1957 is the first year in history. The first artificial earth satellite

Start day space age of Humanity (October 4, 1957); proclaimed by the International Astronautical Federation in September 1967 (on this day the world's first artificial Earth satellite was successfully launched in the USSR)

On October 4, 1957, the world's first artificial satellite Earth, who ushered in the space age in human history. The satellite, which became the first artificial celestial body, was launched into orbit by the R-7 launch vehicle from the 5th research site of the USSR Ministry of Defense, which later received the open name of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The PS-1 spacecraft (the simplest satellite-1) was a ball with a diameter of 58 centimeters, weighed 83.6 kilograms, and was equipped with four pin antennas 2.4 and 2.9 meters long for transmitting signals from battery-powered transmitters. 295 seconds after launch, PS-1 and the central block of the rocket, weighing 7.5 tons, were launched into an elliptical orbit with an altitude of 947 km at apogee and 288 km at perigee. At 315 seconds after launch, the satellite separated from the second stage of the launch vehicle, and its call signs were immediately heard by the whole world. The PS-1 satellite flew for 92 days, until January 4, 1958, completing 1,440 revolutions around the Earth (about 60 million km), and its radio transmitters operated for two weeks after launch. The United States was able to repeat the success of the USSR only on February 1, 1958, launching on the second attempt the Explorer 1 satellite, weighing 10 times less than the first satellite. Scientists M.V. worked on the creation of an artificial Earth satellite, led by the founder of practical cosmonautics S.P. Korolev. Keldysh, M.K. Tikhonravov, N.S. Lidorenko, V.I. Lapko, B.S. Chekunov and many others.

The formation of the rocket and space industry and technology in our country practically began in the spring of 1946. It was then that research institutes, design bureaus, testing centers and factories for the development and production of long-range ballistic missiles were formed. Then NII-88 (later OKB-1, TsKBM, NPO Energia, RSC Energia) appeared - the main institute in the country's jet weapons, headed by S.P. Korolev. Together with the chief designers - on rocket engines, control systems, command instruments, radio systems, launch complexes, etc., S.P. Korolev supervised the creation of rocket and space systems that ensured the first and subsequent flights of automatic and manned vehicles. In a short historical period, a powerful industry was created in the country to produce a wide variety of rocket and space technology. Thousands of devices for various purposes were designed, built and sent into space, and a huge amount of work was done to study outer space. Launch vehicles “Zenit”, “Proton”, “Cosmos”, “Molniya”, “Cyclone” launched scientific research, applied, meteorological, navigation, and military satellites “Electron”, “Gorizont”, “Start” into space orbit. , “Cosmos”, “Resource”, “Gals”, “Forecast”, communication satellites “Ekran”, “Molniya” and others. Unique work was done by automatic spacecraft during flights to the Moon, Mars, Venus, and Halley's Comet.

The cry of the first satellites
was touchingly subtle.
So among the starry young cereals
the planet hatched,
like a chicken
from a blue airy shell.
Vladimir Kostrov

60 years ago, on October 4, 1957, the space age began in human history. For the first time, an object created by the hands of earthly engineers was launched into orbit. They called it "Sputnik".

Prototypes of the satellite

The idea of ​​an artificial Earth satellite (AES, satellite, moon) arose quite a long time ago. More Isaac Newton in his monograph "Mathematical principles of natural philosophy"(1687), as an example of his reasoning, cited a description of a huge cannon, with the help of which it would be possible to launch a core into a constant orbit around the Earth. Newton proposed to imagine the highest mountain, the peak of which is beyond the atmosphere, and a cannon mounted at the very top and firing horizontally. The more powerful the charge used when firing, the farther the cannonball will fly from the mountain. Finally, when a certain charge power is reached, the core will develop such a speed that it will not fall to the Earth at all and will revolve around our planet. This speed is now called “first cosmic speed” and for the Earth it is 7.91 km/s.

Sir Isaac Newton is the founder of not only physics, but also astronautics. "Newton's Cannon": the cannonball flies, but does not fall (original illustration)

Newton's figurative example was later turned to by both scientists who discussed the prospects of astronautics and science fiction writers. The technical implementation of the “Newton gun” was described in his novel by the science fiction classic Jules Verne in the novel "500 Million Begums" (1879).

Large French cannon for space launches.

The great Tsiolkovsky looks to the future.

The founders of theoretical cosmonautics spoke a lot about the need to launch an artificial Earth satellite. However, they justified this need in different ways. Our compatriot Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proposed launching a rocket with a crew into a circular orbit in order to immediately begin human space exploration.

The German Hermann Oberth proposed to assemble a large orbital station from the stages of launch vehicles, which could solve problems military intelligence, maritime navigation, geophysical research and relaying information messages.

In addition, by equipping this station with a large mirror, it would be possible, according to Oberth, to focus the sun's rays and direct them to the Earth, affecting the climate or threatening enemy troops and cities. He played on Oberth's idea in his novel "World Fire" (1925) German author Karl-August Laffert.

Many scientists and science fiction writers agreed that the artificial satellite of the Earth would be used primarily as a transshipment base for interplanetary spacecraft flying to the Moon, Mars and Venus. And in fact, why would a ship carry into orbit all the fuel necessary for acceleration if it can refuel from a satellite?

It was then that they came up with the idea of ​​equipping the future satellite with a telescope so that astronomers could observe distant space objects directly from orbit, freeing themselves forever from distortions introduced by the atmosphere.

An inhabited satellite in Earth orbit (original illustration from V. Nikolsky’s book “After a Thousand Years”). An inhabited satellite in Earth orbit (original cover for the American edition of O. Guile's novel "The Moonstone").

Artificial satellites of this type are described in the novels of Otto Geil "Moonstone" (1926), Vadim Nikolsky "After a Thousand Years" (1927) and Alexandra Belyaev "KEC Star" (1936).

However, time passed, and it was not possible to build a means of delivering the satellite into orbit. The creation of large guns turned out to be extremely labor-intensive and expensive, and small rockets, which were launched in large numbers before World War II, could not even theoretically reach the first cosmic speed.

Due to the lack of a medium, very exotic projects appeared. For example, in 1944, Major General Georgy Pokrovsky published an article “ New satellite Earth”, in which he proposed launching a metal satellite using a directed explosion. He understood, of course, that after such an explosion only “some unorganized masses of metals” would go into orbit, but he was sure that humanity needed such an experience, since observing the movement of an “unorganized” object would provide a lot of new information about the processes that occur in the upper layers of the atmosphere.

Launch of the Pokrovsky satellite using an explosion (original illustration).
Pokrovsky satellite in orbit (original illustration).

First attempts

As is well known, the first large rockets liquid fuel learned to do in the Third Reich. And already there there was talk of using them to launch satellites.

There is evidence that when discussing future developments at the German rocket center Peenemünde, it was proposed to honor the first space travelers by placing their embalmed bodies in glass balls launched into orbit around the Earth.

The appearance of heavy V-2 rockets predetermined the development of astronautics.

In March 1946, US Air Force experts prepared a "Preliminary Design for an Experimental Spacecraft for Flight around the Earth." This document was the first serious attempt to evaluate the possibilities of creating a spacecraft that would orbit the Earth as its satellite.

Already in the introduction to the project, it is emphasized that, despite the uncertainty of the prospects regarding the start of space activities, two points are beyond doubt: “1) A spacecraft equipped with appropriate instrumentation will, in all likelihood, become one of the most effective means scientific research 20th century. 2) The launch of Sputnik by the United States will excite the imagination of mankind and will certainly have an impact on world events comparable to the explosion of an atomic bomb.”

On October 4, 1950, exactly seven years before the launch of the first satellite, the American scientist Kecskeméti presented a research report “Rocket vehicle - Earth satellite: political and psychological problems.” The memo analyzed “the likely political consequences that would arise from the launch of an artificial Earth satellite in the United States and its successful use for military intelligence purposes.” The report shows that military experts, back in the early 1950s, were well aware of the political and military significance the launch of Sputnik would have. We were no longer talking about glass balls with the bodies of space explorers - the designers’ imagination imagined entire orbital groups monitoring the territory of a potential enemy.

"V-2" at the White Sands training ground. This is how American astronautics began.

At 4 International Congress on astronautics, held in 1953 in Zurich, Fred Singer from the University of Maryland openly stated that in the United States there are prerequisites for the creation of an artificial Earth satellite, abbreviated as “MAUZ” (“Minimum Orbital Unmanned Satellite of Earth”). Singer's hypothetical satellite was an autonomous instrumentation system placed in a durable ball, which, upon reaching a given altitude, was separated from the third stage of a composite launch vehicle. The satellite's orbit, 300 km high, would pass through both poles of the Earth.

Wernher von Braun's rocket at launch

On June 25, 1954, a meeting was held at the Naval Research Office building in Washington, which was attended by leading American rocket scientists: Wernher von Braun, Professor Singer, Professor Whipple from Harvard, David Young from Aerojet and others. On the agenda was the question of whether it would be possible to launch large satellites into an orbit at an altitude of 320 km in the near future. By “near future” we meant a period of 2-3 years.

Wernher von Braun said that the historic launch could be accomplished much earlier, and outlined his thoughts on using a Redstone rocket as the first stage and several clusters of Loki rockets as subsequent stages for this purpose. The main advantage was that it could use existing missiles. This is how the Orbiter project was born. The launch of the satellite was scheduled for the summer of 1957.

American satellite Explorer 1. Wernher von Braun still managed to launch it.

However, by that time other projects had also received serious development.

On July 29, 1955, the White House officially announced the upcoming launch of the satellite under the Navy's Vanguard program.

A three-stage launch vehicle was proposed, consisting of a modified Viking rocket as the first stage, a modified Aerobee rocket as the second stage, and a solid-fuel third stage. It was originally planned that the Avangard satellite would weigh 9.75 kg. They wanted to equip it with measuring instruments. With a small power source and camera on board, the satellite could even transmit color images back to Earth.

However, the launch of the first Soviet satellite confused the Americans' plans. In its final form, the spherical Avangard-1 weighed only 1.59 kg and had on board only two primitive radio transmitters powered by mercury and solar batteries.

American satellite "Vanguard". He could have been the first, but he didn’t even become the second. The rocket carrying Avangard-1 exploded at launch on December 6, 1957.

Meanwhile in the USSR

Cover of the futurological issue of the magazine “Knowledge is Power”

In November 1954, an unusual futurological issue of the magazine “Knowledge is Power” was published, dedicated to the upcoming flight to the Moon. In this issue, leading Soviet popularizers of science and science fiction writers shared their ideas about the coming space expansion. On the pages of the magazine a forecast was given: the first artificial satellite will be launched in 1970. The authors of the issue were mistaken - the space age began much earlier.

The chief designer of Soviet rocketry, Sergei Korolev, began talking seriously about Sputnik in 1953. At that time, work on the R-7 intercontinental rocket was just beginning, but it was clear to specialists that this rocket was capable of reaching the first cosmic speed.

On May 26, 1954, Korolev sent a memo "About the artificial satellite of the Earth" to the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers. The answer was negative, because from Korolev, first of all, they expected combat missile, which will fly to America - the scientific research topic was of little concern to the top at that time. But Korolev did not give up hope of convincing the leadership and turned to the USSR Academy of Sciences.

On August 30, 1955, leading rocketry experts, including Sergei Korolev, Mstislav Keldysh and Valentin Glushko, gathered in the office of the chief scientific secretary of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician Topchiev.

Academicians M.V. Keldysh and S.P. Korolev.

Korolev spoke with a short message, in which, in particular, he said: “I consider it necessary to create a special body in the USSR Academy of Sciences to develop a program of scientific research using a series of artificial Earth satellites, including biological ones with animals on board. This organization must pay the most serious attention to the manufacture of scientific equipment and involve leading scientists in this activity.”

The Academy supported the Queen. From December 1955 to March 1956, a number of meetings of scientists of various specialties, one way or another interested in space research, were held. After this, the government could no longer dismiss the “fantastic project.” On January 30, 1956, Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 149-88ss was adopted, which provided for the creation "Object D"- this was the name of a non-orientable satellite weighing from 1000 to 1400 kg. From 200 to 300 kg were allocated for scientific equipment. The first test launch based on the R-7 long-range missile was scheduled for the summer of 1957.

Object “D” is a space laboratory. It could have become the first Soviet satellite, but it became the third.

Having received the long-awaited resolution, Korolev immediately began implementing his plans. In his design bureau OKB-1, a department was formed that was supposed to deal exclusively with the development of artificial Earth satellites. At Keldysh’s suggestion, the department worked on several versions of “Object D” at once, one of which provided for the presence of a container with “biological cargo” - an experimental dog.

Sergei Korolev closely followed the work of his American colleagues and feared that he might be ahead of him. Therefore, immediately after the successful launch of the R-7 rocket, which took place on September 7, 1957, the chief designer gathered the employees involved in the design of the satellite and proposed that work on the “Object D” be temporarily frozen and a small light satellite be made “at least on the knee.”

“The simplest satellite first” (“PS-1”).

The management of the design and production of PS-1 (The Simplest Satellite First) was entrusted to two engineers - Mikhail Khomyakov and Oleg Ivanovsky. Special signals for the transmitter were invented by Mikhail Ryazansky. The rocket's nose fairing protects the satellite from impact. environment, designed by Sergei Okhapkin’s group.

Although the satellite looked very simple in design, it was created for the first time; no analogues of an orbital artificial object existed in technology. Only one thing was set - a weight limit: no more than 100 kg. (In its final form it weighed even less - 83.6 kg). Quite quickly, the designers came to the conclusion that it would be advantageous to make a satellite in the shape of a ball.

Scheme "PS-1" (general view). Poster “The First Artificial Earth Satellite” (1958).

They decided to place two radio transmitters inside the satellite with operating frequencies of 20.005 and 40.002 MHz. The satellite's body consisted of two half-shells with connecting frames connected to each other by 36 bolts. The tightness of the joint was ensured by a rubber gasket. Externally, the satellite looked like an aluminum sphere with a diameter of 0.58 m, with four antennas. The power supply for the satellite's onboard equipment was provided by electrochemical current sources (silver-zinc batteries), designed to operate for 2-3 weeks.

Internal layout of "PS-1".

Work on the Soviet satellite was not kept secret. Even six months before the historic launch, the mass magazine Radio published an article by V. Vakhnin, “Artificial Earth Satellites,” which reported the orbital parameters of future Soviet satellites and the frequencies at which radio amateurs should catch their signals.

A week before the launch scientific conference In Washington, Sergei Poloskov read a report on the space plans of the USSR and for the first time pronounced the name of the new spacecraft. Soon all the print media in the world will repeat this word - Sputnik.

• The day of the launch of Sputnik 1 is celebrated in Russia as the Memorial Day of the Space Forces.
• In 1964, in honor of the launch of Sputnik 1 in Moscow, near the VDNKh metro station, a 99-meter monument to the Conquerors of Space was built in the form of a rocket taking off, leaving a trail of fire behind it.
• A model of Sputnik 1 was donated by the Soviet government to the UN and now adorns the entrance to the UN Headquarters Hall in New York.
• On November 4, 1997, cosmonauts from the Russian orbital station Mir manually launched a model of Sputnik 1 (RS-17, Sputnik 40) into space. This model was made on a 1:3 scale by Russian and French students specially for the 40th anniversary of the launch of the first satellite.
• In 2003, an exact copy (double) of Sputnik 1, made back in 1957, was sold at an eBay auction. Before the sale, the copy was listed as an educational exhibit of one of the Kyiv institutes. It is believed that in preparation for the historic launch, four copies of the “Simple Sputnik” were manufactured.

Monument to the Conquerors of Space in Moscow.

Beep, beep, beep

Sergei Korolev at the launch site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

On September 20, 1957, a meeting of the special commission for the launch of the satellite was held at Baikonur, where all services confirmed their readiness for launch. Finally, on October 4, 1957 at 22:28:34 Moscow time, a bright flash illuminated the night Kazakhstan steppe. The M1-1SP launch vehicle (a modification of the R-7 rocket, later called Sputnik-1) went up with a roar. Her torch gradually weakened and soon became indistinguishable against the background of the starry sky.

295 seconds after launch, “PS-1” and the central block of the rocket weighing 7.5 tons were launched into an elliptical orbit with an altitude of 947 km at apogee and 288 km at perigee. At 314.5 seconds after launch, the satellite separated, and it began to signal: “Beep! Beep! Beep! At the cosmodrome they were caught for two minutes, then the satellite went beyond the horizon. The specialists ran out of their hiding places, shouted “Hurray!”, and shook up the designers and military personnel. And already on the first orbit a TASS message was heard: “As a result of a lot of hard work by research institutes and design bureaus, the world’s first artificial Earth satellite was created. On October 4, 1957, the first satellite was successfully launched in the Soviet Union.”

The moment of separation of the nose fairing and the last stage of the launch vehicle from the PS-1 (still from an educational film).

Observations during the first orbits showed that the satellite entered orbit with an inclination of 65.1° and with a maximum distance from the Earth's surface of 947 km. The satellite spent 96 minutes 10.2 seconds on each orbit around the Earth.

Klim Voroshilov presents Sergei Korolev with the Order of Lenin (1957).

At 20:07 minutes New York time, the RSA radio station in New York received signals from the Soviet satellite, and soon radio and television spread the news throughout the United States. The NBC radio station invited Americans to “listen to the signals that forever separated the old from the new.”

Another detail of the historical launch is of some interest. It is generally accepted that the star running quickly across the sky, which appeared after October 4, 1957, is a visually observable satellite. In fact, the reflective surface of PS-1 was too small for visual observation; the second stage was visible from Earth - the same central block of the rocket, which entered the same orbit as the satellite.

According to official information, PS-1 flew for 92 days, until January 4, 1958, making 1,440 revolutions around the Earth and covering about 60 million kilometers.

Photo of PS-1 during its passage over Melbourne.

However, there is evidence that it entered the dense layers of the atmosphere and burned up a little earlier - on December 8, 1957. It was on this day that one Earl Thomas discovered a flaming wreckage near his home in Southern California. Analysis showed that it consists of the same materials as PS-1. These fragments are currently on display at the Beat Museum near San Francisco.

Perhaps these are fragments of the filling of the first satellite that fell in the United States.

Alternatives

Issue of the New York Times dedicated to the launch of Sputnik 1.

The launch of the satellite caused shock throughout the world, and above all in the United States. For the first time, Americans received clear proof that they were not leading in all areas of life, that the “potential enemy” had bypassed them in the most important area. “Ninety percent of the talk about artificial Earth satellites came from the United States,” wrote the New York Times. “As it turned out, 100 percent of the case fell on Russia...” It was scary. And it was very scary!

“The King of Horror Movies,” Stephen King, admitted in his book “Dance of Death” that the announcement of the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik into orbit was the greatest shock of his youth.

The fear was so strong that in the first days of October 1957, particularly hotheads from the Pentagon proposed “closing the sky,” that is, throwing tons of scrap metal into orbital heights: balls from bearings, nails, steel shavings, which would lead to the cessation of any space launches. This little-known detail from the history of astronautics indicates that Americans initially perceived space as their property. And they could not admit the thought that someone else would dare to lay claim to it.

But America really could have become the first space power.

Poster “Soviet artificial satellites of the Earth” (1958).

If before World War II no one thought about this, then after the war, impressed by the successes of the rocket scientists of the Third Reich, US leaders seriously thought about a new “strategic bridgehead.” Thanks to documents and specialists brought from Germany, the Americans were able to quickly overcome the gap in ballistic missiles, and therefore create the prerequisites for launching satellites into outer space.

The US leadership made only one mistake. He should have trusted the experience and talent of Wernher von Braun and accepted the Orbiter project, which promised the launch of the first satellite by the end of 1956. Most likely, the German designer would have been able to fulfill his promises, and the United States would have acquired the much-coveted “right of ownership.”

What difference would it make? Only one thing, but the most important thing. Having established itself in outer space and secured one of its most important priorities, the United States would hardly get involved in a space “race” that would require huge financial expenditures. But an attempt to “catch up and overtake America” in space could lead to the fact that Soviet cosmonauts would not only become the first in orbit, but also land on the Moon. The history of astronautics would change in the most dramatic way.

The launch of the Soviet satellite started a space “race”, which the Americans won by landing on the Moon.

* * *

It’s impossible to say whether people would be happier in such a world or not, but that doesn’t matter. After all, it never existed and never will, because it was the Soviet satellite that opened the space age, and its ringing signals notified the entire Universe about it...

THE FIRST ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE OF THE EARTH

THE FIRST ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE OF THE EARTH

Academician Boris CHERTOK, Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia" named after. S.P. Queen

The launch of the world's first artificial Earth satellite was carried out in the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957 at 22:28. 34 s Moscow time. For the first time in history, hundreds of millions of people could observe in the rays of the rising or setting sun an artificial star, created not by gods, but by the hands of man, moving across the dark sky. And the world community perceived this event as the greatest scientific achievement.

The history of the creation of the first satellite is connected with the work on the rocket itself. Moreover, both in the Soviet Union and in the USA it had a German origin.

In connection with the ban under the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 on developing new types of artillery weapons and building combat aircraft, the German military drew attention to the prospects of long-range missiles - this document did not provide for a ban on them. Particularly active corresponding work began in Germany after 1933, with Hitler coming to power. Then a small group of enthusiasts, led by a young talented engineer Wernher von Braun, received the support of the army, and then became a priority state program weapons. And in 1936, they began to build a powerful research, production and testing missile center in Peenemünde (Rostock district). And in 1943, the first successful launch of the A4 long-range combat ballistic missile was made - which later received the propaganda name FAU-2 (“Fergeltung” - “retribution”). It became the first long-range unmanned automatically controlled device. Its maximum firing range was 270-300 km, the initial mass was up to 13,500 kg, the mass of the head warhead was 1,075 kg, the fuel components were liquid oxygen - an oxidizer and ethyl alcohol. The thrust of the propulsion system near the Earth reached 27,000 kgf. The active part of the flight replaced the gun barrel.

The main achievements of German specialists were the technology of serial production of powerful liquid-propellant rocket engines and flight control systems. The ideas of the domestic scientist and inventor Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the German Hermann Oberth, the American Robert Goddard and other brilliant individuals of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. were turned into concrete engineering systems by teams of powerful companies Siemens, Telefunken, Lorenz, etc., local universities, which conducted research on Peenemünde’s instructions. Then, studying its experience in Germany itself for 1.5 years, we - including me - were convinced: their rocket is not a projectile, not a cannon, but a large and complex system that requires the use of the latest achievements in aerodynamics, radio electronics, thermal engineering, materials science and high production culture.

On May 13, 1946, Stalin signed a decree on the creation of a rocket science and industry in the USSR. In its development, in August 1946, Sergei Korolev (academician since 1958) was appointed chief designer of long-range ballistic missiles. Then none of us foresaw that, working with him, we would be participants in the launch of the world's first satellite, and soon after that the first half a hundred people into space - Yuri Gagarin.

S.P. Korolev is a student at Moscow Higher Technical University. 1929

After the surrender of the Nazis, I was among the organizers of the reconstruction of German rocket technology on the territory of Germany itself. Even then we were convinced that no new physical laws were required to create powerful long-range missiles flying through outer space. In 1947, flight tests of the V-2 assembled in Germany began work on its real development in the USSR.

In 1948, at the first domestic missile test site, Kapustin Yar (between the Volga and its left branch of the Akhtuba), R-1 missiles were tested - copies of the German V-2, but made entirely from domestic materials. And in 1949, a series of high-altitude flights of these devices took place to explore outer space. And in 1950, they began testing the next one - R-2 - for a range of 600 km.

The final “break” from the legacy of the V-2 was our R-5 rocket with a range of 1200 km, whose testing began in 1953. It was then, with the help of the R-5, that we, together with other domestic scientists, launched research on the use of the rocket as a carrier of an atomic bomb .

Academicians Sergei Korolev and Yuliy Khariton led the search. After all cold war the world was flaring up, the USSR was surrounded by military bases of the US Air Force, from which aircraft carrying atomic bombs were capable of hitting the main political and economic centers of our country. The latest analogues in the USSR could not reach American territory. That is why it was the rocket scientists who were given the responsibility for creating appropriate launch vehicles that could reach intercontinental bases.

And on February 13, 1953, at the suggestion of the Council of Chief Designers, a new decree of the Soviet government was issued, obliging us to begin the development of a two-stage intercontinental missile at a range of 7-8 thousand km. But on August 12, 1953, the first thermonuclear bomb was tested. And from top-secret hints from experts, we understood: in the coming years, the mass and dimensions of new weapons will be so great that our ideas need to be changed radically.

In November 1953, Korolev gathered his closest deputies for a top-secret conversation. He said: “The Minister of Medium Engineering, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Vyacheslav Malyshev unexpectedly came to see me. And he categorically suggested “forgetting” about the atomic bomb for an intercontinental missile. The authors of the hydrogen bomb promise to reduce its mass to 3.5 tons. This means, Korolev emphasized, we must develop an intercontinental missile while maintaining a range of 8000 km, but based on a “payload” of 3.5 tons.”

A small design team was assembled, which Korolev entrusted with the preliminary study of the parameters of the new rocket for discussion at the Council of Chief Designers. And in January 1954, a meeting was held between S. Korolev, V. Barmin, V. Glushko, V. Kuznetsov, N. Pilyugin, M. Ryazansky with the participation of their deputies and the main developers of radio monitoring and control systems. Their main decision was to abandon the traditional starting table. At the suggestion of young designers, it was proposed to create ground equipment systems with a rocket suspension on special discarded trusses, which would make it possible not to load its lower part first and thereby reduce the total mass. The decision to assemble the rocket from five blocks with standardized propulsion systems, with the central one being the second stage, was also unusual. However, the engines of all blocks had to be started on Earth simultaneously. The mass of the warhead with the hydrogen bomb was tentatively estimated at 5500 kg. To ensure the specified control accuracy and range, it was necessary to strictly regulate the aftereffect impulse of the engines. However, V. Glushko proved the unrealistic demands of managers. Thus, for the first time, the idea arose to abandon the traditional gas-jet graphite rudders since the time of the FAU-2, and instead develop special low-thrust engines. They had to “reach” the second stage of the rocket in the last seconds of flight to the required parameters in terms of speed and coordinates. To reduce fuel mass, systems for regulating tank emptying, measuring and regulating apparent speed were proposed.

On May 20, 1954, the Government issued a decree on the development of a two-stage R-7 intercontinental missile. And just a week later, on May 27, S. Korolev sent a memo to the Minister of Defense Industry Dmitry Ustinov about the possibility and feasibility of launching an artificial satellite into orbit based on this future rocket. It should be noted that, except for Korolev himself, none of the members of the Council of Chief Designers and their deputies considered the idea of ​​launching an artificial satellite to be a serious hobby.

The preliminary design of the new product was proposed and approved by the Council of Ministers of the USSR on November 20, 1954, and its design is now well known throughout the world. It consists of four identical warheads, which are attached to the fifth - the central one. In terms of internal layout, each of them is similar to a single-stage rocket with a front-mounted oxidizer tank. The fuel tanks of all units are load-bearing. The engines of all blocks start working from the ground, but when the stages are separated, the side ones are turned off, and the central one continues to work. The control equipment is located in the intertank compartment of the central unit and includes an automatic stabilization control, a normal and lateral stabilization regulator, an apparent speed control and a radio range and lateral correction control system. According to calculations, the head of the rocket enters the atmosphere at a speed of 7800 m/s. The total length of the detachable warhead is 7.3 m, weight - 5500 kg.

Of course, many problems arose, and they had to be solved in as soon as possible. It was necessary to choose a location for a new test site, build a unique launch structure, put into operation all the necessary services, build and put into operation stands for fire tests of blocks and the entire package as a whole, to test the control system; find and test appropriate heat-shielding materials to preserve the integrity of the warhead upon re-entry; propose a telemetry system that does not yet exist (according to preliminary data, only at the first stage of flight tests up to 700 parameters); create new system radio control and flight path control, and finally, build a command and measurement complex, including points that monitor the rocket and receive telemetric information along the entire route to Pacific Ocean. In a word, it was no coincidence that in 1955 the designers producing the necessary documentation for the manufacture of the R-7 rocket joked that the drawing board was smoking around the clock. After all, there was no trace of computer technology at that time: “hot” drawings went directly to the workshops of the pilot plant.

In January 1956, a government decree was prepared and signed on January 30 on the creation of an unoriented satellite under the secret code “Object D” weighing 1000-1400 kg with equipment for scientific research weighing 200-300 kg.

General scientific management and provision of equipment for scientific research of outer space was assigned to the USSR Academy of Sciences, the development of the satellite itself was assigned to OKB-1 (headed by Korolev), and experimental launches were assigned to the Ministry of Defense.

When this decree was signed, Korolev and his main deputies (me among them) were at the Kapustin Yar training ground. Together with nuclear scientists, we were preparing the R-5M rocket with a real nuclear charge for testing. And on February 2, 1956 it happened: the explosion occurred in desert steppe, at a distance of 1200 km from the start. Soon the R-5M missile with a nuclear warhead was put into service.

By July 1956, the project of the first satellite was completed, the composition of scientific tasks was determined, including measurement of the ion composition of space, corpuscular radiation of the Sun, magnetic fields, cosmic rays, thermal regime satellite, its braking in the upper layers of the atmosphere, the duration of its existence in orbit, the accuracy of determining coordinates and orbital parameters, etc. The satellite was equipped with radio command line equipment for control from the planet and an on-board command processing complex for connecting scientific information and transmitting measurement results via a telemetry channel. A complex of means was built on Earth to provide the necessary information (15 of them were designed on the territory of the USSR).

By the end of 1956, it became clear that the deadlines for creating satellites would be delayed due to the difficulties of manufacturing reliable scientific equipment. However, the Object D project was approved by a special committee of the USSR Council of Ministers. And earlier, on February 12, 1955, in the semi-desert, in the area of ​​the Tyuratam station, the army under the command of General Shubnikov began construction of the research and testing site No. 5 (since 1961 this place has been known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome).

The first peg on the site of the future Baikonur

During 1955-1956 The production of the first technological complex of the R-7 rocket was completed, and it was tested at the Leningrad Metal Plant together with a real launch system. Fire tests of individual rocket blocks began at firing stands near Zagorsk (now the city of Peresvet). Under the leadership of N. Pilyugin, modeling and comprehensive testing of the control system were carried out.

On January 14, 1957, the Council of Ministers of the USSR approved the flight test program for R-7 missiles. And the first technological “try-on” rocket was sent to Tyuratam to the test site in January. I spent many days and nights at the testing station. We carried out autonomous and comprehensive electrical tests of the rocket: first block by block, then assembled the package and tested it as a whole. And for good reason: they found many errors in the documentation and complex electrical circuits. However, there is nothing to be surprised: instead of the usual one propulsion system, we had five! There are 12 steering engines alone! 32 combustion chambers (20 main and 12 steering).

In the assembly shop of the plant, the rocket seemed like a fantastic structure. Korolev invited here the First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Nikita Khrushchev. He arrived with the main members of the Politburo of the Central Committee. The rocket shocked them. And not only them. The main ideologist of our hydrogen bomb, Academician Andrei Sakharov, wrote in his memoirs: “We thought that we had a large scale, but there we saw something an order of magnitude larger. I was struck by the enormous technical culture visible to the naked eye, the coordinated work of hundreds of highly qualified people and their almost everyday, but very business attitude to the fantastic things they dealt with..."

Meanwhile, Korolev, convinced that the deadlines for the production of the first satellite in the space laboratory version had been missed, came to the Government with a proposal: “There are reports that in connection with the International Physical Year, the United States intends to launch a satellite in 1958. We risk losing priority. “I propose that instead of the complex laboratory of Object D, we launch a simple satellite into space.” His proposal was accepted - preparations began for the launch of the simplest satellite “PS”.

The head of the R-7 rocket with the first satellite

Korolev sent me and other deputies - L. Voskresensky and V. Abramov - to the test site to receive the first rocket and prepare for launch.

In February 1957, the completion of the test site was in full swing. They were building a residential town on the banks of the Syr Darya. The installation and testing building for preparing missiles has almost been completed. But the most grandiose structure - starting position site No. 1 - has not yet been completed. A concrete route and a railway branch were laid from the railway station, and high-voltage transmission masts were installed. Lines of dump trucks with liquid concrete, trucks with construction materials, and covered vans with construction soldiers walked towards the builders at the starting position. As an eyewitness to the war, I remembered the military roads of the 1940s in the immediate rear of the Soviet army before major offensives: the same strained hum of hundreds of trucks, each rushing with their cargo. Yes, today there was no rumbling of tanks and guns, but soldiers were again sitting behind the steering wheels of all the cars and in the bodies.

Our car was also driven by a soldier. I had to settle down for a long time in this “front-line” environment, as we considered it. While I, Korolev’s other deputies, hundreds of civilian and military specialists who moved to the test site, assembled, tested, and prepared for launch the rocket and dozens of complex ground systems, Korolev at OKB-1 designed and then manufactured a simple satellite.

The first R‑7 (serial number M1‑5) arrived at the technical site of the test site in early March 1957. Long-term checks of the units, elimination of comments, modifications to on-board and ground devices, and development of operational documentation began. In April, fire bench tests of the blocks and the entire package as a whole were successfully completed. And at a meeting of the State Commission, Korolev reported on the work done in preparation and the parameters of the first rocket for flight testing. He said: its initial mass, fully fueled, will be 280 tons, the head part with a payload simulator will weigh 5.5 g. The mass of the fueled components - liquid oxygen, kerosene, hydrogen peroxide, compressed nitrogen - 253 tons. Speed ​​at the moment the engine is turned off the second stage, when firing at full range, should reach 6385 m/s, but the launch will be carried out only at 6314 km at the training ground in Kamchatka. Specific data for setting up the control system will be calculated separately. One of the main tasks is to check the mutual dynamics of the rocket and the launch device, as well as the stability of movement, although the calculated target accuracy (±8 km) for the first launches is not guaranteed.

On May 5, 1957, the R-7 was taken to the launch position - pad No. 1. Refueling began on the eighth day. The launch itself was scheduled for May 15. After completing all the checks at the starting position, I descended into an underground bunker to a depth of 8 m, 200 m from the start. Control latest operations and the launch was carried out from the main control room, equipped with two marine periscopes. A separate large room was intended for members of the state commission, the second for consulting engineers (“emergency technical assistance”). Another underground room housed control equipment for controlling refueling, launches and mechanisms. Information about the state of the on-board systems was reflected on the banners of the main console and transmitted to the communications bunker from the measuring point, which received radiation from three on-board telemetry systems installed on the rocket. At the launch control combat periscopes were Korolev’s deputy for testing, L. Voskresensky, and the head of the testing department of the test site, Lieutenant Colonel E. Ostashev. He gave the last launch commands.

R-7 at the start

Everything happened at 19.00 local time. According to visual observations and subsequent processing of telemetric information, the rocket left the launch site normally.

“It’s a stunning spectacle,” those who watched the launch later said, hiding in the trenches at a distance of 1 km. The roar that reached the bunker was greatly weakened. The controlled flight continued until the 98th second. Then the thrust of the engine of the side block “D” dropped, and it separated from the rocket without a command. But it lost stability and at the 103rd second, due to large deviations, a command was issued to turn off all engines. The rocket fell 300 km from the launch.

Everyone congratulated the Queen on the fact that the launch system had survived and the flight stability of the entire package had been proven in the most critical, first section. But he himself was upset. Subsequent processing of telemetric information and study of the remains of the units showed: the cause of the accident was a fire due to a leak in the kerosene communications high pressure propulsion system.

The second R-7 (No. 6L) was prepared taking into account the already accumulated experience. And on June 10-11, we made multiple launch attempts, although the automatic launch control “reset the circuit” in the last seconds. The rocket never left the launch pad. The cause was the freezing of the main oxygen valve on block “B” and an error in the installation of the nitrogen purge valve. The components were drained, the rocket was removed from the launch pad and returned to its technical position.

The third R-7 (No. M1-7) had already been waiting for its turn for a month; its launch took place on June 12, 1957. It took off normally, but then began to deviate around the longitudinal axis, exceeding the permitted 7 degrees. The automation performed an emergency shutdown of all engines. At 32.9 s the package fell apart. The blocks fell and burned out 7 km from the start. The analysis revealed that the cause was a short circuit to the housing in the new control system device, which, according to its creators, was supposed to improve stability during rotation. As a result, a false command was sent to the steering engines, which “spinned” the rocket.

Finally, on August 21, the fourth launch was made. R‑7 (No. 8L) routinely worked the entire active part of the trajectory. Its head part, according to external control data, reached a given area of ​​Kamchatka, entered the atmosphere, but no traces of them could be found on Earth. Obviously, the thermodynamic loads exceeded all expectations, and the heat-protective coating did not save.

Despite another failure - this time with the design, on August 27 TASS published a statement: “The Soviet Union launched an ultra-long-range intercontinental multistage ballistic missile. It is possible to launch missiles into any area Globe».

On September 7, 1957, the next launch of R-7 (No. M1-9) took place. The entire active section, all blocks worked normally. However, the warhead burned out again in the dense layers of the atmosphere, although this time several remains of the structure were found.

So, from the flight test results of the five missiles, it was obvious; the product can fly, but its head part needed radical modification, which required at least six months of intensive labor. But there is a silver lining: the destruction of the warheads opened the way for the launch of the first simplest Earth satellite: after all, it did not need to enter the dense layers of the atmosphere. And Korolev received Khrushchev’s consent to use two missiles for the experimental launch of the new product.

On September 17, 1957, at a gala meeting dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of K. Tsiolkovsky, then almost unknown corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Sergei Korolev made a report. He said that in our country an artificial Earth satellite could be delivered into space in the near future. And after another 5 days, the 8K71PS launch vehicle (product M1-PS) arrived at the test site. It has been significantly lightened compared to standard missiles. The prototype head section was removed and replaced with a satellite adapter. All equipment of the radio control system was removed from the central unit - accuracy was not required. They removed one of the telemetry systems. The automatic shutdown of the central unit engine has been simplified. Thus, the launch weight of the rocket was reduced by 7 tons compared to the first samples.

October 4, 1957 at 10:28 p.m. 3 s Moscow time the start was carried out. After 295.4 s, the satellite and the central unit of the launch vehicle entered orbit. For the first time, the first cosmic velocity was achieved, calculated by the founder of classical physics and the law of universal gravitation, the Englishman Isaac Newton (1643-1727). For the first satellite it was 7780 m/s. The inclination of the satellite's orbit was 65.1 o, the perigee height was 228 km, the apogee height was 947 km, and the orbital period was 96.17 minutes.

After the first delight, when the test site received the “BIP-BIP-BIP” signals that immediately became known to all mankind, and finally processed the telemetry, it turned out that the rocket launched “on the brink.” The engine of the side block “G” entered the mode late, i.e. less than a second before the control time. If he had been delayed a little more, the circuit would have automatically “reset” the installation and the start would have been cancelled. Moreover, at the 16th second of the flight, the tank emptying control system failed. This led to increased kerosene consumption and the engine of the central unit was turned off 1 s earlier than the calculated value. There were other problems too. If it had been a little longer, the first escape velocity might not have been achieved.

But the winners are judged! Great things have happened! On October 5, 1957, the TASS message ended with the words: “Artificial Earth satellites will pave the way for interplanetary travel and, apparently, our contemporaries are destined to witness how the liberated and conscious labor of the people of the new socialist society makes the most daring dreams of mankind come true.”

The first satellite existed for 92 days (until January 4, 1958). During this time, it completed 1440 revolutions, the central unit worked for 60 days: it was observed with the naked eye as a 1st magnitude star.

The world was literally stunned! Sputnik changed the political balance of power. The US Secretary of Defense said: “Victory in the war with the USSR is no longer achievable.” By replacing the thermonuclear hydrogen bomb with a small satellite, we have won a huge political and social victory.

A shortened version of the article by B. Chertok from the book “First Space” (M., 2007).

The editorial board of “Soviet Physicist” thanks the editors of the journal “Science in Russia” for the photographs provided

“And now? Oh, now."

Pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union V. Sevastyanov, in the article “Report to Tsiolkovsky,” assures that today the role of Russian cosmonautics is reduced to free delivery of Americans to the ISS and maintenance of the station. The Americans are testing a high-precision weapon guidance system on the ISS. Not a single cosmonaut of ours has ever been in their compartment!

“The first great step of humanity is to fly out of the atmosphere and become a satellite of the Earth. The rest is relatively easy, up to moving away from our solar system»

NEW SPACE AGE

On October 4, 1957, the world's first artificial Earth satellite was launched into low-Earth orbit, ushering in the space age in human history.

The satellite, which became the first artificial celestial body, was launched into orbit by the R-7 launch vehicle from the 5th Research Test Site of the USSR Ministry of Defense, which later received the open name Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The PS-1 spacecraft (the simplest satellite-1) was a ball with a diameter of 58 centimeters, weighed 83.6 kilograms, and was equipped with four pin antennas 2.4 and 2.9 meters long for transmitting signals from battery-powered transmitters. 295 seconds after launch, PS-1 and the central block of the rocket, weighing 7.5 tons, were launched into an elliptical orbit with an altitude of 947 km at apogee and 288 km at perigee. At 315 seconds after launch, the satellite separated from the second stage of the launch vehicle, and its call signs were immediately heard by the whole world.

The creation of an artificial Earth satellite, led by the founder of practical astronautics S.P. Scientists M.V. worked with Korolev. Keldysh, M.K. Tikhonravov, N.S. Lidorenko, V.I. Lapko, B.S. Chekunov and many others.

The PS-1 satellite flew for 92 days, until January 4, 1958, completing 1,440 revolutions around the Earth (about 60 million kilometers), and its radio transmitters operated for two weeks after launch.

The launch of an artificial Earth satellite was of enormous importance for understanding the properties of outer space and studying the Earth as a planet in our solar system. Analysis of the received signals from the satellite gave scientists the opportunity to study the upper layers of the ionosphere, which was not possible before. In addition, information about the operating conditions of the equipment, which was very useful for further launches, was obtained, all calculations were checked, and the density of the upper layers of the atmosphere was determined based on the braking of the satellite.

The launch of the first artificial Earth satellite received a huge worldwide response. The whole world learned about his flight. The entire world press talked about this event.

In September 1967, the International Astronautical Federation proclaimed October 4 as the Day of the Beginning of the Human Space Age.

THE TRUTH ABOUT SATELLITE

“On October 4, 1957, the first satellite was successfully launched in the USSR. According to preliminary data, the launch vehicle gave the satellite the required orbital speed of about 8,000 meters per second. Currently, the satellite describes elliptical trajectories around the Earth and its flight can be observed in the rays of the rising and setting Sun using simple optical instruments (binoculars, telescopes, etc.).

According to calculations, which are now being refined by direct observations, the satellite will move at altitudes of up to 900 kilometers above the Earth’s surface; the time of one complete revolution of the satellite will be 1 hour 35 minutes, the angle of inclination of the orbit to the equatorial plane is 65°. On October 5, 1957, the satellite will pass over the Moscow area twice - at 1 hour 46 minutes. at night and at 6 o'clock. 42 min. morning Moscow time. Messages about the subsequent movement of the first artificial satellite, launched in the USSR on October 4, will be transmitted regularly by broadcast radio stations.

The satellite has the shape of a ball with a diameter of 58 cm and a weight of 83.6 kg. It has two radio transmitters that continuously emit radio signals with a frequency of 20.005 and 40.002 megahertz (wavelength about 15 and 7.5 meters, respectively). Transmitter powers ensure reliable reception of radio signals by a wide range of radio amateurs. The signals take the form of telegraphic messages lasting about 0.3 seconds. with a pause of the same duration. A signal of one frequency is sent during a pause of a signal of another frequency...”

Sputnik: BAD IDEA

Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov was a man of incredible curiosity. Mathematics and many engineering disciplines, which he mastered at the Academy. N. E. Zhukovsky, did not dry up his romantic passion and penchant for fantastic thoughts. He painted landscapes in oils, collected a collection of woodcutter beetles, and studied the dynamics of insect flight, secretly hoping to discover some kind of new principle to design an incredible aircraft. He liked to mathematize dreams, and he received, perhaps, equal pleasure when calculations showed their reality, and when, on the contrary, they led to absurdity: he loved to find out. One day Tikhonravov decided to shortchange the artificial Earth satellite. Of course, he read Tsiolkovsky and knew that a single-stage rocket would not be able to put a satellite into orbit, he carefully studied his “Space Rocket Trains”, “The Highest Speed ​​of a Rocket” and other works in which the idea of ​​a multi-stage rocket was first theoretically substantiated, but he was interested in estimating various options for connecting these stages, see what all this adds up to on a scale, in short - decide how realistic the very idea of ​​​​obtaining the first cosmic speed needed by a satellite is at the current level of development of rocket technology. I started counting and became seriously interested. The defense research institute in which Mikhail Klavdievich worked was engaged in things incomparably more serious than an artificial Earth satellite, but to the credit of his boss, Alexei Ivanovich Nesterenko, all this unscheduled semi-fantastic work at the institute was not only not persecuted, but, on the contrary, was encouraged and supported by him, although it was not advertised in order to avoid accusations of project-making. Tikhonravov and a small group of his equally enthusiastic employees in 1947-1948, without any computers, did colossal calculation work and proved that there really is a real version of such a rocket package, which, in principle, can accelerate a certain load to the first cosmic speed.

In June 1948, the Academy of Artillery Sciences was preparing to hold a scientific session, and the institute where Tikhonravov worked received a paper asking what reports the research institute could present. Tikhonravov decided to report the results of his calculations on the satellite - an artificial Earth satellite. No one actively objected, but the topic of the report still sounded so strange, if not outlandish, that they decided to consult with the president of the artillery academy, Anatoly Arkadyevich Blagonravov.

Completely gray-haired at 54 years old, a handsome, exquisitely polite academician in the uniform of an artillery lieutenant general, surrounded by several of his closest employees, listened to the small delegation from the NIH very carefully. He understood that Mikhail Klavdievich’s calculations were correct, that all this was not Jules Verne or Herbert Wells, but he also understood something else: such a report would not grace the scientific session of the Artillery Academy.

“It’s an interesting question,” Anatoly Arkadyevich said in a tired, colorless voice, “but we won’t be able to include your report.” They will hardly understand us... They will accuse us of doing the wrong thing...

The people in uniform sitting around the president nodded in agreement.

When the small delegation of the research institute left, Blagonravov experienced some kind of mental discomfort. He worked a lot with the military and learned from them in general useful rule not to revise the decisions made, but then again and again he returned to Tikhonravov’s report and at home in the evening he thought about it again, he could not get rid of the thought that this frivolous report was actually serious.

Tikhonravov was a real researcher and good engineer, but he was not a fighter. The AAN president's refusal upset him. At the research institute, its young employees, who had remained silent in the president’s office, now raised a clamor, in which, however, new serious arguments in favor of their report flashed.

Why were you silent there? - Mikhail Klavdievich got angry.

We must go again and persuade the general! - the youth decided.

And the next day they went again. There was an impression that Blagonravov seemed delighted at their arrival. He smiled and listened to the new arguments with half an ear. Then he said:

OK then. We will include the report in the session plan. Get ready - we'll blush together...

Then there was a report, and after the report, as Blagonravov expected, one very serious man of considerable rank asked Anatoly Arkadyevich, as if in passing, looking over his interlocutor’s head:

The institute probably has nothing to do, and that’s why you decided to move into the field of science fiction...

There were plenty of ironic smiles. But there were not only smiles. Sergei Korolev approached Tikhonravov without a smile and said, sternly speaking in his manner:

We need to have a serious conversation...

SATELLITE AS A WARNING

Few people in America have heard of a man named Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. However, it was thanks to him that NASA was created; It was thanks to him that we got to the moon. It was thanks to this mysterious Russian that federal loans appeared in our country for higher education; He's the reason we can watch National Football League games on DirecTV.

“Chief Designer” - these words became the name of Korolev, the real information about whom was a state secret of the Soviet Union - almost single-handedly began the world rocket and space race. To a very large extent because of this stubborn man, a survivor of the Stalinist Gulag, although he lost all his teeth and almost his life in the Siberian camps, in 1960 the Republican Party lost the election to the White House, and Lyndon B. Johnson, on the contrary, passed along with John F. Kennedy and eventually became the thirty-sixth President of America.

For all these events are nothing more than even the largest consequences of the launch of the tiny Soviet Sputnik, created under the leadership of Korolev 50 years ago and launched into space on October 4, 1957. This launch caused panic in the United States, the consequences of which we feel until The main source of fear, however, was not this aluminum ball, but the huge carrier on which it flew into space - the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. This 183-ton weapon gave the former Soviet Union the ability to destroy any city in a few minutes. Earth - at that time, this was an opportunity that no one had - for the first time in American history, its territory became vulnerable to attack by a foreign power.

SECOND SLAP TO AMERICA

Before the United States could respond in any way to the flight of Sputnik 1, a second satellite was launched into low-Earth orbit on November 3 of the same year.

Laika is a dog, the first living creature launched into Earth orbit. It was launched into space on November 3, 1957 at half past six in the morning Moscow time on the Soviet ship Sputnik-2. She was housed in a space kennel the size of a washing machine. At that time, Laika was about two years old and weighed about 6 kilograms. Like many other animals in space, the dog died during the flight - 5-7 hours after launch, she died from stress and overheating. Although Laika failed to survive, the experiment confirmed that a living passenger could survive launch into orbit and weightlessness; Thus, Laika paved the way to space for people, including Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin. The first animals to return safely from space flight were the dogs Belka and Strelka.

In 1957, under the leadership of S.P. Korolev created the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile R-7, which was used to launch the same year the world's first artificial Earth satellite.

Artificial Earth satellite (satellite) is a spacecraft revolving around the Earth in a geocentric orbit. - the trajectory of a celestial body along an elliptical path around the Earth. One of the two foci of the ellipse along which the celestial body moves coincides with the Earth. In order to spaceship found himself in this orbit, he needs to be told a speed that is less than the second escape velocity, but not less than the first escape velocity. AES flights are carried out at altitudes of up to several hundred thousand kilometers. The lower limit of the satellite's flight altitude is determined by the need to avoid the process of rapid braking in the atmosphere. The orbital period of a satellite, depending on the average flight altitude, can range from one and a half hours to several days.

Of particular importance are satellites in geostationary orbit, whose orbital period is strictly equal to a day and therefore for a ground observer they “hang” motionless in the sky, which makes it possible to get rid of rotating devices in antennas. Geostationary orbit(GSO) - a circular orbit located above the Earth’s equator (0° latitude), while in which an artificial satellite orbits the planet with an angular velocity equal to the angular velocity of the Earth’s rotation around its axis. Movement of an artificial Earth satellite in geostationary orbit.

Sputnik-1- the first artificial Earth satellite, the first spacecraft, launched into orbit in the USSR on October 4, 1957.

Satellite code designation - PS-1(The simplest Sputnik-1). The launch was carried out from the 5th research site of the USSR Ministry of Defense "Tyura-Tam" (later this place was named the Baikonur Cosmodrome) on a Sputnik (R-7) launch vehicle.

Scientists M.V. Keldysh, M.K. Tikhonravov, N.S. Lidorenko, V.I. Lapko, B.S. Chekunov, A. worked on the creation of an artificial Earth satellite, led by the founder of practical cosmonautics S.P. Korolev. V. Bukhtiyarov and many others.

The date of the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite is considered the beginning of the space age of mankind, and in Russia it is celebrated as a memorable day of the Space Forces.

The satellite's body consisted of two hemispheres with a diameter of 58 cm made of aluminum alloy with docking frames connected to each other by 36 bolts. The tightness of the joint was ensured by a rubber gasket. In the upper half-shell there were two antennas, each of two rods 2.4 m and 2.9 m long. Since the satellite was unoriented, the four-antenna system gave uniform radiation in all directions.

Inside sealed housing a block of electrochemical sources was placed; radio transmitting device; fan; thermal relay and air duct of the thermal control system; switching device for on-board electrical automation; temperature and pressure sensors; onboard cable network. Mass of the first satellite: 83.6 kg.

The history of the creation of the first satellite

On May 13, 1946, Stalin signed a decree on the creation of a rocket science and industry in the USSR. In August S. P. Korolev was appointed chief designer of long-range ballistic missiles.

But back in 1931, the Jet Propulsion Study Group was created in the USSR, which was engaged in the design of rockets. This group worked Tsander, Tikhonravov, Pobedonostsev, Korolev. In 1933, on the basis of this group, the Jet Institute was organized, which continued work on creating and improving rockets.

In 1947, the V-2 rocket was assembled and flight tested in Germany, which marked the beginning of Soviet work on the development of rocket technology. However, the V-2 embodied in its design the ideas of single geniuses Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Hermann Oberth, Robert Goddard.

In 1948, tests of the R-1 rocket, which was a copy of the V-2, manufactured entirely in the USSR, were already carried out at the Kapustin Yar test site. Then the R-2 appeared with a flight range of up to 600 km; these missiles were put into service in 1951. And the creation of the R-5 missile with a range of up to 1200 km was the first break away from the V-2 technology. These missiles were tested in 1953, and research immediately began on their use as a launch vehicle. nuclear weapons. On May 20, 1954, the government issued a decree on the development of a two-stage R-7 intercontinental missile. And already on May 27, Korolev sent a report to the Minister of Defense Industry D.F. Ustinov about the development of an artificial satellite and the possibility of launching it using the future R-7 rocket.

Launch!

On Friday, October 4, at 22 hours 28 minutes 34 seconds Moscow time, the successful launch. 295 seconds after launch, PS-1 and the central block of the rocket, weighing 7.5 tons, were launched into an elliptical orbit with an altitude of 947 km at apogee and 288 km at perigee. At 314.5 seconds after launch, Sputnik separated and it cast its vote. “Beep! Beep! - that was his call sign. They were caught at the training ground for 2 minutes, then the Sputnik went beyond the horizon. People at the cosmodrome ran out into the street, shouted “Hurray!”, shook the designers and military personnel. And even on the first orbit, a TASS message was heard: “... As a result, a large hard work research institutes and design bureaus created the world's first artificial Earth satellite..."

Only after receiving the first signals from Sputnik did the results of processing telemetry data arrive and it turned out that only a fraction of a second separated it from failure. One of the engines was “delayed”, and the time to enter the mode is strictly controlled and if it is exceeded, the start is automatically canceled. The unit entered mode less than a second before the control time. At the 16th second of flight, the fuel supply control system failed, and due to increased kerosene consumption, the central engine turned off 1 second earlier than the estimated time. But the winners are not judged! The satellite flew for 92 days, until January 4, 1958, completing 1,440 revolutions around the Earth (about 60 million km), and its radio transmitters operated for two weeks after launch. Due to friction with the upper layers of the atmosphere, the satellite lost speed, entered the dense layers of the atmosphere and burned up due to friction with the air.

Officially Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, Soviet Union launched in accordance with its commitments to the International Geophysical Year. The satellite emitted radio waves at two frequencies of 20.005 and 40.002 MHz in the form of telegraphic messages lasting 0.3 s, this made it possible to study the upper layers of the ionosphere - before the launch of the first satellite it was possible to observe only the reflection of radio waves from regions of the ionosphere lying below the zone of maximum ionization of the ionospheric layers.

Launch goals

• verification of calculations and basic technical decisions taken for the launch;
• ionospheric studies of the passage of radio waves emitted by satellite transmitters;
• experimental determination of the density of the upper layers of the atmosphere by satellite deceleration;
• study of equipment operating conditions.

Despite the fact that the satellite was completely devoid of any scientific equipment, studying the nature of the radio signal and optical observations of the orbit made it possible to obtain important scientific data.

Other satellites

The second country to launch satellites was the United States: on February 1, 1958, an artificial earth satellite was launched Explorer-1. It was in orbit until March 1970, but stopped radio transmissions on February 28, 1958. The first American artificial Earth satellite was launched by Brown's team.

Werner Magnus Maximilian von Braun- German, and since the late 1940s, American designer of rocket and space technology, one of the founders of modern rocketry, creator of the first ballistic missiles. In the United States, he is considered the “father” of the American space program. Von Braun, for political reasons, was not given permission to launch the first American satellite for a long time (the US leadership wanted the satellite to be launched by the military), so preparations for the launch of the Explorer began in earnest only after the Avangard accident. For the launch, a souped-up version of the Redstone ballistic missile, called Jupiter-S, was created. The mass of the satellite was exactly 10 times less than the mass of the first Soviet satellite - 8.3 kg. It was equipped with a Geiger counter and a meteor particle sensor. The Explorer's orbit was noticeably higher than the orbit of the first satellite.

The following countries that launched satellites - Great Britain, Canada, Italy - launched their first satellites in 1962, 1962, 1964 . on American launch vehicles. And the third country to launch the first satellite on its launch vehicle was France November 26, 1965

Satellites are now being launched more than 40 countries (as well as individual companies) using both their own launch vehicles (LVs) and those provided as launch services by other countries and interstate and private organizations.