Helmut Gröttrup
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Helmut Gröttrup (1916 – 1981) was a German electrical engineer and assistant of Wernher von Braun in the V-2 rocket-project. Gröttrup was responsible for the guidance system.
After World War II, Gröttrup decided to work with the Soviet rocketry program, hoping to be its leader rather than an underling of von Braun (with whom he had personality conflicts).[1]. From September 9, 1945 through October 22, 1946, Gröttrup worked under the supervision of Sergey Korolyov in the Soviet Occupation Zone. Then, all scientists and engineers working for the SU were unexpectedly moved to the USSR by train along with their families.
Gröttrup helped Korolev with the R-1 project, a recreation of the V-2 missile using Russian manufacturing and materials. At Kapustin Yar, he helped Korolev supervise the launching of 20 rebuilt V-2 rockets. As a reality check on Korolev's missile proposals, Minister Dmitry Ustinov asked Gröttrup and his small team to design several new missile systems, including the R-10 (G-1), R-12 (G-2), and the R-14(G-4) which was in similar to the A9/A10 long range missile von Braun designed during the war.[citation needed] Gröttrup was also asked to consult on the R-13 (G-3) cruise missile. None of these projects went beyond the design stage, but some ideas were incorperated in the R-2 and R-5 missile systems.
On November 22, 1955, Gröttrup was returned to Germany.
Back in Germany, Gröttrup worked for SEL (Standard Elektrik Lorenz) in Stuttgart (1955-1958). Later he became an inventor and developed the chip card together with Jürgen Dethloff, a patent applied in 1968 and granted in 1982. From 1970, he worked for Giesecke & Devrient for chip cards and banknote processing systems.
[edit] Books and Articles
Siddiqi, Asif, "Russians in Germany: Founding the Postwar Missile Programme," Europe-Asia Studies 56 no. 8 (2004): 1131-56.
Chertok, Boris, "German influence in USSR", Acta Astronautica, Volume 55, Issues 3-9, August-November 2004.
Ordway, Frederick, The Rocket Team, 1979.
[edit] References
- ^ The Rocket Team, Frederick Ordway, 1979
