Tsander, Fridrikh Arturovich

Born Aug. 11 (23), 1887, in Riga; died Mar. 28, 1933, in Kislovodsk. Soviet scientist and inventor, pioneer in rocketry.

After graduating from the Riga Polytechnic Institute in 1914, Tsander worked at a rubber-industry plant in Moscow. In 1919 he obtained a position at the Motor Moscow Aircraft Plant.

Tsander began studying problems of reaction propulsion in 1908. In 1921 he presented a report on a design for an interplanetary spacecraft-airplane at a conference of inventors, and in 1924 he published in the journal Tekhnika i zhizn the article “Flight to Other Planets,” which set forth his basic ideas. He envisioned the construction of a spacecraft that combined elements of the airplane and the rocket; during flight, metallic parts of the spacecraft that were no longer needed might be used as additional fuel.

In 1930 and 1931, Tsander constructed and tested the OR-1 reaction engine, which used compressed air and gasoline and developed a thrust of 1.42 newtons. In 1931 and 1932 he designed a propulsion system with the OR-2 liquid-propellant rocket engine, which used liquid oxygen and gasoline. Tsander worked on the design of the 10 engine and the GIRD-X rocket. He helped organize the Group for the Study of Jet Propulsion. A crater on the back side of the moon has been named for Tsander.