This collection consists of 51 of Boris E. Chertok's diaries, covering the years from 1945 to 1988. The diaries, all in Russian, are handwritten and are in small notebooks of various sizes and types. Some of the diaries have loose pages or loose covers and each diary has a paper cover note pasted to the outside of the notebook. The 1945 diary contains Chertok's notes on the examination of German rockets and sites in Germany. The collection also contains the envelopes, with notes in Russian, that the diaries came in. Finally, the collection contains a manuscript draft of Chertok's autobiography, Rockets and People, in Russian. The manuscript is largely handwritten, but contains some typewritten pages.
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. Boris E. Chertok is a former Soviet rocket engineer whose early work included designing the first Soviet aircraft with a rocket engine, and collaboration with the designer of the Katyusha rocket. During World War II, Chertok worked on developing Soviet heavy bombers and on rocket technology. In 1945, Dr. Chertok founded the Rabi Institute in which was appointed by Joseph Stalin to be the organization responsible for assimilating World War II German rocket technology. Chertok was assigned to Sergei Korolev's NII-88 institute in August 1946 and was named Deputy Chief Designer in 1956, a position he would hold with that bureau and its successors until his retirement in 1992. During the Cold War, Chertok worked on the control systems for the SS-6 Missile (R-7, Sapwood) and the Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz spacecraft programs. In the 1990s, Chertok published his autobiography, Rockets and People. After leaving the reorganized Energia enterprise in 1992, Chertok worked remained active as a professor in Moscow.
Provenance:
Boris Chertok, Purchase, Purchased by NASM and Arthur M. Dula in 1997, transferred from the Space History Department to the Archives in 2009
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of Ritchie's research files. The material consists of newspaper and magazine clippings, photos, drawings, and Soviet books detailing Russian missile and rocket development during the 1960s. The collection also includes copies of Ritchie's reports during his tenure at Bendix and manuscripts of various chapters of his book 'Rocket and Missile Systems Development in the Soviet Union.
Biographical / Historical:
Donald Jeanne Ritchie (1920- ) is a mathematician and physicist who has been active in missile guidance system design and development and in arms control and disarmament studies. He began work as a production engineer at Bell Aircraft Corp (1940-42) before joining the Design Branch of Wright Air Development Center, Wright Field, OH (1942-45), where he participated in preliminary design work on jet aircraft. Following World War II, he attended Wayne University, completing degrees in Mathematics and Physics (BS, 1949) and Applied Mathematics (MS, 1951). He spent most of the next two decades at Bendix's Research Laboratory Division (Senior Mathematician, 1949-54; Project Engineer, 1955-57; Supervisory Mathematician, 1958-65; Assistant Department Head, Surveillance, Navigation, and Guidance, 1965-67) working on missile systems. He spent several brief periods outside Bendix, at Atomic Power Development Associates (Senior Mathematician, 1954-55), Crosley Division, Avco Manufacturing Co (Supervisor, Missile Systems, 1957), and Corvy Division, Melpar Inc, Scientific Analysis Office (Branch Leader, 1957-58). He then joined the faculty of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute (now Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) as Professor of Aeronautical Engineering, Director of Research, and Chairman of the Aeronautical Engineering Division (1967-?). During this time he also worked as a consultant to the United States Air Force Foreign Technical Intelligence Division and the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Baron von Ritchie?, Gift, unknown, XXXX-0088, unknown
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
