- Helmut Gröttrup
Articleissues
citecheck = October 2007
disputed = October 2007
rewrite = October 2007Helmut Gröttrup (1916 – 1981) was a German electrical engineer and assistant of
Wernher von Braun in theV-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). ["The Rocket Team", Frederick Ordway, 1979] . Fromseptember 9 ,1945 throughoctober 22 ,1946 , Gröttrup worked under the supervision ofSergey Korolyov in theSoviet 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. 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 aninventor and developed the chip card together with Jürgen Dethloff, apatent applied in 1968 and granted in 1982. From 1970, he worked forGiesecke & Devrient for chip cards and banknote processing systems.Books and Articles
Siggiqi, 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.
* [http://www.russianspaceweb.com/gorodomlya.html History of Gorodomlya Island]
* [http://www.astronautix.com/astros/grottrup.htm Grottrup @ Astronautix.com]
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