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in 1944. After both Glushko and Korolev were freed, they stayed on to work in
Kazan, and Korolev tried to set up an independent rocket OKB there at Factory
No. 22. Glushko, Korolev, and all the former NKVD prisoners were transferred to
the jurisdiction of the People’s Commissariat of the Aircraft Industry, which did
not have a very good idea what to do with them.
pobedonostsev said that gaydukov had tasked Korolev with organizing a
service independent of the Institute RABE to study missile launch preparation
equipment. Since we were the real bosses in town, Korolev would be asking
us to render him all kinds of assistance,
and Voskresenskiy and Rudnitskiy would
become Korolev’s subordinates. I agreed
right away, but Pilyugin strongly objected.
He had not yet met Korolev, and he believed
that everything should be under RABE
management. He felt that the existing
Guard’s regiment in Sondershausen should
be reinforced to take on launch preparation.
Regiment commander Chernenko and his
officers were already working closely with
us. But ultimately Pilyugin gave in.
Several days later, Korolev arrived in
Bleicherode with the plenary powers to
create the Vystrel (shot) group. The tasks of
this new service included the study of
missile pre-launch preparation equipment,
ground-filling and launch equipment, and
aiming equipment; flight mission calcula-
Korolev, Glushko, and Our First Encounters in Germany
From the author’s archives.
S.P. Korolev in Germany, November 1945.
tion; developing instructions for firing team personnel; and preparing all of the
necessary documentation. Members of the Vystrel team included Voskresenskiy,
Rudnitskiy, and several cadre officers.We allocated separate office space for them
at the Institute RABE.
But soon Voskresenskiy was complaining that Korolev had left for Berlin on
urgent business without notifying anyone, It turned out that Korolev had been
included in a delegation which, at the invitation of the British military authorities,
was traveling to Cuxhaven for V-2 demonstration launches near Hamburg. This
news enraged Pilyugin and Voskresenskiy. They both blamed me, “What kind of
chief are you if everybody there in Berlin decides for us and without us.We work
so hard here! But when it comes to going to Hamburg, they forget all about us
and send Korolev who only just got out of prison.” But Pilyugin was a homebody
by nature, and he quickly calmed down.
Soon thereafter Korolev returned along with Pobedonostsev.They were quite
merry and excitedly told us about their visit to Cuxhaven, where the Brits, using
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