History of the development of spacecraft. A brief history of the development of astronautics. “Stages of development of domestic cosmonautics”

History of the development of astronautics

To evaluate the contribution of a person to the development of a certain field of knowledge, it is necessary to trace the history of the development of this field and try to discern the direct or indirect influence of the ideas and works of this person on the process of achieving new knowledge and new successes. Let us consider the history of the development of rocket technology and the subsequent history of rocket and space technology.

The Birth of Rocket Technology

If we talk about the very idea of jet propulsion and the first rocket, then this idea and its embodiment were born in China around the 2nd century AD. The propellant of the rocket was gunpowder. The Chinese first used this invention for entertainment - the Chinese are still leaders in the production of fireworks. And then they put this idea into service, in the literal sense of the word: such a “firework” tied to an arrow increased its flight range by about 100 meters (which was one third of the entire flight length), and when it hit, the target lit up. There were also more formidable weapons on the same principle - “spears of furious fire.”

In this primitive form, rockets existed until the 19th century. It was only at the end of the 19th century that attempts were made to mathematically explain jet propulsion and create serious weapons. In Russia, Nikolai Ivanovich Tikhomirov was one of the first to take up this issue in 1894 32 . Tikhomirov proposed using as a driving force the reaction of gases resulting from the combustion of explosives or highly flammable liquid fuels in combination with an ejected environment. Tikhomirov began to deal with these issues later than Tsiolkovsky, but in terms of implementation he moved much further, because he thought more down to earth. In 1912, he presented a project for a rocket projectile to the Navy Ministry. In 1915 he applied for a privilege for a new type of “self-propelled mines” for water and air. Tikhomirov's invention received a positive assessment from the expert commission chaired by N. E. Zhukovsky. In 1921, at the suggestion of Tikhomirov, a laboratory was created in Moscow for the development of his inventions, which later (after being transferred to Leningrad) received the name Gas Dynamic Laboratory (GDL). Soon after its founding, the activities of the GDL focused on the creation of rocket shells using smokeless powder.

In parallel with Tikhomirov, former tsarist army colonel Ivan Grave 33 worked on solid fuel rockets. In 1926, he received a patent for a rocket that used a special composition of black powder as fuel. He began to push through his idea, even wrote to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, but these efforts ended quite typically for that time: Colonel of the Tsarist Army Grave was arrested and convicted. But I. Grave will still play his role in the development of rocket technology in the USSR, and will take part in the development of rockets for the famous Katyusha.

In 1928, a rocket was launched using Tikhomirov's gunpowder as fuel. In 1930, a patent was issued in the name of Tikhomirov for the recipe for such gunpowder and the technology for making checkers from it.

American genius

The American scientist Robert Hitchings Goddard 34 was one of the first to study the problem of jet propulsion abroad. In 1907, Goddard wrote an article “On the Possibility of Movement in Interplanetary Space,” which is very close in spirit to Tsiolkovsky’s work “Exploration of World Spaces with Jet Instruments,” although Goddard is so far limited to only qualitative estimates and does not derive any formulas. Goddard was 25 years old at the time. In 1914, Goddard received US patents for the design of a composite rocket with conical nozzles and a rocket with continuous combustion in two versions: with a sequential supply of powder charges to the combustion chamber and with a pump supply of two-component liquid fuel. Since 1917, Goddard has been conducting design developments in the field of solid fuel rockets of various types, including multi-charge pulsed combustion rockets. Since 1921, Goddard began experiments with liquid rocket engines (oxidizer - liquid oxygen, fuel - various hydrocarbons). It was these liquid fuel rockets that became the first ancestors of space launch vehicles. In his theoretical works, he repeatedly noted the advantages of liquid rocket engines. On March 16, 1926, Goddard successfully launched a simple propellant rocket (fuel - gasoline, oxidizer - liquid oxygen). The launch weight is 4.2 kg, the achieved height is 12.5 m, the flight range is 56 m. Goddard holds the championship in launching a liquid fuel rocket.

Robert Goddard was a man of difficult, complex character. He preferred to work secretly, in a narrow circle of trusted people who blindly obeyed him. According to one of his American colleagues, " Goddard considered rockets his private reserve, and those who also worked on this issue were considered as poachers... This attitude led him to abandon the scientific tradition of reporting his results through scientific journals..." 35. One can add: and not only through scientific journals. Goddard’s answer on August 16, 1924 to Soviet enthusiasts of research into the problem of interplanetary flights, who sincerely wanted to establish scientific connections with American colleagues, is very characteristic. The answer is very short, but it contains all of Goddard’s character :

"Clark University, Worchester, Massachusetts, Department of Physics. To Mr. Leutheisen, Secretary of the Society for the Study of Interplanetary Communications. Moscow, Russia.

Dear sir! I am glad to know that a society for the study of interplanetary connections has been created in Russia, and I will be glad to collaborate in this work. within the limits of the possible. However, there is no printed material relating to work currently underway or experimental flights. Thank you for introducing me to the materials. Sincerely yours, Director of the Physical Laboratory R.Kh. Goddard " 36 .

Tsiolkovsky’s attitude towards cooperation with foreign scientists looks interesting. Here is an excerpt from his letter to Soviet youth, published in Komsomolskaya Pravda in 1934:

"In 1932, the largest capitalist Metal Airship Society sent me a letter. They asked for detailed information about my metal airships. I didn't answer the questions asked. I consider my knowledge to be the property of the USSR " 37 .

Thus, we can conclude that there was no desire to cooperate on either side. Scientists were very zealous about their work.

Priority disputes

Theorists and practitioners of rocketry at that time were completely disunited. These were the same “... unrelated studies and experiments of many individual scientists attacking an unknown area at random, like a horde of nomadic horsemen,” about which, however, in relation to electricity, F. Engels wrote in “Dialectics of Nature” . Robert Goddard knew nothing about Tsiolkovsky’s work for a very long time, as did Hermann Oberth, who worked with liquid rocket engines and rockets in Germany. Equally lonely in France was one of the pioneers of astronautics, engineer and pilot Robert Esnault-Peltry, the future author of the two-volume work “Astronautics”.

Separated by spaces and borders, they will not soon learn about each other. On October 24, 1929, Oberth would probably get the only typewriter in the entire town of Mediasha with Russian font and send a letter to Tsiolkovsky in Kaluga. " I am, of course, the very last person who would challenge your primacy and your merits in the rocket business, and I only regret that I did not hear about you until 1925. I would probably be much further ahead in my own works today and would do without those many wasted efforts, knowing your excellent works"Obert wrote openly and honestly. But it’s not easy to write like that when you’re 35 years old and you’ve always considered yourself first. 38

In his fundamental report on cosmonautics, the Frenchman Esnault-Peltry never mentioned Tsiolkovsky. Popularizer of science writer Ya.I. Perelman, having read Esnault-Peltry's work, wrote to Tsiolkovsky in Kaluga: " There is a reference to Lorenz, Goddard, Oberth, Hohmann, Vallier, but I did not notice any references to you. It seems that the author is not familiar with your works. It's a shame!"After some time, the newspaper L'Humanité will write quite categorically: " Tsiolkovsky should rightly be recognized as the father of scientific astronautics". It turns out somehow awkward. Esnault-Peltry tries to explain everything: " ...I made every effort to obtain them (works by Tsiolkovsky - Ya.G.). It turned out to be impossible for me to obtain even a small document before my reports in 1912". Some irritation is detected when he writes that in 1928 he received " from Professor S.I. Chizhevsky a statement demanding confirmation of Tsiolkovsky's priority." "I think I have fully satisfied him", writes Esnault-Peltry. 39

Throughout his life, the American Goddard never named Tsiolkovsky in any of his books or articles, although he received his Kaluga books. However, this difficult man rarely referred to other people's works.

Nazi genius

On March 23, 1912, Wernher von Braun, the future creator of the V-2 rocket, was born in Germany. His rocket career began with reading non-fiction books and observing the sky. He later recalled: " This was a goal that could be dedicated to for the rest of my life! Not only observe the planets through a telescope, but also break into the Universe yourself, explore mysterious worlds“40. A serious boy beyond his years, he read Oberth’s book about space flights, watched Fritz Lang’s film “The Girl on the Moon” several times, and at the age of 15 he joined the space travel society, where he met real rocket scientists.

The Brown family was obsessed with war. Among the men of the von Braun house, there was only talk about weapons and war. This family, apparently, was not devoid of the complex that was inherent in many Germans after defeat in the First World War. In 1933, the Nazis came to power in Germany. Baron and true Aryan Wernher von Braun with his ideas for jet missiles came to the court of the country's new leadership. He joined the SS and began to quickly climb the career ladder. The authorities allocated huge amounts of money for his research. The country was preparing for war, and the Fuhrer really needed new weapons. Wernher von Braun had to forget about space flights for many years. 41

History of the development of astronautics

The Birth of Rocket Technology

American genius

"Clark University, Worchester, Massachusetts, Department of Physics. To Mr. Leutheisen, Secretary of the Society for the Study of Interplanetary Communications. Moscow, Russia.

Tsiolkovsky’s attitude towards cooperation with foreign scientists looks interesting. Here is an excerpt from his letter to Soviet youth, published in Komsomolskaya Pravda in 1934:

Thus, we can conclude that there was no desire to cooperate on either side. Scientists were very zealous about their work.

Priority disputes

Nazi genius

At the end of 1934, von Braun and Riedel launched two A-2 rockets, nicknamed "Max and Moritz" after the popular comedians, from the island of Borkum. The rockets went up a mile and a half - it was a success! In 1936, on the island of Usedom in the Baltic Sea, not far from the von Braun family estates, construction began on the ultra-modern Peenemünde military base. At the end of 1937, in Peenemünde, rocket scientists managed to create a 15-meter A-4 rocket, which could carry a ton of explosives 200 kilometers. It was the first modern combat missile in history. She was nicknamed "Fau" - from the first letter of the German word Vergeltungswaffee (which translates as "weapon of retribution"). In the summer of 1943, concrete bunkers were built on the French coast to launch missiles. Hitler demanded that London be filled with them by the end of the year. The cards were confused by the work of British intelligence. Von Braun was a master of camouflage, and for a long time Allied planes simply did not fly into the Baltic dunes. However, in July 1943, Polish partisans managed to obtain and transport drawings of the V-V and a plan for the missile base to London. A week later, 600 English “flying fortresses” arrived in Peenemünde. The firestorm killed 735 people and all the completed missiles. Rocket production was moved to the limestone Harz Mountains, where thousands of prisoners worked in the underground Dora camp. A year later in 1944, the Allies landed in France and captured the Vau launch sites. The time had come for von Braun, because his rockets flew further and could well have been launched from the territory of Holland or even Germany itself. Back in November 1943, the V-2 was tested in Polish villages, from which residents were not evicted for the sake of conspiracy. The missiles did not hit the target, but the Germans consoled themselves with the fact that such a large target as London was easier to hit. And they hit - from September 1944 to March 1945, 4,300 V-2 missiles were fired at London and Antwerp, which killed 13,029 people. 42

But it was already too late. This was the death throes of Nazi rule. In January 1945, Soviet troops approached Peenemünde. On April 4, the guards left the Douro, having previously shot 30 thousand prisoners. Von Braun took refuge in an Alpine ski resort, where the Americans appeared on May 10, 1945. He, an SS Sturmbannführer, could easily have been shot or taken into custody. Even his future boss, General Medaris, who stormed Berlin in the ranks of the Allies, later admitted that if he had come across Brown in 1945, he would have hanged him without hesitation. But Brown fell into the hands of completely different people - special agents of the American mission "Paper-Clip" ("paper clip"), which was searching for German rocket scientists. The "Rocket Baron" was transported overseas with all honors as a particularly valuable cargo. 43

Under the leadership of Baron von Baun, American engineers worked their magic on the V-2s exported from Germany. Already in 1945, the Conveyor company manufactured the MX-774 rocket, where instead of one Vau engine, four were installed. In 1951, von Braun's laboratory developed the Redstone and Atlas ballistic missiles, which could carry nuclear warheads. In 1955, Wernher von Braun became a US citizen, and it was allowed to write about him in the press.

On October 4, 1957, the first Soviet satellite took off into the sky, which greatly undermined the prestige of the Americans. The American Explorer was launched only 119 days later, and Soviet leaders were already hinting at the imminent human flight into space. Thus began the space race. Rocket launches in the United States have moved from the sole responsibility of the Pentagon to the hands of the government agency NASA. Under him, the John Marshall Space Center was created in Huntsville under the scientific leadership of Wernher von Braun. Now Brown had even more money and people than in Peenemünde, and he was finally able to realize his old dream of space flight.

The first Atlas launch vehicle was later replaced by the more powerful Titan, and then by the Saturn. It was the latter that delivered Apollo 11 to the Moon on July 16, 1969, and the whole world watched with bated breath the first steps of Neil Armstrong and the American flag on the Moon. The Apollo program, like previous space flights, was developed by Wernher von Braun. Brown reached the pinnacle of his career in 1972 - he became deputy director of NASA and head of the Cape Canaveral spaceport. The Nazi genius Wernher von Braun lived 65 years of a full, rich, happy life, both in terms of money and impressions. He was happy both in work and in his personal life.

Soviet genius

Let's go back to the past again, to the USSR. On January 12, 1907 in Zhitomir, in the family of a teacher of Russian literature P.Ya. The Queen gives birth to a son - Sergei Pavlovich Korolev 44. Since childhood, Korolev became interested in airplanes and airplanes. However, he was especially fascinated by flights in the stratosphere and the principles of jet propulsion. In September 1931 S.P. Korolev, at the age of 24, and the talented enthusiast in the field of rocket engines F.A. Tsander, who was already 44 years old, sought to create in Moscow, with the help of Osoaviakhim, the Jet Propulsion Research Group (GIRD): In April 1932, it became essentially a state research and design laboratory for the development of rocket aircraft, in which the first domestic liquid-propellant ballistic missiles (BR) GIRD-09 and GIRD-10 are created and launched.

In 1933, on the basis of the Moscow GIRD and the Leningrad Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL), the Jet Research Institute (RNII) was founded under the leadership of I.T. Kleimenov. S.P. Korolev is appointed as his deputy. Work at the institute was carried out in two directions. The missiles were developed by the department headed by G. Langemak. This department included I. Grave and Tikhomirov’s employees. It is these people and this department that the Red Army should be grateful for the creation of the famous "Katyusha" 45. The second department of the RNII developed long-range missiles using liquid fuel. Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko worked there. However, differences in views with the leaders of the GDL on the prospects for the development of rocket technology force S.P. Korolev switched to creative engineering work, and as the head of the department of rocket aircraft in 1936, he managed to bring cruise missiles to testing: anti-aircraft - 217 with a powder rocket engine and long-range - 212 with a liquid rocket engine. 46

At the end of the thirties, the state repressive machine did not bypass the young designer. On false charges, S.P. Korolev was arrested, and on September 27, 1938, he was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in strict regime forced labor camps and sent to Kolyma

In 1939, the new leadership of the NKVD decided to organize design bureaus in which imprisoned specialists were to work. In one of these bureaus, headed by A.N. Tupolev, also a prisoner, was sent by Korolev. This team was involved in the design and creation of the Tu-2 dive bomber. Soon after the start of the war, Tupolev's Special Technical Bureau was evacuated to Omsk. In Omsk, Korolev learned that in Kazan a similar bureau was working on rocket boosters for the Pe-2 bomber under the leadership of former NII-3 employee Glushko. Korolev achieved a transfer to Kazan, where he became Glushko’s deputy. During these same years, he began to independently develop a project for a new device - a rocket for flights into the stratosphere. On July 27, 1944, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Korolev and a number of other employees of the regime design bureau were released early with their criminal records expunged.

After the end of the war in the second half of 1945, Korolev, along with other specialists, was sent to Germany to study German technology. Of particular interest to him was the German V-2 (V-2) rocket, which had a flight range of about 300 km with a launch weight of about 13 tons.

On May 13, 1946, a decision was made to create an industry in the USSR for the development and production of rocket weapons with liquid rocket engines. In accordance with the same decree, it was provided for the unification of all groups of Soviet engineers for the study of the German V-2 missile weapons, who had been working in Germany since 1945, into a single research institute "Nordhausen", the director of which was appointed General Major L.M. Gaidukov, and the chief engineer-technical manager - S.P. Korolev. 47

In parallel with the study and testing of the V-2 rocket, Korolev, appointed chief designer of ballistic missiles, and a group of employees developed the R-1 liquid fuel rocket; in May 1949, several launches of geophysical rockets of this type took place. In those same years, the R-2, R-5 and R-11 missiles were developed. All of them were adopted and had scientific modifications. In the mid-1950s, the Korolev Design Bureau created the famous R-7, a two-stage rocket that ensured the achievement of the first escape velocity and the ability to launch aircraft weighing several tons into low-Earth orbit. This rocket (with its help the first three satellites were launched into orbit) was then modified and turned into a three-stage one (for launching “lunars” and flights with a person). The first satellite was launched on October 4, 1957, a month later - the second, with the dog Laika on board, and on May 15, 1958 - the third, with a large amount of scientific equipment. Since 1959, Korolev led the lunar exploration program. As part of this program, several spacecraft were sent to the Moon, including soft-landing ones, and on April 12, 1961, the first manned flight into space was carried out. During Korolev’s lifetime, ten more Soviet cosmonauts visited space on his spaceships, and a manned spacewalk was carried out (A.A. Leonov on March 18, 1965 on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft). Korolev and a group of organizations coordinated by him created spacecraft of the Venus, Mars, Zond series, artificial Earth satellites of the Electron, Molniya-1, and Cosmos series, and developed the Soyuz spacecraft.

So, we can note the following main historical milestones in the development of rocket and space technology and their main figures. The ancestors of liquid-fuel rockets were solid-fuel rockets using gunpowder. The idea of creating such rockets goes back to ancient times, so all researchers from different countries began these developments independently of each other at the end of the 19th century. But the first idea to move from a solid-fuel rocket to a liquid-fuel one belongs to Tsiolkovsky. Later than Tsiolkovsky, the American Goddard, independently of anyone else, came up with this idea himself and was the first to bring it to life. In the 30s of the XX century. Almost simultaneously, the USSR and Germany are developing liquid-fueled ballistic missiles. The German genius of Baron Wernher von Braun turns out to be more successful, or rather luckier, than the Soviet Sergei Korolev, whom the Soviet authorities interfered with, and von Braun was completely helped by the German authorities. 30s of XX century. - This is a breakthrough in the rocket and space industry. After World War II, Wernher von Braun's V-2 missiles became the basis for the creation of Soviet and American ballistic missiles. From these developments grow multi-stage space launch vehicles. These post-war successes become the second major breakthrough in astronautics.

Bibliography

1. "Encyclopedia COSMONAUtics", M.: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1985, p. 398

2. M. Steinberg “A beautiful name that instills fear”, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 06/17/2005

3. I.N. Bubnov "Robert Goddard", M.: "Science", 1978

4. Y.K. Golovanov "Korolev and Tsiolkovsky". RGANTD. F.211 op.4 d.150, p. 4-5

5. “We are Tsiolkovsky’s heirs,” Komsomolskaya Pravda, 09/17/1947

6. Y.K. Golovanov “The Road to the Cosmodrome”, M.: Det. lit., 1982

7. V. Erlikhman, "Doctor Werner. The Silence of the Lambs", Profile N.10, 1998

8. "Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. On the 90th anniversary of his birth." Editorial Board of the magazine "Rocket Science and Cosmonautics", TsNIIMash

9. M. Steinberg “A beautiful name that instills fear”, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 06/17/2005

10. "Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. On the 90th anniversary of his birth." Editorial Board of the magazine "Rocket Science and Cosmonautics", TsNIIMash

The history of space exploration is the most striking example of the triumph of the human mind over rebellious matter in the shortest possible time. From the moment a man-made object first overcame Earth's gravity and developed sufficient speed to enter Earth's orbit, only a little over fifty years have passed - nothing by the standards of history! Most of the planet's population vividly remembers the times when a flight to the moon was considered something out of science fiction, and those who dreamed of piercing the heavenly heights were considered, at best, crazy people not dangerous to society. Today, spaceships not only “travel the vast expanse”, successfully maneuvering in conditions of minimal gravity, but also deliver cargo, astronauts and space tourists into Earth orbit. Moreover, the duration of a space flight can now be as long as desired: the shift of Russian cosmonauts on the ISS, for example, lasts 6-7 months. And over the past half century, man has managed to walk on the Moon and photograph its dark side, blessed Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury with artificial satellites, “recognized by sight” distant nebulae with the help of the Hubble telescope, and is seriously thinking about colonizing Mars. And although we have not yet succeeded in making contact with aliens and angels (at least officially), let us not despair - after all, everything is just beginning!

Dreams of space and attempts at writing

For the first time, progressive humanity believed in the reality of flight to distant worlds at the end of the 19th century. It was then that it became clear that if the aircraft was given the speed necessary to overcome gravity and maintained it for a sufficient time, it would be able to go beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and gain a foothold in orbit, like the Moon, revolving around the Earth. The problem was in the engines. The existing specimens at that time either spat extremely powerfully but briefly with bursts of energy, or worked on the principle of “gasp, groan and go away little by little.” The first was more suitable for bombs, the second - for carts. In addition, it was impossible to regulate the thrust vector and thereby influence the trajectory of the apparatus: a vertical launch inevitably led to its rounding, and as a result the body fell to the ground, never reaching space; the horizontal one, with such a release of energy, threatened to destroy all living things around (as if the current ballistic missile were launched flat). Finally, at the beginning of the 20th century, researchers turned their attention to a rocket engine, the operating principle of which has been known to mankind since the turn of our era: fuel burns in the rocket body, simultaneously lightening its mass, and the released energy moves the rocket forward. The first rocket capable of launching an object beyond the limits of gravity was designed by Tsiolkovsky in 1903.

View of Earth from the ISS

First artificial satellite

Time passed, and although two world wars greatly slowed down the process of creating rockets for peaceful use, space progress still did not stand still. The key moment of the post-war period was the adoption of the so-called package rocket layout, which is still used in astronautics today. Its essence is the simultaneous use of several rockets placed symmetrically with respect to the center of mass of the body that needs to be launched into Earth orbit. This provides a powerful, stable and uniform thrust, sufficient for the object to move at a constant speed of 7.9 km/s, necessary to overcome gravity. And so, on October 4, 1957, a new, or rather the first, era in space exploration began - the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, like everything ingenious, simply called “Sputnik-1”, using the R-7 rocket, designed under the leadership of Sergei Korolev. The silhouette of the R-7, the ancestor of all subsequent space rockets, is still recognizable today in the ultra-modern Soyuz launch vehicle, which successfully sends “trucks” and “cars” into orbit with cosmonauts and tourists on board - the same four “legs” of the package design and red nozzles. The first satellite was microscopic, just over half a meter in diameter and weighed only 83 kg. It completed a full revolution around the Earth in 96 minutes. The “star life” of the iron pioneer of astronautics lasted three months, but during this period he covered a fantastic path of 60 million km!

The first living creatures in orbit

The success of the first launch inspired the designers, and the prospect of sending a living creature into space and returning it unharmed no longer seemed impossible. Just a month after the launch of Sputnik 1, the first animal, the dog Laika, went into orbit on board the second artificial Earth satellite. Her goal was honorable, but sad - to test the survival of living beings in space flight conditions. Moreover, the return of the dog was not planned... The launch and insertion of the satellite into orbit was successful, but after four orbits around the Earth, due to an error in the calculations, the temperature inside the device rose excessively, and Laika died. The satellite itself rotated in space for another 5 months, and then lost speed and burned up in dense layers of the atmosphere. The first shaggy cosmonauts to greet their “senders” with a joyful bark upon their return were the textbook Belka and Strelka, who set off to conquer the heavens on the fifth satellite in August 1960. Their flight lasted just over a day, and during this time the dogs managed to fly around the planet 17 times. All this time, they were watched from monitor screens in the Mission Control Center - by the way, it was precisely because of the contrast that white dogs were chosen - because the image was then black and white. As a result of the launch, the spacecraft itself was also finalized and finally approved - in just 8 months, the first person will go into space in a similar apparatus.

In addition to dogs, both before and after 1961, monkeys (macaques, squirrel monkeys and chimpanzees), cats, turtles, as well as all sorts of little things - flies, beetles, etc., were in space.

During the same period, the USSR launched the first artificial satellite of the Sun, the Luna-2 station managed to softly land on the surface of the planet, and the first photographs of the side of the Moon invisible from Earth were obtained.

The day of April 12, 1961 divided the history of the exploration of space into two periods - “when man dreamed of the stars” and “since man conquered space.”

Man in space

The day of April 12, 1961 divided the history of the exploration of space into two periods - “when man dreamed of the stars” and “since man conquered space.” At 9:07 Moscow time, the Vostok-1 spacecraft with the world's first cosmonaut on board, Yuri Gagarin, was launched from launch pad No. 1 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Having made one revolution around the Earth and traveled 41 thousand km, 90 minutes after the start, Gagarin landed near Saratov, becoming for many years the most famous, revered and beloved person on the planet. His “let’s go!” and “everything is visible very clearly - space is black - the earth is blue” were included in the list of the most famous phrases of humanity, his open smile, ease and cordiality melted the hearts of people around the world. The first manned flight into space was controlled from Earth; Gagarin himself was more of a passenger, albeit an excellently prepared one. It should be noted that the flight conditions were far from those that are now offered to space tourists: Gagarin experienced eight to tenfold overloads, there was a period when the ship was literally tumbling, and behind the windows the skin was burning and the metal was melting. During the flight, several failures occurred in various systems of the ship, but fortunately, the astronaut was not injured.

Following Gagarin's flight, significant milestones in the history of space exploration fell one after another: the world's first group space flight was completed, then the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova went into space (1963), the first multi-seat spacecraft flew, Alexey Leonov became the first a man who performed a spacewalk (1965) - and all these grandiose events are entirely the merit of the Russian cosmonautics. Finally, on July 21, 1969, the first man landed on the Moon: American Neil Armstrong took that “small, big step.”

Best View in the Solar System

Cosmonautics - today, tomorrow and always

Today, space travel is taken for granted. Hundreds of satellites and thousands of other necessary and useless objects fly above us, seconds before sunrise from the bedroom window you can see the planes of the solar panels of the International Space Station flashing in rays still invisible from the ground, space tourists with enviable regularity set off to “surf the open spaces” (thereby embodying the ironic phrase “if you really want to, you can fly into space”) and the era of commercial suborbital flights with almost two departures daily is about to begin. The exploration of space by controlled vehicles is absolutely amazing: there are pictures of stars that exploded long ago, and HD images of distant galaxies, and strong evidence of the possibility of the existence of life on other planets. Billionaire corporations are already coordinating plans to build space hotels in Earth’s orbit, and projects for the colonization of our neighboring planets no longer seem like an excerpt from the novels of Asimov or Clark. One thing is obvious: once having overcome earth's gravity, humanity will again and again strive upward, to the endless worlds of stars, galaxies and universes. I would only like to wish that the beauty of the night sky and myriads of twinkling stars, still alluring, mysterious and beautiful, as in the first days of creation, never leaves us.

Space reveals its secrets

Academician Blagonravov dwelled on some new achievements of Soviet science: in the field of space physics.

Beginning on January 2, 1959, each flight of Soviet space rockets conducted a study of radiation at large distances from the Earth. The so-called outer radiation belt of the Earth, discovered by Soviet scientists, was subjected to detailed study. Studying the composition of particles in radiation belts using various scintillation and gas-discharge counters located on satellites and space rockets made it possible to establish that the outer belt contains electrons of significant energies up to a million electron volts and even higher. When braking in the shells of spacecraft, they create intense piercing X-ray radiation. During the flight of the automatic interplanetary station towards Venus, the average energy of this X-ray radiation was determined at distances from 30 to 40 thousand kilometers from the center of the Earth, amounting to about 130 kiloelectronvolts. This value changed little with the distance, which allows one to judge that the energy spectrum of electrons in this region is constant.

Already the first studies showed the instability of the outer radiation belt, movements of maximum intensity associated with magnetic storms caused by solar corpuscular flows. The latest measurements from an automatic interplanetary station launched towards Venus showed that although changes in intensity occur closer to Earth, the outer boundary of the outer belt, with a quiet state of the magnetic field, remained constant for almost two years both in intensity and in spatial location. Research in recent years has also made it possible to construct a model of the Earth's ionized gas shell based on experimental data for a period close to the maximum solar activity. Our studies have shown that at altitudes of less than a thousand kilometers, the main role is played by atomic oxygen ions, and starting from altitudes lying between one and two thousand kilometers, hydrogen ions predominate in the ionosphere. The extent of the outermost region of the Earth's ionized gas shell, the so-called hydrogen “corona,” is very large.

Processing of the results of measurements carried out on the first Soviet space rockets showed that at altitudes of approximately 50 to 75 thousand kilometers outside the outer radiation belt, electron flows with energies exceeding 200 electron volts were detected. This allowed us to assume the existence of a third outermost belt of charged particles with a high flux intensity, but lower energy. After the launch of the American Pioneer V space rocket in March 1960, data were obtained that confirmed our assumptions about the existence of a third belt of charged particles. This belt is apparently formed as a result of the penetration of solar corpuscular flows into the peripheral regions of the Earth's magnetic field.

New data were obtained regarding the spatial location of the Earth's radiation belts, and an area of increased radiation was discovered in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean, which is associated with a corresponding terrestrial magnetic anomaly. In this area, the lower boundary of the Earth's internal radiation belt drops to 250 - 300 kilometers from the Earth's surface.

The flights of the second and third satellites provided new information that made it possible to map the distribution of radiation by ion intensity over the surface of the globe. (The speaker demonstrates this map to the audience).

For the first time, currents created by positive ions included in solar corpuscular radiation were recorded outside the Earth's magnetic field at distances of the order of hundreds of thousands of kilometers from the Earth, using three-electrode charged particle traps installed on Soviet space rockets. In particular, on the automatic interplanetary station launched towards Venus, traps were installed oriented towards the Sun, one of which was intended to record solar corpuscular radiation. On February 17, during a communication session with the automatic interplanetary station, its passage through a significant flow of corpuscles (with a density of about 10 9 particles per square centimeter per second) was recorded. This observation coincided with the observation of a magnetic storm. Such experiments open the way to establishing quantitative relationships between geomagnetic disturbances and the intensity of solar corpuscular flows. On the second and third satellites, the radiation hazard caused by cosmic radiation outside the Earth's atmosphere was studied in quantitative terms. The same satellites were used to study the chemical composition of primary cosmic radiation. The new equipment installed on the satellite ships included a photoemulsion device designed to expose and develop stacks of thick-film emulsions directly on board the ship. The results obtained are of great scientific value for elucidating the biological influence of cosmic radiation.

Flight technical problems

Next, the speaker focused on a number of significant problems that ensured the organization of human flight into space. First of all, it was necessary to resolve the issue of methods for launching a heavy ship into orbit, for which it was necessary to have powerful rocket technology. We have created such a technique. However, it was not enough to inform the ship of a speed exceeding the first cosmic speed. High precision of launching the ship into a pre-calculated orbit was also necessary.

It should be borne in mind that the requirements for the accuracy of orbital movement will increase in the future. This will require movement correction using special propulsion systems. Related to the problem of trajectory correction is the problem of maneuvering a directional change in the flight trajectory of a spacecraft. Maneuvers can be carried out with the help of impulses transmitted by a jet engine in individual specially selected sections of trajectories, or with the help of thrust that lasts for a long time, for the creation of which electric jet engines (ion, plasma) are used.

Examples of maneuvers include transition to a higher orbit, transition to an orbit entering the dense layers of the atmosphere for braking and landing in a given area. The latter type of maneuver was used when landing Soviet satellite ships with dogs on board and when landing the Vostok satellite.

To carry out a maneuver, perform a number of measurements and for other purposes, it is necessary to ensure stabilization of the satellite ship and its orientation in space, maintained for a certain period of time or changed according to a given program.

Turning to the problem of returning to Earth, the speaker focused on the following issues: speed deceleration, protection from heating when moving in dense layers of the atmosphere, ensuring landing in a given area.

The braking of the spacecraft, necessary to dampen the cosmic speed, can be carried out either using a special powerful propulsion system, or by braking the apparatus in the atmosphere. The first of these methods requires very large reserves of weight. Using atmospheric resistance for braking allows you to get by with relatively little additional weight.

The complex of problems associated with the development of protective coatings during braking of a vehicle in the atmosphere and the organization of the entry process with overloads acceptable for the human body represents a complex scientific and technical problem.

The rapid development of space medicine has put on the agenda the issue of biological telemetry as the main means of medical monitoring and scientific medical research during space flight. The use of radio telemetry leaves a specific imprint on the methodology and technology of biomedical research, since a number of special requirements are imposed on the equipment placed on board spacecraft. This equipment should have very light weight and small dimensions. It should be designed for minimal energy consumption. In addition, the onboard equipment must operate stably during the active phase and during descent, when vibrations and overloads are present.

Sensors designed to convert physiological parameters into electrical signals must be miniature and designed for long-term operation. They should not create inconvenience for the astronaut.

The widespread use of radio telemetry in space medicine forces researchers to pay serious attention to the design of such equipment, as well as to matching the volume of information necessary for transmission with the capacity of radio channels. Since new challenges facing space medicine will lead to further deepening of research and the need to significantly increase the number of recorded parameters, the introduction of systems that store information and coding methods will be required.

In conclusion, the speaker dwelled on the question of why the option of orbiting the Earth was chosen for the first space travel. This option represented a decisive step towards the conquest of outer space. They provided research into the issue of the influence of flight duration on a person, solved the problem of controlled flight, the problem of controlling the descent, entering the dense layers of the atmosphere and safely returning to Earth. Compared to this, the flight recently carried out in the USA seems of little value. It could be important as an intermediate option for checking a person’s condition during the acceleration stage, during overloads during descent; but after Yu. Gagarin’s flight there was no longer a need for such a check. In this version of the experiment, the element of sensation certainly prevailed. The only value of this flight can be seen in testing the operation of the developed systems that ensure entry into the atmosphere and landing, but, as we have seen, the testing of similar systems developed in our Soviet Union for more difficult conditions was reliably carried out even before the first human space flight. Thus, the achievements achieved in our country on April 12, 1961 cannot be compared in any way with what has been achieved so far in the United States.

And no matter how hard, the academician says, people abroad who are hostile to the Soviet Union try to belittle the successes of our science and technology with their fabrications, the whole world evaluates these successes properly and sees how much our country has moved forward along the path of technical progress. I personally witnessed the delight and admiration that was caused by the news of the historic flight of our first cosmonaut among the broad masses of the Italian people.

The flight was extremely successful

Academician N. M. Sissakyan made a report on the biological problems of space flights. He described the main stages in the development of space biology and summed up some of the results of scientific biological research related to space flights.

The speaker cited the medical and biological characteristics of Yu. A. Gagarin's flight. In the cabin, barometric pressure was maintained within 750 - 770 millimeters of mercury, air temperature - 19 - 22 degrees Celsius, relative humidity - 62 - 71 percent.

In the pre-launch period, approximately 30 minutes before the launch of the spacecraft, the heart rate was 66 per minute, the respiratory rate was 24. Three minutes before the launch, some emotional stress manifested itself in an increase in the pulse rate to 109 beats per minute, breathing continued to remain even and calm.

At the moment the spacecraft took off and gradually gained speed, the heart rate increased to 140 - 158 per minute, the respiratory rate was 20 - 26. Changes in physiological indicators during the active phase of the flight, according to telemetric recordings of electrocardiograms and pneimograms, were within acceptable limits. By the end of the active section, the heart rate was already 109, and the respiration rate was 18 per minute. In other words, these indicators reached the values characteristic of the moment closest to the start.

During the transition to weightlessness and flight in this state, the indicators of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems consistently approached the initial values. So, already in the tenth minute of weightlessness, the pulse rate reached 97 beats per minute, breathing - 22. Performance was not impaired, movements retained coordination and the necessary accuracy.

During the descent section, during braking of the apparatus, when overloads arose again, short-term, rapidly passing periods of increased breathing were noted. However, already upon approaching the Earth, breathing became even, calm, with a frequency of about 16 per minute.

Three hours after landing, the heart rate was 68, breathing was 20 per minute, i.e., values characteristic of the calm, normal state of Yu. A. Gagarin.

All this indicates that the flight was extremely successful, the health and general condition of the cosmonaut during all parts of the flight was satisfactory. Life support systems were working normally.

In conclusion, the speaker focused on the most important upcoming problems of space biology.

Perhaps the development of astronautics originates in science fiction: people have always wanted to fly - not only in the air, but also across the vast expanses of space. As soon as people became convinced that the earth's axis was not capable of flying into the heavenly dome and breaking through it, the most inquisitive minds began to wonder - what was there above? It is in the literature that one can find many references to various methods of lifting off from the Earth: not only natural phenomena such as a hurricane, but also very specific technical means - balloons, heavy-duty guns, flying carpets, rockets and other superjet suits. Although the first more or less realistic description of a flying vehicle can be called the myth of Icarus and Daedalus.

Gradually, from imitative flight (that is, flight based on imitation of birds), humanity moved to flight based on mathematics, logic and the laws of physics. The significant work of aviators in the person of the Wright brothers, Albert Santos-Dumont, Glenn Hammond Curtis only strengthened man's belief that flight is possible, and sooner or later the cold flickering points in the sky will become closer, and then...

The first mentions of astronautics as a science began in the 30s of the twentieth century. The term “cosmonautics” itself appeared in the title of Ari Abramovich Sternfeld’s scientific work “Introduction to Cosmonautics.” At home, in Poland, the scientific community was not interested in his works, but they showed interest in Russia, where the author subsequently moved. Later, other theoretical works and even the first experiments appeared. As a science, astronautics was formed only in the middle of the 20th century. And no matter what anyone says, our Motherland opened the way to space.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky is considered the founder of astronautics. He once said: " First inevitably come: thought, fantasy, fairy tale, and behind them comes precise calculation." Later, in 1883, he suggested the possibility of using jet propulsion to create interplanetary aircraft. But it would be wrong not to mention such a person as Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich, who put forward the very idea of the possibility of building a rocket aircraft.

In 1903, Tsiolkovsky published the scientific work “Exploration of World Spaces with Jet Instruments,” where he came to the conclusion that liquid fuel rockets could launch humans into space. Tsiolkovsky’s calculations showed that space flights are a matter of the near future.

A little later, the works of foreign rocket scientists were added to the works of Tsiolkovsky: in the early 20s, the German scientist Hermann Oberth also outlined the principles of interplanetary flight. In the mid-20s, American Robert Goddard began developing and building a successful prototype of a liquid-propellant rocket engine.

The works of Tsiolkovsky, Oberth and Goddard became a kind of foundation on which rocket science and, later, all of astronautics grew. The main research activities were carried out in three countries: Germany, the USA and the USSR. In the Soviet Union, research work was carried out by the Jet Propulsion Study Group (Moscow) and the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (Leningrad). On their basis, the Jet Institute (RNII) was created in the 30s.

Specialists such as Johannes Winkler and Wernher von Braun worked in Germany. Their research into jet engines gave a powerful impetus to rocket science after World War II. Winkler did not live long, but von Braun moved to the United States and for a long time was the real father of the United States space program.

In Russia, Tsiolkovsky’s work was continued by another great Russian scientist, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.

It was he who created the group for the study of jet propulsion, and it was there that the first domestic rockets, GIRD 9 and 10, were created and successfully launched.

You can write so much about technology, people, rockets, the development of engines and materials, solved problems and the path traveled that the article will be longer than the distance from Earth to Mars, so let’s skip some of the details and move on to the most interesting part - practical astronautics.

On October 4, 1957, humanity made the first successful launch of a space satellite. For the first time, the creation of human hands penetrated beyond the earth's atmosphere. On this day, the whole world was amazed by the successes of Soviet science and technology.

What was available to humanity in 1957 from computer technology? Well, it is worth noting that in the 1950s the first computers were created in the USSR, and only in 1957 the first computer based on transistors (rather than radio tubes) appeared in the USA. There was no talk of any giga-, mega- or even kiloflops. A typical computer of that time occupied a couple of rooms and produced “only” a couple of thousand operations per second (Strela computer).

The progress of the space industry has been enormous. In just a few years, the accuracy of the control systems of launch vehicles and spacecraft has increased so much that from an error of 20-30 km when launching into orbit in 1958, man took the step of landing a vehicle on the Moon within a five-kilometer radius by the mid-60s.

Further - more: in 1965 it became possible to transmit photographs to Earth from Mars (and this is a distance of more than 200,000,000 kilometers), and already in 1980 - from Saturn (a distance of 1,500,000,000 kilometers!). Speaking of the Earth, a combination of technologies now makes it possible to obtain up-to-date, reliable and detailed information about natural resources and the state of the environment

Along with the exploration of space, there was the development of all “related directions” - space communications, television broadcasting, relaying, navigation, and so on. Satellite communication systems began to cover almost the entire world, making two-way operational communication with any subscribers possible. Nowadays there is a satellite navigator in any car (even in a toy car), but back then the existence of such a thing seemed incredible.

In the second half of the 20th century, the era of manned flights began. In the 1960s-1970s, Soviet cosmonauts demonstrated the ability of humans to work outside of a spacecraft, and from the 1980s-1990s people began to live and work in zero gravity conditions for almost years. It is clear that each such trip was accompanied by many different experiments - technical, astronomical, and so on.

A huge contribution to the development of advanced technologies has been made by the design, creation and use of complex space systems. Automatic spacecraft sent into space (including to other planets) are essentially robots that are controlled from Earth using radio commands. The need to create reliable systems for solving such problems has led to a more complete understanding of the problem of analysis and synthesis of complex technical systems. Now such systems are used both in space research and in many other areas of human activity.

Take, for example, the weather - a common thing; in mobile app stores there are dozens and even hundreds of applications for displaying it. But where can we take photographs of the Earth’s cloud cover with enviable frequency, not from the Earth itself? ;) Exactly. Now almost all countries of the world use space weather data for weather information.

Not as fantastic as the words “space forge” sounded 30-40 years ago. In conditions of weightlessness, it is possible to organize such production that it is simply impossible (or not profitable) to develop in conditions of earthly gravity. For example, the state of weightlessness can be used to produce ultrathin crystals of semiconductor compounds. Such crystals will find application in the electronics industry to create a new class of semiconductor devices.

Pictures from my article on processor production

In the absence of gravity, free-floating liquid metal and other materials are easily deformed by weak magnetic fields. This opens the way to obtaining ingots of any predetermined shape without crystallizing them in molds, as is done on Earth. The peculiarity of such ingots is the almost complete absence of internal stresses and high purity.

Interesting posts from Habr: habrahabr.ru/post/170865/ + habrahabr.ru/post/188286/

At the moment, there are (more precisely, functioning) all over the world more than a dozen cosmodromes with unique ground-based automated complexes, as well as testing stations and all sorts of complex means of preparing for the launch of spacecraft and launch vehicles. In Russia, the Baikonur and Plesetsk cosmodromes are world-famous, and, perhaps, Svobodny, from which experimental launches are periodically carried out.

In general... so many things are already being done in space - sometimes they tell you something you won’t believe :)

LET'S COME IN FUCK!

Moscow, VDNKh metro station - no matter how you look at it, the monument to the “Conquerors of Space” cannot be missed.

But not many people know that in the basement of the 110-meter-high monument there is an interesting museum of cosmonautics, where you can learn in detail about the history of science: there you can see the Belka and Strelka, and Gagarin with Tereshkova, and cosmonaut spacesuits with lunar rovers ...

The museum houses a (miniature) Mission Control Center, where you can observe the International Space Station in real time and negotiate with the crew. Interactive cabin "Buran" with a mobility system and panoramic stereo image. Interactive educational and training class, designed in the form of cabins. Special areas house interactive exhibits that include simulators identical to those at the Yu. A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center: a transport spacecraft rendezvous and docking simulator, a virtual simulator for the International Space Station, and a search helicopter pilot simulator. And, of course, where would we be without any film and photographic materials, archival documents, personal belongings of figures in the rocket and space industry, items of numismatics, philately, philocarty and faleristics, works of fine and decorative art...

Harsh reality

While writing this article, it was nice to refresh my memory of history, but now everything is somehow not so optimistic or something - just recently we were superbisons and leaders in outer space, and now we can’t even launch a satellite into orbit... Nevertheless, we We live in very interesting times - if previously the slightest technical advances took years and decades, now technology is developing much more rapidly. Take the Internet for example: those times have not yet been forgotten when WAP sites could barely open on two-color phone displays, but now we can do anything on a phone (in which even pixels are not visible) from anywhere. ANYTHING. Perhaps the best conclusion to this article would be the famous speech of the American comedian Louis C. K, “Everything is great, but everyone is unhappy”:

Thoughts about human penetration into outer space were recently considered unrealistic. And yet, the flight into space became a reality because it was preceded and, apparently, accompanied by a flight of fantasy.

Only 50 years have passed since man “stepped into space,” but it seems like it happened a long time ago. Space flights have become commonplace, but every flight is a heroic act.

Time changes the pace of life, each era is characterized by specific scientific discoveries and their practical use. The current state of cosmonautics, when cosmonauts work at orbital stations on long space flights, when manned and automatic and cargo transport ships ply along the Earth-orbital station route, the content of the work that cosmonauts perform allows us to speak about the exclusively national economic and scientific significance of practical development space

Objective and thorough monitoring of the state of the earth's atmosphere is possible only from space. Artificial communication satellites, space weather services, space geological exploration and much more solve important government issues and tasks. For the first time, information was received from space about the pollution of Lake Baikal, about the size of oil spills in the ocean, about the intensive advance of deserts into forests and steppes.

Main names

People have long dreamed of flying to the stars; they offered hundreds of different flying machines capable of overcoming gravity and going into space. And only in the 20th century the dream of earthlings came true...

And our compatriots made a huge contribution to the realization of this dream.

Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich(1897-1942), a native of the Chernigov province - a brilliant inventor, sentenced to death for making bombs that killed Emperor Alexander II. While awaiting execution of the sentence, in the casemates of the Peter and Paul Fortress, he created a project for a human-controlled rocket, but scientists learned about his ideas only 37 years later, in 1916. Some elements of this project were so well thought out that they are still used today.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky(1857-1935) was not familiar with N.I. Kibalchich, but they can be considered siblings, if only because both of them were faithful sons of Russia, and because both were obsessed and imbued with the idea of space exploration. The great worker of Russian science and technology K. E. Tsiolkovsky is the creator of the theory of jet propulsion in interplanetary space. He developed the theory of multi-stage rockets, orbital satellites of the Earth, and examined in detail the possibility of traveling to other planets. Tsiolkovsky’s greatest service to humanity is that he opened people’s eyes to real ways of carrying out space flights. In his work “Exploration of World Spaces with Jet Instruments” (1903), a coherent theory of rocket propulsion was given and it was proven that the rocket would be the means of future interplanetary flights.

Ivan Vsevolodovich Meshchersky(1859-1935) was born two years later than K. E. Tsiolkovsky. Theoretical studies on the mechanics of bodies of variable mass (he derived an equation that is still the starting point for determining the thrust of a rocket engine), which played such a significant role in the development of rocket science, placed his name in one of the honorable rows of names of space explorers.

And here Friedrich Arturovich Zander(1887-1933)), a native of Latvia, devoted his entire life to the practical implementation of the idea of space flight. He created a school of theory and design of jet engines, and trained many talented followers of this important work. F. A. Tsander was burning with a passion for space flight. He did not live to see the launch of the rocket with his DR-2 jet engine, which paved the first space route.

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev(1907-1966) – chief designer of rockets, the first artificial earth satellites and manned aircraft. We owe it to his talent and energy that the first spacecraft was created and successfully launched in our country.

It is with particular pride that I mention the name of my fellow countryman, Yuri Vasilievich Kondratyuk. The space biography of Novosibirsk began with the name of this self-taught scientist, who in 1929 published the results of his calculations in the book “Conquests of Interplanetary Spaces.” It was on the basis of his works that American astronauts and Soviet automatic stations reached the Moon. The war that cut short his life did not allow all his plans to come true.

Academician made an invaluable contribution to the development of astronautics in our country Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh (1911-1978). He headed a decisive section of work on the study and exploration of space. Identification of new scientific and technical problems, new horizons in space exploration, issues of organization and flight control - this is far from the full range of activities of M. V. Keldysh.

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin- Earth's first cosmonaut. The whole country admired his feat. He became a hero of space thanks to his will, perseverance and loyalty to a dream that began in childhood. The tragic death cut short his life, but the trace of this life remained forever - both on Earth and in space.

Unfortunately, I cannot name everyone by name and tell in detail about all those scientists, engineers, test pilots and cosmonauts whose contribution to space exploration is enormous. But without these names, astronautics is unthinkable. (Appendix 1)

Chronology of events

October 4, 1957 was launched first satellite. The mass of Sputnik 1 was 83.6 kg. The Eighteenth International Congress of Astronautics approved this day as the beginning space age. The first satellite “spoke Russian.” The New York Times wrote: “This concrete symbol of man's future liberation from the forces that chain him to the Earth was created and launched by Soviet scientists and technicians. Everyone on Earth should be grateful to them. This is a feat of which all humanity can be proud.”

1957 and 1958. became the years of the assault on the first cosmic speed, the years of artificial Earth satellites. A new field of science has emerged - satellite geodesy.

January 4, 1959. Earth's gravity was "overcome" for the first time. The first lunar rocket "Dream" conveyed the second escape velocity (11.2 km/s) to the Luna-1 aircraft weighing 361.3 kg, becoming the first artificial satellite of the Sun. Complex technical problems were solved, new data were obtained on the Earth's radiation field and outer space.From that time on, the exploration of the Moon began.

At the same time, persistent and painstaking preparations continued for the first human flight in the history of the Earth. April 12, 1961 The one who was the first in the world to step into the unknown abyss of outer space, a citizen of the USSR, a pilot of the Air Force, climbed into the cockpit of the Vostok spacecraft. Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin. Then there were other Vostoks. A October 12, 1964 The era of the Voskhods began, which, compared to the Vostoks, had new cabins that allowed cosmonauts to fly without spacesuits for the first time, new instrumentation, improved viewing conditions, improved soft landing systems: the landing speed was practically reduced to zero.

IN March 1965. for the first time a man went into outer space. Alexey Leonov flew in space next to the Voskhod-2 spacecraft at a speed of 28,000 km/h.

Then, with talented heads and golden hands, a new generation of spacecraft - the Soyuz - was brought to life. On the Soyuz, extensive maneuvering and manual docking were carried out, the world's first experimental space station was created, and transfer from ship to ship was carried out for the first time. Orbital scientific stations of the Salyut type began to function in orbit and carry out their scientific watch. Docking with them is carried out by spacecraft of the Soyuz family, the technical capabilities of which allow you to change the altitude of the orbit, search for another ship, approach it and dock with it. "Soyuz" have gained complete freedom in space, as they can carry out autonomous flight without the participation of a ground-based command and measurement complex.

It should be noted that in 1969 An event occurred in space exploration comparable in significance to the first flight into space by Yu. A. Gagarin. The American spacecraft Apollo 11 reached the Moon, and two American astronauts landed on its surface on July 21, 1969.

Satellites of the "Molniya" type laid the radio bridge Earth - space - Earth. The Far East has become close, since radio signals along the Moscow-sputnik-Vladivostok route travel in 0.03 s.

1975 in the history of space research was marked by an outstanding achievement - the joint flight in space of the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft and the US spacecraft Apollo.

Since 1975. A new type of space relay for color television broadcasts is in operation - the Raduga satellite.

November 2, 1978 A very long manned flight in the history of cosmonautics (140 days) was successfully completed. Cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalenok and Alexander Ivanchenkov successfully landed 180 km southeast of the city of Dzhezkazgan. During their work on board the Salyut-6 - Soyuz - Progress orbital complex, a wide program of scientific, technical and medical-biological experiments was carried out, natural resources were studied and the natural environment was studied.

I would like to note another outstanding event in space exploration. November 15, 1988. The reusable orbital ship Buran, launched into space by the unique Energia rocket system, performed a two-orbit flight in orbit around the Earth and landed on the landing strip of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. For the first time in the world, the landing of a reusable spacecraft was carried out automatically

In the assets of our cosmonautics annual stay in orbit and fruitful research activities. The long space mission to the Mir station ended successfully for Vladimir Titov and Musa Makarov. They returned safely to their native land.