Stalin's Space Shuttle?! Soviet project 1947!

[Deleted member 12875]

Marvelous are thy works, O Lord!

In my collection - the old magazine TM Technics for Youth 5-1947. On page 9-10-11 - the first Space Shuttle project in the history of the Soviet Union and Russia. And possibly one of the first in the world.

Author: Major General of Aviation P.M. Stefanovsky. Illustrator: pilot and artist Konstantin Artseulov.

1940s scheme. The starter - a heavy plane on eight railway wheels - rides fast on the tracks. An orbiter is attached to the starter. The orbiter separates from the starter and flies off into suborbital space. And this orbiter is a passenger one. The illustration shows an aero station.

This is not a borrowing from Germany or America. In 1947 - the absolute Iron Curtain. For respect for the West - the Gulag and execution. But I think: our generals in 1947 read the popular Western press, they were allowed to. Because the railway part of this project is very similar to the first German and American rocket plane projects. May be...

The second bad news: behind the Russian portal from the Internet today the Ukrainian portal of Soviet magazines has disappeared. Who destroys them?..

 

[archipeppe]

This is not new, is simply the Sangel Silbervogel concept by Eugene Sanger that liked Stalin so much that he attempted to kidnap the German scientist.
Despite the fact that early Russian operational rockets (R1 and R2) were directly derived from A4/V2 there were a lot of rumors (even in the west) that Soviets would keep going on work on Silbervogel.

After more than 70 years we can say that i remained a mere daydream since the actual astronautics both American and Russian came after A4/V2.
Maybe the very first Soviet shuttle project could be the Raketoplan by Chelomej's OJB-52 of early 60's....

 

[Deleted member 12875]

Thank you. О! Eugen Zenger. I completely forgot about him. You're right. Popular Science. 1946. Project of a rocket plane on a rail starter. But how did this American press get into the Stalinist Soviet Union, into Soviet magazines 1946-47?

 

[Dilandu]

Despite the fact that early Russian operational rockets (R1 and R2) were directly derived from A4/V2

Only the R-1 was direct copy; the R-2 was way more advanced.

 

[Archibald]

This is not new, is simply the Sangel Silbervogel concept by Eugene Sanger that liked Stalin so much that he attempted to kidnap the German scientist.
Despite the fact that early Russian operational rockets (R1 and R2) were directly derived from A4/V2 there were a lot of rumors (even in the west) that Soviets would keep going on work on Silbervogel.

After more than 70 years we can say that i remained a mere daydream since the actual astronautics both American and Russian came after A4/V2.
Maybe the very first Soviet shuttle project could be the Raketoplan by Chelomej's OJB-52 of early 60's....

Folks,
The Keldysh bomber that looked like a Silbervogel with two big ramjets on the wingtips... was it a real project ? just asking...

 

[archipeppe]

This is not new, is simply the Sangel Silbervogel concept by Eugene Sanger that liked Stalin so much that he attempted to kidnap the German scientist.
Despite the fact that early Russian operational rockets (R1 and R2) were directly derived from A4/V2 there were a lot of rumors (even in the west) that Soviets would keep going on work on Silbervogel.

After more than 70 years we can say that i remained a mere daydream since the actual astronautics both American and Russian came after A4/V2.
Maybe the very first Soviet shuttle project could be the Raketoplan by Chelomej's OJB-52 of early 60's....

Folks,
The Keldysh bomber that looked like a Silbervogel with two big ramjets on the wingtips... was it a real project ? just asking...

Good question, I always wondered if Soviets took it serioulsy or not....

 

[Justo Miranda]

See "Keldysh Bomber" at www.astronautix.com