Аннотация: Friedrich Zander as the second proof of the existence of cosmonautics. A note about the book by Yaroslav Golovanov "The Martian".
Friedrich Zander as the second proof of the existence of cosmonautics. A note about the book by Yaroslav Golovanov "The Martian".
Having discovered the book by Yaroslav Golovanov "The Martian" ["The man from Mars"] (1985), I decided to read it out of curiosity - to compare it with the book by D.Ya. Zilmanovich "Pioneer of the Soviet rocketry Friedrich Zander" (1966).
Yes, Yaroslav Golovanov's book "The Martian" is a good, interesting, information-rich book. It is more interesting to read it. From a literary point of view, this book is written very well, maybe even excellent. In this book, we can find a relatively large amount of information about the personal life of Friedrich Zander. (I have not read the fantastic, fictional letters supposedly written on Mars in 2032-2033, placed at the beginning of each chapter, - with the exception of a few lines).
At the same time, the question of the "assemblage point" of the biography of Friedrich Zander in the book "The Martian" is drawn.
Zander published a very little during his lifetime. His handwritten heritage contains works devoted not only to space flights, but also to a wide variety of topics. His practical technical achievement is the creation of the first in the USSR model of a liquid jet engine out of (from) a blowtorch.
What is the source of information, how do we know about the genius of Zander? - From the reviews of his contemporaries. From the reviews of Tsiolkovsky.
First of all, from the reviews of Sergei Korolev.
The most important thing in Zander's biography is that he transmitted to Korolev some exclusive knowledge.
What knowledge?
If this question arose in front of Yaroslav Golovanov, then perhaps it was not so easy for him to give a concrete answer to it.
But it is precisely the answer to this question that is the "assemblage point" of Zander's biography.
If the answer to this question is not formulated both clearly and specifically, then the biographer is forced to describe (as comprehensively as it is possible) the results of Zander's creative work and reproduce statements about Zander's genius (in this matter we can safely trust Zander's contemporaries, including Sergei Korolev ).
In our opinion, about Zander we depend on the assessments of Zander's contemporaries, mainly on the assessments of Sergei Korolev.
Moreover, if Sergei Korolyov had not been a man of worldwide and unconditional success, how would his extremely positive comments about Zander be perceived in this case?
So, before the reading public in the book of Yaroslav Golovanov, there appears the genius Friedrich Arturovich Zander, who was almost never published during his lifetime, who wrote on completely different (numerous) topics. Whose handwritten heritage is difficult to decipher.
What is the result of this state of affairs?
It seems to us that the result is not admiration about Zander, but regret over the fate of Zander.
A well-off young man from a good family was born in a cultural European city - and spent almost his entire adult life in poverty, constantly urging people to fly to Mars, got stuck in his attempts to make an engine running on metal fuel.
In the book "The Martian" the contrast between the prosperous youth of Zander and his the problematic, difficult adult life turned out to be (it seems to us) the "assemblage point".
And the alleged transfer of some exclusive knowledge by Zander to Korolev is balanced by the author's mention that the joint work of Sergei Korolev and Friedrich Zander did not exceed one year in duration.
'Like a funnel of a huge tornado, a whirlwind of events swirls around Zander faster and faster, sucking it into the very core of this whirlwind. In April 1932, this rampart finally pulls him into the basement on Sadovo-Spasskaya Street.
The last, shortest, very joyful, extremely stressful period of the life of Friedrich Zander begins. Just for a few months fate gave him the possibility to completely, without looking back, devote himself to the cause to which he strove all his life. (...) Zander worked in the basement of the GIRD for only ten months. "
'In his rocket with liquid oxygen as an oxidizer, Zander considered metal to be the main fuel and gasoline to be auxiliary. This was probably his main mistake, which extremely slowed down all the work. The First Brigade worked day and night, constantly encountering insurmountable technical obstacles and operational dead ends. The softest man, Zander showed unexpected tenacity here, insisting on new and new tests. "
'Only the abandonment of metallic fuel in general, the transformation of Zander's rocket into a purely liquid-propellant rocket, allowed it to take off at the Nakhabino range near Moscow, alas, eight months after the death of Friedrich Arturovich.
So what happens: GIRD for Zander is a continuous streak of failures and disappointments? No. Ten months of GIRD is ten months of continuous movement towards excellence. "
So, we see that Zander is a genius, we take into account that (1) he had almost no publications, (2) and from practical developments he had a jet engine made of a blowtorch, we see that (3 ) Zander persistently promoted the dead-end (at the time) idea of metal fuel and insisted on the correctness of his dead-end idea.
It remains to express a sympathy with the brilliant Zander ...
This (in our opinion) "assemblage point" of Zander's biography looks a little sad.
If we question such a "assemblage point", then we have to return to the question: what exclusive knowledge did Zander convey to Korolev?
A detailed answer to this question may require writing a new biography of Friedrich Zander.
Let's try to answer it in an extremely general form.
As a historical figure of world cosmonautics, Zander is described, in particular, through the following set of characteristics:
1. Excellent, most modern, technical education,
2. Good knowledge of mathematics and the ability to apply it to solve practical problems,
3. Internal inclination (predisposition) to calculations. (From the biography written by Yaroslav Golovanov, it follows that it was completely natural for Zander to devote his time to calculations),
4. Work experience as an engineer. Significant experience of practical, rather successful, engineering work at large modern enterprises.
5. Huge enthusiasm for the subject of space flights, correspondence with Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.
People who were far from the topic of rocketry often viewed Zander with a negative connotation.
For specialists who knew Zander closely, it was obvious that a qualified engineer with a modern education and experience in practical engineering work at large enterprises, fascinated by the topic of space flights, devoting considerable time to this topic and performing a large amount of calculations on this topic, is - regardless of his external success - an expert of the highest level in practical astronautics.
The main question that a specialist in the field of glider and airplane construction Korolev faced: is space flight possible at current (for Korolev) level of development of science and technology?
The answer to this question could not be given in the form of a system of logical arguments or presented in the form of mathematical calculations.
The answer could only be given in the form of an intuitive expert judgment.
It is unlikely that Sergei Korolev invited Friedrich Zander to his office (in the house at the corner of Orlikov Lane and Sadovo-Spasskaya Street) and asked him a question: "Friedrich Arturovich, is a flight into outer space possible with the current level of development of science and technology?", that Zander answered: 'Yes, of course! I am sure about that!"
'Thank you, Friedrich Arturovich! I am very grateful to you! "
Korolev creates for himself a definite opinion and makes a note on a separate piece of paper.
Most likely, there was no such dialogue in reality.
In fact, Korolev, a man with excellent intuition, heard Zander exclaims: 'To Mars! To Mars! "
'Sometimes, completely exhausted, he put his head on the table, putting hands under his head, and froze for a while. Then he suddenly jumped up and spoke loudly, without addressing anyone in particular: 'To Mars! To Mars! "
'Zander, with his eyes lit up, heartily and in a kind of ecstasy exclaimed:' To Mars! Only to Mars! " Tears flowed down the engineer's cheeks - tears of joy. "
For Sergei Korolev, who had a good intuition, exclamations of the talented, highly qualified, experienced Zander 'To Mars! To Mars! " were a kind of proofs to be convinced of the reality of space flights in the 20th century. Thus, he devoted his life to this topic and decided to become the chief designer of ballistic missiles. Zander - as such, in itself - was proof of the reality of space travel in the 20th century. It was important to present this proof to Sergei Korolev in a timely manner (which was done).
Ten months was quite enough for Zander to exclaim several times in the basement of the GIRD in the presence of Korolev: 'To Mars! To Mars! "
And the most modern technical education, and a good knowledge of mathematics, and a tendency to perform calculations, and positive experience of practical work as an engineer at large enterprises, and ten months in the basement of the GIRD - all this was Friedrich Zander's road to success, his path to the future, confident steps into a history of space flights.
[MMСCLV. Friedrich Zander: between Tsiolkovsky and Korolev (1904-1933). A historical and biographical memo. - July 7, 2021.].
July 10, 2021 17:26
Translation from Russian into English: July 10, 2021 22:10.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский 'Фридрих Цандер как второе доказательство существования космонавтики. Заметка о книге Ярослава Голованова 'Марсианин''.