Speech by Yuri Semenov and Memorial Dedication on the 44th Anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1
October 4, 2001. Korolev, Moscow Region:
Today, on the 44th anniversary of the launch of the first
Earth’s artificial satellite, in Moscow, in the Alley of Space Heroes
a monument was unveiled to academician V.P. Glushko. The unveiling was
attended by managers and veterans of rocket and space industry, scientists,
cosmonauts and members of the general public.
The text of the speech by S.P.Korolev RSC Energia Designer General, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yu.P.Semenov at the unveiling of the monument to V.P. Glushko on October 4, 2001.
Dear colleagues, comrades and friends,
October
4 is a special day for all of us – the day of the launch of the Earth’s
first artificial satellite, the day when we, our country, opened up
the space age in the history of Earth’s civilization.
This event alone would be quite sufficient for the memory about an outstanding
constellation of our chief designers – V.P. Glushko, V.P.Barmin, N.A. Pilyugin,
V.I. Kuznetsov, M.S. Ryazansky who formed the first Council of chief
designers headed by S.P. Korolev – to remain in the world history forever.
Important as it is, this is only one line of their activities in the
area of rocket and space technology development. The most important
contribution of our pioneering chief designers is the establishment
of unique domestic schools of science, design and production which for
many decades put our country in a leading position in the area of development
of high-end space technologies.
Among them was Valentin Petrovich Glushko, the founder of the soviet
school of rocket propulsion engineering. He devoted about 60 years to
his favorite work. Having graduated from Leningrad university, and doing
both theoretical and experimental work, as early as in 1931 he built
first domestic liquid-propellant engines and determined the most promising
rocket propellant components for them, which, to a large extent, predetermined
the fast growth of domestic space technology in early 1946.
Rocket engines, developed under the direction of Valentin Glushko still
continue to faithfully serve Russia, reliably operating as parts of
the best domestic rockets, which include, first of all, launch vehicle
"Soyuz", developed by S.P. Korolev, which has traveled a long
way from the launch of the first Earth satellite and the first man in
space – Yu.A. Gagarin – to the support of transportation operations
under the International Space Station program, as well as launch vehicles
Proton, Zenit, and many others.
Being one of the pioneers in the domestic rocket and space technology,
V.P. Glushko was also actively participating in the work of USSR Academy
of Sciences, he always went deeply into the matters of the future power
industry development.
For the last 15 years of his life he was Designer General of NPO Energia
(presently known as S.P.Korolev RSC Energia). I happened to travel with
him along the arduous path of bringing into being and developing orbital
space stations and reusable space transportation system Energia-Buran.
And throughout all this period his versatile talent was single-mindedly
focused on the implementation of the one-of-a-kind project of the system
that was far ahead of its time.
Unfortunately, I had to report to him about a successful completion
of the world’s first automatic landing of an Orbiter, that is, about
the achievement of the aim he had been unswervingly pursuing since 1976,
when he was already in a hospital.
Valentin Glushko lived a long and brilliant life of a rocket and space
technology designer, skillfully managing and directing the work of teams
of many thousands whom he happened to head at different periods in time.
Today’s unveiling of the monument to Valentin Glushko here in the Alley
of the Heroes of Space is not only just an expression of our common
deep gratitude to him which he earned with all his life and work, but
is also a universal recognition of his great services to the domestic
and world space science for theoretical and practical contribution to
the development of propulsion engineering which went ahead the world
level by many years. At the same time, by eternizing in granite our
memory about Valentin Glushko, we pay homage and express our gratitude
to millions of workers who formed and developed scientific and technological
potential of our country’s space industry enterprises.
Today, it is already clear that all that we did in the previous fifty
years, has allowed Russia to survive and retain its status of a great
power in spite of all the losses the space industry has incurred, especially
in the last decade, which was the most difficult one for all the high-tech
companies.
And, as an affirmation of confidence in the resilience of our people
and states, and of the fact that we have survived and continue to preserve
historic objectivity of our great history and memories of the people
whose names are associated with the progress, development and prosperity
of the country, we unveil today the monument to Valentin Petrovich Glushko.
I congratulate you on our great professional holiday, dear friends,
on which we unveil the monument to Valentin Petrovich Glushko, an outstanding
scientist and designer in the field of rocket technology and world space
science.
