Usyskin, Ilya Davydovich

Born in the Big Village of the Yaroslavl province in a large Jewish family of a blacksmith. He spent his childhood in Penza , where he studied at the school named after V. G. Belinsky , which he graduated in 1926 at the age of 15.

He entered simultaneously in three institutes, but not one of them was accepted by age. In 1927 he entered the Moscow Higher Technical School , then in 1928 he transferred to the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute at the Faculty of Physics and Mechanics, and in 1931 he graduated from the already formed Leningrad Physics and Mechanics Institute with the qualification of an engineer-physicist. Student of academician A.F. Ioffe . Graduate school finished ahead of schedule.

Since March 20, 1932 he worked at the Leningrad Physical-Technical Institute , associate professor . He was the secretary of the Komsomol team of the educated industrial complex of institutes. Improved Wilson's chamber for studying cosmic rays in the stratosphere .

“I sometimes say to myself:“ If they ever ask me: “What did you do in the era of the first five-year plan?” - I will answer: “I studied cosmic rays.” I know, I know very well that what I’m working on is mine to the country, outwardly this work is ineffective, but someday everything will pay off. ... And I take up the work even harder, which excites me with boundless open spaces, so it’s breathtaking.
(From a letter from Ilya Usyskin).

Academician A.F. Ioffe directed the scientific program for the upcoming flight, which consists of 5 sections: the study of cosmic rays, magnetic phenomena, the composition of the atmosphere, aerial photography, medical and physiological studies. The stratonauts “Osoaviahima-1 ” had to obtain new information about the physical state of the upper atmosphere, the chemical composition of the air, the nature of cosmic rays, the intensity of cosmic radiation, the magnitude of the Earth's magnetic field in the stratosphere. For experiments, the stratostat was equipped with 34 instruments created at the Main Geophysical Observatory, as well as at the Radium and Physicotechnical Institutes. The flight was also of interest to scientists of the Institute of Experimental Biology, who decided to send a “team” of Drosophila flies to the stratosphere. A.F. Ioffe suggested that Usyskin take part in a flight on a stratosphere balloon, and N. Reinov became his understudy.

The flight of the stratospheric balloon “ Osoaviahim-1 ” was completed on January 30, 1934. The stratospheric balloon reached a record height of 21,946 m , but the flight ended in disaster. All three crew members died.

At the morning meeting of the XVII Congress of the CPSU (B.) On January 31, 1934, the following message was read:

“January 30, between 3 p.m. 30 minutes. and 17 hours. days, in the Insarsky district of the Mordovian region, near the village of Potizhsky Ostrog, 8 km south of the Kadoshkino station, the Moscow-Kazan railway, the stratospheric balloon “Osoaviahim No. 1” fell. The shell came off from the blow and flew away. In the gondola, the corpses of the participants of the flight — comrades Fedoseenko, Vasenko and Usyskin — were discovered. From the interviews with eyewitnesses, the following picture of the accident was established: when the stratospheric balloon fell, the shell broke off and two explosions were heard. Three corpses of dead comrades were found on the spot, lying in a gondola, one mutilated beyond recognition. All objects and devices in the gondola are broken. A special commission left for the scene of the accident to investigate. ”

On February 2, 1934, all congress delegates attended the funeral, urns with the ashes of the stratonauts were buried in the Kremlin wall .

• He was awarded posthumously the Order of Lenin .

• A monument in Saransk was erected to three stratonauts; a passage in Moscow was named after them.
• The village Potizh-Ostrog of the Insarsky region of Mordovia , near which the stratospheric balloon fell, was renamed the village of Usyskino .
• Streets in Penza , Saransk , Ruzayevka , Insar , the Big Village of the Yaroslavl region and a side street in St. Petersburg are named after Usyskin. ^{[1] [2]}
• In memory of Usyskin in 1934 , in 1944 and in 1964, postage stamps of the USSR were issued.

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  Postage stamp USSR , 1934

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  Postage stamp USSR , 1944

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  Postage stamp USSR , 1964

• Ilya Davidovich Usyskin . People.
• Usyskin Ilya Davidovich . Central Jewish Resource.
• Breakthrough into the stratosphere . Zaraeva N. - Saransk: Proceedings of Mordovia, No. 14, January 30, 2004.