Fridrikh Zander
From The Space Library
 Fridrikh Arturovich Zander ca. 1927 | |
| Birth Name | Fridrikh Arturovich Zander |
|---|---|
| Birth Date | 1887 |
| Date of Death | March 1933 |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Notable Works | Flights to Other Planets, The Problem of Flight with Jet-Propelled Vehicles |
Fridrickh Zander was a Soviet rocket engineer who began his theoretical research in 1907. In his 1924 article Flights to Other Planets published in Technology and Life magazine, he set out his radical idea for a hybrid rocket-aircraft vehicle wherein the aircraft itself would be burnt in the combustion chamber as fuel, thus increasing the range of the vehicle.
In 1924 Zander was a member of the Section of Interplanetary Travel in Moscow along with Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.
Zander's work was displayed alongside Tsiolkovsky, Goddard and Oberth at the first Space exhibit which was staged in Moscow between April and June 1927.
In 1930 Zander used a blowtorch to construct the first experimental Soviet rocket motor named the OR-1. The engine used compressed air and gasoline and had a thrust of 145 grams.
Zander also studied using light for propulsion in interplanetary space. In 1932 he published a book entitled The Problem of Flight with Jet-Propelled Vehicles in which he proposed using certain metals as fuel additives.
In June 1932 an experimental organisation was established in Moscow for the development of rockets led by Sergei Korolev. Zander joined this establishment named Moscow GIRD. This group built two liquid propelled rocket engines designed by Zander. The OR-2 to be installed on the RP-1 tailless glider designed by B.I. Cheranovsky and the engine for the GIRD-X rocket.
The OR-2 was water and oxygen cooled and was first tested in March 1933, the month that Zander died.
