USSR-1
Encyclopedia
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
-filled Soviet Air Forces high-altitude balloon
Balloon (aircraft)
A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
designed to seat a crew of three and perform scientific studies of the Earth's stratosphere
Stratosphere
The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, just above the troposphere, and below the mesosphere. It is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down. This is in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth's surface, which is cooler...
. September 30, 1933, USSR-1 under Georgy Prokofiev
Georgy Prokofiev
Georgy Alekseyevich Prokofiev was a Soviet Air Forces balloonist who coordinated military stratospheric balloon program in 1931–1939...
's command set an unofficial world altitude
Altitude
Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...
record of 19,000 meters (60,698 feet).
After the crash of Osoaviakhim-1
Osoaviakhim-1
Osoaviakhim-1 was a record-setting, hydrogen-filled Soviet high-altitude balloon designed to seat a crew of three and perform scientific studies of the Earth's stratosphere. On January 30, 1934, on its maiden flight which lasted over 7 hours, the balloon reached an altitude of...
in January 1934 USSR-1 was retrofit
Retrofit
Retrofitting refers to the addition of new technology or features to older systems.* power plant retrofit, improving power plant efficiency / increasing output / reducing emissions...
ted with a gondola parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
and a new gas envelope. June 26, 1935 it flew again as USSR-1 Bis. The balloon reached 16,000 meters where an accidental release of hydrogen, probably caused by a faulty valve, forced it into an unexpected descent. After expending all available ballast, two crewmembers bailed out on personal parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
s at low altitudes; flight commander stayed on board and managed to perform a soft landing on a crippled aircraft.
Design
Auguste PiccardAuguste Piccard
Auguste Antoine Piccard was a Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer.-Biography:Piccard and his twin brother Jean Felix were born in Basel, Switzerland...
's high-altitude flights of 1930–1932 aroused interest of Soviet Air Forces and Osoaviakhim, the Soviet paramilitary training organization, as well as individual pilots, designers and flight enthusiasts. Civilian projects by Osoaviakhim and the national Meteorology Committee
Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia
The Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia is the national meteorological service in Russia, part of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring....
were delayed by lack of finance, and in the first half 1933 the military stratospheric program had a solid lead in time.
Air Forces project was led by commander of the First Airship Division Georgy Prokofiev
Georgy Prokofiev
Georgy Alekseyevich Prokofiev was a Soviet Air Forces balloonist who coordinated military stratospheric balloon program in 1931–1939...
, the future captain of USSR-1. Prokofiev coordinated a close Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
-based group of designers, notably TsAGI
TsAGI
TsAGI is a transliteration of the Russian abbreviation for Центра́льный аэрогидродинами́ческий институ́т or "Tsentralniy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut", the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute....
professor Vladimir Chizhevsky (gondola) and rubber technologist Konstantin Godunov (gas envelope) who were supported by the staff of Air Forces Institute
Gromov Flight Research Institute
M. M. Gromov Flight Research Institute or LII for short is an important Russian aircraft test base, scientific research center located in Zhukovsky, 40 km south-east of Moscow.It has one of the longest runways in Europe at 5,403 m...
, Zhukovsky Airforce Academy and Rubber Industry Institute. Consolidation of practically all available expertise and military project management
Project management
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end , undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value...
eventually resulted in a sound and safe design. It was, as a joke, called a Prokofier (a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
on Prokofiev's surname and Montgolfier
Montgolfier brothers
Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier were the inventors of the montgolfière-style hot air balloon, globe aérostatique. The brothers succeeded in launching the first manned ascent, carrying Étienne into the sky...
).
Gas envelope of USSR-1 was of conventional design, differing from low-altitude balloons only in its size (24,500 cubic meters at stratospheric altitudes). It employed around 5 thousand meters of thin fabric made in Noginsk
Noginsk
Noginsk is a town and the administrative center of Noginsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located east of the MKAD ring road on the Klyazma River. Population:...
that what impregnated with 25 layers of latex-based sealant
Sealant
A sealant may be viscous material that has little or no flow characteristics and stay where they are applied or thin and runny so as to allow it to penetrate the substrate by means of capillary reaction...
and sewn into desired shape at a rubber factory in Khamovniki.
Spherical
Sphere
A sphere is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Like a circle in two dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance r from the center point...
gondola was made by riveting 3 millimeter thick duralumin
Duralumin
Duralumin is the trade name of one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The main alloying constituents are copper, manganese, and magnesium. A commonly used modern equivalent of this alloy type is AA2024, which contains 4.4% copper, 1.5% magnesium, 0.6% manganese and 93.5%...
sheets with internal reinforcement bars; the latter passed through the skin through airtight flange
Flange
A flange is an external or internal ridge, or rim , for strength, as the flange of an iron beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam; or for attachment to another object, as the flange on the end of a pipe, steam cylinder, etc., or on the lens mount of a camera; or for a flange of a rail car or tram wheel...
s and were connected to two external structural rings, the upper for attaching suspension cables and the lower for attaching bumper
Bumper
An automobile's bumper is the front-most or rear-most part, ostensibly designed to allow the car to sustain an impact without damage to the vehicle's safety systems...
basket and ballast
Buoyancy compensator (aviation)
The static buoyancy of airships during a trip is not constant. It is therefore necessary to take measures to control the buoyancy and thus the altitude, the so-called buoyancy compensation.-Changes which have an effect on buoyancy:...
weights. This setup unlinked the gondola from the dynamic forces exerted by suspension cables; gondola skin was subjected only to static air pressure
Pressure
Pressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
. Landing
Undercarriage
The undercarriage or landing gear in aviation, is the structure that supports an aircraft on the ground and allows it to taxi, takeoff and land...
basket, like the crumple zone
Crumple zone
The crumple zone is a structural feature mainly of automobiles. Crumple zones have also been incorporated into railcars in recent years.They are designed to absorb the energy from the impact during an accident by controlled deformation. This energy is much higher than is commonly recognized...
s of modern automobiles, was designed and tested to collapse at impact speeds exceeding 5 meters per second. There were two cast aluminum escape hatches, each with a submarine-style fast-opening lock. Lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
ballast was stowed outside the landing basket in forty small bags; by pulling a cable through an airtight driveshaft, operators tumbled the bag upside down, dropping the small lead pellets. In case of emergency, a whole metric ton of ballast could be released in less than two minutes.
Crew lives depended on the integrity of the gondola skin: pressure suit
Pressure suit
A pressure suit is a protective suit worn by high-altitude pilots who may fly at altitudes where the air pressure is too low for an unprotected person to survive, even breathing pure oxygen at positive pressure. Such suits may be either full-pressure or partial-pressure...
s, developed by Evgeniy Chertovsky since 1931, were not operational yet. Life support consisted of pressurized oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
tanks and chemical carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
absorption packages; all crewmembers carried personal parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
s. Radio transceiver
Transceiver
A transceiver is a device comprising both a transmitter and a receiver which are combined and share common circuitry or a single housing. When no circuitry is common between transmit and receive functions, the device is a transmitter-receiver. The term originated in the early 1920s...
was carried within the gondola; most scientific instruments externally. The latter included sets of ingeniously designed bottles for taking samples of air; their sealed necks were broken open by an electromagnet
Electromagnet
An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by the flow of electric current. The magnetic field disappears when the current is turned off...
ic actuator
Actuator
An actuator is a type of motor for moving or controlling a mechanism or system. It is operated by a source of energy, usually in the form of an electric current, hydraulic fluid pressure or pneumatic pressure, and converts that energy into some kind of motion. An actuator is the mechanism by which...
and re-sealed by heating the neck with an electric current running through an exposed platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
wire. New pyranometer
Pyranometer
A pyranometer is a type of actinometer used to measure broadband solar irradiance on a planar surface and is a sensor that is designed to measure the solar radiation flux density from a field of view of 180 degrees...
s designed for USSR-1 were not used on its first mission.
Failed launch
USSR-1 was ready to fly in the beginning of September 1933. The upcoming maiden flightMaiden flight
The maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. This is similar to a ship's maiden voyage....
, scheduled on September 24, 1933, was widely publicized; the aircraft plant were USSR-1 gondola was prepared to flight attracted masses of visitors, but actual launch from a military airfield in Kuntsevo ended in a humiliating failure. First, when the envelope was already inflated, it was found that the bottom of the envelope dangerously mingled with the ropes; a volunteer, Fyodor Tereschenko, climbed the rope and untied the knots. USSR-1 was then cleared to fly, but failed to lift off due to moisture buildup in foggy weather.
The huge bag rose groggily about 10 ft. It wobbled sideways across the airdrome, but not an inch higher would it go. The ground crew dragged the bag back; part of the heavy apparatus was unloaded. Still no luck. After two hours of struggle, Air Commander Garankidze wearily ordered: "De- flate."
Record flight
Next attempt to launch USSR-1 was scheduled on September 30, 1933; Osoaviakhim-1Osoaviakhim-1
Osoaviakhim-1 was a record-setting, hydrogen-filled Soviet high-altitude balloon designed to seat a crew of three and perform scientific studies of the Earth's stratosphere. On January 30, 1934, on its maiden flight which lasted over 7 hours, the balloon reached an altitude of...
was prepared to fly from Kuntsevo later on the same day. Unlike previous attempts, when the balloon was filled from pressurized tanks, this time hydrogen was stored in "elephants" - auxiliary balloons (120 cubic meters each), that, like real animals, were led to the field on leashes. At about 06:00 Moscow time
Moscow Time
Moscow Time is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second westernmost of the nine time zones of Russia. Moscow Time has been UTC+4 year-round since 27 March 2011....
the envelope was filled with 3 thousand cubic meters of hydrogen, or 1/8 of the balloon's geometric capacity. At stratospheric altitudes this amount would have expanded to fill the whole envelope.
Prokofiev reported status to Air Forces chief Jēkabs Alksnis around 8:00. USSR-1 with Prokofiev, Godunov and radio operator Ernst Birnbaum on board lifted off at 8:40 Moscow Time
Moscow Time
Moscow Time is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second westernmost of the nine time zones of Russia. Moscow Time has been UTC+4 year-round since 27 March 2011....
and established radio contact with ground five minutes later. According to Prokofiev's flight log, at 9:17 am USSR-1 passed 16,800 meter mark, beating Piccard's record; between 9:19 and 9:26 the aircraft, fully expanded, levelled in a static equilibrium
Hydrostatic equilibrium
Hydrostatic equilibrium or hydrostatic balance is the condition in fluid mechanics where a volume of a fluid is at rest or at constant velocity. This occurs when compression due to gravity is balanced by a pressure gradient force...
at 17,500 meters. Prokofiev released 80 kilograms of ballast to proceed further; after additional ballast drops at 9:47, 10:30, 11:40 and 12:00 the aircraft resumed slow ascent and at 12:55 reached 19,200-19,300 meters. Later, Prokofiev's numbers were adjusted for instrument errors to 19,000 meters max altitude at 12:45. Descent to 10,500 meters took around two hours; at this altitude the crew discharged all electrical batteris as a precaution against short circuit
Short circuit
A short circuit in an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path, often where essentially no electrical impedance is encountered....
during landing. At 16:36 (8,000 meters) Prokofiev stopped recording flight data and concentrated on airspeed control; around 17:00 the aircraft softly landed on a field near the town of Kolomna
Kolomna
Kolomna is an ancient city and the administrative center of Kolomensky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka Rivers, southeast of Moscow. The area of the city is about . The city was founded in 1177...
, around 110 kilometers from the launch site.
Clear skies and benign winds in stratosphere allowed continuous visual contact between ground stations and USSR-1, however, the flight of Osoaviakhim-1, scheduled to take off later than USSR-1, was cancelled due to unexpected strong winds at ground level. Prokofiev's altitude readings, reported by radio, were immediately re-broadcast by TASS
Information Telegraph Agency of Russia
The Information Telegraph Agency of Russia , is the major news agency of Russia. It is headquartered in Moscow.- History :Its origin is in a letter sent by Finance Minister Vladimir Kokovtsov to foreign minister in March 1904 writing that "our trade and industrial circles, as well as the Finance...
and United Press
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
. USSR-1 altitide record, although not recognized by FAI
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles...
, was publicized worldwide, as well as scientific data released shortly after the flight.
Fully half the 80,000 population of Kolomna, carefully primed by Dictator StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's propagandists to witness a great scientific conquest by their nation, poured across the Moscow RiverMoskva RiverThe Moskva River is a river that flows through the Moscow and Smolensk Oblasts in Russia, and is a tributary of the Oka River.-Etymology:...
to greet the aeronauts. Pilot George Prokofiev mounted the gondola, harangued the crowd with a lecture in which he credited the flight's success entirely to the Proletarian RevolutionOctober RevolutionThe October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
and the Communist PartyCommunist Party of the Soviet UnionThe Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
.
After the flight the crewmembers, three designers and plant manager responsible for building USSR-1 were awarded the Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
, then the highest award for military or civil achievement. The flight was commemorated by an issue of postage stamps (Scott
Scott catalogue
The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Co, a subsidiary of Amos Press, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the entire world which its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in six large volumes and is also produced in...
C37, C38, C39).
USSR-1 Bis
After the crash of Osoaviakhim-1Osoaviakhim-1
Osoaviakhim-1 was a record-setting, hydrogen-filled Soviet high-altitude balloon designed to seat a crew of three and perform scientific studies of the Earth's stratosphere. On January 30, 1934, on its maiden flight which lasted over 7 hours, the balloon reached an altitude of...
the military demanded an overhaul of safety procedures and features. While USSR-1 gondola was deliberately designed for safety, in case of the catastrophic failure of the balloon the crew had to bail out on personal parachutes. Osoaviakhim-1 envelope and suspension failed at altitudes where humans were not yet able to bail out, its crewmembers probably incapacitated by high g-force
G-force
The g-force associated with an object is its acceleration relative to free-fall. This acceleration experienced by an object is due to the vector sum of non-gravitational forces acting on an object free to move. The accelerations that are not produced by gravity are termed proper accelerations, and...
s as the gondola erratically rotated around the remaining suspension cables. Thus the designers focused on assuring crew survival above 8,000 meters mark. USSR-1 was re-fitted with new suspension with a quick release latch that enabled instant separation of the gondola from the envelope, and a large (1,000 square meters, 34 meters diameter) parachute capable of stabilizing the fall at safe speeds; the upgraded aircraft was renamed USSR-1 Bis.
USSR-1 Bis with military pilots Christian Zille (flight commander), Yury Prilutsky (co-pilot) and professor Alexander Verigo as on-board researcher lifted off from Kuntsevo at 05:25, June 26, 1935. Prokofiev was in charge of ground control. By 8:00 it reached maximum scheduled altitude, 16,000 meters. A brief stay at this level was terminated by an unexpected descent, probably caused by losing hydrogen through a faulty valve; soon, under 15,000 meters, vertical speed passed the safety limits, threatening to destroy USSR-1 Bis in an Osoaviakhim-1-like crash dive. Dumping ballast slowed down descent, then speed picked up again. Zille ordered Verigo and Prilutsky to bail out; they jumped at 3,500 and 2,500 meters, respectively.
Zille, aware that externally-carried gondola parachute was tied to the same structural ring that also carried scientific instruments, feared that the dynamic shock caused by parachute deployment will destroy instruments. Instead of deploying the parachute he dumped unnecessary items left in the gondola, stabilizing descent speed at three meters per second. Shortly before landing, out of precaution, he stepped outside the gondola, holding on to external ladder steps; the landing near Trufanovo, Tula Oblast
Tula Oblast
Tula Oblast is a federal subject of Russia with its present borders formed on September 26, 1937. Its administrative center is the city of Tula. The oblast has an area of and a population of 1,553,874...
turned out soft and safe. The crew were hailed as heroes and awarded Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
.