FIRST STEPS TOWARD SPACE - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

200 SMITHSONIAN ANNALS OF FLIGHT
PAD, tanks and chamber, and also propellant consumption
per second) were close to design characteristics
(Figure 26).
A variant of the R-05 rocket (the R-05g) was also
designed in KB-7 for flight at an angle to the
horizon.
R-10 Rocket with Altitude of 100 km
To increase further the rocket altitude (as there
was no possibility of constructing large-scale rockets
in KB-7) the R-10 composite rocket with an initial
weight of 100 kg, was designed in 1938-39 to attain
an altitude of 100 km. This rocket was powered by
liquid-propellant first and the second stages, with
two coupled solid-propellant boosters. Figure 27
shows the R-10 rocket without boosters.
To reduce the weight of the rocket structure of
the first and second stage, liquid propellants were
supplied with the help of the PAD.
To choose the method of ensuring in-flight stability
for the R-10 rocket, it was necessary to obtain
data on: launching of the R-05 rocket with solid
propellant boosters, tests of automatic gyro control
linked with aerodynamic stabilizers (ANIR-6), and
tests of rocket monitoring by the projected infrared
beam, with utilization of a photoelectric device
(ANIR-7).
Characteristics of the R-10 rocket first stage were:
diameter, 320 mm; total weight, 88 kg; weight of
propellants (alcohol with oxygen), 45 kg; thrust,
160 kg; speed at end of operation of boosters (together
with liquid propellant engine), 250 m/sec;
time of operation of liquid propellant engine, 60
sec; speed of rocket at end of operation of the first
stage, 560 m/sec; altitude of the rocket at separation
of first and second stages, 21.2 km.
Characteristics of the R-10 rocket second stage
were: diameter, 126 mm; total weight, 12 kg; weight
of liquid propellants (alcohol and liquid oxygen),
4.2 kg; weight of powder grain in combined engine,
1.3 kg; payload, 0.5 kg; firing time of powder
grain, 2.58 sec; thrust of the engine when operating
on liquid propellants, 35 kg; firing time on liquid
propellants, 24 sec; burnout velocity of the rocket,
1113 m/sec; burnout altitude of the rocket, 39.6 km.
This rocket was launched with the objectives of
(1) attaining a maximum altitude at comparatively
low expense; (2) discovering the most effective
method of ensuring in-flight stability of the rocket
at altitudes up to 100 km; and (3) separating the
rocket first and second stages and recovering the
rocket from high altitudes by parachute.
Conclusion
The aforementioned facts show that after a series
of launching of the R-05 and R-10 rockets we could
start designing large-scale rockets with flight ranges
greater than those mentioned above, and with a
large payload.
REFERENCES
Under the title O nekotorykh rabotakh po raketnoy
tekhnike v SSSR v period 1931-1938, this paper appeared on
pages 122-44 of Iz istorii astronavtiki i raketnoi tekhniki:
Materialy XVIII mezhdunarodnogo astronavticheskogo kongressa,
Belgrad, 25-29 Sentyavrya 1967 [From the History
of Rockets and Astronautics: Materials of the 18th International
Astronautical Congress, Belgrade, 25-29 September
1967], Moscow: Nauka, 1970.
The following sources, all in the Archives of the USSR
Academy of Sciences, were listed at the end of this paper
there (p. 144).
FIGURE 27.—R-10 composite rocket designed to reach 100-km altitude: 1, second rocket stage;
2, fuel tank; 3, PAD (high-pressure storage vessel); 4, oxidizer tank; 5, rocket engine. (2-5 are
first-stage units).