In 1961, our compatriot Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin made the first space flight in the history of mankind on the Vostok spacecraft.
His legendary "Let's go ..." will be preserved in history as the beginning of human space exploration.
The launch was carried out from the first launch complex of the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The Vostok 8K72K launch vehicle launched the Vostok spacecraft, piloted by the first Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, into low Earth orbit. The understudy, who had the opportunity to replace Gagarin at any time before the start, was German Titov. A reserve cosmonaut, Grigory Nelyubov, was also appointed for insurance purposes.
The Vostok spacecraft was put into orbit with the following parameters: inclination - 64.95 degrees, orbital period - 89.34 minutes, minimum distance from the Earth's surface - 181 kilometers, maximum - 327 kilometers.
The flight of the first cosmonaut lasted 1 hour 48 minutes. After one orbit around the Earth, the spacecraft's descent module landed at Saratov region. At an altitude of several kilometers, Gagarin ejected and made a soft landing on a parachute not far from the descent vehicle.
The first cosmonaut of the planet was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union, and the day of his flight became a national holiday - Cosmonautics Day, starting on April 12, 1962.
A bit of history:
Already in 1931, groups for the study of jet propulsion appeared in Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, Tiflis, Baku, Arkhangelsk, Novocherkassk and other cities of the country, and in 1933, by decision of the government, the world's first Jet Research Institute was created.
Specialized scientific organizations and design offices. As a result of many years of joint activity of these organizations, the flight characteristics of missiles have been constantly improved.
In 1957, the first space rocket was created. On October 4, 1957, the world's first artificial Earth satellite was put into orbit in the Soviet Union. The launch of the first satellite opened space age in the history of mankind.
In January 1959, the Luna-1 spacecraft was launched towards the Moon, passing in the immediate vicinity of the Moon's surface and entering a heliocentric orbit. In September of the same year, the Luna-2 spacecraft landed on the surface of the Moon, and a month later, the Luna-3 interplanetary station transmitted photographs of the far side of the Moon to Earth.
October 4, 1957 entered the history of mankind as the beginning of the space age. This day is the day of the launch of the first Soviet artificial satellite Earth - the eternal dream of mankind was realized - an exit into space. Made flights to the planets solar system. Automatic devices successfully operated under conditions of enormous pressures and temperatures on Venus, in the vacuum of space and cold on the Moon. Cosmonauts live and work on manned orbital stations for a long time.
Ahead - new space achievements. But it all started on that October day in 1957. The first Soviet artificial satellite had the shape of a ball with a diameter of 0.58 m, and its mass was 83.6 kg. Two satellite radio transmitters, which made it possible to study the conditions for the passage of radio waves in the ionosphere, made it possible to obtain new information about the atmosphere. Successful work of the first satellite confirmed the correctness of theoretical calculations and design solutions incorporated in the creation of the launch vehicle, the satellite itself and its onboard systems.
The second Soviet artificial satellite was launched on November 3, 1957, just like the first one, as part of the program of the International Geophysical Year. The most important experiments carried out on the second satellite are biological. On board was the dog Laika. It was the last stage of the launch vehicle with a total mass of 508.3 kg. The containers housed scientific and measuring equipment, and an experimental animal in a pressurized cabin. The purpose of the biological experiment was to study the basic physiological functions of the animal on different areas flight. Before the flight of the second satellite, animals were repeatedly raised in rockets to a height of 500 km in order to test their tolerance for overloads and short-term weightlessness. But only orbital facilities made it possible to comprehensively study the effect of space flight factors - starting overloads, prolonged weightlessness, radiation - on a living organism. The first space flight of a living creature showed that a highly organized animal can satisfactorily endure all the factors of space flight, and confirmed the real possibility of man's flight into space.
The third Soviet artificial satellite (launched on May 15, 1958) became the first integrated scientific geophysical laboratory. The mass of the satellite was 1327 kg, twelve scientific instruments were installed on its board. They were used to directly measure the pressure and composition upper atmosphere, the characteristics of the magnetic and electrostatic fields of the Earth and the ionosphere were determined, primary cosmic rays and solar radiation were studied, and micrometeor particles were recorded. The measurements performed on the satellite made it possible to establish the presence of the outer zone of the Earth's radiation belt; got an accurate picture spatial distribution magnetic field Lands in the altitude range of 280-750 km. The flight of the third Soviet satellite laid the foundations of a new direction in science - space physics. The flights of the first three Soviet artificial Earth satellites have shown that science has received unique opportunities for conducting a wide range of research in outer space.
The flights of the first three satellites made it possible to work out the main service systems: radio equipment that measures the parameters of the satellite’s movement in orbit, radio telemetry systems that record the results of scientific measurements, systems for “storing” and subsequent transmission of these measurements to Earth, systems for active thermal control, power supply, radio communications. A network of stations for tracking and controlling the flight and processing the information received was created.
The first Soviet artificial Earth satellites made it possible to obtain initial, quite general information about the parameters of the Earth's upper atmosphere, about the processes taking place in near-Earth space.
In February 1961, the Venera-1 interplanetary automatic station was launched to Venus.
In the same years, the first manned flights into space were being prepared.
And on April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union launched the first Vostok spacecraft in the history of mankind, piloted by Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin. YU. A. GAGARIN - THE FIRST COSMONAUT
Russia celebrates Cosmonautics Day to commemorate the first space flight by Yuri Gagarin. The holiday was established by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 9, 1962 ... Since 1968, the national Cosmonautics Day has received official worldwide recognition after the establishment world day aviation and astronautics.
Yuri Gagarin's flight proved that man can live and work in space. This is how it came to earth new profession- astronaut.
The profession of an astronaut is a special one, it makes very high demands on a person. First of all, an astronaut must be in excellent health. He has to work in unusual conditions: when launching into orbit and especially when returning to Earth, considerable overloads act on him. Thus, a tenfold overload means that an astronaut, for example, with his own weight of 80 kg, feels his own weight equal to 800 kg. And in orbit, he finds himself in conditions of weightlessness, completely unusual for a person who was born and lives in the conditions of terrestrial gravity.
The astronaut must be courageous and brave man, resourceful in any situation, be able to quickly understand and make the right decisions in a rapidly changing environment. Each launch into space is a flight into an environment hostile to humans, where vacuum, weightlessness, and radiation that is fatal to humans reign. And although in spaceship or at orbital station the cosmonaut is protected by a strong impenetrable body; inside, life conditions that are almost familiar to humans are created for him; unforeseen emergencies can occur on Earth during testing of space technology, and in space, and when returning to Earth. The chronicle of manned space flights keeps not only heroic, but also tragic pages in the history of space exploration.
An astronaut must have an excellent knowledge of space technology and an impeccable command of it. Already the first spaceships had a very complex technical device. Since then, space technology has become even more sophisticated and sophisticated, which makes even higher professional demands on the astronaut. Only the ideal interaction of the astronaut with Finally, the astronaut is a researcher, and he must not only know the program of research and experiments well, but also be able to work with scientific equipment. And every year science programs space flights are becoming wider and richer, scientific equipment is becoming more complex and diverse.
After the flight of Yuri Gagarin, each launch of a man into space became a new step in the development of outer space. Flight times were extended, programs were expanded scientific and technical research and experiments, astronauts mastered increasingly complex space technology. The flight of German Titov lasted over a day, and Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman cosmonaut, was in space flight for almost three days.
Valentina Tereshkova. First woman in space.
In March 1965, Alexei Leonov became the first cosmonaut to leave the Voskhod-2 spacecraft in a special spacesuit and spend about 20 minutes in open space.
Of the US astronauts, the most famous are N. Armstrong, E. Aldrin and M. Collins - the crew of the Apollo 11 spacecraft, which in July 1969 flew to the moon with a landing on its surface. N. Armstrong and E. Aldrin became the first people to walk on the moon
In the 1970s, the Soviet program of manned space flights was aimed at creating long-term orbital stations with interchangeable crews - the main path of man in space. Delivered by Soyuz transport spacecraft to the Salyut orbital stations, Soviet cosmonauts made a number of long-term space expeditions. So, the flight of cosmonauts P. I. Klimuk and V. I. Sevastyanov on the Soyuz-18 spacecraft and the Salyut-4 orbital station lasted almost 64 days. On the basis of the Salyut-6 orbital station, the Salyut-6 - Soyuz research complex was created, which was regularly supplied with fuel and other necessary materials by Progress automatic cargo ships. On this orbital research complex, Soviet cosmonauts Yu. V. Romanenko and G. M. Grechko, V. V. Kovalenok and A. S. Ivanchenkov, V. A. Lyakhov and V. V. Ryumin made record-breaking space flights lasting 96, 140 and 175 days, respectively.
Soyuz-Apollo
In the 70s. cooperation between cosmonauts from various countries directly in space developed successfully. In July 1975, a joint experimental flight of the Soyuz-19 spacecraft, manned by Soviet cosmonauts A. A. Leonov and V. N. Kubasov, and the Apollo spacecraft, piloted by American cosmonauts T. Stafford, D. Slayton and V. Brand. In 1978-1980. cosmonauts of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the People's Republic of Poland, the German Democratic Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria and the People's Republic of Hungary.
Station "Mir"
The Salyuts were replaced by the third generation of near-Earth laboratories - the Mir station, which was the basic unit for building a multi-purpose permanent manned complex with specialized orbital modules of scientific and national economic importance. The orbital complex "Mir" was in operation until June 2000 - 14.5 years instead of the five provided. During this time, 28 space expeditions were carried out on it, a total of 139 Russian and foreign space explorers visited the complex, 11.5 tons of scientific equipment of 240 items from 27 countries of the world were placed.
The Mir space complex was replaced in orbit by the International Space Station (ISS), in the construction of which 16 countries participated. When creating a new space complex, Russian achievements in the field of manned cosmonautics were widely used. The operation of the ISS is designed for 15 years, but it is possible that it will work much longer than planned.
Today we see amazing advances in space technology: tens of thousands of satellites are orbiting the Earth, spacecraft have landed on the Moon, Venus and Mars, several spacecraft left the solar system and carry messages Extraterrestrial Civilizations. Mars rovers "surf" the surface of Mars. Research missions have been sent to many planets in the solar system. space probes. Astronomers are making amazing discoveries thanks to space telescopes of varying functionality in space.
kosmos-x.net.ru/publ/k …osmonavtiki/12-1-0-163
Addressing all the inhabitants of the Earth before the start on April 12, 1961, Yuri Alekseevich said: “Dear friends, relatives and strangers, compatriots, people of all countries and continents! In a few minutes, a mighty spaceship will take me to the distant expanses of the universe. What can be said to you in these last minutes before the start! My whole life seems to me now as one beautiful moment. Everything that has been lived, that has been done before, has been lived and done for the sake of this moment. You understand, it is difficult to sort out feelings now, when the hour of trial, for which we have been preparing for a long time and passionately, has come very close. It is hardly worth talking about the feelings that I experienced when I was offered to make this first flight in history. Joy! No, it was not only joy. Pride! No, it was not only pride. I experienced great happiness. To be the first in space, to enter one-on-one in an unprecedented duel with nature - is it possible to dream of more! But after that, I thought about the colossal responsibility that fell on me. The first to accomplish what generations of people dreamed of, the first to pave the way for humanity into space. Am I happy going on a space flight! Of course, happy. Indeed, at all times and epochs, it was the highest happiness for people to participate in new discoveries ... "
In an hour or so, he became the most famous person Earth, but the first orbit around the Earth of a spacecraft with a man on board was the merit of many, many people and, first of all, the general designer of spaceships, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.
The flight of Yu. A. Gagarin made the hypothesis of the possibility of practical human activity in space a reality, opened a new direction in the development of civilization, and this is its enduring scientific significance.
Happy cosmonautics day to you, my dear visitors!
On April 12, 1961, the world was shocked by the announcement that the Soviet Union had made its first flight into space. The first in the history of the Vostok spacecraft with a man on board, piloted by Yuri Aleskeevich Gagarin, was launched into orbit around the Earth.
This date has entered the history of mankind forever. The first space flight lasted 108 minutes. Nowadays, when many months of expeditions are made on orbital space stations, it seems to be very short. But each of those minutes was a discovery of the unknown.
Yuri Gagarin's flight proved that man can live and work in space. So a new profession appeared on Earth - an astronaut. In this article, we will share with you little known facts about the first flight into space.
The secret of the Soviet cosmonautics. Three cosmonauts died before Gagarin
Space veterans say the triumphant Soviet space program, which culminated in Yuri Gagarin's first flight into space, has been overshadowed by several tragedies that have been kept secret from Russians and the rest of the world.
Mikhail Rudenko, former chief engineer of Khimki Experimental Design Bureau No. 456, said that the first three victims were test pilots who flew into the outer atmosphere along parabolic trajectories, which means that they flew up and then crashed down without flying around Earth.
“All three died during the flights, but their names were not made public”
Rudenko said. He gave the names of the dead: Ledovskikh, Shaborin and Mitkov died in 1957, 1958 and 1959. According to Rudenko, the death of test pilots forced the Soviet leadership to create special school training of space pioneers. “They decided to give training more serious attention and create a special staff of astronauts,” he said.
And this is not to mention the fact that tragedies occurred not only in space, but also on Earth: during one of the trainings, right in the isolation chamber (an experimental chamber with low gravity), Valentin Bondarenko, the youngest cosmonaut candidate, died. Irina Ponomareva, a space expert at the Institute for Problems of Biology and Medicine, who has been involved in the work on the space program since 1959, says, “We tried to create the conditions that the astronaut would encounter in orbit, but a fire broke out in the chamber, it was impossible to save Bondarenko. It's the only thing I remember."
The first flights into space. running animals
I must say that Belka with Strelka and Yuri Gagarin are far from the first living creatures to conquer the territory of weightlessness. Before that, the dog Laika had been there, the flight of which was being prepared for 10 years and ended sadly - she died. Flying into space and turtles, mice, monkeys. The brightest flights, and there were only three of them, were made by a dog named Zhulka. Twice she launched on high-altitude rockets, the third time on a ship that turned out to be not so perfect and gave technical failures. The vessel was unable to reach orbit, and the decision to destroy it was considered. But again there are malfunctions in the system, and the ship ahead of time returns home with a fall. The satellite was discovered in Siberia. No one hoped for a successful outcome of the search, not to mention the dog. But survived terrible accident, hunger and thirst, Zhulka escaped and lived another 14 years after the fall.
On September 23, 1959, a rocket exploded right at the start, carrying the dogs Krasavka and Damka on board. On December 1, the launch was more successful: the dogs Pchelka and Mushka successfully postponed the launch, however, due to the fact that the descent trajectory at the end of the flight was too steep, the ship burned down along with the animals in it
Usually mongrels were sent into space because purebred dogs are too nervous
says Vladimir Gubarev, a science journalist who has covered 50 space flights.
Three messages about the first flight into space
Shortly before the flight into space, three pre-launch appeals of the "first cosmonaut to the Soviet people" were recorded. The first was recorded by Yuri Gagarin, and two more by his doubles German Titov and Grigory Nelyubov. Interestingly, three texts of the TASS message about the first manned flight into space were also prepared:
- in case of a successful flight
- in case of loss of an astronaut and the need to organize a search for him
- in case of disaster.
All three messages were sealed in special envelopes numbered 1, 2, 3 and sent to radio, television and TASS.
On April 12, 1961, the media received a clear order to open only the envelope, the number of which was indicated by the Kremlin, and to immediately destroy the remaining messages.
Poems during the first flight into space
Yuri Gagarin in one of his many interviews admitted that during the flight into space he recalled the poems of his favorite poet Sergei Yesenin. During a meeting with cultural figures, which took place a week after the world's first space flight, Gagarin on a book with poems by his favorite poet left the following entry:
“I love the poems of Sergei Yesenin and respect him as a person who loves Mother Russia”
This unique book is in the center of the exposition "Oh Russia, flap your wings! .." in the Moscow State Museum of S.A. Yesenin.
Audio recording, first flight transcript
Conversation between Gagarin and Korolev during the first flight into space. The transcript is abridged.
OUR MOTHERLAND OPENED A NEW ERA IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY
THE FLIGHT OF A SOVIET MAN INTO SPACE IS MADE IN THE NAME OF PEACE, PROGRESS, HAPPINESS OF PEOPLE
TASS MESSAGE
0952 According to data received from the Vostok spacecraft, at 0952 Moscow time pilot-cosmonaut Major Gagarin was South America, conveyed: "The flight is going well, I feel good."
10:15 At 10:15 Moscow time, pilot-cosmonaut Major Gagarin, flying over Africa, transmitted from the Vostok spacecraft: "The flight is proceeding normally, I can bear the state of weightlessness well."
10.25 am At 10.25 am Moscow time, after a circle around the globe in accordance with the given program, the braking propulsion system was switched on and the spacecraft-satellite with pilot-cosmonaut Major Gagarin began to descend from orbit to land in the given area of the Sovetsky Union.
ON THE SUCCESSFUL RETURN OF A MAN FROM THE FIRST SPACE FLIGHT
After the successful completion of the planned studies and the completion of the flight program, on April 12, 1961, at 10:55 Moscow time, the Soviet Vostok spacecraft made a safe landing in a given area of the Soviet Union.
Pilot-cosmonaut Major Gagarin said: "I ask you to report to the party and the government and personally to Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev that the landing went well, I feel good, I have no injuries or bruises."
The implementation of a manned flight into outer space opens up grandiose prospects for the conquest of outer space by mankind.
KOSMONAVT-15 ABOUT KOSMONAVT-1
Flight of Gagarin
I heard about Gagarin's flight on the radio. Despite the fact that I had known about the flight preparations for a long time, the message made me feel like a bombshell. I did not know in advance either the launch date or the astronaut's name. And here it is! Man in space! Flying over the earth! Alone in this endless lifeless space! What a fantasy! Hardly anyone can imagine what he has in his soul right now. Delight in what he feels and sees? A celebration of a dream come true? Joy personal achievement? Or something else? Probably, recent times he lived with thoughts about this flight. And it wasn't exploring the ship or skydiving that filled it inner world but something more powerful. The very thing that inspired him to fly. After all, being very young, he understood that he was really risking his life, but, nevertheless, he decided and achieved his goal!
Never before had I thought about it. We discussed technical issues, argued about what kind of control for a person would be convenient and which would be inconvenient, but did not take into account internal state future astronaut. After all, declaring his desire to fly, he had to answer the question himself: is he managing his life correctly? And this is when there is no war, there is good profession, family and so many interesting things around. But he chose such a risky flight.
I well remember my reaction when I first heard about the selection of candidates for the first flight from the employees of our department, who returned from the Kazakhstan test site, the place where they now start space rockets. The first unmanned satellite-ship was being prepared for launch there. The guys said that at the test site, the management discussed which professions best form the qualities that are most important for an astronaut. Fighter pilots were named first. Each of them is accustomed to the height and to the fact that one bears all responsibility for the flight. The second considered submariners. They can be isolated for a long time, cut off from normal earthly life, and at the same time perform very responsible functions. Finally, engineers were named as the third group - people who are professionally most prepared to study the structure of the ship and control its work.
When the word "engineers" was uttered, it seemed to hit me electric shock like someone said "you". And some kind of inner trembling ran through, as if the choice had already been made. The trace of this feeling remained in me for a long time. Probably, Gagarin had something similar before the flight. Maybe differently colored, but most likely brighter, because he had a real perspective, not an abstract fantasy.
Later, I learned that the choice was made on the pilots and six people were selected. Once I saw them on the territory of our enterprise. They quickly moved from one building to another, obviously trying to be unnoticed. I then felt a deep respect for these people. Should have had strong character to take on the big deal.
I did not have a chance to take part in the preparation of astronauts for the first flight. I dealt only with issues related to the creation of a management system. At that time, many things were unclear to us. We, for example, did not know whether the Earth would be visible from the ship at night; is it possible to distinguish night earth from the starry sky - the lights of big cities sometimes shine just like the stars. We did not know whether it would be possible to determine the direction of the flight when the ship was over the ocean - there are no landmarks on the surface of the water, and we did not have sufficient data on how often clouds would occur and how they look from above. The system made it possible for the cosmonaut to turn the ship in any direction, but he had to determine the position of the ship visually, and we hoped that after the flight the cosmonaut would tell in which situations this was possible and in which not.
How much debate there was about whether to allow the astronaut to participate in the management of the ship! There was an opinion that he might not be able to cope with the psychological stress of the flight and would start acting recklessly. In this case, taking control over himself, he can destroy himself. As a result, they decided to complicate the procedure for turning on the system to such an extent that, in the absence of sound thinking, the astronaut could not perform it. The system was locked with a combination lock, similar to those currently installed on front doors. The astronaut was not given the code. It was printed on a sheet of paper, which was sealed in an envelope, and the envelope had to be placed in one of the wall pockets in the cockpit before the start. It was assumed that if the astronaut could find the code, enter it, and then turn on the system, then he would be able and intelligently control the ship. It was curious to find out if Gagarin got the envelope. I would probably take it out and look at the code - just in case, so as not to waste time if I need to act quickly. Does he keep the management technique in mind? It seems like we just wrote it. I remember well how it was.
One afternoon, Rauschenbach called me and asked me to take a secret notebook and wait for him in the evening. He arrived late, when there was no one in the department. He sat down in front of me and said that I urgently needed to write a manual orientation technique. And he began to dictate:
Write: "With the correct orientation, the image of the Earth's horizon in the Vzor should occupy a position symmetrical relative to the center of the device."
I write. "Vzor" was called an optical device with which the astronaut must control the position of the ship relative to the Earth. Rauschenbach continues:
Write in a separate line: "Attention".
No, no, all in capital letters: "ATTENTION". Put three exclamation marks. So. From a new line: “In the central field of view, the image earth's surface should "run" from the legs to the instruments. Have you written?
Put an exclamation point. God forbid, mix it up. Again from a new line: “If the Earth is visible at the top of the Vzor, tilt the handle down and hold it in the deflected position until ...”
And so he dictated the entire instruction. My consent with her was asked only out of politeness. Then he says: "Let's read together - if we made a mistake somewhere." We read it and came to the conclusion that everything is correct. I took the technique to the typing bureau, and the next morning Raushenbakh left with her to the cosmonauts - in a small military unit, located near the town of Chkalovskaya near Moscow. There, in the forest behind the fence, the pilots were preparing for a historic flight.
There was nothing complicated in the methodology, but when life depends on the correctness of actions, doubts may arise even where it is simple.
While I was trying to mentally imagine the state of the cosmonaut in orbit, a new message was transmitted over the radio: "The flight was successfully completed, the spacecraft has landed in the assigned area, Gagarin is feeling well."
Then they did not begin to announce that Gagarin landed not in the descent vehicle, but next to it. The spacecraft did not have a soft landing system, so an automatic ejection of the cosmonaut at a low altitude was provided. After that, the cosmonaut and the apparatus descended on different parachutes independently of each other. Judging by the message, everything went well.
So, the first manned flight into space took place! What does it mean? A major scientific and technological achievement? Undoubtedly. However, before Gagarin's flight, two flights of exactly the same ships were made according to exactly the same program, but with dummies on board. And they also ended successfully. They just weren't reported. Checked the possibility of human life in a confined space? And this was done on Earth in advance. A person's tolerance for the overloads that accompany flight has also been repeatedly tested in centrifuge studies. Then what happened? The main significance of the event lies, perhaps, in the fact that the most important psychological milestone has been passed. Gagarin's flight showed that man can fly into space. A person can maintain working capacity and normal mental condition at all stages of space flight - when taking off on a rocket, in prolonged weightlessness, and when the descent vehicle, like a meteor, surrounded by hot plasma, moves in the Earth's atmosphere.
A day later, Yuri Gagarin was met by Moscow. It seems that the whole of Moscow. This event did not leave anyone indifferent. People either went out into the street to see Gagarin with their own eyes when he was going from the airfield to the Kremlin, or followed what was happening on television. The award ceremony took place, then there was a rally on Red Square, the country's leadership gave a big reception, and the atmosphere of general celebration reigned everywhere. The people celebrated the victory of human genius, skill and courage. Gagarin became a symbol of this victory.
And a day later there was a meeting with Gagarin at our enterprise. It was organized by Korolev. He wanted people to see the man who trusted them with his life; I wanted to thank and congratulate everyone on their success. The meeting was attended by President of the Academy of Sciences M.V. Keldysh, Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force K.A. Vershinin and the pilots who, together with Gagarin, were preparing for the flight. The meeting took place on the street. The guests stood on a hastily made podium, and we were all around, who managed to get where. Thousands of people worked at the enterprise and everyone came. All the places from where it was possible to see Gagarin were occupied. They stood on the roads, at the open windows in the premises, on the roofs of adjacent buildings.
Oddly enough, but even those who created the ship, the flight made a very strong impression. In preparation for it, everyone worked on some relatively small task. At the same time, he understood that a flight was being prepared, but mostly he thought about his own business. And now, all of a sudden, it dawned on everyone that a huge event had happened. Unheard-of opportunities have opened up before people - a road has opened up beyond the limits of what belongs to the Earth. Space flights are flights to new world. While it was difficult to imagine how this will affect our lives. It is only clear that an inexhaustible source of new knowledge, and perhaps even new ones, has appeared. material assets. Now it's forever. Further flights will be longer and more difficult, but the most important and most difficult - the first step has already been taken. It is clear that ahead of us expected the most interesting programs. The speakers at the meeting spoke about it and the audience thought about it. Of course, we were all very happy with the success, we are proud that the flight was carried out in our country, and that each of us had a chance to participate in its preparation. Excited people left the meeting and everyone knew that the next ships were being manufactured in the workshops.
For many days after the flight, newspapers published materials with assessments of the event. Unfortunately, they were mostly politically oriented. All scientific and technical data of the flight were classified. The names of those who prepared the flight were also secret. The Queen in the articles was simply called "Chief Designer", without a surname. President of the Academy of Sciences M.V. Keldysh, who directly supervised scientific developments and who supported the program in the leadership of the country, was referred to as the unnamed "Chief Theorist".
For contacts with foreigners, the Academy of Sciences singled out several scientists who were not directly related to space programs, so they could not give out secrets, but were known to the world community.
“... mankind will not remain forever on Earth, but, in pursuit of light
and space, first timidly penetrates beyond the atmosphere,
and then it will conquer all the circumsolar space.”
K. E. Tsiolkovsky
The Cosmonautics Day holiday was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated 9 April 1962 in honor of the perfect 12 April 1961 Mr. Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin of the world's first manned flight into space. November 1968at the Congress of the International Aviation Sports Federation, it was decided to celebrate 12April as World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day, and 8 April 2011 d. at a meeting of the General AssemblyThe UN adopted a resolution proposed by Russia, according to which 12April is declared International Day of Human Space Flight.
One of the first who put forward the idea of using missiles for space flights, was a Russian scientist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. He designed a rocket for interplanetary communications back in 1903. G.
Half a century later, on October 4, 1957, with the help of the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile R-7 designed by a Soviet scientistSergei Pavlovich Korolev produced in the USSRlaunch of the world's first artificial Earth satellite , which made it possible for the first time to measure the density of the upper atmosphere, to obtain data on the propagation of radio signals in the ionosphere, to work out the issues of launching into orbit, thermal conditions, etc.
At the beginning of 1960, a Training Center astronautsand recruited the first detachment of astronauts.
April 12, 1961 at 9:07 am minutes Moscow time, a few tens of kilometers north of the village of Tyuratam in Kazakhstan fromBaikonur Cosmodrome The Vostok launch vehicle was launched, which launched the Soviet Vostok spacecraft with a man on board into low Earth orbit.
Flight continued 1 h 48 min. While in orbit, Gagarin maintained radio contact with the Earth, conducted observations through the windows, and controlled the operation of the ship's systems.
After completing one revolution around the Earth, the descent module of the ship landed on the territory of the USSR in the Saratov region. In accordance with the planned program, at an altitude of several kilometers from the Earth's surface, the cosmonaut ejected and landed on a parachute near the descent vehicle. The astronaut landed at 10 h 55 minutes Moscow time.
By order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR, for the successful fulfillment of a government assignment, the first cosmonaut of the Earth, Senior Lieutenant Gagarin, was awarded an extraordinary military rank"major".
April 14, 1961 By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The first manned flight into space was of extreme importance for the further development of astronautics. He started new era in the history of human space exploration and opened the way to space for many brave conquerors of the universe.
Following Gagarin 6-7 August 1961 d. first daily allowance space flight made by cosmonaut German Stepanovich Titov on the Vostok-2 spacecraft, and 11-15August, the first group flight of two ships took place - Vostok-3 (cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolaevich Nikolaevich) and Vostok-4 (cosmonaut Pavel Romanovich Popovich).
On April 12, 1961, an event took place that will remain in the memory of all subsequent generations of people. It was on April 12, 1961 that a man made the first flight into space in history. This flight was performed by Yuri Gagarin. It became possible only thanks to the selfless work of Soviet scientists and engineers. Yuri Gagarin's flight into space was made on the Vostok spacecraft, whose weight was 4730 kg. Vostok was launched into space using a three-stage launch vehicle. The maximum distance of the ship's orbit from the Earth's surface was 327 km.
The question is often asked about how long Gagarin's flight lasted. It did not last long - only 108 minutes. However, the air and food supplies on board the Vostok would allow spending 10 days in space. During this flight, some of the most important tasks were resolved:
- testing of all ship systems;
- study of the impact of weightlessness on the human body;
- study of the impact of flight on the psychological and physiological state of a person.
During the flight, there were many difficult situations. There was a failure on the communication line, the tightness sensor did not work, the aggregate compartment did not separate for a long time, the spacesuit jammed. The only stage of the flight that went as planned was the ejection of the cosmonaut and his subsequent successful landing at a short distance from the spacecraft.
Gagarin landed near the village of Smelovka, search services found him just 1 hour later. At the end of the flight, the first man in space was awarded the rank of major.
In Moscow, Gagarin was waiting for a solemn meeting, however, it was not originally planned. Initiated it personally. Gagarin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR. After the solemn meeting, the first cosmonaut attended a press conference with foreign journalists. Gagarin made many foreign trips. He visited Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Finland, England, Poland, Egypt, France.
Yuri Gagarin passed away early, at the age of 34. The last flight of Gagarin, made together with Seregin on March 27, 1968, ended tragically. The reason for the death of Gagarin and Seregin, according to the official version, was a sharp maneuver to evade the Charzond. But there are many alternative versions, such as bad weather, design flaws in the aircraft, and a deliberate imitation of a disaster by the pilot.
Gagarin's first flight into space was made in the conditions of a tough confrontation between the USSR and the USA, socialism and capitalism. He confirmed the superiority Soviet science and technology, thus demonstrating the power of the Soviet Union. The flight of the "Vostok" is an impetus for the development of many scientific and technical industries. It was hailed by the world community as the greatest accomplishment in human history.
