Tikhonravov, Mikhail Klavdievich

Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov was born on July 29, 1900 in Vladimir .

In 1919, he voluntarily joined the Red Army . In the same year he worked as a friend of the chairman of the Pereslavl committee of the RKSM ^[1] .

In 1920, he entered the Institute of Engineers of the Red Air Fleet (now the Air Force Engineering Academy named after N.E. Zhukovsky ). After graduating in 1925 , Mikhail Tikhonravov worked at several aviation enterprises. Constructor of a number of gliders : AVF-1 “Arap” (1923), AVF-22 “Serpent Gorynych” (1925, together with V. S. Vakhmistrov ), “Firebird” (1927, together with A A. Dubrovin), “Gamayun”, “Skif” (both 1928), “Komsomolskaya Pravda” (“Firebird-2”, 1929), “Skif-2” (1931; all - together with V.S. Vakhmistrov and A.A. Dubrovin).

Tikhonravov met in the gliding section under the USSR OSOAVIAHIM with Sergey Pavlovich Korolev , their acquaintance turned into close cooperation. At the suggestion of Korolev, he led the development of ballistic missiles using liquid fuel, which ended with the first successful launches ^[2] .

In 1932, he worked as the team leader in the Jet Propulsion Research Group , during which he developed the first Soviet two-stage rocket engine. In 1933, he directed the creation of the first Soviet rocket with a hybrid fuel engine. Since 1934 he worked as the Head of the Department of the Reactive Institute .

Since 1938, Mikhail Tikhonravov has been researching liquid rocket engines , developing rockets to study the upper atmosphere, but at the end of the thirties, work on creating liquid ballistic missiles was curtailed and Tikhonravov began developing shells for Katyusha ^[2] . In the years 1940-1943. led the design team, which developed (under the general leadership of A. G. Kostikov ) an experimental fighter-interceptor " 302 " with a power plant consisting of a liquid-propellant rocket engine and two ramjet engines .

In the mid-1940s (1945–1946), M. K. Tikhonravov created a group of employees at the Reactive Research Institute (RNII, later NII-1 ) to develop a project for a manned vehicle vertically launched by a single-stage missile (R-1 type) ) to a height of up to 200 km (project VR-190) ^[3] .

The further achievements of M.K. Tikhonravov in the scientific and engineering fields are difficult to separate from the activities of the group led by him, the composition of which has changed from time to time, but continued to remain a single, mutually reinforcing community of highly skilled specialists.

In 1946, work on the VR-190 project was transferred from the RNII to the newly created NII-4 of the Academy of Artillery Sciences (AAN), and subsequently to NII-4 of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Accordingly, MK Tikhonravov, who was appointed deputy chief of NII-4 in one of the missile specialties, was transferred there, along with a group of employees.

Its composition at that time included N. G. Chernyshov, P. I. Ivanov, V. N. Galkovsky , G. M. Moskalenko and others ^[4] .

In 1947, a young talented military surveyor I. M. Yatsunsky came to NII-4, who was also included in the group and quickly became the first assistant to Mikhail Klavdievich.

Initially, M.K. Tikhonravov directly supervised the work on the BP-190 project, however, in 1947, these works, together with part of the group, were transferred to another NII-4 unit, Mikhail Klavdievich gradually moved away from them and created a new department led by P. I. Ivanov. The BP-190 project, as is known, was not implemented.

In the department of P. I. Ivanov, Mikhail Klavdievich, knowing well the works of K. E. Tsiolkovsky ^[5] , among other works, he proposed the study of composite missiles. The department began to develop acceptable methods for calculating the flight paths of composite missiles of the batch scheme, finding the optimal structural and ballistic parameters of the missiles, and conducting research calculations. ^[6] .

The development of such methods was necessary, since at that time calculations had to be carried out on manual mechanical machines ( arithmometers ).

The main research in these areas, taking into account the achievements of the OKB S.P. Korolev in the field of single-stage missiles, was conducted by I.M. Yatsunsky. The work went quickly enough and already at the beginning of 1948 a number of results were obtained, indicating the possibility of creating composite missiles in the near future. Mikhail Klavdievich reported this to S.P. Korolev, with whom he continued to maintain constant communication.

Attaching great importance to these results, Tikhonravov decided to make a report at the meeting of the Institute’s Academic Council “Ways to implement long-range firing ranges” and made this report in the early summer of 1948 in the presence of specialists and scientists from other institutions.

By this time, the R-1 rocket with a flight range of about 300 km (based on the German V-2 ) was created in OKB-1 of S. P. Korolyov, a new R-2 rocket was developed for a range of about 600 km, a missile was developed at a range of approximately 1000 km (the so-called "thousandth rocket"). Almost nobody, especially in the circles of military specialists, recognized the practical possibility of achieving even greater ranges at that time. Therefore, the message of Mikhail Klavdievich that the “package” of the “thousandth missiles” developed by OKB-1 is capable of reaching any flight range, and even putting artificial Earth satellites ( AES ) into orbit, excited the audience, caused a storm of negative and even venomous responses and performances.

Very few specialists understood the fundamental value of the results reported by M.K. Tikhonravov and expressed support for his ideas. These were S.P. Korolev, President of the AAS A.A. Blagonravov , and the head of NII-4, General A.I. Nesterenko, also sympathized with the report. Thanks to the interested assistance of these major scientists, the report of MK Tikhonravov was repeated on July 14, 1948 at the annual meeting of the Academy of Artillery Sciences, and was listened to with great attention, however, the response of the participants to the meeting was mainly similar to the reaction of the majority of the members of the scientific council of NII-4 ^{[ 7]} .

I. M. Yatsunsky, a participant in this meeting, testified to numerous critical and even insulting speeches addressed to Mikhail Klavdievich. There were very few votes in support of the fundamental ideas of M.K. Tikhonravov.

One of the consequences of the indicated reports of M. K. Tikhonravov was that the higher management abolished P. I. Ivanov’s department at NII-4 as being involved in irrelevant problems. To continue research on composite missiles at the urgent request of Mikhail Klavdievich, it was allowed to leave only I. M. Yatsunsky. M.K. Tikhonravov himself was transferred to the post of scientific adviser to the institute.

The report of M. K. Tikhonravov, with the active support of S. P. Korolyov and A. A. Blagonravov, was nevertheless published in the journals "Reports of the Academy of Artillery Sciences" (Moscow, 1949, issue 6), "Missile Technology" ^[8] and later (already in 1995) in a collection of articles from the history of aviation and astronautics ^[9] .

Upon learning of the abolition of P. I. Ivanov’s department, S. P. Korolev issued an official order to NII-4 in support of MK Tikhonravov to carry out research on further research on composite missiles ^[7] . Since that time, a new stage in the work of this group has begun.

Despite the fact that most of the military engineering community perceived the provisions set forth in the reports of M.K. Tikhonravov in 1948 as unrealistic fiction, they stirred up scientific and engineering thought with the novelty of ideas and forced them to study the problems of creating composite missiles in a wider and more detailed way. .

Having justified (by official order of S.P. Korolyov) the need to expand the group for research, M.K. Tikhonravov at the end of 1949 achieved the inclusion of young engineers G. Yu. Maksimov , L.N. Soldatova , Y. I Koltunova and A. V. Brykova . The first three have just graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute (all members of the stratospheric student circle created by Y. I. Koltunov), and A. V. Brykov from the Moscow Technical University . G. Yu. Maksimov, L.N. Soldatova and A.V. Brykov worked in the group until the end of its existence, Y. I. Koltunov in 1951 transferred to another department of the institute, in particular, improving the starting facilities to launch missiles, which he was very successful in (his contribution to this direction, as advised by S. P. Korolyov, was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor (1960) ^[6] .

In 1950 G. M. Moskalenko was again involved in the work of M.K. Tikhonravov's group, and B. S. Razumikhin also came. G. M. Moskalenko participated in the work of the group until 1953, and B. S. Razumikhin - until 1952. In 1950, students of the Moscow Aviation Institute O. V. Gurko and I. were sent to the group for the preparation of diploma projects and subsequent work . K. Bazhinov , who worked in it until the end of its existence, as did V. N. Galkovsky, who returned there in 1953.

In March 1950, a scientific and technical conference on missile technology was planned at NII-4. M. K. Tikhonravov, with the active support of S. P. Korolyov, proposed his report “Missile packages and their development prospects” into the conference program. In it, Mikhail Klavdievich developed the ideas set forth by him earlier, supplementing them with new results and for the first time directly spoke about the immediate prospects for creating artificial Earth satellites, up to man’s flights on them ^[6] .

So, according to the technical task of S. P. Korolyov, the group considered a two-stage “package” of three R-3 missiles, each of which was supposed to carry a warhead weighing about 3 tons to a range of 3000 km. It was shown that the “package” can provide not only the transfer of a heavy warhead to any range, but also the launch into orbit of a satellite, the mass of which may be sufficient for a person to fly on it. The conference was attended by S.P. Korolev with one of his deputies. The report was listened carefully, but incredulous and satirical statements still prevailed.

By 1953, S.P. Korolev made major decisions on the appearance of the R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile, and corresponding extensive experimental design work was launched in OKB-1. In 1954, a government decree was adopted on this subject, according to which a wide cooperation of related enterprises was involved in the work.

It should be noted that by 1953 the majority of the leaders of the armed forces and the military-industrial complex had already developed an understanding of the enormous importance of combat ballistic composite missiles and the prospects of creating and using artificial Earth satellites. Therefore, the proposal of M.K. Tikhonravov to open a special research institute in NII-4 for the mentioned task, supported by S.P. Korolev, with the participation of the deputy head of the NII-4 G.A. Tyulin, was accepted by the command (A.I.Sokolov), and in 1954, the first such topic at number 72 was opened at the institute. M.K. Tikhonravov was appointed as the scientific supervisor of the work, I. M. Yatsunsky was the responsible executor. All members of the group were responsible for various sections of the topic. Her statement was direct evidence of the recognition of the ideas and fruits of the efforts of M.K. Tikhonravov and his group.

Already in 1954, M.K. Tikhonravov and his staff proposed their program for space exploration, from launching the first satellite, through the creation of manned ships and stations , to landing on the moon. ^[2]

The year 1956 was the end time of the work of the group of M.K. Tikhonravov at the Research Institute-4 of the Ministry of Defense. Note that she administratively never stood out as an independent unit. First, the group was included in the department of P. I. Ivanov (who was entrusted with other works that were not related to the theme of the group), then N. D. Naida, N. V. Egiazarova, S. G. Grinshpun, etc. However, due to the great authority of Mikhail Klavdievich in the scientific-thematic respect, the group was independent. In connection with the development of work on the satellite in the OKB of S.P. Korolev (according to the decree above) in 1956, L.N. Soldatova, then G. Yu. Maksimov, left OKB-1.

In 1956, M.K. Tikhonravov himself went to work in OKB-1 to Sergey Pavlovich, creating the famous department No. 9 there. At NII-4, only I. M. Yatsunsky, A. V remained from the group of Mikhail Klavdievich Brykov, O. V. Gurko, V. N. Galkovsky and I. K. Bazhinov (a number of the group’s employees were not allowed, as military personnel, to move to another institution after their leader). Based on the remnants of the group, a new laboratory No. 14 was created at NII-4, with P.E. Elyasberg appointed as its head. She was replenished with new employees.

In 1956, Mikhail Klavdievich moved to work at OKB-1 , as head of the design department for various artificial Earth satellites, manned spacecraft, spacecraft for exploring the moon and some planets of the solar system. For the successful launches of Sputnik-1 and a satellite with a living creature on board, in 1957 Tikhonravov was awarded the title of Lenin Prize laureate . ^[2]

On December 31, 1957, in connection with the creation of the R-7 rocket and the successful launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, the Lenin Prizes were awarded to a large group of scientists and engineers in the Kremlin. Among them were members of the group — MK K. Tikhonravov, I. M. Yatsunsky, I. K. Bazhinov and A. V. Brykov, who were awarded the prize for justifying the possibility of creating and launching the first satellite. G. Yu. Maksimov The Lenin Prize was awarded a little later - for his participation in the creation of the first automatic lunar vehicles. I.K. Bazhinov in his memoirs writes that “S. P. Korolev, presenting G. Yu. Maksimov for the award, of course, took into account his great contribution to the work of the group of MK K. Tikhonravov ” ^[10]

M.K. Tikhonravov took an active part in the launch of the first manned spacecraft , for which June 17, 1961 he was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor (decree was not published). ^[2]

Subsequently, the department, under the leadership of Mikhail Klavdievich, participated, in particular, in the development of a heavy interplanetary spacecraft created for a manned flight to Mars . ^[eleven]

List of group members ^[12]

• Bazhinov, Igor Konstantinovich (08/31/1928 - 8/07/2015) - Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation , Full Member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics and the Russian Academy of Technological Sciences, Laureate of the 1957 Lenin Prize and the 1981 USSR State Prize, holder of many state and departmental awards ^[13] . While studying at the Moscow Aviation Institute, Ian Koltunov is a member of the circle.
• Brykov, Anatoly Viktorovich (07/16/1921 - 11/30/2007) - Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation, Lenin Prize laureate, academician of the K.E. Tsiolkovsky Academy of Cosmonautics, doctor of technical sciences, professor. ^[14]
• Galkovsky, Vladimir Nikolaevich (1911-2001) - Knight of the Order of Lenin and the Stalin Prize. He worked in the group from 1953 to 1956.
• Gurko, Oleg Viktorovich (11/15/1926 - 04/27/2012)
• Koltunov, Yan Ivanovich (03.03.1927 - 01/15/2016) - Honored Inventor of the RSFSR (45 a / s) ^[15] , holder of the Order of the Badge of Honor (1960) ^[16] and a number of other state and departmental awards
• Максимов, Глеб Юрьевич (13.10.1926 — 26.08.2001) — лауреат Ленинской премии, к.т. n ^[17] . Во время учёбы в МАИ — член кружка Яна Колтунова.
• Москаленко, Григорий Макарович
• Разумихин, Борис Сергеевич
• Солдатова, Лидия Николаевна (3.07.1926 — ?) ^[18] . Во время учёбы в МАИ — член кружка Яна Колтунова.
• Слабкий, Леонид Ильич (25.7.1925 — 5.4.2004) — член группы с 1947 г. Во время учёбы в МАИ — член кружка Яна Колтунова.
• Яцунский, Игорь Марианович (10.10.1916 — 4.10.1983) — лауреат Ленинской премии, к. т. н. ^[nineteen]
• Ястребов, Владимир Дмитриевич (29.07.1922 — 22.07.2008) — профессор, доктор физико-математических наук, член-корреспондент Академии Космонавтики имени К. Э. Циолковского

С 1931 года Михаил Клавдиевич по совместительству читал в Московском авиационном институте курс «Моторные установки». Позже с перерывами преподавал в МАИ (в 1930—1931 годах и в 1960—1974 годах) (с 1962 года — профессор ). Ряд сотрудников группы М. К. Тихонравова (Я. И. Колтунов и члены созданного им студенческого кружка И. К. Бажинов , О. В. Гурко и др.) познакомились с ним ещё во время своего обучения в МАИ. Некоторые из них затем были приглашены войти в состав этой группы.

В 1944—1947 годах — в Артиллерийской Академии имени Ф. Э. Дзержинского.

В 1948—1950 годах — на Высших инженерных курсах в Московском Высшем техническом училище имени Н. Э. Баумана.

С 1950 по 1953 годы, в связи с уменьшением загруженностью работой в НИИ-4, заведовал кафедрой в Академии оборонной промышленности. ^[20]

• Медаль «Серп и Молот» .
• Два Ордена Ленина .
• Два ордена Красного Знамени .
• Орден Отечественной войны 2-й степени.
• Medals.
• Ленинская премия .
• Член-корреспондент Международной академии астронавтики ( 1968 ).

Похоронен М. К. Тихонравов на Новодевичьем кладбище , на его могиле установлен бюст.

В честь него названы и носят его имя:

• Улица Тихонравова в городе Королёв .
• Улица Тихонравова в городе Владимир .
• 50-й ЦНИИ военно-космических сил им. М. К. Тихонравова в городе Юбилейный .
• марсианский кратер Тихонравов .

• Авиационные баки. — М.: Госмашметиздат, 1934
• Ракетная техника. — М., 1935.
• Полёт птиц и машины с машущими крыльями, 2 изд. — М., 1949.
• Технические и физические проблемы космонавтики. — М.: Моск. Aviation Institute of them. Серго Орджоникидзе, 1971.

• Военный энциклопедический словарь ракетных войск стратегического назначения / Министерство обороны РФ; Гл. ред.: И. Д. Сергеев , В. Н. Яковлев , Н. Е. Соловцов . — М. : Большая Российская энциклопедия , 1999. — 632 с. — 8500 экз. — ISBN 5-85270-315-X . . — С.535.
• Голованов Я. К. Капля нашего мира . Глава «Самый первый» (О создателях Первого искусственного спутника Земли).
• «С. П. Королёв. Энциклопедия жизни и творчества» — под редакцией В. А. Лопота , РКК «Энергия» им. С. П. Королёва, 2014 г. ISBN 978-5-906674-04-3

• Тихонравов Михаил Клавдиевич
• Тихонравов Михаил Клавдиевич — статья из Большой советской энциклопедии .
• Тихонравов Михаил Клавдиевич // Энциклопедия Космонавтика. — Советская энциклопедия, 1985.
• Тихонравов Михаил Клавдиевич (о нём, а также членах Группы Тихонравова) на странице «Космический мемориал».
• Брыков А. В. 50 лет в космической баллистике . — М.: СИП РИА, 2001. — 50 с. — ISBN 5-89354-138-3
• Bazhinov I. K. On the work of the group of M. K. Tikhonravov at the Research Institute-4 of the USSR Ministry of Defense // Cosmonautics and Rocket Engineering 2002 No. 1, pp. 159-175.