Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomei (Влади́мир Никола́евич Челоме́й) (June 30 1914—December 8 1984) was a Soviet mechanics scientist and rocket engineer. He was born in Siedlce, Imperial Russia. Three months later, when World War I came close to their home, their family moved to Poltava. When Chelomei was 12 year old, their family moved to Kiev.

In 1932 Chelomei was admitted to the Kiev Polytechnic Institute (later the basis of Kiev Aviation Institute), where he showed himself as a student with outstanding talent. In 1936 his first book Vector Analysis was published. Studying at the institute, Chelomei also attended lectures on mathematical analysis, theory of differential equations, mathematical physics, theory of elasticity and mechanics in the Kiev University. He also attended lectures by Tullio Levi-Civita in the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences. Namely in this time Chelomei became interested in mechanics and in the theory of oscillations and remained interested the rest of his life. In 1937 Chelomei graduated from the institute with honors. After that he worked there as a lecturer, defending a dissertation for the Candidate of Science (in 1939).

Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War Chelomei worked at the Baranov Central Institute of Aviation Motor Building (TsIAM) in Moscow, where he created (independently from works in Nazi Germany) the first in the USSR pulsating air jet engine in 1942. In summer 1944 it became known that Nazi Germany used V-1 rockets against England. By the decision of the USSR State Defense Committee and People's Commissar for Aviation Industry Aleksei Ivanovich Shakhurin October 19 1944, Chelomei was appointed the Director and Chief Constructor of the Plant N51 (its previous director Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov died short time before). Chelomei was entrusted to design, build ,and test the first Soviet cruise missile at the earliest possible date. As early as December 1944 such rocket, which was called 10X, was tested by the aircraft Petlyakov Pe-8 and Tupolev Tu-2. In the same year under the leadership of Chelomei on the basis of the Plant N51 the first in the USSR Special Design Bureau (OKB-51) on designing the pilot-less aircrafts was established. In 1955 Chelomei was appointed the Chief Constructor of the OKB-52, where he continued to work on cruise missiles.

At the same time Chelomei continued scientific research. He earned a Doctor of Sciences degree in Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School defending the dissertation in 1951 and became a professor there in 1952. In 1962 he becomes an Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Mechanics Department.

In 1958 Chelomei's OKB-52 offers the project of multi-stage Intercontinental ballistic missile. The UR-200 rocket design was denied in favour of Mikhail Yangel 's R-36 (called SS-9 Scarp in Western countries), but another one, UR-100, was accepted. In 1959 Chelomei was appointed the Chief Constructor of Aviation Equipment. Since then OKB-52, along with designing ICBMs, started work on spacecraft. In 1961 OKB-52 started to design much more powerful ICBM UR-500. Several years later Chelomei became Korolev's competitor in the "Moon race". According to Chelomei's project, the powerful UR-500 could be used to launch a small two-man craft on a lunar flyby. Chelomei managed to gain support for his proposal by employing members of Kruschev's family and claiming the UR-500 could be used as to launch a military space station. Later Chelomei's and Korolev's projects were combined, but the Soviet Lunar program was not finished. Before the first launch (which was successfully performed on March 10 1967), UR-500 was renamed to Proton rocket. Proton then was widely used to launch Soviet satellites and the Salyut and Mir space stations.

The Earth satellites such as Polyot were also designed by Chelomei's OKB. Unlike the existing ones, even Chelomei's first satellites Polyot-1 (1963) and Polyot-2 (1964) were able to change their orbits themselves. He also headed the development of Proton satellite. In 1970s Chelomei's OKB worked on Almaz complex, which became the basis for orbital stations Salyut 2, Salyut 3, and Salyut 5 designed by Chelomei and his OKB.

Chelomei's competition and in fighting with Korolev split the Soviet Space effort at a crucial point. Without this the USSR might have achieved more.

Chelomei died in Moscow in 1984.

Awards

• two times Hero of Socialist Labor (1959, 1963)
• USSR State Prize (1967, 1974, 1982)
• Lenin Prize (1959)
• four Orders of Lenin
• Order of the October Revolution

External links

• Biography (in Russian)