Successes Soviet cosmonautics practical work. Space exploration - the most important stages

Date: 20.03.2019

Astronautics as a science, and then as a practical branch, was formed in the middle of the XX century. But this was preceded by a fascinating story of the birth and development of the idea of a flight into space, which began with a fantasy, and only then came the first theoretical work and experiments. Thus, initially in human dreams, flight into cosmic spaces was carried out with the help of fabulous means or forces of nature (tornadoes, hurricanes). Toward the twentieth century for this purpose in the descriptions of science fiction writers were already present the technical means - balloons, heavy-duty guns and, finally, rocket engines and the rocket itself. Not one generation of young romantics grew up on the works of J. Verne, G. Wells, A. Tolstoy, A. Kazantsev, which were based on a description of space travel.

All this science fiction stirs the minds of scientists. So, K.E. Tsiolkovsky said: "At first, inevitably they go: thought, fantasy, fairy tale, and an exact calculation is being followed behind them." Publication at the beginning of the 20th century of theoretical works of the pioneers of cosmonautics K.E. Tsiolkovsky, F.A. Zander, Yu.V. Kondratyuka, R.Kh. Goddard, G. Hanswindt, R. Eno-Peltri, G. Oberta, V. Goman to some extent limited the flight of fancy, but at the same time caused new directions in science to come to life - attempts were made to determine what cosmonautics can give to society and how it affects him.

It must be said that the idea to combine the cosmic and terrestrial areas of human activity belongs to the founder of theoretical cosmonautics K.E. Tsiolkovsky. When the scientist said: “The planet is the cradle of the mind, but you cannot live in the cradle forever,” he did not put forward an alternative - either the Earth or the cosmos. Tsiolkovsky never considered going into space as a result of some hopelessness of life on Earth. On the contrary, he spoke of the rational transformation of the nature of our planet by the power of reason. People, the scientist argued, "will change the surface of the Earth, its oceans, the atmosphere, the plants and themselves. They will control the climate and will dispose of it within the Solar System, like on the Earth itself, which will remain a dwelling of humanity for an indefinite period of time."

In the USSR, the beginning of practical work on space programs is associated with the names of S.P. Queen and M.K. Tikhonravov. In early 1945, M.K. Tikhonravov organized a group of RNII specialists to develop a project of a manned high-altitude rocket apparatus (a cabin with two astronauts) for the study of the upper layers of the atmosphere. The group included N.G. Chernyshev, PI Ivanov, V.N. Galkovsky, G.M. Moskalenko and others. The project was decided to create on the basis of a single-stage liquid-propellant rocket, designed for vertical flight to an altitude of 200 km.

This project (it was named BP-190) provided the following tasks:

study of the conditions of weightlessness in the short-term free flight of a person in an airtight cabin;
study of the movement of the center of mass of the cabin and its movement near the center of mass after separation from the launch vehicle;
obtaining data on the upper atmosphere; checking the performance of the systems (division, descent, stabilization, landing, etc.) that are part of the high-rise cabin design.

For the first time, the following solutions were proposed in the BP-190 project, which found application in modern spacecraft:

parachute descent system, soft-landing braking rocket engine, separation system using pyrobolts;
electrocontact rod for proactive ignition of the engine soft landing, catapult sealed cabin with a life support system;
cab stabilization system outside the dense atmosphere with the use of low-throated nozzles.

In general, the BP-190 project was a complex of new technical solutions and concepts, now confirmed by the development of domestic and foreign rocket and space technology. In 1946, materials from the BP-190 project were reported to M.K. T-khonravovym I.V. Stalin. Since 1947, Tikhonravov with his group has been working on the idea of a rocket package, and in the late 1940s - early 1950s. shows the possibility of obtaining the first cosmic velocity and launch of an artificial satellite of the Earth (AES) with the help of a missile base developed at that time in the country. In the years 1950-1953 the efforts of the M.K. Tikhonravov was focused on studying the problems of creating composite launch vehicles and artificial satellites.

In a report to the Government in 1954 on the possibility of developing a satellite S.P. Korolev wrote: "On your instructions, I submit a memorandum to Comrade Tikhonravov MK" On the artificial satellite of the Earth ... ". In the report on scientific activities for 1954 S. Korolev noted:" We would consider it possible to conduct a draft development of the project of the satellite itself, taking into account the ongoing work (the works of MK Tikhonravov ...) deserve particular attention. "

Work has begun on preparing the launch of the first PS-1 satellite. The first Council of Chief Designers, headed by S.P. Co-role, which later led the space program of the USSR, which became the world leader in the mastery of space. Created under the leadership of S.P. The Queen of OKB-1-TsKBEM - NPO Energia has been since the beginning of the 1950s. center of cosmic science and industry in the USSR.

Astronautics is unique in that a lot of things were predicted first by science fiction writers, and then by scientists, with truly cosmic speed. Only forty years and more have passed since the launch of the first artificial satellite of the Earth, October 4, 1957, and the history of cosmonautics already contains a series of remarkable achievements, initially obtained by the USSR and the USA, and then by other space powers.

Already many thousands of satellites fly in orbits around the Earth, the vehicles have reached the surface of the Moon, Venus, Mars; scientific equipment was sent to Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn to gain knowledge about these distant planets of the Solar system.

The cosmonautics triumph was the launch on April 12, 1961 of the first man in space - Yu.A. Gagarin. Then - group flight, man’s exit into space, the creation of the Salyut orbital orbital stations ... The USSR for a long time became the leading country in the world in terms of its programs.

The tendency is to move from launching single satellites for solving primarily military tasks to creating large-scale space systems in order to solve a wide range of tasks (including socio-economic and scientific) and to integrate the space industries of different countries.

What did space science achieve in the 20th century? Powerful liquid-propellant rocket engines have been developed to communicate space velocity rockets. The merit of V.P. Glushko. The creation of such engines was made possible through the implementation of new scientific ideas and schemes, virtually eliminating the loss of drive turbopump units. The development of launch vehicles and liquid-propellant rocket engines contributed to the development of thermal, hydro, and gas dynamics, the theory of heat transfer and strength, the metallurgy of high-strength and heat-resistant materials, fuel chemistry, measurement technology, vacuum and plasma technology. Solid propellant and other types of rocket engines were further developed.

In the early 1950s. Soviet scientists M.V. Keldysh, V.A. Kotelnikov, A.Yu. Ishlinsky, L.I. Sedov, B.V. Rauschenbach and others developed mathematical laws and navigation and ballistic support of space flights.

The tasks that arose during the preparation and implementation of space flight, were the impetus for the intensive development of such general scientific disciplines as celestial and theoretical mechanics. The widespread use of new mathematical methods and the creation of sophisticated computers made it possible to solve the most complex problems of designing spacecraft orbits and controlling them during the flight, and as a result a new scientific discipline appeared - space flight dynamics.

Design offices headed by N.A. Pilyugin and V.I. Kuznetsov, created a unique control system of rocket and space technology with high reliability.

At the same time, V.P. Glushko, A.M. Isaev created the world's foremost practical rocket engine school. And the theoretical foundations of this school were laid back in the 1930s, at the dawn of the national rocket science. And now the advanced positions of Russia in this area remain.

Thanks to the intense creative work of the design bureaus under the direction of V.M. Myasishcheva, V.N. Chelomey, D.A. Polukhina, work was carried out on the creation of large, especially durable shells. This became the basis for the creation of powerful intercontinental missiles UR-200, UR-500, UR-700, and then the manned stations Salyut, Almaz, Mir, the modules of the twenty-ton class Kvant, "Nature", "Spectrum", the modern modules for the International Space Station (ISS) "Zarya" and "Zvezda", launch vehicles of the Proton family. Creative cooperation of the designers of these design offices and machine-building plant them. Mv Khrunichev allowed the beginning of the XXI century to create a family of carriers "Angara", a complex of small spacecraft and make the modules of the ISS. The merger of the design bureau and the plant and the restructuring of these units made it possible to create the largest corporation in Russia - the State Space Research and Production Center. Mv Khrunichev.

Much work on the creation of launch vehicles based on ballistic missiles was carried out at Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, headed by M.K. Yangel The reliability of these light-class launch vehicles is unparalleled in the global astronautics. In the same KB under the direction of V.F. Utkin created a medium-class launch vehicle, Zenit, a representative of the second generation of launch vehicles.

For four decades, the capabilities of control systems for launch vehicles and spacecraft have significantly increased. If in 1957-1958 when artificial satellites were put into orbit around the earth, an error of several tens of kilometers was allowed, then by the mid-1960s. The accuracy of the control systems was already so high that it allowed the spacecraft launched to the moon to land on its surface with a deviation of only 5 km from the planned point. Construction control systems N.A. Pilyugina were among the best in the world.

The great achievements of astronautics in the field of space communications, television broadcasting, retransmission and navigation, the transition to high-speed lines made it possible in 1965 to transmit to Earth photographs of the planet Mars from a distance exceeding 200 million km, and in 1980 the image of Saturn was transmitted to Earth from distances of about 1.5 billion km. Scientific and Production Association of Applied Mechanics, for many years headed by M.F. Reshetnev, was originally created as a branch of the OKB S.P. Queen; This NGO is one of the world leaders in the development of space vehicles for such purposes.

Satellite communication systems are being developed, covering almost all countries of the world and providing two-way, operational communication with any subscribers. This type of communication has proven to be the most reliable and is becoming increasingly profitable. Relay systems allow you to control space groups from a single point on Earth. Created and operated satellite navigation systems. Without these systems, the use of modern vehicles — merchant ships, civil aircraft, military equipment, etc. — is no longer thought today.

There have been qualitative changes in the field of manned flights. The ability to successfully operate outside the spacecraft was first proved by Soviet cosmonauts in the 1960s – 1970s, and in the 1980s – 1990s. a person’s ability to live and work in zero gravity for a year was demonstrated. During the flights, a large number of experiments were also carried out - technical, geophysical and astronomical.

The most important are research in the field of space medicine and life support systems. It is necessary to study in depth a person and means of life support in order to determine what can be entrusted to a person in space, especially during a long space flight.

One of the first space experiments was photographing the Earth, which showed how much space observations can provide for the discovery and reasonable use of natural resources. Tasks for the development of photo- and optoelectronic sensing systems for the earth, mapping, natural resources research, environmental monitoring, and the creation of medium-class launch vehicles based on the R-7A missiles are performed by the former subsidiary No. 3 of the OKB, first converted to TsSKB, and today The State Scientific-Scientific Scientific-Technical Center "TsSKB - Progress" headed by D.I. Kozlov.

In 1967, during the automatic docking of two unmanned artificial satellites "Cosmos-186" and "Cosmos-188", the largest scientific and technical problem of spacecraft meeting and docking in space was solved, which allowed creating the first orbital station in a relatively short time (USSR) and choose the most rational scheme of the flight of spacecraft to the moon with the landing of earthlings on its surface (USA). In 1981, the first flight of the Space Shuttle reusable space transportation system (USA) was made, and in 1991, the domestic Energia system, Buran, was launched.

In general, the solution of various problems of space exploration - from launches of artificial Earth satellites to launches of interplanetary spacecraft and manned spacecraft and stations - provided a lot of invaluable scientific information about the Universe and the planets of the Solar System and significantly contributed to the technical progress of mankind. The Earth satellites, together with sounding rockets, provided detailed data on near-Earth space. So, with the help of the first artificial satellites, radiation belts were detected, during their study, the interaction of the Earth with charged particles emitted by the Sun was studied more deeply. Interplanetary space flights have helped us to understand more deeply the nature of many planetary phenomena - solar wind, solar storms, meteorite rains, etc.

The spacecraft launched to the Moon transmitted pictures of its surface, photographed and including its side invisible from the Earth with a resolution that far exceeded the capabilities of earth means. Samples of lunar soil were taken, as well as automatic self-propelled vehicles Lunokhod-1 and Lunokhod-2 were delivered to the lunar surface.

Automatic spacecraft made it possible to obtain additional information about the shape and gravitational field of the Earth, to clarify the fine details of the shape of the Earth and its magnetic field. Artificial satellites helped to obtain more accurate data on the mass, shape and orbit of the moon. The masses of Venus and Mars were also refined by observing the flight paths of the spacecraft.

A great contribution to the development of advanced technology made the design, manufacture and operation of very complex space systems. Automatic spacecraft sent to the planets are, in essence, robots controlled from the earth by radio commands. The need to develop reliable systems for solving problems of this kind has led to a more perfect understanding of the problem of analyzing and synthesizing various complex technical systems. Such systems are used both in space research and in many other areas of human activity. The requirements of cosmonautics necessitated the design of complex automatic devices with severe constraints caused by the carrying capacity of launch vehicles and the conditions of outer space, which was an additional incentive for the rapid improvement of automatics and microelectronics.

The implementation of these programs made a great contribution to the KB, led by Babakin, G.Ya. Guskov, V.M. Kovtunenko, D.I. Kozlov, N.N. Sheremetyevsky and others. Cosmonautics brought to life a new trend in engineering and construction - cosmodrome construction. Ancestors of this direction in our country were teams under the guidance of major scientists V.P. Barmina and V.N. Solovyov. Currently, there are more than a dozen cosmodromes in the world with unique ground-based automated complexes, test stations and other complex means of preparing spacecraft and rocket carriers for launch. Russia intensively launches from the world-famous Baikonur and Plesetsk cosmodromes, and also conducts experimental launches from the Free Cosmodrome in the east of the country.

Modern communications and remote control needs over long distances have led to the development of high-quality command and control systems that have contributed to the development of technical methods for tracking spacecraft and measuring their motion parameters at interplanetary distances, opening up new satellite applications. In modern astronautics, this is one of the priorities. Ground-based auto-control complex developed by MS Ryazan and L.I. Gusev, and today ensures the functioning of the orbital group of Russia.

The development of work in the field of space technology has led to the creation of space meteorological support systems, which with the required periodicity receive images of the Earth's cloud cover and conduct observations in various spectral ranges. Meteorological data are the basis for the compilation of operational weather forecasts, primarily for large regions. Currently, almost all countries of the world use space weather data.

The results obtained in the field of satellite geodesy are especially important for solving military tasks, mapping natural resources, improving the accuracy of trajectory measurements, and also for studying the Earth. With the use of space tools, there is a unique opportunity to solve problems of environmental monitoring of the Earth and global control of natural resources. The results of space surveys proved to be an effective means of monitoring the development of crops of crops, identifying diseases of vegetation, measuring certain soil factors, the state of the aquatic environment, etc. The combination of various methods of space imagery provides almost reliable, complete and detailed information about natural resources and the state of the environment.

In addition to the already defined areas, obviously, new directions for the use of space technology will also develop, for example, the organization of technological productions that are impossible under terrestrial conditions. Thus, weightlessness can be used to obtain crystals of semiconductor compounds. Such crystals will find application in the electronics industry to create a new class of semiconductor devices. Under non-weight conditions, freely floating liquid metal and other materials are easily deformed by weak magnetic fields. This opens the way for the production of ingots of any predetermined shape without their crystallization in molds, as is done on Earth. The peculiarity of such ingots is the almost complete absence of internal stresses and high purity.

The use of space assets plays a decisive role in creating a unified information space in Russia, ensuring the globalization of telecommunications, especially during the period of mass adoption of the Internet in the country. The future in the development of the Internet is the widespread use of high-speed broadband space communication channels, because in the 21st century the possession and exchange of information will be no less important than the possession of nuclear weapons.

Our manned cosmonautics is aimed at the further development of science, the rational use of the Earth’s natural resources, and the solution of environmental monitoring tasks for land and ocean. For this, it is necessary to create manned means both for flights in near-earth orbits and for fulfilling the age-old dream of mankind - flights to other planets.

The possibility of implementing such ideas is inextricably linked to solving problems of creating new engines for flights in outer space that do not require significant reserves of fuel, such as ionic, photonic, as well as using natural forces - gravity force, torsion fields, etc.

Creating new unique samples of rocket and space technology, as well as space research methods, conducting space experiments on automated and manned spacecraft and stations in near-Earth space, as well as on the orbits of the solar system planets is a fertile ground for the unification of scientists and designers from different countries.

At the beginning of the XXI century in space flight are tens of thousands of objects of artificial origin. These include spacecraft and fragments (the last stages of launch vehicles, fairings, adapters and detachable parts).

Therefore, along with the acute problem of combating the pollution of our planet, the question of combating the clogging of near-Earth space will arise. Already, at present, one of the problems is the distribution of the frequency resource of the geostationary orbit due to its saturation KA for various purposes.

The tasks of space exploration were solved and solved in the USSR and Russia by a number of organizations and enterprises headed by a pleiad of the heirs of the first Council of Chief Designers Yu.P. Semenov, N.A. Anfimov, I.V. Barmin, G.P. Biryukov, B.I. Gubanov, G.A. Efremov, A.G. Kozlov, B.I. Katorgin, G.E. Lozino-Lozinsky and others.

Together with the development work developed in the USSR and mass production of space technology. To create the "Energy" - "Buran" complex, cooperation in this work included more than 1,000 enterprises. Directors of manufacturers S.S. Bovkun, A.I. Kiselev, I.I. Klebanov, LD Kuchma, A.A. Makarov, V.D. Vachnadze, A.A. Chizhov and many others in a short time debugged production and ensured production. Of particular note is the role of a number of space industry managers. This is df Ustinov, K.N. Rudnev, V.M. Ryabikov, L.V. Smirnov, S.A. Afanasyev, OD Baklanov, V.Kh. Doguzhiev, ON Shishkin, Yu.N. Koptev, A.G. Karas, A.A. Maksimov, V.L. Ivanov.

The successful launch in 1962 of Cosmos-4 began the use of space in the interests of the defense of our country. This task was solved first by SRI-4 MO, and then the TsNII-50 MO was selected from its composition. It justified the creation of military and dual-use space systems, the development of which was made by well-known military scientists T.I. Levin, G.P. Melnikov, I.V. Meshcheryakov, Yu.A. Mozzhorin, P.E. Elyasberg, I.I. Yatsunsky and others

It is generally accepted that the use of space tools allows a 1.5-2 times increase in the effectiveness of the actions of the armed forces. The peculiarities of wars and armed conflicts of the late 20th century showed that the role of space in solving the tasks of military confrontation is constantly increasing. Only space-based reconnaissance, navigation, communications provide the opportunity for the enemy to see the full depth of his defense, global communications, high-precision operational determination of the coordinates of any objects, which makes it possible to conduct military operations practically "on the move" in non-military areas and remote theaters of military operations. Only the use of space tools will ensure the protection of territories from a nuclear-missile attack of any aggressor. Cosmos becomes the basis of the military power of each state - this is a bright trend of the new millennium.

In these conditions, new approaches are needed to develop promising samples of rocket and space technology, radically different from the existing generation of space tools. Thus, the current generation of orbital means is mainly a specialized application based on hermetic structures, with reference to specific types of launch vehicles. In the new millennium, it is necessary to create multi-functional spacecraft on the basis of non-hermetic platforms of modular design, the development of a unified range of launch vehicles with a low-cost, highly efficient system of their operation. Only in this case, relying on the potential created in the rocket and space industry, in the 21st century Russia will be able to significantly accelerate the development of its economy, ensure a qualitatively new level of research, international cooperation, solving socio-economic problems and the tasks of strengthening the country's defense ultimately strengthen its position in the global community.

The leading enterprises of the rocket and space industry played and played a decisive role in the creation of the Russian space-rocket science and technology: GKNPTs them. Mv Khrunichev, RSC Energia, TsSKB, KBOM, KBTM and others. The management of this work is carried out by Rosaviakosmos.

At present, the Russian cosmonautics is experiencing not the best days. The financing of space programs has been drastically reduced, a number of enterprises are in an extremely difficult situation. But Russian space science does not stand still. Even in these difficult conditions, Russian scientists are designing 21st century space systems.

Abroad, the beginning of the exploration of outer space was laid by the launch on February 1, 1958 of the American spacecraft Explorer 1. He headed the American space program Werner von Braun, who until 1945 was one of the leading experts in the field of rocket technology in Germany, and then worked in the United States. He created the Jupiter-S launch vehicle based on the Redstone ballistic missile, with the help of which Explorer 1 was launched.

On February 20, 1962, the Atlas carrier rocket, developed under the guidance of K. Bossart, launched the Mercury spacecraft into orbit, piloted by the first US astronaut, J. Teelen. However, all these achievements were not full-fledged, as they repeated the steps already taken by the Soviet cosmonautics. Based on this, the US government has made efforts to win a leading position in the space race. And in certain areas of space activity, in certain areas of the space marathon, they succeeded.

Thus, the United States was the first in 1964 to put a spacecraft into a geostationary orbit. But the greatest success was the delivery of American astronauts to the Moon on the Apollo 11 spacecraft and the release of the first people, N. Armstrong and E. Aldrin, to its surface. This achievement was made possible by the development under the leadership of von Braun of carrier rockets of the type "Saturn", created in 1964-1967. under the program "Apollo".

LV "Saturn" was a family of two- and three-stage heavy and super heavy class carriers based on the use of unified blocks. The two-stage version of Saturn-1 allowed a payload of 10.2 tons to be put into low near-earth orbit, and a three-stage version of Saturn-5, 139 tons (47 tons per flight path to the Moon).

A major achievement in the development of American space technology was the creation of a reusable space shuttle system with an orbital stage of aerodynamic quality, the first launch of which took place in April 1981. And, despite the fact that all the possibilities provided by reusability were not completely used, of course, it was a major (albeit very expensive) step forward in space exploration.

The first successes of the USSR and the USA led some countries to intensify their efforts in space activities. The first English spacecraft Ariel-1 (1962), the first Canadian spacecraft Aluet-1 (1962), the first Italian spacecraft San Marco (1964) were launched by American carriers. However, launches of spacecraft by foreign carriers made the countries - owners of spacecraft dependent on the United States. Therefore, work began on creating your own media. The greatest success in this field was reached by France, already in 1965 launched the spacecraft A-1 by its own carrier Diaman-A. In the future, developing this success, France has developed a family of carriers "Arians", which is one of the most profitable.

The undoubted success of the world cosmonautics was the implementation of the EPAS program, the final stage of which - the launch and docking of the Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft in orbit - was carried out in July 1975. This flight marked the beginning of international programs that successfully developed in the last quarter of XX century and undoubted success of which were the manufacture, launch and assembly in orbit of the International Space Station. International cooperation in the field of space services, where the leading place belongs to GKNPTs them. Mv Khrunichev.

In this book, the authors, based on their many years of experience in the design and practical creation of rocket and space systems, analysis and generalization of the developments in cosmonautics in Russia and abroad known to them, expressed their point of view on the development of cosmonautics in the 21st century. The near future will determine whether we were right or not. I would like to thank for the valuable advice on the content of the book to Academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences N.A. Anfimov and A.A. Galeev, Doctor of Technical Sciences G.M. Tamkovich and V.V. Ostroukhov.

The authors thank for their help in collecting materials and discussing the manuscript of the book of Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor B.N. Rodionov, Ph.D. Akimova, N.V. Vasilyeva, I.N. Golovaneva, S.B. Kabanova, V.T. Konovalova, M.I. Makarova, A.M. Maksimova, L.S. Medushevskogo, E.G. Trofimova, I.L. Cherkasov, Candidate of Military Sciences S.V. Pavlova, leading experts of the Research Institute of the COP Kachekana, Yu.G. Pichurin, V.L. Svetlichnogo, as well as Yu.A. Peshnina and N.G. Makarov for technical assistance in preparing the book. The authors express their deep appreciation for the valuable advice on the content of the manuscript to E.I. Motorny, V.F. Nagavkinu, O.K. Roskin, S.V. Sorokin, C.K. Shaevich, V.Yu. Yuriev and the program director I.A. Glazkova.

The authors gratefully accept all the comments, suggestions and critical articles that we believe will follow after the book is published and once again confirm that the problems of astronautics are really relevant and require close attention of scientists and practitioners, as well as all those who live in the future.

The history of the development of domestic astronautics

Cosmonautics has become a matter of life for several generations of our compatriots. Russian researchers were pioneers in this area.

A huge contribution to the development of cosmonautics was made by a Russian scientist, a simple teacher of the district school of the Kaluga province, Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. Reflecting on life in outer space, Tsiolkovsky began to write a scientific paper called “Free Space”. About how to go into space, the scientist did not yet know. In 1902, he sent work to the New Observing magazine, accompanying him with a note: “I developed some aspects of the issue of lifting into space using a jet device like a rocket. Mathematical conclusions based on scientific data and tested many times indicate the possibility of using such devices to rise into the heavenly space and, perhaps, to justify settlements outside the Earth’s atmosphere. ”

In 1903, this work - "The study of world spaces with jet instruments" - was published. In it, the scientist developed the theoretical foundations of the possibility of flying into space. This work and the subsequent works written by Konstantin Eduardovich, give grounds for our compatriots to consider him the father of Russian cosmonautics.

In-depth studies of the possibility of manned space flight are associated with the names of other Russian scientists - engineer and self-taught. Each of them contributed to the development of astronautics. Friedrich Arturovich devoted a lot of work to the problem of creating conditions for human life in space. Yuri V. developed a multi-stage version of the rocket, suggested the optimal trajectory of the launch of the rocket into orbit. These ideas of our compatriots are currently used by all space powers, have global significance.

Purposeful development of the theoretical foundations of cosmonautics as a science and work on the creation of jet apparatus in our country is associated with the activities of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL) and the Jet Propulsion Study Groups (GIRD) in the 1920s and 30s, and hereinafter the Rocket Research Institute ( RNII), formed on the basis of the GDL and the Moscow GIRD. Other organizations, as well as the future Chief Designer of rocket and space systems, who made the main contribution to the creation of the first launch vehicles (RN), artificial earth satellites, and manned spacecraft (KK), were actively working in these organizations. Through the efforts of specialists in these organizations, the first jet vehicles with solid-fuel and liquid-fuel engines were developed, and their fire and flight tests were conducted. It was the beginning of the national jet technology.

Work and research on rocket technology in almost all possible areas of its use before World War II and even during the Second World War were conducted in our country widely. In addition to rockets with engines of various types of fuel, the RP-318-1 rocket-plane was developed and tested on the basis of the SK-9 glider (development) and the RDA-1-150 engine (development), which showed the fundamental possibility of creating and the prospect of jet aircraft. Various types of cruise missiles (ground-to-ground, air-to-air, and others) were also developed, including an automatic control system. Naturally, only the work on the creation of unguided rockets was widely developed in the prewar period. The developed simple technology for their mass production allowed the Guards mortar units and formations to make a significant contribution to the cause of victory over fascism.

On May 13, 1946, the Council of Ministers of the USSR issued a fundamental decree providing for the creation of the entire infrastructure of the rocket industry. Considerable emphasis was put on the basis of the military-political situation that was evolving by that time, on the development of long-range liquid ballistic missiles (BRDD) with the prospect of achieving an intercontinental firing range and equipping them with nuclear warheads, as well as creating an effective air defense system based on anti-aircraft guided missiles. missiles and fighter jets interceptors.

Historically, the creation of the rocket and space industry was associated with the need to develop combat missiles in the interests of the country's defense. Thus, the said decree actually created all the necessary conditions for the rapid development of the national astronautics. Hard work began on the formation of the rocket and space industry and technology.

The history of mankind includes two significant events related to the development of domestic cosmonautics and opened the era of practical space exploration: the launch into orbit of the world's first artificial Earth satellite (AES) (October 4, 1957) and the first manned flight in a spacecraft in orbit satellite ( April 12, 1961). The role of the head organization in these works was assigned to the State Scientific Research Institute of Jet Weapon No. 88 (NII-88), which in fact became the “alma mater” for all leading specialists in the rocket and space industry. Theoretical, design and experimental work on advanced rocket and space technology was carried out in its depths. Here, the design of the BRDD with a liquid rocket engine (LRE) was done by a team headed by Chief Designer Sergey Pavlovich Korolev; In 1956, it became an independent organization, OKB-1 (today it is the world-famous Rocket and Space Corporation (RKK) Energia).

Complying with the government’s task of creating a DU, he aimed the team at the same time to develop and implement space exploration and exploration programs, starting with scientific studies of the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere. Therefore, the flight of the first Russian ballistic missile R-1 (10.10.1948) was followed by flights of geophysical missiles R-1A, R-1B, R-1B and others.

In the summer of 1957, an important government report was published about the successful testing of a multistage rocket in the Soviet Union. “The flight of the rocket,” it was said in a statement, “took place at a very large, still unreachable altitude.” This message marked the creation of the formidable weapon of the intercontinental ballistic missile R-7 - the famous "seven".

It was the appearance of the "seven" that provided a favorable opportunity to launch artificial satellites of the Earth into space. But for this it was necessary to do a lot: to develop, build and test engines with a total capacity of millions of horsepower, to equip the rocket with a complex control system, and finally to build a cosmodrome from which the rocket was to start. This most difficult task was solved by our specialists, our people, our country. We decided to be the first in the world.

All work on the creation of the first artificial satellite of the Earth was headed by the Royal OKB-1. The project of the satellite was revised several times, until finally they settled on a version of the device, the launch of which could be carried out with the help of the created R-7 rocket and in a short time. The fact that the satellite was put into orbit should have been recorded by all countries of the world, for which purpose radio equipment was mounted on the satellite.

On October 4, 1957, from the Baikonur cosmodrome, the world's first satellite was launched into Earth orbit by the R-7 carrier rocket. Accurate measurement of satellite orbit parameters was carried out by ground-based radio and optical stations. The launch and flight of the first satellite made it possible to obtain data on the duration of its existence in orbit near the Earth, the passage of radio waves through the ionosphere and the influence of the conditions of space flight on the onboard equipment.

The development of space rocket systems proceeded rapidly. Flights of the first artificial satellites of the Earth, Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, achievement for the first time by automatic vehicles of the surface of the Moon, Venus, Mars and soft landing on these celestial bodies, photographing the back of the Moon and transmitting to the Earth images of the lunar surface, first flying around the moon and returning to The earth of an automatic ship with animals, the delivery of samples of lunar rock to Earth by a robot, the study of the surface of the moon by an automatic moon rover, the transmission to the Earth of a panorama of Venus, flying close to the nucleus of Comet Halley, flights first cosmonauts - men and women, single and group in single and multi-seat satellite ships, the first manned cosmonaut, and then women from the ship into open space, the creation of the first manned orbital station, an automatic cargo supply ship, flights of international crews, the first flights of cosmonauts between orbital stations, the creation of the Energia-Buran system with the fully automatic return of the reusable spacecraft to Earth, the lengthy work of the first multi-link orbital pi Lots of complex and many other priority achievements of Russia in space exploration cause us a legitimate sense of pride.

First flight to space

April 12, 1961 - this day is forever in the history of mankind: in the morning from the “Boikonur” cosmodrome a powerful launch vehicle put into orbit the first in the history spacecraft “Vostok” with the first cosmonaut of the Earth - a citizen of the Soviet Union Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin on board.

Within 1 hour and 48 minutes, he flew around the globe and landed safely in the vicinity of the village of Smelovka in the Ternovsky district of the Saratov region, for which he was awarded the Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

By decision of the International Aviation Federation (FAI), April 12 is World Day for Aviation and Cosmonautics. The holiday was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 9, 1962.

After the flight, Yuri Gagarin continuously improved his skills as a pilot-cosmonaut, and also took direct part in the training and training of cosmonaut crews, in flight guidance of spacecraft Vostok, Voskhod, Soyuz.

The first cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, graduated from the Air Force Engineering Academy named after (1961–1968), carried out extensive social and political work, being a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the 6th and 7th convocations of the USSR, a member of the Central Committee of the Komsomol (elected 14th and 15th congresses of the Komsomol), president of the Soviet-Cuban Friendship Society.

With the mission of peace and friendship, Yuri Alekseevich visited many countries, he was awarded the gold medal to them. USSR Academy of Sciences, Medal de Lavaux (FAI), gold medals and honorary diplomas of the International Association (LIUS) "Man in Space" and the Italian Association of Astronautics, the gold medal "For Outstanding Difference" and the honorary diploma of the Royal Aeroclub of Sweden, the Grand Gold Medal and the diploma of the FAI , gold medal of the British Society of Interplanetary Communications, the Gallaber astronautics prize.

Since 1966 he was an honorary member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He was awarded the Order of Lenin and medals of the USSR, as well as orders of many countries of the world. Yuri Gagarin was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Hero of Bulgaria, Hero of Labor of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Yuri Gagarin was tragically killed in a plane crash near the village of Novoselovo, Kirzhachsky district, Vladimir region, while performing a training flight on an airplane (with pilot Seregin).

In order to perpetuate the memory of Gagarin, the city of Gzhatsk and Gzhatsky district of the Smolensk region were renamed respectively to the city of Gagarin and Gagarinsky district. The name of Yuri Gagarin was given to the Air Force Academy in Monino, a scholarship named after him was established. for cadets of military aviation schools. International Aviation Federation (FAI) was established medal to them. Yu. A. Gagarin. In Moscow, Gagarin, Star City, Sofia - monuments to the astronaut; there is a memorial house-museum in the town of Gagarin, a crater on the moon is named.

Yuri Gagarin was elected an honorary citizen of the cities of Kaluga, Novocherkassk, Sumgayit, Smolensk, Vinnitsa, Sevastopol, Saratov (USSR), Sofia, Pernik (NRB), Athens (Greece), Famagusta, Limassol (Cyprus), Saint-Denis (France), Trencanske Teplice (Czechoslovakia).

Cosmonautics in Russia largely inherits the space programs of the Soviet Union. The main governing body of the space industry in Russia is the state corporation Roscosmos.

This organization controls a number of enterprises, as well as scientific associations, the vast majority of which were created during the Soviet era. Among them:

Mission Control Center. Research department of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering (FGUP TsNIIMash). Founded in 1960 and based in the science city called Korolev. The mission of the MCC includes control and flight control of spacecraft, which can be serviced simultaneously in the amount of up to twenty spacecraft. In addition, calculations and research are carried out at MCC, aimed at improving the quality of control of devices and solving some problems in the field of management.
The Star City is a closed urban-type settlement, which was founded in 1961 in the territory of the Schelkovo District. However, in 2009, the year was allocated to a separate district and removed from the Schelkovo. On the territory of 317.8 hectares, there are residential houses for all the staff, employees of Roscosmos and their families, as well as all cosmonauts who are undergoing space training in the CPC. In 2016, the number of residents of the town is more than 5600.
Cosmonaut Training Center, named after Yuri Gagarin. Founded in 1960 and is located in Star City. Cosmonaut training is provided by a number of simulators, two centrifuges, an aircraft laboratory and a three-story hydrolaboratory. The latter allows one to create weightless conditions similar to those on the ISS. It uses a full-size mock space station.
The cosmodrome "Baikonur". It was founded in 1955 on an area of 6,717 km² near the town of Casaly, Kazakhstan. Currently rented by Russia (until 2050) and is the leader in the number of launches - 18 launch vehicles for the year 2015, while Cape Canaveral is one launch behind, and the Kourou space center (ESA, France) has 12 launches for the year. The maintenance of the cosmodrome includes two sums: rent - $ 115 million, maintaining the working condition - $ 1.5 billion.
The Vostochny space center began to be created in 2011 in the Amur region, near the city of Tsiolkovsky. In addition to creating a second Baikonur in Russia, the Vostochny is also intended for conducting commercial flights. The cosmodrome is located near developed railway junctions, highways, and also airfields. In addition, due to the successful location of the Vostochny, the detachable parts of launch vehicles will fall in sparsely populated areas or even in neutral waters. The cost of creating a cosmodrome will be about 300 billion rubles, for the year 2016 a third of this amount has been spent. On April 28, 2016, the first rocket launch took place, which launched three satellites into Earth orbit. The launch of the manned spacecraft is scheduled for the year 2023.
Space Center "Plesetsk". Founded in 1957, near the town of Mirny, Arkhangelsk Region. It takes 176,200 hectares. Plesetsk is intended for launching strategic defense complexes, unmanned space scientific and commercial vehicles. The first launch from the cosmodrome took place on March 17, 1966, when the Vostok-2 launch vehicle was launched, with the Kosmos-112 satellite on board. In 2014, there was a launch of the newest launch vehicle called the Angara.

Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome

Chronology of the development of the national cosmonautics

The development of the national cosmonautics began in 1946, when the Experimental Design Bureau No. 1 was founded, the purpose of which was the development of ballistic missiles, launch vehicles, as well as satellites. In 1956-1957, the bureau's works designed the intercontinental ballistic rocket R-7 launch vehicle, with the help of which the first artificial satellite Sputnik-1 was launched on October 4, 1957. The launch took place at the Tyura-Tam research site, which was developed specifically for this purpose, and which would later be called “Baikonur”.

On November 3, 1957, a second satellite was launched, this time with a living creature on board - a dog named Laika.

Laika - the first living creature to orbit the earth

Since 1958, began interplanetary compact stations to explore, in the framework of the program of the same name. On September 12, 1959, for the first time, a human spacecraft (Luna-2) reached the surface of another space body, the Moon. Unfortunately, the "Luna-2" fell on the surface of the moon at a speed of 12,000 km / h, with the result that the design instantly passed into the gas state. In 1959, the "Luna-3" received pictures of the far side of the moon, which allowed the USSR to give names to most of its landscape elements.

All this science fiction stirs the minds of scientists. So, K.E. Tsiolkovsky said: "At first, inevitably they go: thought, fantasy, fairy tale, and an exact calculation is being followed behind them." The publication in the beginning of the 20th century of the theoretical works of the pioneers of cosmonautics K.E. Tsiolkovsky, F.A. Zander, Yu.V. Kondratyuka, R.Kh. Goddard, G. Hanswindt, R. Eno-Peltri, G. Oberta, V. Goman to some extent limited the flight of fancy, but at the same time caused new directions in science - there were attempts to determine what space can give to society and how it affects him.

This project (it was named BP-190) provided the following tasks:

study of the conditions of weightlessness in the short-term free flight of a person in an airtight cabin;
study of the movement of the center of mass of the cabin and its movement near the center of mass after separation from the launch vehicle;
obtaining data on the upper atmosphere; checking the performance of the systems (division, descent, stabilization, landing, etc.) that are part of the high-rise cabin design.

For the first time, the following solutions were proposed in the BP-190 project, which found application in modern spacecraft:

parachute descent system, soft-landing braking rocket engine, separation system using pyrobolts;
electrocontact rod for proactive ignition of the engine soft landing, catapult sealed cabin with a life support system;
cab stabilization system outside the dense atmosphere with the use of low-throated nozzles.

Design offices headed by N.A. Pilyugin and V.I. Kuznetsov, created a unique control system of rocket and space technology with high reliability.

In the implementation of these programs, great contribution was made by the design bureaus, headed by G.N. Babakin, G.Ya. Guskov, V.M. Kovtunenko, D.I. Kozlov, N.N. Sheremetyevsky and others. Cosmonautics brought to life a new trend in engineering and construction - cosmodrome construction. Ancestors of this direction in our country were teams under the guidance of major scientists V.P. Barmina and V.N. Solovyov. Currently, there are more than a dozen cosmodromes in the world with unique ground-based automated complexes, test stations and other complex means of preparing spacecraft and rocket carriers for launch. Russia intensively launches from the world-famous Baikonur and Plesetsk cosmodromes, and also conducts experimental launches from the Free Cosmodrome in the east of the country.

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 transcend the usual and possible. The conquest of outer space, which began in the last century, gave the world many discoveries. They relate to both objects of distant galaxies, and quite 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 required a lot of time.

Lost job

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

Rural teacher

Tsiolkovsky, whose article on the theoretical foundations of the flight into space was published in 1903, did not know about Kibalchich's work. At that time, he taught arithmetic and geometry at the Kaluga School. His famous scientific article "The study of world spaces with jet instruments" touched on the possibility of using rockets in space. The development of astronautics in Russia, then the Tsar, began with Tsiolkovsky. He developed a project for a rocket structure capable of carrying a man to the stars, defended the idea of the diversity of life in the Universe, spoke of the need to design artificial satellites and orbital stations.

In parallel, the theoretical cosmonautics developed abroad. However, there were practically no connections between scientists either at the beginning of the century or later, in the 30s. Robert Goddard, Herman Oberth and Esno-Peltri, an American, a German and a Frenchman, respectively, who worked on similar problems, knew nothing about the work of Tsiolkovsky for a long time. Even then, the disunity of peoples affected the pace of development of the new industry.

The pre-war years and the Great Patriotic War

The development of cosmonautics continued in the 1920s-1940s by the forces of the Gas-Dynamic Laboratory and the Jet Propulsion Study Groups, and then the Rocket Research Institute. The best engineering minds of the country, including F. A. Zander, M. K. Tikhonravov, and S. P. Korolev, worked within the walls of scientific institutions. In the laboratories, they worked on the creation of the first liquid and solid fuel jet apparatus, and a theoretical cosmonautics base 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 Werner von Braun. Then the V-2, or V-2, has done a lot of trouble. After the defeat of Germany, von Braun was sent 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. Korolev was among them. He was appointed chief engineering officer of the Nordhausen Institute, which was formed in Germany in the same year. In addition to studying German missiles, Korolev and colleagues were engaged in the development of new projects. In the 50s, the design office under his leadership created the R-7. This two-stage rocket was able to develop the first one and ensure multi-ton vehicles were put into near-earth orbit.

Stages of development of astronautics

The advantage of the Americans in the preparation of space apparatuses, associated with the work of von Braun, is a thing of the past when, on October 4, 1957, the USSR launched the first satellite. Since then, the development of astronautics went faster. In the 1950s and 1960s, several experiments with animals were carried out. In space, visited the dogs and monkeys.

As a result, scientists have collected invaluable information that made it possible to comfortably stay in human space. In early 1959, managed to reach the second cosmic velocity.

The advanced development of the national astronautics was taken all over the world, when Yuri Gagarin was poisoned in the sky. It was, without exaggeration, a great event in 1961. From that day began the penetration of man into the vast expanses surrounding the Earth.

October 12, 1964 - a device with several people on board (USSR) was put into orbit;
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 orbit of a satellite of the Earth (USA);
July 20, 1969 - the day (United States);
April 19, 1971 - first launched (USSR);
July 17, 1975 - the docking of two ships (Soviet and American) for the first time;
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 - the man has already visited the Moon and is preparing for a direct acquaintance with Mars. However, manned flight programs are now developing less than automatic interplanetary station projects. The current state of astronautics is such that the devices being created are capable of transmitting to Earth information about distant Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto, visit Mercury and even explore meteorites.
In parallel, developing space tourism. International contacts are of great importance today. gradually comes to the conclusion that great breakthroughs and discoveries occur faster and more often if you combine the efforts and capabilities of different countries.