Ari Shternfeld

(also A. A. Sternfeld). Born May 14,1905, in Sieradz, Poland; died July 5,1980, in Moscow. Soviet scientist; pioneer in astronautics. Doctor of technical sciences honoris causa of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1965). Honored Worker in Science and Technology of the RSFSR (1965).

Shternfel’d studied at the University of Kraków in 1923 and 1924. He graduated from the University of Nancy, France, in 1927 and conducted research at the Sorbonne in astronautics from 1928 to 1930. After emigrating to the USSR in 1935, he joined the staff of the Jet Scientific Research Institute.

Shternfel’d’s principal works dealt with the calculation of the most energy-efficient flight trajectories for spacecraft. Shternfel’d received the REP-Hirsh International Astronautical Prize in 1934 and, for oustanding achievements in space science, the Galabert Prize in 1963.