICBMs, started to work on spacecraft, and in 1961 began work on a design for a much more powerful ICBM, the UR-500.

In 1962, Chelomei was created an Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Mechanics Department.

Chelomei became Korolev's internal competitor in the "Moon race". Chelomei proposed that the powerful UR-500 be used to launch a small two-man craft on a lunar flyby, and managed to gain support for his proposal by employing members of Khruschev's family. He also claimed the UR-500 could be used to launch a military space station.

Following Khruschev's removal, Chelomei's and Korolev's projects were combined, but the Soviet Lunar program continued. The first launch of the UR-500 (also known as Proton) took place on March 10, 1967.

Although it was never used for moon missions as Chelomei had proposed, Proton was widely used to launch Soviet satellites, and the Salyut and Mir space stations, in the following three decades.

The Earth satellites such as Polyot were also designed by Chelomei's OKB. Unlike earlier such craft, even Chelomei's first satellites Polyot-1 (1963) and Polyot-2 (1964) were able to change their orbits themselves. He also headed the development of the Proton satellite. In 1970s Chelomei's OKB worked on the Almaz complex, which became the basis for orbital stations Salyut 2, Salyut 3, and Salyut 5 designed by Chelomei and his OKB. Chelomei designed a manned orbiting vehicle, the TKS, to support Almaz as an alternative to Soyuz. The TKS never flew as planned but derivatives flew as modules on Salyut 7 and Mir.

Chelomei died in Moscow in 1984.

[edit] Awards

[edit] External links