Georgy Erikhovich Langemak (russian: Георгий Эрихович Лангемак; – 11 January 1938) was a Soviet engineer in the Soviet space program, working on rocket design applications. He is chiefly remembered for being the co-designer and directing the development of the aircraft unguided rockets, such as the RS-82 and RS-132, which were modified to be used with such success in the Katyusha rocket launchers of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The crater Langemak on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

is named in his honor.

Life

Beginning in 1928, he worked at the Soviet Gas Dynamics Laboratory along with several other notable Soviet rocket scientists, and they developed rocket projectiles that used smokeless powder. This group was later merged with another rocketry organization to become the

Reactive Scientific Research Institute Reactive Scientific Research Institute (commonly known by the joint initialism RNII; russian: Реактивный научно-исследовательский институт, Reaktivnyy nauchno-issledovatel’skiy institut) was one of the ...

(RNII). Langemak became the deputy director of the RNII. In 1936 this group completed the technical specifications for a rocket-glider. In 1937, during the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

, he was fired and subsequently arrested by

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

, along with the RNII director

Ivan Kleymyonov Ivan Terentyevich Kleymyonov (last name also spelled Kleymenov; russian: Иван Терентьевич Клеймёнов; Staraya Surava, Tambov Governorate; April 11, 1899 – January 10, 1938) was a Soviet Union, Soviet scientist and one of th ...

and the engine designer

Valentin Glushko Valentin Petrovich Glushko (russian: Валенти́н Петро́вич Глушко́; uk, Валентин Петрович Глушко, Valentyn Petrovych Hlushko; born 2 September 1908 – 10 January 1989) was a Soviet engineer and the m ...

, as a follow-up to denunciation letter by director of RNII liquid fuel engine laboratory, Andrei Kostikov (who subsequently took his position in the institute), in which he claimed Langemark was sabotaging the research and development progress of the new engine. Langemark was judged by visiting session of Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union on 11 January 1938, found guilty under the article 58-7, 58-8, and 58-11, and sentenced to death by shooting with property confiscation. The execution happened the same day.Лангемак Георгий Эрихович
Автор Александр Глушко. На основании документов из архивов ЦГАВМФ, ФСБ, Самарского филиала РГАНТД и личного архива А. В. Глушко. He was rehabilitated completely in November 1955. Langemak and other participants in the creation of the Katyusha rocket launcher received official recognition only in 1991. By decree of the President

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

dated 21 June 1991, Kleymyonov, Langemak, Vasily Luzhin, , Boris Slonimer, and Nikolai Tikhomirov were posthumously awarded title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

References

Bibliography

* Langemak, G. E. and Glushko, V. P., "The Missile, Its Device and Use", 1935. * Лангемак Георгий Эрихович, Автор Александр Глушко. На основании документов из архивов ЦГАВМФ, ФСБ, Самарского филиала РГАНТД и личного архива А. В. Глушко. 1898 births 1938 deaths Heroes of Socialist Labour People from Starobilsk People from Kharkov Governorate Soviet scientists Ethnic German people from the Russian Empire Soviet people of German descent Great Purge victims from Russia Soviet rehabilitations {{USSR-engineer-stub