Results of space exploration. History of Russian cosmonautics

On August 27, 1957, the world's first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully carried out in the Soviet Union. In the same year, on October 4, the world's first artificial Earth satellite was successfully launched, consolidating the leadership of the Soviet ... ... Geoeconomic dictionary-reference book

development- see master; I; cf. Development of virgin and fallow lands. Development new technology. Space exploration … Dictionary of many expressions

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- (433) Eros a stone asteroid crossing the orbit of Mars Industrial development of asteroids involves the extraction of raw materials on asteroids and cosmic bodies in the asteroid belt and especially in near-Earth space. Ra ... Wikipedia

Les Robinsons du Cosmos Genre: Science Fiction

Les Robinsons du Cosmos Genre: Fantasy Author: Francis Carsac Original language: French Publication: 1955 Robinsons of the Cosmos is a science fiction novel written in 1955 by the French writer Francis Carsac ... Wikipedia

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A copy of the R 7 rocket in Moscow at VDNKh Cosmonautics (from the Greek κόσμος Universe and ναυτική the art of navigation, ship navigation) is the process of exploring outer space with the help of automatic and manned spacecraft. The term ... ... Wikipedia

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Books

• Space exploration, Liz Barneu. Space has always fascinated and made me dream. But only in the middle of the 20th century did the first astronauts finally fly into space. The Atlas "Space Exploration" takes us on an incredible adventure...
• , <не указано>. The publication includes sections: - Ten most important terms - Earth's atmosphere - Important dates space exploration - Getting to the moon - First man in space - First man on…

Space exploration began from the most ancient times, when a person only learned to count by the stars, highlighting the constellations. And only four hundred years ago, after the invention of the telescope, astronomy began to develop rapidly, bringing more and more new discoveries to science.

The 17th century became a transitional century for astronomy, then they began to apply the scientific method in space exploration, thanks to which Milky Way, other star clusters and nebulae. And with the creation of the spectroscope, which is able to decompose the light emitted by a celestial object through a prism, scientists have learned to measure the data of celestial bodies, such as temperature, chemical composition, mass and other measurements.

Starting from the end of the 19th century, astronomy entered a phase of numerous discoveries and achievements, the main breakthrough of science in the 20th century was the launch of the first satellite into space, the first manned flight into space, spacewalks, landing on the moon and space missions to the planets solar system. The inventions of super-powerful quantum computers in the 19th century also promise many new studies, both of already known planets and stars, and the discovery of new distant corners of the universe.

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

Only 50 years have passed since man "stepped into space", but it seems that it happened a long time ago. Space flights have become habitual, and every flight is a heroic deed.

Time changes the pace of life, each era is characterized by specific scientific discoveries and their practical use. Current state cosmonautics, when cosmonauts work at orbital stations in long-term 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 of the exclusively national economic and scientific significance of practical space exploration

Objective and thorough monitoring of the state of the earth's atmosphere is possible only from space. Artificial communications satellites, space meteorological service, space exploration and much more solve important government issues and tasks. For the first time, information was received from space on the pollution of Lake Baikal, on the size of oil slicks in the ocean, and on the intensive advance of deserts on forests and steppes.

Main names

People have long dreamed of flying to the stars, they offered hundreds of various flying machines capable of overcoming the earth's 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.

Nikolay Ivanovich Kibalchich(1897-1942), a native of the Chernihiv province - a brilliant inventor, sentenced to death penalty for making the bombs that killed Emperor Alexander II. In anticipation of the 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 are 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 ​​​​exploring outer space. 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, orbiting satellites of the Earth, considered in detail the possibility of traveling to other planets. Tsiolkovsky's greatest service to mankind is that he opened people's eyes to the real ways of realizing space flights. In his work "Investigation of the World Spaces with Reactive Instruments" (1903), a coherent theory of rocket propulsion was given and it was proved that it was the rocket that 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 deduced 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, put his name in one honorable row of names of space explorers.

And here Friedrich Arturovich Zander(1887-1933)), a native of Latvia, devoted his whole life to practical implementation ideas for space flight. He created a school of theory and design of jet engines, brought up many talented followers of this important work. F. A. Tsander burned passion for space flight. He did not live to see the day the rocket was launched from his jet engine DR-2, which laid 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.

With special pride I call the name of my fellow countryman, Yuri Vasilyevich 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, which ended his life, did not allow all his plans to be realized.

An invaluable contribution to the development of cosmonautics in our country was made by Academician Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh (1911-1978). He headed the decisive section of work on the study and exploration of space. Identification of new scientific and technical problems, new horizons in the exploration of outer space, issues of organization and control of flight - this is far from the full circle of MV Keldysh's activities.

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

Unfortunately, I cannot name everyone and tell in detail about all those scientists, engineers, test pilots and cosmonauts, whose contribution to space exploration is enormous. But without the named 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 Astronautical Congress approved this day as the beginning space age. The first satellite "spoke Russian". The New York Times wrote: “This concrete symbol of the future liberation of man from the power of 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 that all mankind can be proud of.”

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

January 4, 1959. for the first time, the earth's gravity was "overcome". The first lunar rocket "Dream" gave the aircraft "Luna-1" weighing 361.3 kg the second space velocity (11.2 km / s, became the first artificial satellite of the Sun. Complex technical problems were solved, new data on the radiation field of the Earth were obtained and outer space Since that time began the study of the moon.

At the same time, persistent and painstaking preparations for the first human flight in the history of the Earth continued. 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 "Easts". A October 12, 1964 the era of Voskhods began, which, compared to Vostoks, had new cockpits that allowed cosmonauts to fly without spacesuits for the first time, new instrumentation, improved viewing conditions, improved soft landing systems: landing speed was practically brought to zero.

IN March 1965. the first time a man went out 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 was called to life. spaceships- Unions. On the Soyuz, extensive maneuvering was carried out, manual docking was carried out, the world's first experimental space station was created, and the transition from ship to ship was made for the first time. Orbital scientific stations of the Salyut type began to function and carry out their scientific watch in orbits. Docking with them is carried out by spacecraft of the Soyuz family, technical capabilities which allow you to change the height of the orbit, search for another ship, approach it and moor. "Unions" have found complete freedom in space, as they can carry out an autonomous flight without the participation of a ground-based command and measurement complex.

It should be noted that in 1969 in space exploration, an event took place comparable in significance to the first space flight of 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 route Moscow-satellite-Vladivostok run in 0.03 s.

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

Since 1975. functioning the new kind space relay for color television programs - satellite "Rainbow".

November 2, 1978 successfully completed a very long manned flight in the history of astronautics (140 days). Cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalyonok 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 biomedical experiments was carried out, research was carried out natural resources and the study of the natural environment.

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

In the asset of our astronautics annual stay in orbit and fruitful research activities. A long space trip to the Mir station ended successfully for Vladimir Titov and Musa Makarov. They returned safely to their native land.

The history of the development of astronautics is a story about people with an extraordinary mind, about the desire to understand the laws of the Universe and about the desire to surpass the usual and possible. The exploration of outer space, which began in the last century, gave the world many discoveries. They concern both objects of distant galaxies and completely terrestrial processes. The development of astronautics contributed to the improvement of technology, led to discoveries in various fields of knowledge, from physics to medicine. However, this process took a long time.

Lost Labor

The development of cosmonautics in Russia and abroad began long before the advent of the first scientific developments in this regard were only theoretical and substantiated the very possibility of space flights. In our country, one of the pioneers of astronautics at the tip of a pen was Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. "One of" - because he was ahead of Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich, who was sentenced to death for the attempt on Alexander II and, a few days before the hanging, developed a project for an apparatus capable of delivering a man into space. It was in 1881, but Kibalchich's project was not published until 1918.

rural teacher

Tsiolkovsky, whose article theoretical foundations flight into space came out in 1903, he did not know about the work of Kibalchich. At that time, he taught arithmetic and geometry at the Kaluga School. His well-known scientific article "Research of the World Spaces with Jet Instruments" touched upon the possibilities of using rockets in space. The development of cosmonautics in Russia, then still tsarist, began precisely with Tsiolkovsky. He developed a project for the structure of a rocket capable of taking a person to the stars, defended the idea of ​​the diversity of life in the Universe, spoke about the need to design artificial satellites and orbital stations.

In parallel, theoretical astronautics developed abroad. However, there were practically no connections between scientists either at the beginning of the century or later, in the 1930s. Robert Goddard, Hermann Oberth, and Esnault-Peltri, an American, a German, and a Frenchman, respectively, working on similar problems, on Tsiolkovsky's work for a long time knew nothing. Even then, the disunity of peoples affected the pace of development of the new industry.

Pre-war years and the Great Patriotic War

The development of cosmonautics continued in the 1920s-1940s with the help of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory and the Groups for the Study of Jet Propulsion, and then the Jet Research Institute. The best engineering minds of the country worked within the walls of scientific institutions, including F. A. Tsander, M. K. Tikhonravov and S. P. Korolev. In the laboratories, they worked on the creation of the first liquid and solid propellant rockets, and the theoretical basis of astronautics was developed.

In the pre-war years and during the Second World War, jet engines and rocket planes were designed and built. During this period, for obvious reasons, much attention was paid to the development of cruise missiles and unguided rockets.

Korolev and V-2

The first modern-type combat missile in history was created in Germany during the war under the command of Wernher von Braun. Then the V-2, or V-2, did a lot of trouble. After the defeat of Germany, von Braun was transferred to America, where he began to work on new projects, including the development of rockets for space flights.

In 1945, after the end of the war, a group of Soviet engineers arrived in Germany to study the V-2. Among them was Korolev. He was appointed chief engineering and technical director of the Nordhausen Institute, formed in Germany in the same year. In addition to studying German missiles, Korolev and his colleagues were developing new projects. In the 50s, the design bureau under his leadership created the R-7. This two-stage rocket was able to develop the first and ensure the launch of multi-ton vehicles into near-Earth orbit.

Stages of development of astronautics

The advantage of the Americans in the preparation of vehicles for space exploration, associated with the work of von Braun, remained in the past when on October 4, 1957 the USSR launched the first satellite. Since then, the development of astronautics has gone faster. In the 1950s and 1960s, several animal experiments were carried out. Dogs and monkeys have been in space.

As a result, scientists have collected invaluable information that made possible a comfortable stay in human space. At the beginning of 1959, it was possible to achieve the second cosmic velocity.

advanced development national cosmonautics was accepted all over the world when Yuri Gagarin poisoned himself in the sky. It was, without exaggeration, the great event of 1961. From that day began the penetration of man into the boundless expanses surrounding the Earth.

• October 12, 1964 - an apparatus with several people on board was launched into orbit (USSR);
• March 18, 1965 - the first (USSR);
• February 3, 1966 - the first landing of the apparatus on the Moon (USSR);
• December 24, 1968 - the first launch of a manned spacecraft into Earth satellite orbit (USA);
• July 20, 1969 - day (USA);
• April 19, 1971 - the first orbital station was launched (USSR);
• July 17, 1975 - for the first time there was a docking of two ships (Soviet and American);
• April 12, 1981 - the first Space Shuttle (USA) went into space.

The development of modern astronautics

Today, space exploration continues. The successes of the past have borne fruit - man has already visited the moon and is preparing for a direct acquaintance with Mars. However, manned flight programs are now developing less than projects of automatic interplanetary stations. The current state of cosmonautics is such that the devices being created are capable of transmitting information about the distant Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto to Earth, visiting Mercury and even exploring meteorites.
In parallel, space tourism is developing. Great value today have international contacts. gradually comes to the conclusion that great breakthroughs and discoveries occur faster and more often if the efforts and capabilities of different countries are combined.

September 1967 was marked by the proclamation of October 4 by the International Astronautical Federation as the world day for the beginning of the space age of mankind. It was on October 4, 1957 that a small ball with four antennas tore apart the near-Earth space and laid the foundation for the space age, opened the golden age of astronautics. How it was, how space exploration took place, what the first satellites, animals and people in space were like - this article will tell about all this.

Chronology of events

To begin, let's give short description chronology of events, one way or another connected with the beginning of the space age.

Dreamers from the distant past

As long as humanity exists, the stars have beckoned it so much. Let's look for the origins of astronautics and the beginning of the space age in ancient tomes and give just a few examples. amazing facts and far-sighted predictions. In the ancient Indian epic Bhagavad Gita (circa 15th century BC), an entire chapter is devoted to instructions for flying to the moon. Clay tablets in the library of the Assyrian ruler Assurbanipal (3200 BC) tell of King Etan flying up to a height from which the Earth looked like "bread in a basket". The inhabitants of Atlantis left the Earth, flying to other planets. And the Bible tells about the flight on the fiery chariot of the prophet Elijah. But in 1500 AD, the inventor Wang Gu from Ancient China could have become the first astronaut if he had not died. He made a flying machine kites. Which was supposed to take off when 4 powder rockets were set on fire. Since the 17th century, Europe has been raving about flying to the moon: first Johannes Kepler and Cyrano de Bergerac, and later Jules Verne with his idea of ​​cannon flight.

Kibalchich, Gunswind and Tsiolkovsky

In 1881, alone Peter and Paul Fortress, awaiting execution for the attempt on the life of Tsar Alexander II NI Kibalchich (1853-1881) draws a jet space platform. The idea of ​​his project is the creation of jet thrust by burning substances. His project will show up in the archives tsarist secret police only in 1917. At the same time, the German scientist G. Gansvid created his own spacecraft, where the thrust is provided by the outgoing bullets. And in 1883, the Russian physicist K. E. Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) described a ship with a jet engine, which was embodied in 1903 in the scheme of a liquid rocket. It is Tsiolkovsky who is considered to be the father of Russian cosmonautics, whose works already in the 20s of the last century were widely recognized by the world community.

Just a satellite

The artificial satellite that marked the beginning of the space age launched the Soviet Union from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on October 4, 1957. An aluminum sphere weighing 83.5 kilograms and 58 centimeters in diameter, with four bayonet antennas and equipment inside, took off to a perigee height of 228 kilometers and an apogee of 947 kilometers. They called it simply "Sputnik-1". Such a simple device was a tribute to " cold war with the United States, which developed similar programs. America with their satellite Explorer 1 (launched on February 1, 1958) is almost half a year behind us. The Soviets, who launched the first artificial satellite, won the race. A victory that has not been lost, because the time has come for the first astronauts.

Dogs, cats and monkeys

The beginning of the space age in the USSR began with the first orbital flights of rootless tailed cosmonauts. The Soviets chose dogs as astronauts. America - monkeys, and France - cats. Immediately after Sputnik-1, Sputnik-2 flew into space with the most unfortunate dog on board - the mongrel Laika. It was November 3, 1957, and the return of Sergei Korolev's favorite Laika was not foreseen. The well-known Belka and Strelka, with their triumphant flight and return to Earth on August 19, 1960, were by no means the first and far from the last. France launched the cat Felicette into space (October 18, 1963), and the United States, after the rhesus monkey (September 1961), sent the chimpanzee Ham (January 31, 1961), who became a national hero, to explore space.

Man's conquest of space

And here the Soviet Union was the first. On April 12, 1961, near the village of Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), the R-7 launch vehicle with the Vostok-1 spacecraft took off into the sky. Air Force Major Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin went on his first space flight. At a perigee altitude of 181 km and an apogee of 327 km, it flew around the Earth and landed in the vicinity of the village of Smelovka (Saratov Region) at the 108th minute of the flight. The world was blown up by this event - agrarian and bastard Russia overtook the high-tech States, and Gagarin's "Let's go!" became an anthem for space fans. It was an event of global scale and incredible significance for all mankind. Here America lagged behind the Union for a month - on May 5, 1961, the Redstone rocket carrier with the Mercury-3 spacecraft from Cape Canaveral launched the American cosmonaut Air Force Captain 3rd rank Alan Shepard into orbit.

During the space flight on March 18, 1965, co-pilot Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Leonov (the first pilot was Colonel Pavel Belyaev) went into outer space and stayed there for 20 minutes, moving away from the ship at a distance of up to five meters. He confirmed that a person can stay and work in outer space. In June, American astronaut Edward White spent only a minute more in outer space and proved the possibility of performing maneuvers in outer space with a hand gun that runs on compressed gas on the principle of a jet. The beginning of the space age of man in outer space has come to pass.

First human casualties

Space has given us many discoveries and heroes. However, the beginning of the space age was also marked by casualties. Americans Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee were the first to die on January 27, 1967. The Apollo 1 spacecraft burned out in 15 seconds due to a fire inside. Vladimir Komarov was the first Soviet cosmonaut to die. On October 23, 1967, he successfully deorbited on the Soyuz-1 spacecraft after an orbital flight. But the main parachute of the descent capsule did not open, and it crashed into the ground at a speed of 200 km / h and completely burned out.

Apollo lunar program

On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin felt the surface of the Moon under their feet. Thus ended the flight of the Apollo 11 spacecraft with the Eagle lunar module on board. America has seized the lead in space exploration from Soviet Union. And although later there were many publications about the falsification of the fact that the Americans landed on the moon, today everyone knows Neil Armstrong as the first person to set foot on its surface.

Orbital stations Salyut

The Soviets were also the first to launch orbital stations - spacecraft for the long stay of astronauts. Salyut is a series of manned stations, the first of which was launched into orbit on April 19, 1971. In total, 14 space objects were put into orbit in this project under the Almaz military program and the civil one - the Long-Term Orbital Station. Including the Mir station (Salyut-8), which was in orbit from 1986 to 2001 (flooded in the spacecraft cemetery in pacific ocean 23.03.2001).

First international space station

The ISS has a complex history of creation. Started as American project Freedom (1984), which became a joint Mir-Shuttle project in 1992 and today is an international project with 14 participating countries. The first module of the ISS launched the Proton-K launch vehicle into orbit on November 20, 1998. Subsequently, the participating countries removed other connecting blocks, and today the station weighs about 400 tons. It was planned to operate the station until 2014, but the project was extended. And it is managed jointly by four agencies - the Space Flight Control Center (Korolev, Russia), the Mission Control Center. L. Johnson (Houston, USA), the Control Center of the European Space Agency (Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany) and the Aerospace Research Agency (Tsukuba, Japan). The station has a crew of 6 cosmonauts. The program of the station provides for the constant presence of people. By this indicator she has already broken the record of the Mir station (3664 days of continuous stay). Food is completely independent - solar panels weigh almost 276 kilograms, power up to 90 kilowatts. The station houses laboratories, greenhouses and living quarters (five bedrooms), a gymnasium and bathrooms.

Some facts about the ISS

The International Space Station is by far the most expensive project in the world. More than $157 billion has already been spent on it. The speed of the station in orbit is 27.7 thousand km / h, with a weight of more than 41 tons. Astronauts observe sunrise and sunset at the station every 45 minutes. In 2008, the Disk of Immortality, a device containing digitized DNA of outstanding representatives of mankind, was delivered to the station in 2008. The purpose of this collection is to save human DNA in case of a global catastrophe. In laboratories space station quails are born and flowers bloom. And viable spores of bacteria were found on its skin, which makes one think about the possible expansion of space.

Space commercialization

Humanity can no longer imagine itself without space. In addition to all the advantages of the practical exploration of outer space, the commercial component is also developing. Since 2005, private spaceports have been under construction in the United States (Mojave), the United Arab Emirates (Ras Alm Khaimah) and Singapore. Virgin Galactic Corporation (USA) is planning space cruises for seven thousand tourists at an affordable price of $200,000. And well-known space merchant Robert Bigelow, owner of the Budget Suites of America hotel chain, announced the project of the first Skywalker orbital hotel. For $35 billion, Space Adventures (partner of the Roscosmos Corporation) will send you on a space journey for up to 10 days tomorrow. Having paid another 3 billion, you will be able to go into outer space. The company has already organized tours for seven tourists, one of them is Guy Laliberte, head of the circus du Soleil. The same company is preparing a new tourist product for 2018 - a trip to the moon.

Dreams and fantasies have become reality. Having overcome gravity once, humanity is no longer able to stop in its pursuit of stars, galaxies and universes. I would like to believe that we will not play too much, and we will continue to be surprised and delighted by the myriads of stars in the night sky. All the same mysterious, alluring and fantastic, as in the first days of creation.