First satellite 1957. School Encyclopedia

On October 4, 1957, the world's first artificial Earth satellite was launched into near-Earth orbit, which opened the space era in the history of mankind.

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

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

“... On October 4, 1957, the first satellite was successfully launched in the USSR. According to preliminary data, the launch vehicle reported to the satellite the required orbital speed of about 8000 meters per second. At present, the satellite describes elliptical trajectories around the Earth and its flight can be observed in the rays of the rising and setting sun using the simplest optical instruments (binoculars, telescopes, etc.).

According to the calculations, which are now being refined by direct observations, the satellite will move at altitudes 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 plane of the equator is 65 °. Over the area of ​​the city of Moscow on October 5, 1957, the satellite will pass twice - at 1 hour 46 minutes. 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. Two radio transmitters are installed on it, continuously emitting radio signals with a frequency of 20.005 and 40.002 megahertz (wavelength about 15 and 7.5 meters, respectively). The power of the transmitters ensures reliable reception of radio signals by a wide range of radio amateurs. The signals have the form of telegraph parcels with a duration of 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 ... ".

Scientists M.V. Keldysh, M.K. Tihonravov, N.S. Lidorenko, V.I. Lapko, B.S. Chekunov and many others.

The PS-1 satellite flew for 92 days, until January 4, 1958, making 1440 revolutions around the Earth (about 60 million kilometers), and its radio transmitters worked for two weeks after launch.

The launch of an artificial satellite of the Earth was of great importance for the knowledge of the properties of outer space and the study of the Earth as our planet. solar system. The 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, the most useful information for further launches on the operating conditions of the equipment was obtained, all calculations were checked, and the density of the upper atmosphere was determined by satellite deceleration.

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

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

Press service of Roscosmos

The first artificial earth satellite, which was successfully launched on October 4, 1957, marked the beginning of a new era - the era of the conquest of outer space.

This colossal technical breakthrough is the merit of a team of Soviet scientists and designers headed by the recognized founder of cosmonautics S.P. Korolev.

General information about Sputnik 1

"Sputnik - 1" was originally called "PS - 1". This name stands for "The Simplest Satellite - 1". It is a spherical object made of high-strength magnesium alloy.

The diameter of the sphere is 58 cm. It consists of two parts connected by bolts. Four VHF and HF antennas are mounted on its surface. The presence of antennas allows you to track its location during the flight.

The upper part of the satellite has a hemispherical screen. It plays the role of a heat-insulating coating. Batteries, a radio transmitter and all the necessary instruments and sensors are placed inside the satellite.

History of creation

Attempts to create an artificial satellite were made long before the PS - 1 flew. The leading German designer Wernher von Braun worked on the creation of an unmanned orbital object.

As an employee of the American strategic weapons service, he presented his experimental model of the spacecraft to the military. But none of his attempts were successful.

In the USSR, teams of enthusiastic engineers selflessly worked on this idea. They were by no means assembled in design laboratories and not in spacious hangars and workshops. Ideas for space flight originated in locksmith shops and basements.

1946 was the year of the creation of the rocket industry of the USSR, the head of which was appointed brilliant Soviet designer S. P. Korolev. Despite the fact that the country has not yet recovered from the terrible consequences of the Second World War, Soviet scientists and engineers managed to create a powerful technical base.

A few years later, the first successful launch was carried out ballistic missile"R-1". Later, its analogue "R-2" was launched, which was distinguished by large indicators of range and flight speed.

Model of the first space satellite

After successful tests of the new R-3 intercontinental missile, Soviet scientists managed to convince the government of the advisability of creating the first space satellite earth.

In 1955, this project was approved by the top leadership of the government, which was the beginning of hard work on the creation of the world's first orbital object.

It is difficult to say with complete certainty who invented and created the AES. In many ways, this merit of the entire team of designers and engineers, headed by S. P. Korolev and M. K. Tikhonravov.

Two years later, the satellite was ready. His weight was about 84 kg. The shape of the satellite was not chosen by chance. It is the sphere that is the ideal shape that has the maximum volume with the minimum surface.

In addition, this object was supposed to become a symbol of the space age and be an example of an ideal spacecraft, primarily from the point of view of its appearance.

Launch of the first artificial Earth satellite

Every day space became more and more accessible. On October 4, 1957, in the Kazakh steppe, one of the greatest events in the history of mankind took place - an intercontinental rocket with a spherical object on board was launched at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The R-7 launch vehicle soared into the sky with a piercing roar. A few minutes later, the spacecraft was launched into orbit, the altitude of which was about 950 km.

Some time later, the first man-made object set off on its legendary free flight. Long-awaited signals began to be received on the ground.

The satellite flew over the earth for 92 days, making 1400 revolutions. After that, the satellite was destined to die. Losing speed, he began to approach the surface of the earth and simply burned out, overcoming the resistance of the atmosphere.

After the first orbit around the Earth, Yu. B. Levitan, the main announcer of the country of the Soviets, announced the successful launch of the first satellite.

Thanks to the special power settings of the radio transmitter, the signal from the satellite could be easily received by both specialists and ordinary radio amateurs. Millions of people around the world clung to radio speakers to hear the "voice from space".

For each revolution around the Earth, the satellite spent an average of 95 - 96 minutes. It is noteworthy that the satellite as such was not visible to the naked eye, although after its launch a moving dot could be observed in the sky.

In fact, this flying star is nothing more than the last stage of a carrier rocket, which continued to move in orbit for some time until it burned up in the atmosphere.

It is worth noting: despite the fact that all instruments and control devices of the apparatus were created, as they say, from scratch, none of them failed during the flight.

When creating electronic power supplies were used Newest technologies those years, which had no analogues in any country for many years.

Scientific results of the Sputnik-1 flight

It is difficult to overestimate the significance of this legendary event. In addition to strengthening faith in space flights and raising the prestige of the country, he made an invaluable contribution to the development and strengthening of the scientific potential of that time.

Analysis of the PS-1 flight made it possible to start studying the ionosphere, the properties of which have not been fully studied. In particular, scientists were interested in the propagation of radio waves in its environment. In addition, the parameters of the atmosphere density and its influence on the orbiting object were measured.

The analysis of the collected data has become a good help in the design and creation of new units and mechanisms for future spacecraft.

Some of the more interesting facts:

The era of space exploration remembers many significant events, each of which was given at the cost of incredible efforts and losses. One way or another, the thorny path to the stars was laid exactly then - October 4, 1957.

It was this date that served as the starting point for the development of domestic cosmonautics as an independent industry and determined its future fate.

The cry of the first satellites
was touchingly thin.
So among the starry young grits
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 earth engineers was launched into orbit. They named it "Sputnik".

Satellite prototypes

The idea of ​​an artificial satellite of the Earth (a satellite, satellite, moon) arose quite a long time ago. More Isaac Newton in the monograph "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"(1687) cited as an example of his reasoning a description of a huge cannon with which it would be possible to launch a nucleus into a permanent orbit around the Earth. Newton proposed to imagine the highest mountain, the peak of which is outside the atmosphere, and a cannon mounted on its very top and firing horizontally. The more powerful the charge is used when firing, the farther from the mountain the core will fly away. 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 rotate around our planet. This speed is now called the "first cosmic" 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 gun": the ball flies but does not fall (original illustration)

Newton's figurative example was subsequently used by both scientists who discussed the prospects of astronautics and science fiction writers. The technical implementation of the "Newton's 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 astronautics spoke a lot about the need to launch an artificial satellite of the Earth. However, they justified this need in different ways. Our compatriot Konstantin Tsiolkovsky suggested launching a crewed rocket 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 the problems of 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. Oberth's idea he beat 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 will be used primarily as a transshipment base for interplanetary ships flying to the Moon, Mars and Venus. And really - why would a ship need to drag into orbit all the fuel needed for acceleration, if it can refuel from a satellite?

At the same time, 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, getting rid of the distortions introduced by the atmosphere forever.

A habitable satellite in Earth's orbit (original illustration from V. Nikolsky's book "After a Thousand Years"). A habitable satellite in Earth's orbit (original cover for the American edition of O. Gail's novel "The Moonstone").

Artificial satellites of this type are described in the novels of Otto Gail "Moonstone" (1926), Vadim Nikolsky "After a thousand years" (1927) and Alexander Belyaev "KEC Star" (1936).

However, time passed, and it was not possible to build a satellite delivery vehicle into orbit. The creation of large guns turned out to be extremely time-consuming and expensive, and small rockets, which were launched in abundance before the Second World War, could not even theoretically reach the first space velocity.

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

Launch of the Pokrovsky satellite with an explosion (original illustration).
Pokrovsky's 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 Peenemünde rocket center, it was proposed to honor the first space travelers by placing their embalmed bodies in glass balls launched into orbits 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 of an Experimental Spacecraft for Flights around the Earth." In this paper, the first serious attempt was made to evaluate the possibilities of creating a spacecraft that will orbit the Earth as its satellite.

Already in the introduction to the project, it is emphasized that, despite the vagueness of the prospects regarding the start of space activities, two points are beyond doubt: “1) A spacecraft equipped with appropriate instrumentation is likely to become one of the most effective means scientific research 20th century. 2) The launch of a satellite 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 artificial satellite, the American scientist Ketchkemeti presented a research report entitled "The Rocket Apparatus - Satellite of the Earth: Political and Psychological Problems". The memorandum analyzed "the likely political consequences that will be caused by the launch of an artificial Earth satellite in the United States and its successful use in the interests of military intelligence." It can be seen from the report that military experts already in the early 1950s were well aware of the political and military significance of a satellite launch. It was no longer about glass balls with the bodies of space explorers - the designers imagined entire orbital groups that monitored the territory of a potential enemy.

"V-2" at the White Sands training ground. Thus began the American astronautics.

For 4 International congress in 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 "MAUS" ("Minimum Orbital Unmanned Satellite of Earth"). The hypothetical Singer satellite was an autonomous instrument-measuring system placed in a solid ball, which, upon reaching a given height, was separated from the third stage of the composite launch vehicle. The orbit of a satellite with a height of 300 km had to pass through both poles of the Earth.

Wernher von Braun rocket at launch

On June 25, 1954, a meeting was held in the building of the Naval Research Directorate in Washington DC, 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 in the near future to launch large satellites into an orbit with a height of 320 km. By "nearest time" was meant a period of 2-3 years.

Wernher von Braun stated that the historic launch could be done much earlier and outlined his considerations for using a Redstone rocket as the first stage and several bundles of Loki rockets as subsequent stages for this purpose. The main advantage was that existing missiles could be used in it. Thus, 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 get it going.

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

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

A three-stage launch vehicle was proposed for launch, consisting of a modified Viking rocket as the first stage, a modified Aerobi rocket as the second stage, and a solid-propellant 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 supply and a camera on board, the satellite could even transmit color images 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 only two primitive radio transmitters on board, powered by mercury and solar batteries.

American satellite "Vanguard". He could be the first, but he did not even become the second. The rocket with Avangard-1 exploded at the 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 Knowledge is Power magazine was published, dedicated to the upcoming flight to the moon. In this issue, leading Soviet science popularizers 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 rocket technology, Sergei Korolev, spoke seriously about the satellite in 1953. At that time, work on the R-7 intercontinental rocket was just unfolding, but it was clear to specialists that this rocket was capable of reaching the first space velocity.

On May 26, 1954, Korolev sent a memorandum "On an artificial satellite of the Earth" to the Central Committee of the CPSU and to the Council of Ministers. The answer was negative, because first of all they expected from Korolev a combat missile that would fly to America - at that time the tops were little worried about the research topic. But Korolev did not give up hope to convince the leadership and turned to the USSR Academy of Sciences.

On August 30, 1955, leading specialists in rocketry, including Sergei Korolev, Mstislav Keldysh, and Valentin Glushko, gathered in the office of Academician Topchiev, Chief Scientific Secretary of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

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

Korolev spoke with brief message, in which, in particular, he said: “I consider it necessary to create a special body at 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 should pay the most serious attention to the manufacture of scientific equipment and involve leading scientists in this event.

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

Object "D" - space laboratory. He could become the first Soviet satellite, but became the third.

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

Sergei Korolev closely followed the work of his American colleagues and feared that he might get 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 to temporarily freeze the work on the "Object D", and make a small light satellite "at least on the knee".

"The simplest satellite first" ("PS-1").

Two engineers, Mikhail Khomyakov and Oleg Ivanovsky, were entrusted with the management of the design and manufacture of PS-1 (The Simplest Satellite First). Special signals for the transmitter were invented by Mikhail Ryazansky. Rocket nose fairing protecting the satellite from impact environment, designed by the group of Sergei Okhapkin.

Although the satellite looked very simple according to the scheme, it was created for the first time, there were no analogues of an orbiting artificial object in technology. Only one thing was set - the weight limit: no more than 100 kg. (In the final form, he weighed even less - 83.6 kg). Quite quickly, the designers came to the conclusion that it is advantageous to make a satellite in the shape of a ball.

Scheme "PS-1" (general view). Poster "The first artificial satellite of the Earth" (1958).

Inside the satellite, they decided to place two radio transmitters with operating frequencies of 20.005 and 40.002 MHz. The body of the satellite consisted of two half-shells with docking frames, interconnected by 36 bolts. The tightness of the joint was provided 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 of the onboard equipment of the satellite was provided by electrochemical current sources (silver-zinc batteries) designed to operate for 2-3 weeks.

The internal layout of "PS-1".

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

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

• The launch day 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 erected in the form of a rocket taking off, leaving behind a trail of fire.
• A model of Sputnik 1 was presented by the Soviet government as a gift to the UN and now adorns the entrance to the UN Headquarters Hall in New York.
• On November 4, 1997, cosmonauts of the Russian orbital station Mir manually launched a model of Sputnik-1 (RS-17, Sputnik-40) into space. This model was made in 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 (understudy) of Sputnik-1, made back in 1957, was sold at an eBay auction. Before the sale, the copy was considered an educational exhibit of one of the Kyiv institutes. It is believed that in preparation for the historic launch, four copies of the Simplest Sputnik were made.

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 a 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, the brightest 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 rumble. Her torch gradually weakened and soon became indistinguishable against the background of the starry sky.

295 seconds after the launch, the 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 the launch, the satellite separated, and it began to give signals: “Beep! Beep! Beep! They were caught at the spaceport for two minutes, then the satellite went beyond the horizon. Specialists ran out of hiding, shouted "Hurrah!", rocked the designers and the military. And already on the first orbit, TASS announced: “As a result of the great hard work of research institutes and design bureaus, the world's first artificial satellite of the Earth has been created. On October 4, 1957, the first satellite was successfully launched in the Soviet Union.

The moment of separation of the head fairing and the last stage of the launch vehicle from the "PS-1" (frame from the training film).

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

Klim Voroshilov presenting the Order of Lenin to Sergei Korolev (1957).

At 20:07 New York time, the radio station of the RSA company in New York received the signals of 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 historic launch is of particular interest. It is generally accepted that the asterisk, rapidly running across the sky, which appeared after October 4, 1957, is a visually observed satellite. In fact, the PS-1's reflective surface was too small for visual observation; from the Earth, the second stage was visible - the very 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 1440 revolutions around the Earth and covering about 60 million kilometers.

A picture of the PS-1 during its passage over Melbourne.

However, there is evidence that it entered the dense layers of the atmosphere and burned out a little earlier - on December 8, 1957. It was on this day that a certain Earl Thomas discovered a flaming piece of debris near his home in Southern California. The analysis showed that it consists of the same materials as PS-1. These pieces 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

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

The launch of the satellite caused a shock all over the world, and above all - in the United States. For the first time, Americans have received clear evidence that they are not leading in all spheres of life, that the “potential adversary” has bypassed them in the most important direction. “90 percent of the talk about artificial Earth satellites was in the US,” wrote The New York Times. - As it turned out, 100 percent of the case fell on Russia ... ”It was frightening. And it was very scary!

"King of Horrors" Stephen King admitted in the book "Dance of Death" that the news of the Soviet Union launching a satellite into orbit was the biggest shock of his youth.

The fear was so strong that in the first days of October 1957, especially hotheads from the Pentagon proposed to “close the sky”, that is, to throw 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 the Americans initially perceived space as their own. And they could not admit the thought that someone else would dare to claim it.

But America really could become the first space power.

Poster "Soviet artificial satellites Earth" (1958).

If no one thought about this before the Second World War, then after the war, being impressed by the successes of the Third Reich rocket scientists, US leaders seriously thought about a new "strategic foothold". Thanks to the documents and specialists taken from Germany, the Americans were able to quite quickly overcome the backlog in ballistic missiles, which means creating 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 gained the much-desired "ownership."

What would it change? Only one thing, but the most important thing. Having established itself in outer space, securing one of the most important priorities for itself, the United States would hardly get involved in a space "race" that requires huge financial costs. 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 would also land on the moon. The history of astronautics would change in the most radical way.

The launch of the Soviet satellite unleashed a space "race", in which the Americans won by landing on the moon.

* * *

It is impossible to say whether people would be happier in such a world or not, but it does not matter. After all, it has never been and never will be, because it was the Soviet satellite that opened the space age, and its sonorous signals notified the entire Universe about it ...

In 1957, under the leadership of S.P. Korolev, the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile R-7 was created, which in the same year was used to launch 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 the movement of a celestial body along an elliptical trajectory 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 informed of a speed that is less than the second cosmic velocity, but not less than the first cosmic velocity. AES flights are carried out at altitudes up to several hundred thousand kilometers. The lower limit of the satellite flight altitude is determined by the need to avoid the process of rapid deceleration 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, the period of revolution of which is strictly equal to a day, and therefore, for a ground observer, they “hang” motionlessly in the sky, which makes it possible to get rid of rotary devices in antennas. geostationary orbit(GSO) - a circular orbit located above the Earth's equator (0 ° latitude), in which an artificial satellite revolves around 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 satellite of the Earth, the first spacecraft, launched into orbit in the USSR on October 4, 1957.

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

Scientists M. V. Keldysh, M. K. Tikhonravov, N. S. Lidorenko, V. I. Lapko, B. S. Chekunov, A. V. Bukhtiyarov and many others.

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

The body of the satellite consisted of two hemispheres with a diameter of 58 cm made of aluminum alloy with docking frames interconnected by 36 bolts. The tightness of the joint was provided by a rubber gasket. Two antennas were located in the upper half-shell, each of two pins 2.4 m and 2.9 m each. Since the satellite was not oriented, the four-antenna system gave uniform radiation in all directions.

A block of electrochemical sources was placed inside the hermetic case; radio transmitting device; fan; thermal relay and air duct of the thermal control system; switching device of onboard electroautomatics; 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 in the USSR of the rocket branch of science and industry. 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 Zander, Tikhonravov, Pobedonostsev, Korolev. In 1933, on the basis of this group, the Jet Institute was organized, which continued work on the creation and improvement of rockets.

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

In 1948, the R-1 rocket, which was a copy of the V-2, manufactured entirely in the USSR, was already being tested 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 since 1951. And the creation of the R-5 missile with a range of up to 1200 km was the first separation from the V-2 technology. These missiles were tested in 1953, and immediately began research into their use as a carrier. nuclear weapons. On May 20, 1954, the government issued a decree on the development of a two-stage intercontinental rocket R-7. And already on May 27, Korolev sent a memorandum to the Minister of Defense Industry D.F. Ustinov on the development of artificial satellites 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, successful launch. 295 seconds after the 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 the launch, Sputnik separated and he gave his vote. "Beep! Beep! - so sounded his call signs. 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, shouting "Hurrah!", rocked the designers and the military. And on the first orbit, a TASS message sounded: “... As a result of a large hard work scientific research institutes and design bureaus created the world's first artificial satellite of the Earth ... "

Only after receiving the first signals of the Sputnik did the results of telemetry data processing come in and it turned out that only a fraction of a second separated from failure. One of the engines was “late”, and the time to enter the regime is tightly controlled and if it is exceeded, the start is automatically canceled. The block went into mode less than a second before the control time. At the 16th second of the flight, the fuel supply control system failed, and due to the increased consumption of kerosene, the central engine turned off 1 second ahead of the estimated time. But the winners are not judged! The satellite flew for 92 days, until January 4, 1958, making 1440 revolutions around the Earth (about 60 million km), and its radio transmitters worked for two weeks after launch. Due to friction against the upper layers of the atmosphere, the satellite lost speed, entered the dense layers of the atmosphere and burned out due to friction against the air.

Officially, Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 were launched by the Soviet Union in accordance with the obligations assumed for the International Geophysical Year. The satellite emitted radio waves at two frequencies of 20.005 and 40.002 MHz in the form of telegraph packets with a duration of 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 the regions of the ionosphere lying below the zone of maximum ionization of the ionospheric layers.

Launch goals

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

Despite the fact that the satellite was completely absent of any scientific equipment, the study of 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 a satellite 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 broadcasting as early as 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, an American designer of rocket and space technology, one of the founders of modern rocket science, the creator of the first ballistic missiles. In the US, 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 launch, a boosted version of the Redstone ballistic missile, called the 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 . in American launch vehicles. And the third country that launched the first satellite on its launch vehicle was France November 26, 1965

Now satellites are being launched more than 40 countries (as well as individual companies) with the help of both their own launch vehicles (LV) and those provided as launch services by other countries and interstate and private organizations.

THE FIRST ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE OF THE EARTH

THE FIRST ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE OF THE EARTH

Academician Boris CHERTOK, Energia Rocket and Space Corporation 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 moving across the dark sky, created not by gods, but by human hands. 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 as such. Moreover, it had a German origin both in the Soviet Union and in the USA.

In connection with the prohibition under the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 to develop new types of artillery weapons and build combat aircraft, the German military drew attention to the prospects for long-range missiles - this document did not provide for a ban on them. Particularly active relevant work began in Germany after 1933, with the coming to power of Hitler. 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 weapons program. And in 1936, they began to build a powerful research and production and testing rocket center 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 weight was up to 13500 kg, the mass of the warhead was 1075 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 section of the flight replaced the gun barrel.

The main achievements of German specialists was the technology of mass production of powerful liquid rocket engines and flight control systems. The ideas of the Russian scientist and inventor Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the German Hermann Oberth, the American Robert Goddard and other brilliant singles of the late XIX - early XX centuries. were turned into specific engineering systems by teams of powerful firms Siemens, Telefunken, Lorenz, etc., local universities that conducted research on Peenemünde's assignments. Then, studying its experience in Germany itself for 1.5 years, we - including myself - were convinced that their rocket is not a projectile, not a cannon, but a large and complex system that requires the use of the latest achievements in aerogasdynamics, radio electronics, heat engineering, materials science and high production culture.

On May 13, 1946, Stalin signed a decree on the creation in the USSR of the rocket branch of science and industry. 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 shortly after that, the first half a hundred people into space - Yuri Gagarin.

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

After the capitulation 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 needed to be discovered 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 actual development in the USSR.

In 1948, at the first domestic missile range 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 for space exploration took place. And in 1950, they began testing the next - R-2 - at a distance of 600 km.

The final “separation” from the legacy of the V-2 was our R-5 rocket at a range of 1200 km, whose tests were carried out since 1953. At the same time, it was with the help of the R-5 that we, together with other domestic scientists, launched research on the use of the rocket as an atomic bomb carrier .

Academicians Sergei Korolev and Julius Khariton led the corresponding search. After all, the Cold War flared up in the world, the USSR was surrounded by US Air Force military bases, from which atomic bomb carriers were able to hit the main political and economic centers of our country. The last analogues in the USSR could not reach the territory of the Americans. That is why the responsibility for the creation of appropriate carriers that reach intercontinental bases was assigned to the rocket scientists.

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

In November 1953, Korolev gathered his closest deputies for a top-secret conversation. He said: “The Minister of Medium Machine Building, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Vyacheslav Malyshev unexpectedly came to see me. And in a categorical form he proposed to "forget" about the atomic bomb for an intercontinental missile. The authors of the hydrogen bomb promise to reduce its mass to 3.5 tons. So, Korolev stressed, 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, to which Korolev instructed 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 by S. Korolev, V. Barmin, V. Glushko, V. Kuznetsov, N. Pilyugin, M. Ryazansky with the participation of their deputies and the main developers of radio control and management systems. Their main decision was the rejection of the traditional launch pad. 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 of the first and thereby reduce the total mass. Unusual was the decision on the layout of the rocket from five blocks with unified propulsion systems, the central one being the second stage. However, the engines of all blocks had to be started on Earth at the same time. The mass of the warhead with a hydrogen bomb was tentatively estimated at 5500 kg. To ensure the given control accuracy and range, it was necessary to strictly regulate the aftereffect impulse of the engines. However, V. Glushko proved the unreality of the demands of managers. So for the first time there was an idea to abandon the gas-jet graphite rudders traditional since the FAU-2, and instead to develop special low-thrust engines. They also had to "hold out" the second stage of the rocket in the last seconds of the flight to the desired parameters in terms of speed and coordinates. To reduce the mass of fuel, systems for regulating the emptying of tanks, measuring and controlling the apparent speed were proposed.

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

The draft design of the novelty was proposed and approved by the Council of Ministers of the USSR on November 20, 1954, and its design is now well known to the whole 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 forward oxidizer tank. Fuel tanks of all blocks are load-bearing. The engines of all blocks start to work from the ground, but when the steps are separated, the side ones turn off, and the central one continues to work. The control equipment is located in the inter-tank compartment of the central unit and includes a stabilization machine, a regulator for normal and lateral stabilization, apparent speed control and a radio control system for range and correction in the lateral direction. 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 in this case, and they needed to be solved in as soon as possible. It was necessary to choose a place for a new test site, build a unique launch facility, put into operation all the necessary services, build and put into operation stands for fire testing of blocks and the entire package as a whole, to work out the control system; find and test appropriate thermal protection materials to maintain the integrity of the head part during reentry; 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, to build a command and measurement complex, including points that monitor the missile and receive telemetry information along the entire route to Pacific Ocean. In a word, it was not by chance that in 1955 the designers who issued the necessary documentation for the manufacture of the R-7 rocket joked that they were smoking from the round-the-clock work of the drawing board. After all, there was no computer technology then: “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 entrusted to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the development of the satellite itself - to OKB-1 (headed by Korolev), experimental launches - to the Ministry of Defense.

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

By July 1956, the project of the first satellite was completed, the composition of scientific tasks was determined, including the measurement of the ionic composition of space, the corpuscular radiation of the Sun, magnetic fields, cosmic rays, thermal regime satellite, its deceleration in the upper atmosphere, the duration of existence in orbit, the accuracy of determining the coordinates and parameters of the orbit, etc. The satellite was equipped with command radio link equipment for control from the planet and an onboard command processing complex for connecting scientific information and transmitting measurement results via a telemetry channel. A complex of means was erected 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 timing of the creation of artificial satellites would be disrupted due to the difficulties in manufacturing reliable scientific equipment. However, the project "Object D" was approved by a special committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. And earlier, on February 12, 1955, in the semi-desert, in the area of ​​Tyuratam station, the army under the command of General Shubnikov began the construction of research and test 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, it was tested at the Leningrad Metal Plant together with a real launch system. On firing stands near Zagorsk (now the city of Peresvet), fire tests of individual rocket blocks began. 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 "fitting" rocket was sent to Tyuratam to the test site in January. I spent many days and nights at the control and test station. We carried out autonomous and complex electrical checks of the rocket: at first, block by block, then we assembled the package and tested it as a whole. And for good reason: we found many errors in the documentation and complex electrical diagrams. However, there is nothing to be surprised: instead of the usual one propulsion system, we had five! There are only 12 steering engines! 32 combustion chambers (20 main and 12 steering).

In the assembly shop of the plant, the rocket seemed like a fantastic structure. Korolev invited Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, to come here. He came 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 much larger. I was struck by the huge, visible to the naked eye, technical culture, the coordinated work of hundreds of highly qualified people and their almost everyday, but very business relationship to those fantastic things with which they dealt ... ".

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

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

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

In February 1957, the completion of the landfill was in full swing. They built a residential town on the banks of the Syr Darya. Almost completed the assembly and test building for the preparation of missiles. But the most grandiose construction - the starting position, site No. 1 - has not yet been completed. A concrete track, 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 building materials, covered wagons with construction soldiers were walking towards the builders at the starting position. As an eyewitness of the war, I recalled the military roads of the 1940s in the immediate rear of the Soviet army before the big offensives: the same strained hum of hundreds of trucks, each hurrying with its own cargo. Yes, today there was no rumble of tanks and guns here, but behind the "steering wheels" of all the cars and in the bodies, again, there were soldiers.

Our passenger car was also driven by a soldier. I had to settle for a long time in this “front-line”, as we considered, situation. While I, other deputies of Korolev, hundreds of civilian and military specialists who moved to the test site were assembling, testing, preparing for launch a rocket and dozens of complex ground systems, Korolev in OKB-1 designed, and then manufactured the simplest satellite.

The first P-7 (serial number M1-5) arrived at the technical site of the test site in early March 1957. Long-term checks of the blocks, elimination of comments, refinement of on-board and ground devices, and development of operational documentation began. In April, we successfully completed firing bench tests of the blocks and the entire package as a whole. 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 tests. He said: the initial mass of it, fully fueled, will be 280 tons, the warhead with the payload simulator will weigh 5.5 g. The mass of the refueling components - liquid oxygen, kerosene, hydrogen peroxide, compressed nitrogen - 253 tons. the second stage, when firing at full range, should reach 6385 m / s, however, the launch will be carried out only at 6314 km at the Kamchatka test site. The 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 launcher, as well as the stability of movement, although the calculated specified accuracy (± 8 km) for the first launches is not guaranteed.

On May 5, 1957, R-7 was taken to the starting position - site 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 recent operations and launched 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 ("first aid"). Another underground room housed control equipment for refueling, launches and mechanisms. Information about the state of the onboard systems was reflected on the banners of the main console and broadcast to the communication bunker from the measuring point, which received the radiation of the three onboard 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 starting commands.

R-7 at the start

It all happened at 19.00 local time. according to visual observations and subsequent processing of telemetric information, the rocket left the launch normally.

“A spectacle that staggers the imagination,” said those who watched the launch, hiding in the trenches at a distance of 1 km. The roar reached the bunker greatly weakened. Controlled flight continued until the 98th second. Then the thrust of the engine of the side block "D" fell, and it separated from the rocket without a command. But she lost stability and at the 103rd second, due to large deviations, the command to turn off all engines passed. The rocket fell 300 km from the start.

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

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

The third R-7 (No. M1-7) had 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 o. Automation made 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 to ground in the new control system device, which, according to its creators, was supposed to improve rotational stability. As a result, a false command passed to the steering engines, and it was she who “spun” the rocket.

Finally, on August 21, the fourth launch was made. R-7 (No. 8L) worked out the entire active section of the trajectory on a regular basis. According to external control data, its head part 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-shielding coating did not save.

Despite another failure - this time with the design, on August 27, TASS published a statement: “An ultra-long-range intercontinental multi-stage ballistic missile was launched in the Soviet Union. It is possible to launch missiles in 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 head part burned up again in the dense layers of the atmosphere, although this time it was possible to find several remnants of the structure.

So, according to the results of flight tests of five missiles, it was obvious; the product can fly, but its head part needed a radical revision, which required at least six months of hard work. But there is a blessing in disguise: the destruction of the warheads opened the way for the launch of the first simplest satellite of the Earth: after all, he did not need to enter the dense layers of the atmosphere. And Korolev received Khrushchev's consent to use two rockets for the experimental launch of the novelty.

On September 17, 1957, at a solemn 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 an artificial Earth satellite could be delivered into space in our country in the near future. And after 5 days, the 8K71PS launch vehicle (M1-PS product) arrived at the test site. It was significantly lightened compared to regular missiles. The dummy head was removed and replaced with a satellite adapter. All the equipment of the radio control system was removed from the central unit - after all, accuracy was not required. Removed one of the telemetry systems. We simplified the automatic shutdown of the engine of the central unit. Thus, the launch mass of the rocket was lightened by 7 tons compared to the first samples.

October 4, 1957 at 22:28 3 from Moscow time, the start was carried out. After 295.4 s, the satellite and the central block of the launch vehicle went into 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). It was 7780 m/s for the first satellite. The inclination of the satellite's orbit was 65.1°, the height of the perigee was 228 km, the height of the apogee was 947 km, and the orbital period was 96.17 minutes.

After the first enthusiasm, when the “BEEP-BEEP-BEEP” signals, which became immediately known to all mankind, were received at the test site, and, finally, the telemetry was processed, it turned out that the rocket had launched “on the eyebrows”. The engine of the side block "G" entered the mode with a delay, i.e. less than a second before the control time. If it were delayed a little more, the circuit would automatically “reset” the setting and the start would be canceled. Moreover, at the 16th second of the flight, the tank emptying control system failed. This led to an increased consumption of kerosene and the engine of the central unit was turned off 1 s earlier than the calculated value. There were other problems as well. If a little more and the first cosmic speed could not be achieved.

But the winners are judged! The great has happened! On October 5, 1957, the TASS message ended with the words: “Artificial satellites of the Earth will pave the way for interplanetary travel and, apparently, our contemporaries are destined to be witnesses of how the freed and conscious labor of the people of the new socialist society makes the most daring dreams of mankind a reality.”

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

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

An abbreviated version of the article by B. Chertok from the book "First Space" (M., 2007).

The editorial board of the "Soviet Physicist" thanks the editors of the journal "Science in Russia" for the provided photos

“And now? Ah, now."

Pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero Soviet Union V. Sevastyanov in his article "Report to Tsiolkovsky" assures that today the role of Russian cosmonautics is reduced to the free delivery of Americans to the ISS and maintenance of the station. The Americans are testing an ultra-precise weapon guidance system on the ISS. Not one of our cosmonauts has ever visited their compartment!