1 spaceship. Spaceship Vostok

It became the first spacecraft of the Vostok program aimed at manned flights. Prior to manned flight, the program launched several automatic vehicles between May 1960 and March 1961. The first launch took place on May 15, 1960, this ship was not even returnable. It was successfully launched, but on the 64th orbit there was a malfunction in the control system and the ship moved into a high orbit. This was followed by two unsuccessful, one partially unsuccessful and one successful launches. The last two launches showed the full performance of both the ship and the launch vehicle, which opened the way to space for man. The device took off on April 12, 1961 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, on board was the world's first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The first manned flight into space was also the shortest. Gagarin made only one revolution around the Earth in 108 minutes. The pericenter of the orbit was at an altitude of only 169 kilometers, the apocenter - 327 kilometers. The landing took place not in a descent capsule, but on a parachute fired at an altitude of 7 kilometers. At the same time, unlike more modern devices of the Vostok program, the device did not have a spare engine to correct the descent in the atmosphere. Instead, Gagarin had a supply of food for 10 days in case of a fall in an unplanned place.

It is also worth noting that during the first flight there were no ships providing space communications, so it was carried out only from the territory of the USSR. However, Gagarin's regular staff did not have the ability to control the flight. Everything had to happen automatically or by commands from ground control centers - if they were in the communication zone. This decision was made because of the unknown effect of weightlessness conditions on humans. To enable manual control in case of an emergency, a code had to be entered.

On April 11, the Vostok-K launch vehicle with a fortified apparatus was transported in a horizontal state to the launch pad, where it was examined by Korolev for malfunctions. After his approval, the rocket was brought to a vertical position. At 10 am, Gagarin and Titov, the reserve cosmonaut, received the final flight plan, which was scheduled to begin at 9:07 am the next day. The choice of the launch time was determined by the conditions of the descent. During the start of the descent maneuver, the vehicle had to fly over Africa with the best orientation of its solar sensors. High accuracy during the maneuver was necessary to hit the planned landing point.

Pick up on the day of the flight was scheduled for 5:30 am. After breakfast, they put on spacesuits and arrived at the launch site. At 07:10, Gagarin was already in the spacecraft and communicated with the control center by radio for two hours before launch, while his image from the onboard camera was available in the center. The hatch of the ship was battened down 40 minutes after Gagarin boarded the ship, but a leak was discovered, so it had to be opened and battened down again.

The launch took place at 09:07. 119 seconds after launch, the booster's external auxiliary engines used up all their fuel and were separated. After 156 seconds, the containment shell was dropped, after 300 - the main stage of the launch vehicle, however, the booster continued to launch. Three minutes after the start of the flight, the device had already begun to leave the communication zone with Baikonur. Only 25 minutes after the start of the flight, it was found that the device entered the calculated orbit. In fact, Vostok-1 went into orbit 676 seconds after launch, ten seconds before that, the upper stage engines worked out.

At 09:31 Vostok left the communication zone with the station in Khabarovsk in the very high frequency range and switched to the high frequency mode. At 09:51, the orientation detection system was activated, which is necessary for the correct issuance of an impulse to the descent. The main system was based on solar sensors. In the event of its failure, it was possible to switch to manual control mode and use approximate visual guidance. Each of the systems had its own set of propulsion nozzles and 10 kilograms of fuel. At 09:53 Gagarin learns from the station in Khabarovsk that he has entered the calculated orbit. At 10:00 a.m., as Vostok was flying over the Strait of Magellan, the news of the flight was broadcast over the radio.

At 10:25 the ship was automatically brought into the orientation required for descent. The start of the engines occurred at a distance of about 8,000 kilometers from the desired landing point. The impulse lasted 42 seconds. Ten seconds after the completion of the maneuver, the service module was supposed to separate from the descent module, but it turned out to be connected to the descent module by a network of wires. However, due to vibrations during the passage of dense layers of the atmosphere, the service module separated over Egypt and the device was brought into the correct orientation.

At 09:55, at an altitude of 7 kilometers, the hatch of the apparatus opened and Gagarin ejected. The apparatus itself also descended on a parachute that opened 2.5 kilometers from the Earth. Gagarin's parachute opened almost immediately after the ejection. Upon landing, Gagarin missed by only 280 kilometers.

100 years ago, the founding fathers of astronautics could hardly have imagined that spaceships would be thrown into a landfill after a single flight. It is not surprising that the first ship designs were seen as reusable and often winged. For a long time - until the very beginning of manned flights - they competed on the drawing boards of designers with disposable Vostoks and Mercurys. Alas, most of the reusable ships remained projects, and the only reusable system put into operation (Space Shuttle) turned out to be terribly expensive and far from the most reliable. Why did it happen?

Rocketry is based on two sources - aviation and artillery. The aviation beginning required reusability and wingedness, while the artillery was inclined to the one-time use of a “rocket projectile”. combat missiles, from which practical astronautics grew, were, of course, disposable.

When it came to practice, designers were faced with a whole range of high-speed flight problems, including extremely high mechanical and thermal loads. Through theoretical research, as well as trial and error, engineers were able to choose the optimal shape of the warhead and effective heat-shielding materials. And when the question of developing real spacecraft was on the agenda, the designers were faced with a choice of concept: to build a space “aircraft” or a capsule-type apparatus similar to the head of an intercontinental ballistic missile? Since the space race was going on at a frantic pace, the simplest solution was chosen - after all, in terms of aerodynamics and design, the capsule is much simpler than an airplane.

It quickly became clear that at the technical level of those years, it was almost impossible to make a capsule ship reusable. The ballistic capsule enters the atmosphere at great speed, and its surface can heat up to 2,500-3,000 degrees. A space plane with a sufficiently high aerodynamic quality experiences almost half as much temperature during descent from orbit (1,300-1,600 degrees), but materials suitable for its thermal protection were not yet created in the 1950s-1960s. At that time, the only effective thermal protection was obviously disposable ablative coating: the coating substance was melted and evaporated from the surface of the capsule by the incoming gas flow, absorbing and carrying away heat, which otherwise would have caused unacceptable heating of the descent vehicle.

Attempts to place all systems in a single capsule - a propulsion system with fuel tanks, control systems, life support and power supply - led to a rapid increase in the mass of the device: the larger the capsule, the greater the mass of the heat-shielding coating (which was used, for example, glass fiber impregnated with phenolic resins with a fairly high density). However, the carrying capacity of the then launch vehicles was limited. The solution was found in the division of the ship into functional compartments. The "heart" of the cosmonaut's life support system was placed in a relatively small cabin-capsule with thermal protection, and the blocks of the remaining systems were placed in disposable detachable compartments, naturally, which did not have any heat-shielding coating. It seems that the small resource of the main systems of space technology also pushed the designers to such a decision. For example, a liquid-propellant rocket engine "lives" for several hundred seconds, and in order to bring its resource up to several hours, you need to make very great efforts.

Background of reusable ships
One of the first technically developed projects of the space shuttle was a rocket plane designed by Eugen Senger. In 1929 he chose this project for his doctoral dissertation. As conceived by the Austrian engineer, who was only 24 years old, the rocket plane was supposed to go into low Earth orbit, for example, to service the orbital station, and then return to Earth with the help of wings. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, in a specially created closed research institute, he carried out a deep study of a rocket aircraft known as the "antipodal bomber". Fortunately, the project was not implemented in the Third Reich, but became the starting point for many post-war works both in the West and in the USSR.

So, in the USA, on the initiative of V. Dornberger (the head of the V-2 program in fascist Germany), in the early 1950s, the Bomi rocket bomber was designed, a two-stage version of which could go into near-Earth orbit. In 1957, the US military began work on the DynaSoar rocket plane. The device was supposed to carry out special missions (inspection of satellites, reconnaissance and strike operations, etc.) and return to the base in a planning flight.

In the USSR, even before the flight of Yuri Gagarin, several options for winged reusable manned vehicles were considered, such as the VKA-23 (chief designer V.M. Myasishchev), "136" (A.N. Tupolev), as well as the project P.V. . Tsybin, known as the "Lapotok", developed by order of S.P. Queen.

In the second half of the 1960s in the USSR in the Design Bureau A.I. Mikoyan, under the direction of G.E. Lozino-Lozinsky, work was underway on the Spiral reusable aerospace system, which consisted of a supersonic booster aircraft and an orbital aircraft launched into orbit using a two-stage rocket booster. The orbital aircraft was similar in size and purpose to the DynaSoar, but differed in shape and technical details. The option of launching the Spiral into space using the Soyuz launch vehicle was also considered.

Due to the insufficient technical level of those years, none of the numerous projects of reusable winged vehicles of the 1950-1960s left the design stage.

First incarnation

And yet the idea of reusable rocket and space technology turned out to be tenacious. By the end of the 1960s, in the United States and somewhat later in the USSR and Europe, a considerable reserve had been accumulated in the field of hypersonic aerodynamics, new structural and heat-shielding materials. And theoretical studies were reinforced by experiments, including flights of experimental aircraft, the most famous of which was the American X-15.

In 1969, NASA entered into the first contracts with US aerospace companies to study the appearance of the promising reusable space transport system Space Shuttle (English - "space shuttle"). According to forecasts of that time, by the beginning of the 1980s, the Earth-orbit-Earth cargo flow was to be up to 800 tons per year, and the shuttles were to make 50-60 flights annually, delivering spacecraft for various purposes, as well as crews and cargo for orbital stations. It was expected that the cost of launching cargo into orbit would not exceed $1,000 per kilogram. At the same time, the space shuttle required the ability to return sufficiently large loads from orbit, for example, expensive multi-ton satellites for repairs on Earth. It should be noted that the task of returning cargo from orbit is in some respects more difficult than putting them into space. For example, on the Soyuz spacecraft, astronauts returning from the International Space Station can take less than a hundred kilograms of luggage.

In May 1970, after analyzing the proposals received, NASA chose a system with two winged stages and issued contracts for further development of the project by North American Rockwell and McDonnel Douglas. With a launch weight of about 1,500 tons, it was supposed to launch from 9 to 20 tons of payload into low orbit. Both stages were supposed to be equipped with bundles of oxygen-hydrogen engines with a thrust of 180 tons each. However, in January 1971, the requirements were revised - the output weight increased to 29.5 tons, and the starting weight to 2,265 tons. According to calculations, the launch of the system cost no more than $ 5 million, but the development was estimated at $ 10 billion - more than the US Congress was ready to allocate (let's not forget that the United States was at that time waging war in Indochina).

NASA and the development firms were faced with the task of reducing the cost of the project by at least half. Within the framework of a fully reusable concept, this was not achieved: it was too difficult to develop thermal protection for steps with voluminous cryogenic tanks. There was an idea to make the tanks external, disposable. Then they abandoned the winged first stage in favor of reusable starting solid-propellant boosters. The configuration of the system took on a look familiar to everyone, and its cost, about $ 5 billion, fit within the specified limits. True, the launch costs at the same time increased to 12 million dollars, but this was considered quite acceptable. As one of the developers bitterly joked, “the shuttle was designed by accountants, not engineers.”

Full-scale development of the Space Shuttle, entrusted to North American Rockwell (later Rockwell International), began in 1972. By the time the system was put into operation (and the first flight of Columbia took place on April 12, 1981 - exactly 20 years after Gagarin), it was in every respect a technological masterpiece. That's just the cost of its development exceeded 12 billion dollars. Today, the cost of one launch reaches a fantastic 500 million dollars! How so? After all, reusable, in principle, should be cheaper than disposable (at least in terms of one flight)?

Firstly, the forecasts for the volume of cargo traffic did not come true - it turned out to be an order of magnitude less than expected. Secondly, the compromise between engineers and financiers did not benefit the efficiency of the shuttle: the cost of repair and restoration work for a number of units and systems reached half the cost of their production! Maintenance of the unique ceramic thermal protection was especially expensive. Finally, the rejection of the winged first stage led to the fact that for reuse solid-fuel boosters had to organize expensive search and rescue operations.

In addition, the shuttle could only operate in manned mode, which significantly increased the cost of each mission. The cabin with the astronauts is not separated from the ship, which is why in some areas of the flight any serious accident is fraught with a catastrophe with the death of the crew and the loss of the shuttle. This has happened twice already - with the Challenger (January 28, 1986) and Columbia (February 1, 2003). The latest catastrophe has changed attitudes towards the Space Shuttle program: after 2010, the "shuttles" will be decommissioned. They will be replaced by the Orions, outwardly very reminiscent of their grandfather - the Apollo ship - and having a reusable rescue capsule of the crew.

Hermes, France/ESA, 1979-1994. An orbital aircraft launched vertically by an Ariane-5 rocket, landing horizontally with a lateral maneuver up to 1,500 km. Launch weight - 700 tons, orbital stage - 10-20 tons. Crew - 3-4 people, output cargo - 3 tons, return - 1.5 tons

New generation shuttles

Since the beginning of the implementation of the Space Shuttle program, attempts have been made repeatedly in the world to create new reusable spacecraft. The Hermes project began to be developed in France in the late 1970s, and then continued within the framework of the European Space Agency. This small space plane, strongly reminiscent of the DynaSoar project (and the Clipper being developed in Russia), was supposed to be launched into orbit by a disposable Ariane-5 rocket, delivering several crew members and up to three tons of cargo to the orbital station. Despite the rather conservative design, Hermes turned out to be beyond Europe's strength. In 1994, the project, which cost about $2 billion, was closed.

Much more fantastic was the project of an unmanned aerospace aircraft with horizontal take-off and landing HOTOL (Horizontal Take-Off and Landing), proposed in 1984 by British Aerospace. According to the plan, this single-stage winged vehicle was supposed to be equipped with a unique propulsion system that liquefies oxygen from the air in flight and uses it as an oxidizer. Hydrogen served as fuel. Funding for work from the state (three million pounds sterling) stopped after three years due to the need for huge costs to demonstrate the concept of an unusual engine. An intermediate position between the "revolutionary" HOTOL and the conservative "Hermes" is occupied by the Sanger aerospace system project, developed in the mid-1980s in Germany. The first stage in it was a hypersonic booster aircraft with combined turboramjet engines. After reaching 4-5 speeds of sound, either the Horus manned aerospace plane or the Kargus disposable cargo stage was launched from its back. However, this project did not leave the "paper" stage, mainly for financial reasons.

The American NASP project was introduced by President Reagan in 1986 as National program aerospace aircraft. Often referred to in the press as the "Orient Express", this single-stage craft had fantastic flight characteristics. They were provided by supersonic ramjet engines, which, according to experts, could operate at Mach numbers from 6 to 25. However, the project ran into technical problems, and in the early 1990s it was closed.

The Soviet "Buran" was presented in the domestic (and foreign) press as an unconditional success. However, having made the only unmanned flight on November 15, 1988, this ship has sunk into oblivion. In fairness, it must be said that Buran turned out to be no less perfect than the Space Shuttle. And in terms of safety and versatility of use, it even surpassed its overseas competitor. Unlike the Americans, Soviet specialists had no illusions about the cost-effectiveness of a reusable system - calculations showed that a disposable rocket was more efficient. But when creating Buran, another aspect was the main one - the Soviet shuttle was developed as a military space system. With the ending " cold war This aspect has faded into the background, which cannot be said about economic feasibility. And Buran had a bad time with it: its launch cost as a simultaneous launch of a couple of hundred Soyuz carriers. The fate of Buran was sealed.

Pros and cons

Despite the fact that new programs for the development of reusable ships appear like mushrooms after rain, so far none of them has been successful. The projects mentioned above by Hermes (France, ESA), HOTOL (Great Britain) and Sanger (Germany) ended in nothing. "Zavis" between eras MAKS - Soviet-Russian reusable aerospace system. The NASP (National Aerospace Plane) and RLV (Reusable Launch Vehicle) programs, the latest US attempts to create a second-generation MTKS to replace the Space Shuttle, also failed. What is the reason for this unenviable constancy?

MAKS, USSR/Russia, since 1985. Reusable system with air start, horizontal landing. Takeoff weight - 620 tons, second stage (with fuel tank) - 275 tons, orbital aircraft - 27 tons. Crew - 2 people, payload - up to 8 tons. According to the developers (NPO Molniya), MAKS is the closest to implementation of the reusable ship project

Compared to a disposable launch vehicle, the creation of a "classic" reusable transport system is extremely expensive. By themselves, the technical problems of reusable systems are solvable, but the cost of their solution is very high. Increasing the frequency of use sometimes requires a very significant increase in mass, which leads to an increase in cost. To compensate for the increase in mass, ultra-light and super-strong (and more expensive) structural and heat-shielding materials are taken (and often invented from scratch), as well as engines with unique parameters. And the use of reusable systems in the field of little-studied hypersonic speeds requires significant costs for aerodynamic research.

And yet this does not mean at all that reusable systems, in principle, cannot pay off. The position changes when in large numbers launches. Let's say the system development cost is $10 billion. Then, with 10 flights (without the cost of inter-flight maintenance), a development cost of 1 billion dollars will be charged per launch, and with a thousand flights - only 10 million! However, due to the general reduction in the “cosmic activity of mankind”, one can only dream of such a number of launches ... So, can we put an end to reusable systems? Not everything is so clear here.

First, the growth of "space activity of civilization" is not ruled out. Certain hopes are given by the new space tourism market. Perhaps, at first, small and medium-sized ships of the “combined” type (reusable versions of the “classic” disposable ones), such as the European Hermes or, which is closer to us, the Russian Clipper, will be in demand. They are relatively simple, they can be launched into space by conventional (including, possibly, already available) disposable launch vehicles. Yes, such a scheme does not reduce the cost of delivering cargo into space, but it allows to reduce the cost of the mission as a whole (including removing the burden of series production ships). In addition, winged vehicles make it possible to drastically reduce the G-forces acting on astronauts during descent, which is an undoubted advantage.

Secondly, which is especially important for Russia, the use of reusable winged stages makes it possible to remove restrictions on the launch azimuth and reduce the cost of exclusion zones allocated for the impact fields of launch vehicle fragments.

Clipper, Russia, since 2000. A new spacecraft under development with a reusable cabin for delivering crew and cargo to near-Earth orbit and an orbital station. Vertical launch by Soyuz-2 rocket, horizontal or parachute landing. The crew is 5-6 people, the launch weight of the ship is up to 13 tons, the landing weight is up to 8.8 tons. The expected date of the first manned orbital flight is 2015

Hypersonic engines
The most promising type of propulsion for reusable aerospace aircraft with horizontal takeoff, some experts consider hypersonic ramjet engines (scramjet engines), or, as they are more commonly called, ramjet engines with supersonic combustion. The engine layout is extremely simple - it has neither a compressor nor a turbine. The air flow is compressed by the surface of the device, as well as in a special air intake. Typically, the only moving part of the engine is the fuel pump.

The main feature of the scramjet is that at flight speeds six or more times higher than the speed of sound, the air flow does not have time to slow down in the intake tract to subsonic speed, and combustion must occur in a supersonic flow. And this presents certain difficulties - usually the fuel does not have time to burn in such conditions. For a long time it was believed that the only fuel suitable for scramjet engines was hydrogen. True, encouraging results have recently been obtained with fuels such as kerosene.

Despite the fact that hypersonic engines have been studied since the mid-1950s, not a single full-size flight model has yet been made: the complexity of calculating gas-dynamic processes at hypersonic speeds requires expensive full-scale flight experiments. In addition, heat-resistant materials are needed that are resistant to oxidation at high speeds, as well as an optimized fuel supply and cooling system for the scramjet in flight.

A significant drawback of hypersonic engines is that they cannot work from the start, the device must be accelerated to supersonic speeds by others, for example, conventional turbojet engines. And, of course, a scramjet only works in the atmosphere, so you need a rocket engine to go into orbit. The need to put several engines on one apparatus greatly complicates the design of an aerospace aircraft.

Multifaceted multiplicity

Options for the constructive implementation of reusable systems are very diverse. When discussing them, one should not be limited only to ships, it must be said about reusable carriers - cargo reusable transport space systems (MTKS). Obviously, in order to reduce the cost of developing MTKS, it is necessary to create unmanned ones and not overload them with redundant functions, like a shuttle. This will significantly simplify and facilitate the design.

From the point of view of ease of operation, single-stage systems are the most attractive: theoretically, they are much more reliable than multi-stage systems and do not require any exclusion zones (for example, the VentureStar project, created in the USA under the RLV program in the mid-1990s). But their implementation is "on the verge of the possible": to create them, it is necessary to reduce the relative mass of the structure by at least a third compared to modern systems. However, two-stage reusable systems can also have quite acceptable performance characteristics if winged first stages are used, returning to the launch site in an airplane manner.

In general, MTKS, as a first approximation, can be classified according to the methods of launch and landing: horizontal and vertical. It is often thought that horizontal launch systems have the advantage of not requiring complex launch facilities. However, modern airfields are not capable of receiving vehicles weighing more than 600-700 tons, and this significantly limits the capabilities of systems with a horizontal launch. In addition, it is difficult to imagine a space system filled with hundreds of tons of cryogenic fuel components among civilian airliners taking off and landing at the airfield on schedule. And if we take into account the noise level requirements, it becomes obvious that for carriers with a horizontal launch, it will still be necessary to build separate high-class airfields. So horizontal takeoff has no significant advantages over vertical takeoff. On the other hand, when taking off and landing vertically, you can abandon the wings, which greatly facilitates and reduces the cost of the design, but at the same time makes it difficult to make an accurate landing approach and leads to an increase in g-forces during descent.

Both traditional liquid-propellant rocket engines (LPRE) and various variants and combinations of air-jet engines (WRE) are considered as MTKS propulsion systems. Among the latter there are turbo-ramjet, which can accelerate the device "from a standstill" to a speed corresponding to the Mach number of 3.5-4.0, ramjet with subsonic combustion (operating from M = 1 to M = 6), ramjet with supersonic combustion (from M =6 to M=15, and according to optimistic estimates of American scientists, even up to M=24) and ramjet capable of operating in the entire range of flight speeds - from zero to orbital.

Air-jet engines are an order of magnitude more economical than rocket engines (due to the lack of an oxidizing agent on board the vehicle), but at the same time they have an order of magnitude higher specific gravity, as well as very serious restrictions on speed and flight altitude. For the rational use of the VJE, it is required to fly at high speed pressures, while protecting the structure from aerodynamic loads and overheating. That is, saving fuel - the cheapest component of the system - VJDs increase the mass of the structure, which is much more expensive. Nevertheless, WFDs are likely to find application in relatively small reusable horizontal launch vehicles.

The most realistic, that is, simple and relatively cheap to develop, are perhaps two types of systems. The first is of the type of the already mentioned Clipper, in which only the manned winged reusable vehicle (or most of it) turned out to be fundamentally new. small size although they create certain difficulties in terms of thermal protection, they reduce development costs. Technical problems for such devices are practically solved. So Clipper is a step in the right direction.

The second is vertical launch systems with two cruise missile stages, which can independently return to the launch site. No special technical problems are expected during their creation, and a suitable launch complex can probably be selected from among those already built.

Summing up, we can assume that the future of reusable space systems will not be cloudless. They will have to defend the right to exist in a severe struggle with primitive, but reliable and cheap disposable missiles.

Dmitry Vorontsov, Igor Afanasiev

These were the simplest (as far as a spacecraft can be simple) devices that had a glorious history: the first manned flight into space, the first daily space flight, the first sleep of an astronaut in orbit (German Titov managed to oversleep a communication session), the first a group flight of two spacecraft, the first woman in space, and even such an achievement as the first use of a space toilet, carried out by Valery Bykovsky on the Vostok-5 spacecraft.

Boris Evseevich Chertok wrote well about the latter in his memoirs "Rockets and People":
“On June 18, in the morning, the attention of the State Commission and all the “fans” gathered at our checkpoint switched from Chaika to Hawk. Khabarovsk received Bykovsky’s message on the HF channel: “At 9:05 there was a cosmic knock.” Korolev and Tyulin immediately began development of a list of questions that should be asked to Bykovsky when he appears in our communication zone in order to understand how great the danger threatening the ship is.
Someone has already been given the task to calculate the size of the meteorite, which is sufficient for the astronaut to hear the “knock”. They also racked their brains over what could happen in the event of a collision, but without loss of tightness. Bykovsky was interrogated by Kamanin.
At the beginning of the communication session, in response to a question about the nature and area of the knock, "Hawk" replied that he did not understand what was being said. After being reminded of the radiogram transmitted at 9.05 am and Zorya repeating its text, Bykovsky answered through laughter: “There was not a knock, but a chair. There was a chair, you understand? Everyone who listened to the answer burst out laughing. The cosmonaut was wished further success and was told that he would be returned to Earth, despite his brave act, at the beginning of the sixth day.
The "space chair" incident has entered the oral history of astronautics as a classic example of the misuse of medical terminology in the space communications channel.

Because Vostok 1 and Vostok 2 flew alone, and Vostok 3 and 4 and Vostok 5 and 6, which flew in pairs, were far apart, no photographs of this ship in orbit exist. You can only watch films from Gagarin's flight in this video from the Roscosmos television studio:

And we will study the device of the ship on museum exhibits. The Kaluga Museum of Cosmonautics has a life-size model of the Vostok spacecraft:

Here we see a spherical descent vehicle with a cunning porthole (we'll talk about it separately) and radio antennas, attached to the instrument-aggregate compartment with four steel bands. The fastening tapes are connected at the top with a lock that separates them to separate the SA from the PAO before entering the atmosphere. On the left you can see a pack of cables from PAO, attached to a CA of solid size with a connector. The second porthole is located on the reverse side of the SA.

There are 14 balloons on the PJSC (I already wrote about why in astronautics they love to make balloons in the form of balloons so much) with oxygen for the life support system and nitrogen for the orientation system. Below, on the surface of the PAO, tubes from balloons, electrovalves and orientation system nozzles are visible. This system is made according to the simplest technology: nitrogen is supplied to the the right quantities to the nozzles, from where it bursts into space, creating a jet impulse that turns the ship into the right side. The disadvantages of the system are the extremely low specific impulse and the short total operating time. The developers did not assume that the astronaut would turn the ship back and forth, but would get by with the view through the window that the automation would provide him.

The solar sensor and the infrared vertical sensor are located on the same side surface. These words only look terribly abstruse, in fact, everything is quite simple. To decelerate the ship and deorbit it must be deployed "tail first". To do this, you need to set the position of the ship along two axes: pitch and yaw. Rolling is not so necessary, but it was done along the way. At first, the orientation system gave out an impulse to rotate the ship in pitch and roll and stopped this rotation as soon as the infrared sensor caught the maximum thermal radiation from the Earth's surface. This is called "setting the infrared vertical". Due to this, the engine nozzle became directed horizontally. Now you need to direct it straight ahead. The ship turned around in a yaw until the solar sensor recorded the maximum illumination. Such an operation was carried out at a strictly programmed moment, when the position of the Sun was exactly such that, with the solar sensor directed at it, the engine nozzle turned out to be directed strictly forward, in the direction of travel. After that, also under the control of a time-program device, a brake propulsion system was launched, which reduced the speed of the ship by 100 m / s, which was enough to deorbit.

Below, on the conical part of the PJSC, another set of radio communication antennas and shutters are installed, under which the radiators of the thermal control system are hidden. By opening and closing a different number of shutters, an astronaut can set a comfortable temperature for him in the spacecraft cabin. Below all is the nozzle of the brake propulsion system.

Inside the PJSC are the remaining elements of the TDU, tanks with fuel and oxidizer for it, a battery of silver-zinc galvanic cells, a thermoregulation system (pump, coolant supply and tubes to radiators) and a telemetry system (a bunch of various sensors that tracked the status of all ship systems).

Due to the restrictions on dimensions and weight dictated by the design of the launch vehicle, the backup TDU simply would not have fit there, therefore, for the Vostoks, a somewhat unusual emergency method of deorbiting in case of TDU failure was used: the ship was launched into such a low orbit, in which it it will burrow into the atmosphere itself after a week of flight, and the life support system is designed for 10 days, so the astronaut would have survived, even though the landing would have happened where the hell.

Now let's move on to the device of the descent vehicle, which was the cabin of the ship. Another exhibit of the Kaluga Museum of Cosmonautics will help us with this, namely the original SA of the Vostok-5 spacecraft, on which Valery Bykovsky flew from June 14 to June 19, 1963.

The mass of the apparatus is 2.3 tons, and almost half of it is the mass of the heat-protective ablative coating. That is why the Vostok descent vehicle was made in the form of a ball (the smallest surface area of all geometric bodies) and that is why all the systems that were not needed during landing were brought into an unpressurized instrument-aggregate compartment. This made it possible to make the SA as small as possible: its outer diameter was 2.4 m, and the astronaut had only 1.6 cubic meters of volume at his disposal.

The cosmonaut in the SK-1 space suit (space suit of the first model) was seated on an ejection seat, which had a dual purpose.

It was an emergency rescue system in the event of a launch vehicle failure at launch or during the launch phase, and it was also a regular landing system. After braking in the dense layers of the atmosphere at an altitude of 7 km, the cosmonaut ejected and descended on a parachute separately from the spacecraft. Of course, he could have landed in the apparatus, but a strong blow when touched earth's surface could lead to injury to the astronaut, although it was not fatal.

I managed to photograph the interior of the descent vehicle in more detail on a model of it in the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics.

To the left of the chair is the control panel for the ship's systems. It made it possible to regulate the air temperature in the ship, control the gas composition of the atmosphere, record the astronaut's conversations with the earth and everything else that the astronaut said on a tape recorder, open and close the porthole shutters, adjust the brightness of the interior lighting, turn the radio station on and off, and turn on the manual orientation system. in case of automatic failure. The toggle switches for the manual orientation system are located at the end of the console under a protective cap. On Vostok-1, they were blocked by a combination lock (its keypad is visible a little higher), as doctors were afraid that a person would go crazy in zero gravity, and entering the code was considered a test of sanity.

Directly in front of the chair is a dashboard. This is just a bunch of display meters, by which the astronaut could determine the flight time, the air pressure in the cabin, the gas composition of the air, the pressure in the tanks of the attitude control system and his own geographical position. The latter was shown by a globe with a clockwork, turning in the course of flight.

Below the dashboard is a porthole with a Gaze tool for the manual orientation system.

It is very easy to use it. We deploy the ship in roll and pitch until we see the earth's horizon in the annular zone along the edge of the porthole. There, just mirrors stand around the porthole, and the entire horizon is visible in them only when the apparatus is turned straight down through this porthole. Thus, the infrared vertical is manually set. Next, we turn the ship along the yaw until the run of the earth's surface in the porthole coincides with the direction of the arrows drawn on it. That's it, the orientation is set, and the moment the TDU is turned on will be prompted by a mark on the globe. The disadvantage of the system is that it can only be used on the day side of the Earth.

Now let's see what is to the right of the chair:

A hinged cover is visible below and to the right of the dashboard. A radio station is hidden under it. Below this cover, the handle of the automated control system (cessation and sanitary device, that is, the toilet) sticking out of the pocket is visible. To the right of the ACS is a small handrail, and next to it is the ship's attitude control handle. Above the handle, a television camera was fixed (another camera was between the dashboard and the porthole, but it is not on this layout, but it is visible in Bykovsky's ship in the photo above), and to the right - several covers of containers with a supply of food and drinking water.

The entire inner surface of the descent vehicle is covered with white soft cloth, so that the cabin looks quite cozy, although it is cramped in there, like in a coffin.

Here it is, the world's first spaceship. In total, 6 manned spacecraft Vostok flew, but unmanned satellites are still operated on the basis of this ship. For example, Biome, intended for experiments on animals and plants in space:

Or the topographic satellite Comet, whose descent module anyone can see and touch in the courtyard of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg:

For manned flights, such a system is now, of course, hopelessly outdated. Even then, in the era of the first space flights, it was a rather dangerous apparatus. Here is what Boris Evseevich Chertok writes about this in his book "Rockets and People":
"If the Vostok ship and all the modern main ones were put on the test site now, they would sit down and look at it, no one would vote to launch such an unreliable ship. I also signed the documents that everything is in order with me, I guarantee flight safety. Today I I would never have signed it. Gained a lot of experience and realized how much we risked."

The moon was destined to become that celestial body, which is associated with perhaps the most effective and impressive successes of mankind outside the Earth. The direct study of the natural satellite of our planet began with the start of the Soviet lunar program. On January 2, 1959, the Luna-1 automatic station for the first time in history carried out a flight to the Moon.

The first launch of a satellite to the Moon (Luna-1) was a huge breakthrough in space exploration, but the main goal, the flight from one celestial body to another, was never achieved. The launch of Luna-1 gave a lot of scientific and practical information in the field of space flights to other celestial bodies. During the flight of "Luna-1" the second cosmic velocity was achieved for the first time and information was obtained about the Earth's radiation belt and outer space. In the world press, the Luna-1 spacecraft was called Mechta.

All this was taken into account when launching the next Luna-2 satellite. In principle, Luna-2 almost completely repeated its predecessor Luna-1, the same scientific instruments and equipment made it possible to fill in data on interplanetary space and correct the data obtained by Luna-1. For the Launch, the RN 8K72 Luna with the "E" block was also used. On September 12, 1959 at 6:39 a.m., Luna-2 AMS was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. And already on September 14 at 00:02:24 Moscow time, Luna-2 reached the surface of the Moon, making the first ever flight from the Earth to the Moon.

The automatic interplanetary vehicle reached the surface of the Moon east of the "Sea of Clarity", near the craters Aristilus, Archimedes and Autolycus (selenographic latitude +30°, longitude 0°). As the processing of data on the orbit parameters shows, the last stage of the rocket also reached the surface of the Moon. Three symbolic pennants were placed on board Luna-2: two in the automatic interplanetary vehicle and one in the last stage of the rocket with the inscription "USSR September 1959". Inside Luna-2 there was a metal ball consisting of pentagonal pennants, and when it hit the lunar surface, the ball shattered into dozens of pennants.

Dimensions: Total length was 5.2 meters. The diameter of the satellite itself is 2.4 meters.

RN: Luna (modification R-7)

Weight: 390.2 kg.

Tasks: Reaching the surface of the Moon (completed). Achievement of the second cosmic velocity (completed). Overcome the gravity of the planet Earth (completed). Delivery of pennants "USSR" to the surface of the moon (completed).

JOURNEY TO SPACE

"Luna" is the name of the Soviet lunar exploration program and a series of spacecraft launched in the USSR to the Moon since 1959.

Spacecraft of the first generation ("Luna-1" - "Luna-3") made a flight from the Earth to the Moon without first launching an artificial Earth satellite into orbit, making corrections on the Earth-Moon trajectory and braking near the Moon. The devices carried out the flyby of the Moon ("Luna-1"), reaching the Moon ("Luna-2"), flying around it and photographing it ("Luna-3").

Spacecraft of the second generation ("Luna-4" - "Luna-14") were launched using more advanced methods: preliminary insertion of an artificial Earth satellite into orbit, then launch to the Moon, trajectory corrections and braking in circumlunar space. During the launches, the flight to the Moon and landing on its surface (“Luna-4” - “Luna-8”), soft landing (“Luna-9” and “Luna-13”) and the transfer of an artificial satellite of the Moon into orbit (“Luna -10", "Luna-11", "Luna-12", "Luna-14").

More advanced and heavier spacecraft of the third generation ("Luna-15" - "Luna-24") carried out a flight to the Moon according to the scheme used by the second generation vehicles; At the same time, to increase the accuracy of landing on the Moon, it is possible to carry out several corrections on the flight trajectory from the Earth to the Moon and in the orbit of the artificial satellite of the Moon. The Luna spacecraft provided the first scientific data on the Moon, the development of a soft landing on the Moon, the creation of artificial satellites of the Moon, taking and delivery of soil samples to the Earth, transportation of lunar self-propelled vehicles to the surface of the Moon. The creation and launch of various automatic lunar vehicles is a feature of the Soviet lunar exploration program.

MOON RACE

The USSR started the “game” by launching the first artificial satellite in 1957. The United States immediately joined in it. In 1958, the Americans hastily developed and launched their satellite, and at the same time formed "for the benefit of all" - this is the motto of the organization - NASA. But by that time, the Soviets overtook their rivals even more - they sent the dog Laika into space, which, although it did not return, but by its own heroic example proved the possibility of surviving in orbit.

It took almost two years to develop a descent module capable of delivering a living organism back to Earth. It was necessary to refine the structures so that they could withstand two “travels through the atmosphere” already, to create a high-quality sealed and resistant to high temperatures sheathing. And most importantly, it was necessary to calculate the trajectory and design engines that would protect the astronaut from overloads.

When all this was done, Belka and Strelka got the opportunity to show their heroic canine nature. They coped with their task - they returned alive. Less than a year later, Gagarin flew in their wake - and also returned alive. In that 1961, the Americans sent only Ham the chimpanzee into the airless space. True, on May 5 of the same year, Alan Shepard made a suborbital flight, but this achievement was not recognized by the international community as a space flight. The first "real" American astronaut - John Glenn - was in space only in February of the 62nd.

It would seem that the United States is hopelessly behind the "boys from the neighboring continent." The triumphs of the USSR followed one after another: the first group flight, the first man in outer space, the first woman in space ... And even the Soviet Lunas were the first to reach the natural satellite of the Earth, laying the foundations for the gravitational maneuvering technique so important for current research programs and photographing reverse side night light.

But it was possible to win in such a game only by destroying the opposing team, physically or mentally. The Americans were not going to be destroyed. On the contrary, back in 1961, immediately after the flight of Yuri Gagarin, NASA, with the blessing of the newly elected Kennedy, headed for the Moon.

The decision was risky - the USSR achieved its goal step by step, systematically and consistently, and still not without failures. And the US space agency decided to jump over a step, if not a whole flight of stairs. But America compensated for its, in a certain sense, arrogance with a thorough study of the lunar program. The Apollos were tested on Earth and in orbit, while the launch vehicles and lunar modules of the USSR were "tested in combat" - and did not withstand the tests. As a result, the US tactics proved to be more effective.

But the key factor that weakened the Union in the lunar race was the split within the "team from the Soviet court." Korolev, on whose will and enthusiasm cosmonautics rested, at first, after his victory over the skeptics, lost his monopoly on decision-making. Design bureaus sprouted like mushrooms after the rain on the black soil unspoiled by agricultural cultivation. The distribution of tasks began, and each leader, both scientific and party, considered himself the most competent. At first, the very approval of the lunar program was belated - politicians distracted by Titov, Leonov and Tereshkova took up it only in 1964, when the Americans had been thinking about their Apollos for three years already. And then the attitude to the flights to the Moon turned out to be not serious enough - they did not have such military prospects as the launches of the Earth satellites and orbital stations, and they required much more funding.

Problems with money, as is usually the case, "finished off" grandiose lunar projects. From the very start of the program, Korolev was advised to underestimate the numbers before the word "rubles", because no one would approve the real amounts. If the developments were as successful as the previous ones, this approach would justify itself. The party leadership was still able to calculate and would not close a promising business in which too much has already been invested. But, coupled with a messy division of labor, the lack of funds led to catastrophic delays in schedules and savings on testing.

Perhaps later the situation could be rectified. The astronauts were burning with enthusiasm, even asking to be sent to the Moon on ships that could not withstand the test flights. Design bureaus, with the exception of OKB-1, which was under the leadership of Korolev, demonstrated the inconsistency of their projects and quietly left the stage of their own accord. The stable economy of the USSR in the 70s made it possible to allocate additional funds for the refinement of missiles, especially if the military would join the cause. However, in 1968, an American crew circled the Moon, and in 1969, Neil Armstrong took his small winning step in the space race. The Soviet lunar program for politicians has lost its meaning.

“The first spaceship starts from the Earth at a speed of 0.68 s...” This is how the text of the problem begins in a physics textbook for grade 11 students, designed to help consolidate the basic provisions of relativistic mechanics in their minds. So: “The first spacecraft starts from the surface of the earth at a speed of 0.68 s. The second vehicle starts moving from the first one in the same direction with the speed V2 = 0.86 s. It is necessary to calculate the speed of the second ship relative to the planet Earth.

Those who wish to test their knowledge can practice in solving this problem. You can also take part in solving the test together with schoolchildren: “The first spacecraft starts from the surface of the earth at a speed of 0.7 s. (c is the designation for the speed of light). The second vehicle starts moving from the first one in the same direction. Its speed is 0.8 s. The speed of the second ship relative to the planet Earth should be calculated.

Those who consider themselves knowledgeable in this matter have the opportunity to make a choice - four possible answers are offered: 1) 0; 2) 0.2 s; 3) 0.96 s; 4) 1.54 s.

The authors of this lesson put forward an important didactic goal to familiarize students with the physical and philosophical meaning of Einstein's postulates, the essence and properties of the relativistic concept of time and space, etc. The educational goal of the lesson is to develop in boys and girls a dialectical-materialistic worldview.

But readers of the article who are familiar with the history of domestic space flights will agree that the tasks in which the expression "first spacecraft" is mentioned can play a more significant educational role. If desired, the teacher using these tasks could reveal both cognitive and patriotic aspects of the issue.

The first spacecraft in space, the successes of domestic space science in general - what is known about this?

On the importance of space research

Space research has introduced the most valuable data into science, which made it possible to comprehend the essence of new natural phenomena and put them at the service of people. Using artificial satellites, scientists were able to determine the exact shape of the planet Earth, by studying the orbit it became possible to trace the regions of magnetic anomalies in Siberia. With the use of rockets and satellites, they were able to discover and explore the radiation belts around the Earth. With their help it became possible solution many other complex issues.

First spacecraft to visit the moon

The Moon is the celestial body with which the most spectacular and impressive successes of space science are associated.

The flight to the Moon for the first time in history was carried out on January 2, 1959 by the automatic station "Luna-1". The first launch of artificial was a significant breakthrough in the field of space exploration. But the main goal of the project was not achieved. It consisted in the implementation of the flight from Earth to the Moon. The launch of the satellite made it possible to obtain valuable scientific and practical information regarding flights to other space bodies. During the flight of Luna-1, a second one was developed (for the first time!) In addition, it became possible to obtain data on the radiation belt the globe obtained other valuable information. The world press has given the Luna-1 spacecraft the name Mechta.

AMS "Luna-2" repeated its predecessor almost completely. The instruments and equipment used made it possible to monitor interplanetary space, as well as to correct the information received by Luna-1. The launch (September 12, 1959) was also carried out using the 8K72 launch vehicle.

On September 14, Luna-2 reached the surface of the Earth's natural satellite. The first ever flight from our planet to the moon was made. On board the AMS were three symbolic pennants, on which was the inscription: "USSR, September 1959." A metal ball was placed in the middle, which, when it hit the surface of a celestial body, shattered into dozens of small pennants.

Tasks assigned to the automatic station:

reaching the surface of the moon;
development of the second cosmic velocity;
overcoming the gravity of the planet Earth;
delivery of "USSR" pennants to the lunar surface.

All of them were fulfilled.

"East"

It was the very first spacecraft in the world of all launched into Earth's orbit. Academician M. K. Tikhonravov under the guidance famous designer S.P. Korolev, developments were carried out for many years, starting in the spring of 1957. In April 1958, the approximate parameters of the future ship became known, as well as its general performance. It was assumed that the first spacecraft would have a weight of about 5 tons and that when entering the atmosphere it would need additional thermal protection weighing about 1.5. In addition, it was provided for the ejection of the pilot.

The creation of the experimental apparatus ended in April 1960. In the summer, his tests began.

The first Vostok spacecraft (photo below) consisted of two elements: an instrument compartment and a descent vehicle connected to each other.

The vessel was equipped with manual and automatic control, orientation to the Sun and the Earth. In addition, there was a landing, thermal control and power supply. The board was designed for the flight of one pilot in a space suit. The ship had two portholes.

The first spacecraft went into space on April 12, 1961. Now this date is celebrated as Cosmonautics Day. On this day Yu.A. Gagarin launched the world's first spacecraft into orbit. They made a revolution around the Earth.

The main task performed by the first spacecraft with a man on board was to study the well-being and performance of an astronaut outside our planet. The successful flight of Gagarin, our compatriot, the first person to see the Earth from space, brought the development of science to a new level.

A real flight to immortality

“The first manned spacecraft was launched into Earth orbit on April 12, 1961. The first pilot-cosmonaut of the Vostok satellite was a citizen of the USSR, pilot, Major Gagarin Yu.A.

The words from the memorable TASS message will forever remain in history, on one of its most significant and brightest pages. After decades, flights into space will turn into a common, everyday occurrence, but the flight made by a man from a small town in Russia - Gzhatsk - has forever remained in the minds of many generations as a great human feat.

space race

Between the Soviet Union and the United States in those years there was an unspoken competition for the right to play a leading role in the conquest of space. The leader of the competition was the Soviet Union. The United States lacked powerful launch vehicles.

The Soviet astronautics already tested their work in January 1960 during tests in the area Pacific Ocean. All the major newspapers in the world published information that a man would soon be launched into space in the USSR, which, of course, would leave the United States behind. All the people of the world were waiting for the first human flight with great impatience.

In April 1961, a man first looked at the Earth from space. "Vostok" rushed towards the Sun, the whole planet followed this flight from radio receivers. The world was shocked and excited, everyone was inseparably watching the course of the greatest experiment in the history of mankind.

Moments that shook the world

"Man in space!" This news interrupted the work of radio and telegraph agencies in mid-sentence. “Man has been launched by the Soviets! Yuri Gagarin in space!

It took Vostok just 108 minutes to fly around the planet. And these minutes not only testified to the speed of the flight of the spacecraft. These were the first minutes of the new space age, which is why the world was so shocked by them.

The race between the two superpowers for the title of winner in the struggle for space exploration ended with the victory of the USSR. In May, the United States also launched a man into space on a ballistic trajectory. And yet, the beginning of man's exit beyond the Earth's atmosphere was laid by the Soviet people. The first spacecraft "Vostok" with an astronaut on board was sent precisely by the Land of the Soviets. This fact was a matter of extraordinary pride. Soviet people. Moreover, the flight lasted longer, went much higher, followed a much more complex trajectory. In addition, Gagarin's first spacecraft (the photo represents him appearance) cannot be compared with the capsule in which the American pilot flew.

Space Age Morning

These 108 minutes changed the life of Yuri Gagarin, our country and the whole world forever. After the ship left with a man on board, the people of the Earth began to consider this event the morning of the space age. There was no person on the planet who would enjoy such great love not only of his fellow citizens, but of the people of the whole world, regardless of nationality, political and religious beliefs. His feat was the personification of all the best created by the human mind.

"Ambassador of Peace"

Having circled the Earth on the ship Vostok, Yuri Gagarin set off on a journey around the world. Everyone wanted to see and hear the world's first astronaut. He was equally cordially received by prime ministers and presidents, grand dukes and kings. And also Gagarin was joyfully greeted by miners and dock workers, military and scientists, students of the great universities of the world and the elders of abandoned villages in Africa. The first cosmonaut was equally simple, friendly and welcoming to everyone. It was a real "ambassador of peace", recognized by the peoples.

"One big and beautiful human house"

The diplomatic mission of Gagarin was very important for the country. No one could have been so successful as the first man in space did, to tie knots of friendship between people and nations, to unite thoughts and hearts. He had an unforgettable, charming smile, amazing goodwill, which united people different countries, different beliefs. His passionate, heartfelt speeches calling for world peace were extraordinarily convincing.

“I saw how beautiful the Earth is,” Gagarin said. - State borders are indistinguishable from outer space. Our planet looks from space as one big and beautiful human house. All honest people of the Earth are responsible for order and peace in their homes. They believed him endlessly.

Unprecedented rise of the country

At the dawn of that unforgettable day, he was familiar to a limited circle of people. At noon, the whole planet recognized his name. Millions reached out to him, they fell in love with him for his kindness, youth, beauty. For humanity, he became a harbinger of the future, a scout who returned from a dangerous search, who opened new paths to knowledge.

In the eyes of many, he personified his country, was a representative of the people who at one time made a huge contribution to the victory over the Nazis, and now they were the first to rise into space. The name of Gagarin, who was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union, has become a symbol of the country's unprecedented rise to new heights of social and economic progress.

The initial stage of space exploration

Even before the famous flight, when the first spacecraft with a man on board was launched into space, Gagarin thought about the importance of space exploration for people, for which powerful ships and rockets are needed. Why are telescopes mounted and orbits calculated? Why do satellites take off and radio antennas rise? He understood very well the urgent need and importance of these affairs and sought to contribute to First stage human exploration of space.

The first spacecraft "Vostok": tasks

The main scientific tasks that confronted the ship "Vostok" were the following. First, the study of the impact of flight conditions in orbit on the state of the human body and its performance. Secondly, testing the principles of building spacecraft.

History of creation

In 1957 S.P. Korolev, within the framework of the scientific design bureau, organized a special department No. 9. It provided for work on the creation of artificial satellites of our planet. The department was headed by an associate of Korolev M.K. Tikhonravym. Also, the issues of creating a satellite piloted by a person on board were studied here. The Royal R-7 was considered as a launch vehicle. According to calculations, a rocket with a third degree of protection was able to launch a five-ton payload into low Earth orbit.

Mathematicians of the Academy of Sciences took part in the calculations at an early stage of development. A warning was issued that a tenfold overload could result in a ballistic de-orbit.

The department investigated the conditions for the implementation of this task. I had to abandon the consideration of winged options. As the most acceptable way to return a person, the possibilities of his ejection and further descent by parachute were studied. There was no provision for a separate rescue of the descent vehicle.

In the course of ongoing medical research, it has been proven that the most acceptable for human body is the spherical shape of the descent vehicle, which allows it to withstand significant loads without serious consequences for the astronaut's health. It was the spherical shape that was chosen for the production of the descent module of the manned vessel.

The ship "Vostok-1K" was sent first. It was an automatic flight, which took place in May 1960. Later, a modification of the Vostok-3KA was created and tested, which was completely ready for manned flights.

In addition to one failed flight, which ended in a launch vehicle failure at the very start, the program provided for the launch of six unmanned vehicles and six manned spacecraft.

The program implemented:

carrying out a human flight into space - the first spacecraft "Vostok 1" (the photo represents an image of the vessel);
flight duration per day: "Vostok-2";
group flights: Vostok-3 and Vostok-4;
participation in the space flight of the first female cosmonaut: "Vostok-6".

"Vostok": characteristics and device of the ship

Characteristics:

weight - 4.73 tons;
length - 4.4 m;
diameter - 2.43 m.

Device:

spherical descent vehicle 2.3 m);
orbital and conical instrument compartments (2.27 t, 2.43 m) - they are mechanically connected to each other using pyrotechnic locks and metal bands.

Equipment

Automatic and manual control, automatic orientation to the Sun and manual orientation to the Earth.

Life support (provided for 10 days to maintain the internal atmosphere, corresponding to the parameters of the Earth's atmosphere).

Command-logic control, power supply, thermal control, landing.

For man's work

In order to ensure the work of man in space, the board was equipped with the following equipment:

autonomous and radiotelemetric devices necessary for monitoring the astronaut's condition;
devices for radiotelephone communication with ground stations;
command radio link;
program-time devices;
television system for monitoring the pilot from the ground;
radio system for monitoring the orbit and direction finding of the vessel;
brake propulsion system and others.

Descent vehicle device

The descent vehicle had two windows. One of them was located on the entrance hatch, slightly above the pilot's head, the other, with a special orientation system, was placed in the floor at his feet. Dressed in was located in an ejection seat. It was envisaged that after braking the descent vehicle at an altitude of 7 km, the cosmonaut should eject and land on a parachute. In addition, it was possible for the pilot to land inside the apparatus itself. The descent vehicle had a parachute, but was not equipped with means for a soft landing. This threatened the person in it with serious bruises upon landing.

If automatic systems failed, the astronaut could use manual control.

The Vostok ships did not have devices for manned flights to the moon. In them, the flight of people without special training was unacceptable.

Who piloted the Vostok ships?

Yu. A. Gagarin: the first spacecraft "Vostok - 1". The photo below is an image of the layout of the ship. G. S. Titov: "Vostok-2", A. G. Nikolaev: "Vostok-3", P.R. Popovich: "Vostok-4", V.F. Bykovsky: "Vostok-5", V.V. Tereshkova: "Vostok-6".

Conclusion

108 minutes, during which the "Vostok" made a revolution around the Earth, the life of the planet was forever changed. Not only historians cherish the memory of these minutes. Living generations and our distant descendants will respectfully re-read the documents that tell about the birth new era. The era that opened the way for people to the vast expanses of the Universe.

No matter how far humanity has advanced in its development, it will always remember this amazing day when man first found himself face to face with the cosmos. People will always remember the immortal name of the glorious pioneer of space, which became an ordinary Russian man - Yuri Gagarin. All today's and tomorrow's achievements in space science can be considered steps in his wake, the result of his first and most important victory.