Unknown Hero: the life of M.S. Ryazansky, who prepared Gagarin's flights

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

This week marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of the prominent scientist and designer Mikhail Sergeevich Ryazansky (1909-1987) - one of the founders of the domestic rocket and space instrumentation and the founders of NII-885 (today - JSC Russian Space Systems, RKS, part of the State Corporation "Roskosmos").

Details "Russian Spring"told the press service of the "Russian Space Systems".

Under the leadership of Mikhail Ryazansky, who was a member of the famous Council of Chief Designers headed by Sergei Korolev, unique radio control and telemetry systems for intercontinental ballistic missiles were developed.

He took part in the work on the creation of the first artificial satellite of the Earth, the preparation of the flight of Yuri Gagarin, automatic stations for the study of the Moon and planets of the solar system and in other important projects.

Mikhail Ryazansky also made a significant contribution to the development of manned astronautics, the creation of space communication and navigation systems, and a ground-based automated control system for spacecraft.

He became one of the founders of the Russian scientific and engineering school of space instrumentation. His students today constitute the golden fund of industry veterans, many of whom continue to work and pass on their unique experience and knowledge to a new generation of engineers, scientists and designers.

Ryazansky's colleagues and students in their memoirs note the remarkable personal qualities of the designer, thanks to which he managed to create an atmosphere of healthy creative competition in the team with his own creative participation at all stages of creating breakthrough solutions, equipment and systems at that time.

RCS veteran, scientist and designer Arnold Selivanov:

“If we try to describe in one word the joint long-term work with the Chief Designer, then it can be called comfortable. It is unusual to use this word in such a context, nevertheless, it very accurately conveys the feeling that arises when remembering the past, a very difficult and difficult time.

The distance between the young engineer and the Big Chief Designer, of course, was always there, but Mikhail Sergeevich knew how to smooth it out and make it invisible. The desire to justify trust and not let such a person down was a powerful moral incentive for me in my work with Mikhail Sergeevich."

Veteran RCS, Doctor of Technical Sciences Viktor Grishmanovsky:

“The methods of Mikhail Sergeevich’s leadership in the process of creating advanced rocket technology at that time ensured the highest achievements in its development, study and exploration of outer space and contributed to the activation of the creative process at the institute, the search for new technical solutions, the emergence of the development of new systems that solve problems on new principles, the expansion scientific topics of the institute.

Veteran of RCS, candidate of technical sciences Vladislav Rogalsky:

“A broad outlook, extensive experience in creating radio engineering systems for controlling satellites for various purposes allowed Mikhail Sergeevich to successfully interact with ballistics specialists from the Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Academy of Sciences of the Academy of Sciences, developers of scientific equipment from the Space Research Institute of the Academy of Sciences, heads of the plant. SA Lavochkin, where the long-range spacecraft were developed.

His ability to listen to his interlocutor, to find an opportunity to meet customer requirements for the accuracy of measurements of spacecraft motion parameters and transmission rates of scientific information, implementation of onboard and ground-based radio systems' sensitivity close to theoretical values ensured effective interaction with our subcontractors."

Cosmonaut, Hero of Russia, grandson of Mikhail Ryazansky Sergei Ryazansky:

“My grandfather worked very hard, he had almost no time to communicate with us. I remember how he told me about the big bang theory, without going into details, realizing that I was still small. In the family, the grandfather was treated with the deepest respect. In the evening, my parents fed me and my sister, but they themselves did not sit down at the table - they waited for my grandfather to come home from work to have dinner with him."

Biography

Mikhail Ryazansky was born on April 5, 1909 in St. Petersburg. In 1935 he graduated from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute with a degree in electrical engineering.

In 1934-1946, he worked at NII-20 of the USSR Ministry of Electrical Industry, rose from an engineer to the head of a department.

In 1946, Mikhail Ryazansky was appointed chief engineer at NII-885. He became the chief designer of the R-7 missile control system.

From 1955 to 1965, Mikhail Ryazansky held the position of director and chief designer, then until 1986 he was chief designer.

Mikhail Ryazansky is a laureate of various state awards, awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1956), awarded the Order of the Red Star, five Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor and the Order of the October Revolution.

On April 5, 2019, in honor of the 110th anniversary of the birth of a prominent scientist and designer, the RCS hosted a ceremony of laying flowers at the memorial plaque of Mikhail Ryazansky, installed at the central entrance of the company on Aviamotornaya Street in Moscow.

The event was attended by numerous guests, representatives of the team and company management.