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[SPACECRAFT ENGINEERING] Problema poleta pri pomoshchi raketnykh apparatov: Sbornik statei pod red. M.K. Tikhonravova [i.e. Problem of Flights by Rocket Apparatuses: Collection of Articles Edited by M. Tikhonravov]

Zander, F.

Moscow: Izd. i tip. Oborongiza, 1947. Item #1018

240 pp.: photos, drawings, charts. 22,5x15,5 cm. In original full-cloth with white lettering and light-blue illustration. Near fine.
First edition. Scarce.
This is a collection of articles by a pioneer of rocketry Friedrich Zander (Tsander; 1887-1933) who was the first Soviet engineer who devoted his life to space travel. Following the ideas of Tsiolkovsky, Zander dreamed of spacecrafts and interplanetary flights. Studying engineering in Riga Polytechnic Institute, he carried out trajectory calculations for a flight to Mars. One of the first scholars, he suggested growing plants in greenhouses aboard a spacecraft for life support. He also proposed to burn metal parts of ship like its wings for fuel as it reached the upper atmosphere. Zander developed the idea of ​​using gravitational and electromagnetic fields of the Moon and other planets to increase the speed of flight. He also considered the issues of spacecraft motion in the gravitational field of the Sun, planets and their satellites, determination of trajectories and flight duration. Together with Tsiolkovsky and others, Zander organized the “Society for Studies of Interplanetary Travel” developing an idea of using the atmosphere for braking a re-entering spacecraft, etc.
In 1929-1930 Zander worked on his first engine OR-1, combining compressed air and gasoline - and experienced it. In a year, as a founding member of Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD), Zander worked on the first liquid-fueled engine (OR-2). Although he designed a rocket, he died before it was launched.
Zander encouraged GIRD over the whole period of activity, saying “Still, we will fly to Mars!”. His input into rocketry was enormous, but some of his ideas were brought to life only in the 1980s.
This edition containing Zander’s ideas and drawings was edited by his collaborator, Mikhail Tikhonravov. As GIRD had four brigades of engineers, the first of them was headed by Zander, others by S. Korolev, M. Tikhonravov and Yu. Pobedonostsev. Apart from Zander, all of them continued working on Soviet aviation and rocketry.

Worldcat doesn’t track this edition.

Price: $1,250.00