Nikolay Gerasyuta – one of the founders of Yuzhnoye Design Office, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labour, winner of Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR, right hand of the legendary Chief Designer Mikhail Yangel, Deputy of the General Designer V.F. Utkin – was the coryphaeus of the space technology, whose pilot designs and products have been absolutely acknowledged long time ago by the world community of the rocket builders.

Not only many articles in special and popular editions, but also books have been dedicated to this person. And it is only natural, since the scientific school of ballistics created by him has stood the test of time. As well as its founder.

Test of time

Inexorable time had it that Nikolay Gerasyuta graduated from faculty of mechanics and mathematics of Odessa University in 1941, therefore instead of a pen used so conveniently to take integrals, he was handed the entrenching shovel used so conveniently to remove the earth layers on minefields. Nikolay spent all the years of war at the front: defending Dnepropetrovsk and Stalingrad, took Berlin and Warsaw. The sapper commander more than once was within hair’s breadth of death. After all each case of mine clearing is a flirtation with death: the sapper blunders just once. Thank God, everything turned out well. However, before time he went quite grey…

Gerasyuta possessed many war decorations and medals, but he always considered Medal for Bravery as the most cherished one.

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Special combination of natural abilities (peasant background), youth (28 years), knowledge (faculty of mechanics and mathematics), life experience, endurance and stamina (front) have prepared Gerasyuta for work in the incipient hi-tech and science intensive branch – rocket production. In 1947 he was sent to join the special group, which restored the German V rocket technology at the Institute Nordhausen under the leadership of S. P. Korolev.

One of the most difficult areas, and therefore unpopular with many, fell to his share – controllability and stability of rocket motion, ballistics, navigation, guidance as well as aero- and thermodynamics.

Two years spent in Nordhausen became his second university. Within its walls besides the above-mentioned Korolev, the young scientist met such luminaries as Mishin, Chertok, Mozzhorin, Budnik, Appazov, Lavrov. It is no wonder that on his return to Soviet Union Gerasyuta would become the chief of group under Korolev. And knowing Korolev’s meticulousness in recruitment, it became obvious that even back then young Gerasyuta was worth a lot.

Having stood the test of time, the yesterday’s soldier turned over a new leaf…

We choose, we are being chosen…

This page signifies the final choice of his career. In fact, Gerasyuta did not stay long at the crossroads, but had resolutely turned his steps to the path leading to the academic heights. Or to be more precise, to one of the heights, then still unexplored and cloud-covered. Preparation for the ascent began by the postgraduate study, which finished with successful thesis defense on long-range missiles flight stability. As a result, the 32-year-old candidate of science in 1951 entered the group of the rocketeers, transferred to Dnepropetrovsk to solve the urgent problems of the serial production organization of the Korolev-designed rockets. It was hitting the mark because exactly there on the banks of Dnepr Gerasyuta had the opportunity to completely elicit his natural potential, acquired experience and fundamental knowledge.

It is never easy to start from scratch a completely new business on a new site. Nikolay Fyodorovich (or N. F. as his employees called him somewhat playfully but rather respectfully) was one of the few in Ukraine, and the only one in the selected area, who managed to organize the creative team capable of solving unconventional, and therefore incredibly complex tasks.

Supported by Yangel the young supervisor defined three areas of work – ballistics, motion control and overcoming the antimissile defense of the probable enemy. They were headed by doctors of sciences

 A.A. Krasovskiy, I.M. Igdalov and N.I. Uriev, under the direction of which efforts of dozens of specialists of the highest qualification were combined.

It is worth noting that N.F. attached the paramount importance to the selection of cadres. He introduced his own rather high educational standards, therefore during the obligatory employment interviews the preference was given not to the ability to make good impression but to the knowledge of the academic disciplines. It is no wonder that YSDO employed so many graduates of MSU, MSTU, DSU, KhAI, KNRTU-KAI, Kiev Physics and Technology Institute and other elite higher schools of the country. Life has confirmed the correctness of such approach as the young specialists, selected by Gerasyuta in due course became excellent scientists and supervisors.

Thus, the division, headed by N.F. Gerasuyta accepted young graduates of Moscow higher schools –

A.A. Krasovskiy – in due course the chief of ballistics department, right-hand man of N.F. to solve all the nonconventional knotty problems, «Newton of the division» P.N. Lebedev – head of the uncontrollable aircraft ballistics subdivision, A.V. Novikov – the future chief of department on motion stability and launching accuracy and etc.

The teacher

Understanding the importance of the basic education of the new generations of rocketeers, Gerasyuta here also could not remain the detached onlooker. He became the chair of the specialized department at the DSU physics and technology faculty and wrote the textbook-monography on ballistics of the missiles and warheads. Gerasyuta invited prominent scientists and experts of Yuzhnoye SDO to work at the department. It brought closer the theory to the vital practical tasks.

N.F. was one of the founders of the branch of the Institute of Mechanics of the Academy of Sciences of the SSR of Ukraine in Dnepropetrovsk (which he supervised on the voluntary basis), subsequently turning it into the independent academic institute – well-known ITM.

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Questions of further growth of the yesterday’s trainees, and nowadays the leading experts of the division, Gerasyuta considered the key ones. He personally supervised the preparation of theses, but not the paper ones, but those, which really helped solving practical issues. Successful defense of dozens of Ph.D. and doctoral theses in all areas of the design-theoretical division of the design office in leading specialized academic councils of the country was the result of his care and attention. Therefore, employment competition in the prestigious division grew all the time, and employee turnover approached zero.

Ballistic school

Gerasyuta was the teacher by vocation. At a distance, it is seen even more clearly. These days
I.V. Fedorenko successfully defended the thesis at a specialized academic council of the Center of research of nation potential and history at NAS of Ukraine, dedicated to formation and development of Gerasyuta’s school of sciences, who can be called the real academician of ballistics.

It was based on the triad – training of students with involvement of scientists – practitioners, organization of the advanced fundamental researches and care of scientific manpower. Someone might tell, so what? What does it matter if someone invented some pattern? But the matter was that Gerasyuta’s triad was not a theoretical build-up, but was aimed at the practical result. And here is the proof: in the first years of work his trainees and colleagues raised the maximum range of the Korolev’s new rocket, the fact they originally could not believe themselves! Study for selection of the best pitch program – angular motion of the rocket relatively horizontal axis – resulted in development of the effective procedure used until now. Also a series of crucial problems was solved to calculate the operating trajectories and prepare flight tasks, to control and assure their reliability.

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The major researches during that period had to do with the methodology of individual fueling with hypergolic propellants according to data sheet of the engine feed system and its characteristics. It led to maximum energy indicators and development of algorithm to calculate the guarantee fuel reserve to compensate for the disturbances acting in flight.

In 1965 for the first time in the aerospace industry, researches have been conducted to evaluate the influence of the anomalies of the Earth’s gravitational field on the flight range and necessity was proved to consider them in the algorithms of trajectories calculation. It was a revolution then, nowadays it is a standard practice.

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Design procedure to calculate the trajectory of the high-velocity warhead, deeply maneuvering during descent can be referred to the unquestionable achievements of Gerasyuta’s school of sciences. The main stumbling-block was difficult-to-consider change in flight specifications, related to the change of warhead shape because of burning in the atmosphere. But N.F. offered the elegant decision – to consider separately slowly changing and quickly changing parameters that has allowed not only to solve the most difficult problem, but also to shorten the calculation time by the factor of 25! Leaving out technical details, it became the revolutionary design, and as far as it is known, no one so far managed to match it.

One more illustrative example, throwing light on the academism of the professional scientist practitioner. During the first regular range testing of the cold-launched rocket as it exited the container it got several degrees spun round the longitudinal axis – which was the deviation from the design data specified in the launch operational documentation – 0º sharp! Units of angular degrees remained to reach the limit, where the CS would have de-energized the rocket and it would have turned into the scrap pile.

All who was concerned with this phenomenon began the system researches, including the search for the spiral line in the container. It had not been found. Time was slipping away. What would be with the upcoming launch?

N.F. reacted instantly – a barrier, preventing the spin of the rocket round the longitudinal axis, was introduced along the generating line in the container and the problem was sent for consideration to the Gerasyutian division of the Institute of Technical Mechanics. With time, the reason was established.

The second line of activities of the design-theoretical division – motion control – is closely coupled with the previous one. Role of N.F. Gerasyuta in its organization was determining, first of all, he issued the requirements specification to developers of control systems (CS), monitored and generated offers in advance of the development activities. Owing to N.F. prevision of the growing role of the CS in provision of the missile high performance the scope of procedures executed by the CS increased, among them introduction of the system checks of the missile on watch and in flight, fault tracing etc. Trully revolutionary was the decision to implement the so-called direct methods of missile guidance on the pre-set phase co-ordinates on the right end of the trajectory. It resulted in the quick redirection of the missiles, reduced by far the intensity of flight tasks calculation activities.

Design-theoretical division was responsible for implementation of the major performance of the missile system, specified in the requirements specification – the accuracy. Substantiation of the individual systems requirements, which affected the accuracy, and constant monitoring of their fulfillment was one of the central tasks. Extensive composition and wide range of disturbing factors, affecting the accuracy, demanded elaborate execution of all the participating experts, and naturally the due (highest) qualification of the lead managers. Step-by-step execution of activities completed with success and confirmation of the pre-set accuracy requirements are the example of the reasonable consecutive and accurate actions of N.F. and his team when solving the most complicated problem.

The third line of activities takes the special place in research-and-production activity of N.F. Gerasyuta – design-theoretical division was the ideologist and developer of the main provisions of warhead protection system against the stacked ABM systems of the probable enemy, and the head of this division along with solving of the assigned tasks was also appointed technical manager of the range countermeasures testing.

Success of N.F. in this area of responsibility was due to the friendly mutual understanding between him and colonel general Voznyuk who was the commander at the test range used for countermeasures testing. Both N.F. Gerasyuta and V.I. Voznyuk fought in Stalingrad, made a forced crossing of Dnepr and at the same time studied rocket technology in Germany. They were titled Heroes the same year by the same order.

The winner

While working Nikolay Gerasyuta remained in the shade, in the background. But everyone who at least once dealt with him, discussed different problems, invariably waited for what N. F. had to tell because his suggestions practically always removed all doubts. Numerous cases can be recalled when long disputes with subcontractors ceased when Nikolay Gerasyuta appeared and the truth was sprout. As though all that was required was for him to appear!

It is necessary to note the brilliant ability of Gerasyuta to solve the problems even out of his area of responsibility in favour of Yuzhnoye SDO. He looked different at those moments: his eyes twinkled and nothing could stop him neither ministerial rank, nor the age of the opponent. Crushing logic of the Dnepropetrovsk academician of ballistics disarmed the distinguished interlocutors who mainly did not know the problem to a T.

But needless to think that victories in ministerial disputes were the result only of his excitement. No, N.F. prepared himself in advance to all the responsible meetings, thoroughly thinking through the line of behavior and getting in-the-know, sifting through the heaps of necessary materials.

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In any surroundings, Nikolay Fyodorovich invariably stood out thanks to his intelligence, logic, erudition. Certainly, he was leader not only at work, but also in everyday life collisions, in the family, surrounded by intimate friends. Possessing internal harmony, he was also attractive in appearance- tall, well-built, with grey-haired head, aquiline nose, clever eyes, firm of step.

N.F. liked to live, to work and to enjoy himself. And he loved his family very much. It was not just the rear of his labour front like it is the case for many people, it was something sacred.

Having been to the war, N. F. all the rest of his life remained the fighter ready to go over the top. He did not hide in the trenches, used to take a lot of flak and never shifted blame on others. Therefore, he was always a winner. No doubt, he knew his own worth, but never, under no circumstances, made use of it. He was able to control his ego and did not take the liberty to humiliate others in spite of any good reasons.

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Having reached the age of wisdom, Gerasyuta trusted the young, generously shared his knowledge, gave the opportunity to join the real business and find feet. That’s why all of us who was lucky enough to have met this person, can well say:

– Nikolay Fyodorovich, thanks for everything! We remember…