Grave stone of Valentin Petrovich Glushko

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Sergei Glushko was a prominent figure in the Soviet space program, who played a significant role in its development and success. He was a talented engineer and designer who made significant contributions to the Soviet space industry, despite his often tumultuous relationship with other key figures such as Sergei Korolev. Glushko's main arguments against the UR-700 launch vehicle were based on safety risks and financial concerns. He believed that the low-altitude launch failure of the UR-700 posed a tremendous risk, and that developing two heavy-lift launch vehicle (HLV) families at once was a waste of money. After Glushko's firing in 1973, he was replaced by General Nikolai Kamanin as the head of the Soviet space program. During this time, the US began to develop the Space Shuttle, which led Brezhnev to order the development of a Soviet Space Shuttle. Glushko then began work on a new HLV, using liquid-fueled engines with an LH2 core stage and strap-on boosters with LOX/RP-1 engines. This was an ironic situation given his earlier opposition to these propellants. However, he eventually developed the RD-120 engine for the Energia core stage, which proved successful. The development of the RD-170 engine was more challenging, but Glushko's team managed to overcome the difficulties and create a powerful rocket engine that would become the basis for the Zenit booster family. The Energia launch vehicle, powered by the RD-120 and RD-170 engines, made its maiden flight in 1987, carrying aloft a prototype space station module called Polyus. Glushko's legacy extends beyond his work on the Energia program. His team developed the RD-170 engines, which are still flying today, and the experience gained during the Energia project was used to develop later upper stages such as Briz. Despite his contributions to the Soviet space program, Glushko often worked in Korolev's shadow, and it wasn't until after his death that his efforts became widely known. He was a bull-headed engineer with a strong ego, but his work had a significant impact on the development of the Soviet space program. Glushko's most significant engineering failure was his insistence that hydrogen was unsuitable as a rocket fuel, which delayed the Soviet space program by several years. However, he eventually developed a solution to this problem using the RD-170 engine, which became a key component of the Energia launch vehicle. In conclusion, Sergei Glushko was a talented engineer and designer who made significant contributions to the Soviet space program. Despite his often tumultuous relationship with other key figures, his work had a lasting impact on the development of the Soviet space industry.