The first man in space. History of space exploration

More than half a century has passed since man actively began to explore space. We can say with confidence that astronautics, along with computerization, became the backbone of the development of the 20th century. How many mysteries, paradoxes, interesting facts and perspectives these endless spaces contain. Astronautics is a wonderful science, and every thinking person should be at least a little interested in what surrounds our tiny planet. Of course, in recent years, constant news about lunar rovers, the ISS and Mars has made these topics rather hackneyed cliches. But you must agree that the conquest of space is perhaps the most mysterious journey in the history of mankind, which has just begun.

More than half a century has passed since man actively began to explore space. We can say with confidence that astronautics, along with computerization, became the backbone of the development of the 20th century. How many mysteries, paradoxes, interesting facts and perspectives these endless spaces contain. Astronautics is a wonderful science, and every thinking person should be at least a little interested in what surrounds our tiny planet. Of course, in recent years, constant news about lunar rovers, the ISS and Mars has made these topics rather hackneyed cliches. But you must agree that the conquest of space is perhaps the most mysterious journey in the history of mankind, which has just begun.

Space is necessary

Astronautics has become a part of our daily lives and has brought many benefits to humanity. Navigation systems, weather forecasts, television, telecommunications and much more - this is all space. How many lives of pilots, sailors and ordinary travelers have been saved thanks to these technologies. Nowadays satellite phones are no longer so popular, but they still remain in demand in their niche. Reconnaissance satellites provide national security benefits. And this is only a small part of all the technologies that would not be possible without space exploration. Currently, thousands of scientists and engineers work in this segment, who are constantly improving and inventing something new.

Space is beautiful

It’s hard to argue with the fact that space views are truly beautiful. And no matter whether it is taken from Earth, orbital or telescope photographs, distant landscapes of celestial bodies and various galaxies delight and delight the eye. If it were not for astronautics, we would not even be able to see how beautiful our planet is from a height of several hundred kilometers.

Beauty does not disappear in our solar system. Just look at the photographs of the deserted terrain of Mars or distant cold Neptune. And if you look beyond our Galaxy, you will find amazing views of nebulae, black holes and distant galaxies. Thanks to computer technology, humanity has the opportunity to receive and process hundreds of thousands of photographs from space telescopes and probes.

Space is educational

At the beginning of the last century, people were sure that Mars appeared before the Earth, and Venus later. In this regard, humanity expected to see the destroyed ruins of ancient civilizations on the Red Planet, and dinosaurs or the first people on Venus. With the advent of space stations, everything fell into place. Now we know that no one can live on Mars except bacteria, and Venus with its hot surface is completely dead. Now every child can know that the only satellite with an atmosphere in the solar system is Titan, and its surface topography is similar to that of Earth with mountains, valleys and dunes.

Scientists have learned that there is an underground ice ocean on Pluto, and a supernova explosion in 10 minutes releases more energy than the Sun does in 10 billion years. There are an innumerable number of similar facts. You can talk about each individual planet or star for hours, and then talk about black holes, nebulae and quasars for months. Just think about how many interesting discoveries have been made through space exploration, and how many more remain to be made.

Space is a grandiose project

Since Gagarin's first flight, humanity has stepped far forward in space exploration, and goals have become more and more ambitious. However, all progress comes at a price. In this case, the price is too high, literally and figuratively. The most expensive space project was the ISS. The cost of creating and maintaining the station in operational condition is approaching $150 billion. The station, weighing more than 400 tons, was assembled by space agencies around the world and has been continuously used by astronauts for eighteen years. More than 400 thousand people worked on the American manned lunar program Apollo, and about $26 billion was spent. Similar grandiose projects include NASA's reusable space shuttles, the global positioning system and space telescopes.

Space is complex technology

Since its inception, astronautics has been associated with complex and interesting technology. It’s hard to believe that almost forty years have passed since the first Voyager probes were launched, and they are still working and transmitting invaluable information to Earth. Similar results are demonstrated, for example, by Mars rovers. Opportunity has already exceeded its 90-day warranty period by more than 50 times. In addition to reliability, space technology is also distinguished by excellent accuracy. For example, many telescopes are capable of obtaining an image with a resolution greater than 20 microarcseconds. This is comparable to the size of a matchbox on the surface of the Moon photographed from Earth. Spaceships, international space stations, satellites and much more deserve a separate discussion. All this makes astronautics one of the most high-tech and expensive sciences today.

Space means significant people

Space does not tolerate people with weak psyches and whiners. There are no beauty standards for astronauts, but there are many other requirements that an ordinary person cannot meet. Of course, we do not know the names of all the astronauts, but all of them, along with the legends of astronautics, made a significant contribution to the development of humanity.

Space has a glorious history and a promising future

The history of astronautics is breathtaking. Humanity has come a long way, which was full of dizzying victories and resounding failures. Castles in the air and extraterrestrial civilizations of dreamers and science fiction writers. Observations of ancient astronomers. Tsiolkovsky's first experiments. Conquest of technology and physics by pioneers of astronautics. Heroes who became the first and those who gave their lives in the name of progress. All this allowed us to achieve what we can see now.

The history of space exploration began in the 19th century, long before the first aircraft was able to overcome the gravity of the Earth. The undisputed leader in this process at all times has been Russia, which today continues to implement large-scale scientific projects in interstellar space. They are of great interest throughout the world, as is the history of space exploration, especially since 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of man’s first spacewalk.

Background

Oddly enough, the first design of an aircraft for space travel with an oscillating combustion chamber capable of controlling the thrust vector was developed in prison dungeons. Its author was the People's Volunteer revolutionary N.I. Kibalchich, who was subsequently executed for preparing an assassination attempt on Alexander II. It is known that before his death, the inventor turned to the investigative commission with a request to hand over the drawings and manuscript. However, this was not done, and they became known only after the publication of the project in 1918.

More serious work, supported by appropriate mathematical apparatus, was proposed by K. Tsiolkovsky, who proposed equipping ships suitable for interplanetary flights with jet engines. These ideas were further developed in the work of other scientists such as Hermann Oberth and Robert Goddard. Moreover, if the first of them was a theorist, then the second managed to launch the first rocket using gasoline and liquid oxygen in 1926.

Confrontation between the USSR and the USA in the struggle for primacy in space exploration

Work on the creation of combat missiles began in Germany during the Second World War. Their leadership was entrusted to Wernher von Braun, who managed to achieve significant success. In particular, already in 1944 the V-2 rocket was launched, becoming the first artificial object to reach space.

In the last days of the war, all Nazi rocket developments fell into the hands of the American military and formed the basis of the US space program. Such a favorable “start,” however, did not allow them to win the space confrontation with the USSR, which first launched the first artificial Earth satellite and then sent living beings into orbit, thereby proving the hypothetical possibility of manned flights in outer space.

Gagarin. First in space: how it happened

In April 1961, one of the most famous events in the history of mankind took place, which in its significance is incomparable to anything. After all, on this day the first spacecraft piloted by a man was launched. The flight went well, and 108 minutes after launch, the descent vehicle with the astronaut on board landed near the city of Engels. Thus, the first man in space spent only 1 hour and 48 minutes. Of course, compared to modern flights, which can last up to a year or even more, it seems like a cakewalk. However, at the time of its completion, it was regarded as a feat, since no one could know how weightlessness affects human mental activity, whether such a flight is dangerous to health, and whether the astronaut will even be able to return to Earth.

Brief biography of Yu. A. Gagarin

As already mentioned, the first person in space who was able to overcome gravity was a citizen of the Soviet Union. He was born in the small village of Klushino into a peasant family. In 1955, the young man entered the aviation school and after graduation served for two years as a pilot in a fighter regiment. When recruitment was announced for the newly formed first corps of cosmonauts, he wrote a report on his enrollment in its ranks and took part in the acceptance tests. On April 8, 1961, at a closed meeting of the state commission leading the project to launch the Vostok spacecraft, it was decided that the flight would be made by Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, who was ideally suited both in terms of physical parameters and training, and had the appropriate origin. It is interesting that almost immediately after landing he was awarded a medal “For the development of virgin lands,” apparently meaning that outer space at that time was also, in a sense, virgin land.

Gagarin: triumph

People of the older generation still remember the joy that swept the country when the successful completion of the flight of the world's first manned spacecraft was announced. Within a few hours after this, the name and call sign of Yuri Gagarin - “Kedr” - was on everyone’s lips, and the cosmonaut was showered with fame on a scale in which no other person had received it either before or after. After all, even in the conditions of the Cold War, he was accepted as a triumphant in the camp “hostile” to the USSR.

First man in outer space

As already mentioned, 2015 is an anniversary year. The fact is that exactly half a century ago a significant event occurred, and the world learned that the first man had been in outer space. He became A. A. Leonov, who on March 18, 1965, went beyond the Voskhod-2 spacecraft through the airlock chamber and spent almost 24 minutes floating in weightlessness. This short “expedition into the unknown” did not go smoothly and almost cost the astronaut his life, as his space suit swelled and he could not return to board the ship for a long time. Troubles awaited the crew on the “return route.” However, everything worked out, and the first man in space, who took a walk in interplanetary space, returned safely to Earth.

Unknown heroes

Recently, the feature film "Gagarin. First in Space" was presented to the audience. After watching it, many became interested in the history of the development of astronautics in our country and abroad. But it is fraught with many mysteries. In particular, only in the last two decades have residents of our country been able to become acquainted with information regarding disasters and victims, at the cost of which successes in space exploration were achieved. Thus, in October 1960, an unmanned rocket exploded at Baikonur, as a result of which 74 people were killed or died from wounds, and in 1971, depressurization of the descent module cost the lives of three Soviet cosmonauts. There were many victims in the process of implementing the United States space program, therefore, when talking about the heroes, one should also remember those who fearlessly took on the task, certainly aware of the risk to which they were putting their lives.

Cosmonautics today

At the moment, we can proudly say that our country has won the championship in the struggle for space. Of course, one cannot belittle the role of those who fought for its development on the other hemisphere of our planet, and no one will dispute the fact that the first man in space to set foot on the moon, Neil Amstrong, was an American. However, at the moment the only country capable of delivering people into space is Russia. And although the International Space Station is considered a joint project in which 16 countries participate, it cannot continue to exist without our participation.

Today no one can say what the future of astronautics will be like in 100-200 years. And this is not surprising, because in the same way, in the now distant 1915, hardly anyone could have believed that in a century the vastness of space would be plowed by hundreds of aircraft for various purposes, and in low-Earth orbit a huge “house” would revolve around the Earth, where People from different countries will live and work permanently.

Essay

Conquest of space

Plan

1. Witty inventions of science fiction writers of all times and peoples

2. Science fiction is the constant companion and predecessor of the scientific works and inventions of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky

3. Dreams come true

4. Fateful coincidence

List of used literature

1. Witty inventions of science fiction writers of all times and peoples

Fantasy is a quality of the greatest value...

Each person, like all humanity, has his own cherished dreams and desires.

Conquering interplanetary spaces and penetrating other worlds is one of the long-standing dreams of the inhabitants of the globe. And in fact, is man really doomed to be content with only one grain of the universe - the small Earth? Science fiction writers inflamed the pride of the inhabitants of our planet. Scientists were looking for ways to reach the star worlds, or at least the Moon. Various guesses were born in brave minds, some scientific, some fantastic.

Thus, the cheerful Gascon - French poet of the 17th century Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655) in the novel “Another Light, or the States and Empires of the Moon,” published after the poet’s death in 1657, invented as many as seven ways to fly to the Moon - one more amazing than the other. He, for example, suggested “sit on an iron circle and, taking a large magnet, throw it high up until the eye can see: it will lure the iron with it. This is the right remedy. But as soon as he pulls you in, grab him quickly and up again... So he will lift you endlessly.” Or, noticing that the ebb and flow of the tides depend on the Moon, he recommended: “At that hour when the sea wave reaches with all its strength towards the Moon,” take a swim, lie down on the shore and wait until the Moon itself attracts you to itself. But one of Bergerac's tips was not so far from the truth. This is method number three: “... Having first arranged the filly on steel springs, sit on it and, having exploded with gunpowder, instantly find yourself in the blue plains.” He also wrote the novel “States and Empires of the Sun,” and the first space rocket appeared in his works.

The English writer Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) in his famous book “The Travels of Lemuel Gulliver”, published in 1726, first talks about an artificial flying island.

One of the creators of the science fiction genre, French writer Jules Verne (1828-1905), in the novel “From the Earth to the Moon,” written in 1865, sent his fictional characters to the Moon in a cannonball. Some of the writer’s scientific ideas later turned out to be embodied in reality. For example, the Babikin projectile has amazing similarities (approximately the same size and weight) with the American Apollo 8 spacecraft. The height of the Columbiad projectile is 3.65 meters, weight - 5.547 kilograms, and the height of the Apollo projectile is 3.60 meters, weight - 5.621 kilograms. Apollo 8 also circled the Moon in December and splashed down four kilometers from the point indicated by the science fiction writer. Not only the number of participants in the flight, the place of start and finish, the trajectory, dimensions and weight of the aluminum cylindrical projectile were almost exactly predicted, but also atmospheric resistance and air regeneration. And even the science fiction writer’s telescope with a five-meter diameter on the top of Longspeak in the Rocky Mountains is surprisingly similar in parameters and resolution to the one now installed at the Mount Palomar Astronomical Observatory in California in the USA. All this was provided for in the novel, which was more than a hundred years ahead of the real possibilities of humanity!

A classic of science fiction literature, the English writer Herbert Wells (1866-1946) in his novel “The First Men on the Moon,” written in 1901, forced his hero to invent a special amazing substance, cavorite (cavorite), which allegedly does not allow gravity to pass through. Having surrounded the aircraft with this substance, Wells’ hero left the Earth and rushed to the Moon, opening for this purpose the “cavorite” dampers on the side of his projectile that was facing the ancient satellite of the Earth. And in the novel “The Liberated World” the writer for the first time mentions aircraft with a nuclear fuel engine. In his works, Herbert Wells relied on the latest scientific achievements of the time.

Novelists also invented various methods of space flight, but...science refuted all these witty inventions of science fiction writers.

2. Science fiction is a constant companion and predecessor of scientific works and inventions Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky

When science is powerless, fantasy reigns. She is ahead of science, like a dream that is always ahead of reality.

V. Gubarev

On September 17, 1857, in the village of Izhevskoye, Ryazan region, a boy was born into the Tsiolkovsky family, and they named him Konstantin. And no one knew then that a great man had been born - the founder of modern astronautics. “It seems to me... that the basic ideas and love for the eternal striving there - towards the Sun, towards liberation from the chains of gravity, were embedded in me almost from birth,” K.E. Tsiolkovsky wrote in his memoirs.

Tsiolkovsky spent his childhood and youth in Ryazan and Vyatka. While still a boy, he independently studied physics, mathematics and studied all kinds of technical discoveries. When he was fourteen years old, he had already glued together a balloon from paper and filled it with smoke. Then he was carried away by the dream of building a device that flies with the help of flapping wings. He plunged headlong into invention: he built lathes and made models of flying cars, although at that time there were no traces of airplanes. At the age of fifteen, Kostya Tsiolkovsky decided to create a large controlled balloon with a metal shell. Since then, he never parted with the dream of a metal balloon and eagerly began to calculate. At the same time, he began to be occupied with dreams of human flight into outer space, interstellar spaces. At first he thought it was necessary to use centrifugal force, but he soon realized that he had chosen the wrong path.

At the age of sixteen he comes to Moscow, where he educates himself in libraries. About those years he wrote: “The first year I carefully and systematically took a course in elementary mathematics and physics... In the second year I took up higher mathematics... I became interested in physics, chemistry, mechanics, astronomy and so on. There were, however, few books and I was more immersed in my own thoughts... I thought without stopping, based on what I read. There was a lot I didn’t understand, there was no one to explain and it was impossible given my disability (after suffering from scarlet fever at the age of ten, Konstantan Eduardovich almost completely lost his hearing). This all the more excited the initiative of the mind...” He did not yet know that he would need knowledge to solve one of the most mysterious problems of the century.

When science is powerless, fantasy reigns. It is ahead of science, like a dream that is always ahead of reality.

“The desire for space travel was instilled in me by the famous dreamer J. Verne. He awakened the brain in this direction. Desires appeared. Behind the desires, the activity of the mind arose,” recalled K.E. Tsiolkovsky. Science fiction, a constant companion, and sometimes the predecessor of Tsiolkovsky’s outstanding scientific works and inventions, is characteristic of all his work.

Dream of space! This, of course, was fantastic. Nevertheless, the young Tsiolkovsky notes: “I was especially tormented by this question: is it possible to use centrifugal force in order to rise beyond the atmosphere, into celestial space?” Even in my youth, “there was a moment when it seemed to me that I had solved this issue... at the age of 16,” wrote Tsiolkovsky. “I was delighted with my invention, I could not sit still... I didn’t sleep at night - I wandered around Moscow, and kept thinking about the great consequences of my discovery. But, alas, while still on the road I realized that I was mistaken... However, the short-lived delight was so strong that all my life I saw this device in a dream... I saw in a dream that I was rising to the stars in my car and felt the same delight as on that immemorial night! .

But he is not a pure dreamer. He conducts experiments using experimental mice, chickens, and insects. K.E. Tsiolkovsky determined the effect of gravity acceleration on animal organisms. In the notebook of his youth, the future scientist writes down ideas about the desirability of conducting other experiments and research, making sketches and diagrams of new instruments for this purpose. He is experimenting again. The very first experiments in space medicine: “I... did experiments with different animals, exposed them to increased gravity on special centrifugal machines.” So, he increased the weight of the chicken 10 times. It was with tenfold overloads that the astronauts encountered during their first flights.

The science fiction works of K.E. Tsiolkovsky in the process of his research work were sometimes like the first, initial “estimate” of the development of new ideas. The scientist himself said wonderfully about this sequence of the creative process: “first, inevitably, comes thought, fantasy, and fairy tale. Behind them comes scientific calculation. And in the end, execution crowns thought.”

For his science fiction works, Tsiolkovsky knew how to find amazingly bright colors and words. And at the same time, the author remained entirely on a scientific basis. His works are imbued with a deep conviction that it is precisely these bold ideas that humanity will definitely come to, albeit, as he believed, in the distant future. This unshakable conviction, expressed in a fascinating form, involuntarily makes you think about the picture of the future exploration of space drawn by the author.

His descriptions of lunar landscapes, travels on the Moon and his fantasies regarding jumping lunar animals or animal-plants that hide in gorges or run after the sun to escape the approaching cold of the lunar night are very fascinating. Even these fantasies seem appropriate, since for all their implausibility they soften the picture of the harsh environment of the nature of the Moon in Tsiolkovsky’s fantastic story “On the Moon.”

"Conquered space" - a series of documentaries from the TV Center about the history of cosmonautics in the USSR. Each film reflects the most striking events from space travel: tests, flights, disasters, successful experiments...

Movie one- about Gagarin’s flight on April 12, 1961 and the mystery of the death of designer Korolev.

According to modern estimates, the probability of a person returning safely from space ranged from forty to seventy percent. From then on it went like this: we played ahead of the curve with the Americans, and thought only about victory - safety faded into the background. The first satellite, the first animal in space, the first cosmonaut, the first interplanetary station, the first woman astronaut, the first man in outer space... What was behind all these records and how did our country manage to maintain leadership in space for many years?

Maybe this story will partly explain it. On July 17, 1975, at 16:12 GMT, the American Apollo spacecraft docked with the Soyuz. The minutes of the meeting at the highest level - or rather, at an altitude of 225 kilometers above the earth - were scheduled in advance, minute by minute. The hatch should have been opened when the ships flew over Moscow. However, the inexplicable happened. The ship's commander, Alexey Leonov (and he kept looking at his watch) somehow got the time wrong. And the long-awaited meeting took place over the Elbe - in the very place where thirty years ago Russian and American soldiers shook hands. As then, relations between our countries were far from ideal: therefore, to maintain political correctness, the commanders of the Soviet and American crews had to shake hands on neutral territory - on the border between the spaceships. But Alexey Leonov was faithful to Russian customs: it is not customary for us to say hello on the doorstep. Taking Stafford by the hand, the Soviet cosmonaut pulled him into his territory.

The film features: astronauts Alexey Leonov, Georgy Grechko, Boris Morukov, Sergey Krikalev, Yuri Lonchakov, Maxim Suraev, Head of the Department of Psychology and Psychophysiology, Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Bubeev, doctor of the cosmonaut corps of RSC Energia Ivan Reznikov, participant in the creation of the Vostok spacecraft, designer Andrey Reshetin, US Ambassador to Russia John Byerly, NASA representative in Russia Patrick Buzzard.

Manufacturing company: Leader TV

Film two- about the profession of an astronaut and the most notorious disasters in the history of space navigation.

This series will tell about the most notorious space tragedies: the Nedelinsky disaster, the Black Year of 1967, the death of the Soyuz-11 and Apollo 1 crews, the disasters of the Challenger and Columbia shuttles.

Challenger launched on January 28 at 11:38 a.m. local time. On board were six astronauts and teacher Christa McAuliffe. On that tragic day, devotion to the schedule played a cruel joke on the flight organizers. In Houston, where the control commission was located, the official presenter, despite the television monitor, reported on the progress of the flight. He simply read his program: "1 minute 15 seconds. Ship speed 2900 feet per second. Flew a distance of nine nautical miles. Altitude above ground - seven nautical miles." The cheerful voice continued to count down the stages of the journey, which ended at the 73rd second. At this time, millions of shocked television viewers in the United States had already seen the exploding ship. The presenter was the last one to notice the disaster...

Film three- about life in orbit.

The heroes of this film will also talk about emergency situations, accidents, and mysterious phenomena. Viewers will also learn about the most famous prank in the history of astronautics and attend a real space wedding.

In 2003, ISS crew commander Yuri Malenchenko decided to get married without leaving orbit. What was there to do? The lovers agreed on the wedding date almost a year in advance, but due to the Columbia shuttle disaster, the flight schedule changed and the groom's business trip was delayed. Wait? But then it became clear: not everyone returns from space. And Malenchenko proposed an unexpected plan to his bride. For the world's first space wedding, a teleconference was organized between the ISS and Mission Control Center in Houston. To prevent the girl from looking lonely, a cardboard double of Malenchenko was placed next to her, and the American Edward Lu became the groom’s best man on the ISS. He also performed the Mendelssohn march on a synthesizer. The Russian side reacted more than coolly to Malenchenko’s romantic step; on that day our MCC even refused to get in touch. Rosaviakosmos emphasized that a wedding is a personal matter for an astronaut, and very soon a clause was added to the contracts stating that cosmonauts were prohibited from getting married in orbit.

Film Four- about space tourism.

The technology is becoming more and more perfect, but for some reason, not only have we still not reached Mars, which seemed so close, we don’t even fly to the Moon anymore. But scientists are confident that a new era of space exploration is just around the corner.

The last episode of the film will tell about the future of astronautics - mass space tourism, the creation of a Moon base, the exploration of Mars and the “hundred-year spaceship.” The “routineness” of space flights is confirmed by the following story. In 2010, the Ministry of Defense twice refused to award cosmonaut Maxim Suraev the title of Hero of Russia. Motivation: not enough reasons. Yes, Suraev spent six months in orbit, went into outer space, did an excellent job with the program, showed competence, and so on, but... The Ministry of Defense did not see anything heroic in this. Only on the third attempt did Roscosmos obtain a star from the military for Suraev.

This story became the first sign: the authorities are no longer perceiving the work of astronauts as a feat.

April 12th, 2013

This digest is dedicated to the 52nd anniversary of Yu.A.’s flight. Gagarin. Whatever they say, this man is and will always be considered a space pioneer.

There is information (albeit not confirmed by documents) that the leadership of our country so badly wanted to win the country the title of leader in the space industry that the first attempts to send a spacecraft with a person on board into orbit began already in 1957. When this information was declassified in the 90s, we learned the names of the first heroes who died; these were test pilots Ledovskikh (1957), Shaborin (1958) and Mitkov (1959).

The name of the pilot launched in 1960, the capsule with which for unknown reasons changed the direction of flight and went into the abyss of space, will remain forever unknown. In September 1960, cosmonaut Pyotr Dolgov died when a launch vehicle exploded. Grachev, Kachur, Lobov... These highly qualified test pilots disappeared without a trace in the depths of the cosmonaut training center along with all their documents.

There are records of Vladimir Ilyushin, who went into orbit in April 1961, and even made three orbits around the Earth, but suffered an accident during his return. However, official sources provide information that the famous pilot Vladimir Ilyushin died shortly before in a car accident...

I repeat, the author of the text could not find official information about all of the above.

One way or another, on April 12, 1961, Yu.A. Gagarin became the first person to leave the Earth.

Gagarin died under mysterious circumstances on March 30, 1968, during a routine training flight. After lengthy discussions and analysis of millions of facts, both the official and unofficial versions converged on one. The pilots (Gagarin and Seregin) were completely healthy, took off in a fully operational machine and did not encounter any interference (birds or foreign objects) in the sky, however, as a result of some error (human factor, as they say now), an emergency situation was created that the pilots could not deal with cope with.

2. The first living creatures to leave the Earth were ordinary fruit flies - Drosophila, sent into space in 1947 by the Americans on a V-2 rocket. The purpose of the launch was to test the extent of the effects of radiation on a living organism at high altitudes. The experiment was successful - the fruit flies returned safe and sound.

3. June 11, 1948 year, on a ballistic rocket built on the basis of the famous German V-2, the Americans sent the rhesus monkey Albert I into space. Without even rising 100 kilometers, the animal died from suffocation. Albert II took up the baton a year later. The flight itself went well, the planned altitude (134 kilometers) was achieved. But during landing, the parachute of the capsule did not open, and Albert II also died. Only in 1951 did everything work out and the monkey-astronaut managed to return to his native land. It was already Albert VI...

The Americans launched many more apes into space, but the most famous are: the monkey Gordo, who became the first monkey in space, he was launched on December 13, 1958, and the chimpanzee Ham, launched in January 1961. The monkey circled the Earth in 1 minute 39 seconds, for which it is rightly called “the first Gagarin.”

The era of monkey flight ended in 1962. Macaque Bonnie was returned early from space due to deteriorating health. Twelve hours later she died. The American public came to the defense of animals, and the US Congress was forced to put an end to experiments with monkeys.

4. Therefore, the first mammals to officially cross the Karman Line and return alive(the imaginary boundary of the Earth and space, passing at a distance of 100 km from the surface of the planet), there were two dogs. On July 22, 1951, from the Kapustin Yar training ground, the dogs Dezik and Tsygan climbed to a height of 110 km and returned alive. When Dezik was relaunched as part of the second pair, the crew died due to parachute failure. These were the first space victims.

5. But the first animals to enter Earth’s orbit were dogs. In Russia (due to a shortage of monkeys), dogs were used as experimental cosmonauts. Initially, however, they were going to send a pig into space. The country's leadership did not like this idea: “Can you imagine the headlines of Western newspapers? "Russian pigs in space!" It's just a shame! The rootless dog Laika, picked up on the street, managed to become famous. Alas - posthumously.

When preparing the animal for flight, scientists knew that the pug would not come back. The spacecraft on which she flew did not have a descent module, and the dog was doomed to burn up along with the satellite in the upper atmosphere. On November 3, 1957, Laika took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. As it turned out many years later (the information was classified as “secret” for a long time), the “cosmonaut” died a few hours after takeoff from stress and overheating. Later, scientists admitted that they had sent the poor animal to certain death. They were in such a hurry to launch the satellite for the next anniversary of the October Revolution that they did not have time to fully think through the design of the rocket.

On April 11, 2008, in Moscow, on Petrovsko-Razumovskaya Alley on the territory of the Institute of Military Medicine, where the space experiment was being prepared, a monument to Laika was erected. The two-meter high monument represents a space rocket, turning into a palm, on which life-size Laika proudly stands. In addition, the older generation saw the profile of a dog on a pack of cigarettes of the same name, which were quite popular in the USSR.

Interestingly, French scientists “trained on cats.” Felicette the cat successfully flew to the stars in 1963.

6. The first orbital flight of living creatures with a successful return to Earth - the dogs Belka and Strelka on August 19-20, 1960 on the Soviet ship Sputnik-5. They safely made a couple of orbits and after 25 hours returned to earth safe and sound.

By the way, have you ever wondered why females were chosen for the flight into space? This is explained very prosaically - it was easier for them to make a toilet. Before the flight, they were trained to properly maintain hygiene in confined spaces. By the way, only mongrels were sent into space, as they were more resilient and stress-resistant. However, they did not forget that if the flight had a favorable outcome, the dogs would have to show off on the pages of newspapers and magazines, as well as in front of television cameras. Therefore, the applicants were chosen the most beautiful, slender, with “intelligent” faces.

7. Quails were the first to reproduce in space. On March 22, 1990, a quail hatched in a special space “maternity hospital.” This was the first creature born in orbit. After the first chicken, a second, a third appeared...

And on Earth at the same time, biologists were eagerly awaiting the appearance of quails from the control group of eggs. As if on cue, they also began to hatch on time. The scientists did not hide their joy: if everything continues to go normally, it means that living organisms are able to reproduce and multiply in unusual conditions. And this opens up great prospects for humanity: during long space “business trips” it is possible to breed small pets... However, being born in space does not at all mean taking root there. The quails were unable to adapt to weightlessness. Of the entire furry team, only three chicks returned to Earth.

8. The first female cosmonaut - Valentina Tereshkova, June 16, 1963. When choosing Tereshkova for the role of the first female cosmonaut from five trained applicants, as usual in our country, political factors were also taken into account: Tereshkova was from the workers, while the others were from the employees. In addition, Tereshkova’s father, Vladimir, died during the Soviet-Finnish war, which also fit perfectly into the beautiful story.

Tereshkova spent three days in orbit and landed safely near a small village in the Altai Territory. A few days later, Valentina Tereshkova was reprimanded for violating the regime in the area of ​​the landing site: she distributed food supplies from the astronauts’ diet to local residents, and she herself ate local food after three days of fasting. Tereshkova hid the fact of the flight from her parents, and they learned about it on the radio.

On November 3 of the same year, Valentina Tereshkova married cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolaev. She is the only woman in Russia to hold the rank of general (awarded to her in 1995).

9. The first spacewalk by an astronaut on March 18, 1965. For 10 minutes, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was outside the spacecraft.

It is noteworthy that, having become the first cosmonaut to walk into outer space, Alexey Leonov almost became the first cosmonaut to die in outer space. Coming out of the airlock, Leonov forgot to fasten the safety cord, and if his partner Pavel Belyaev had not caught his leg, the cosmonaut would have remained in low-Earth orbit forever. In addition, when the crew returned, it turned out that the engineers of the Mission Control Center made a mistake in the calculations (according to other sources, due to a failure of the spacecraft's orientation system), and the descent module landed several thousand kilometers from the calculated point. The cosmonauts had to ski out of the taiga and wait for several days for help from a helicopter.

Some time after our cosmonaut Leonov went into outer space, the Americans managed to repeat the same experiment. On June 3, 1965, American astronauts James McDiwatt and Edward White, launched on the Gemini IV spacecraft, walked into outer space.

10. First landing on the Moon - July 21, 1969. American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, Michael Collins approached the surface of the moon on the Apollo 11 spacecraft. Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon.

The moon landing has divided the world community into two opposing camps: some consider it a grandiose hoax and support their position with very weighty arguments, others do not see anything strange in minor inconsistencies in documents, photos and videos confirming the landing, and consider their opponents to be envious and provocateurs .

There are entire groups of scientists who prove their versions based on images of traces, the length and direction of shadows, the dynamics of the movement of people and equipment, etc. NASA also added fuel to the fire by refusing to show the original film recording of the astronauts’ stay on the Moon, and then reporting that the unique footage was lost in the archives, and instead presenting the public with a reconstruction of the events filmed in Hollywood.

One way or another, we will never know the truth, and we can either believe that the landing took place or not believe it.

Thus, the first steps towards space exploration were taken. The following events began to develop at incredible, cosmic speed. Here are the most notable of them.

The world's first soft landing on the surface of Venus - the Soviet interplanetary station "Venera-7" - December 15, 1970.

The first man-made object reaches the surface of Mars - the Soviet interplanetary station Mars-2 - on November 27, 1971.

The first man-made object to cross the asteroid belt and thereby reach the Outer Solar System was the American spacecraft Pioneer 10, February 15, 1973.

The first spacecraft to fly near the planet Jupiter was Pioneer 10, December 4, 1973.

The first international, Soviet-American, manned space flight - Soyuz-19 and Apollo, July 15, 1975 (Soyuz-Apollo program). This event is considered to be the end of the 18-year “space race”.

The first person in space who is neither a citizen of the USSR nor a citizen of the USA is Vladimir Remek (Czechoslovakia), March 2, 1978, Soyuz-28 - Salyut-6.

The first spacecraft to fly near Saturn was the American spacecraft Pioneer 11, September 1, 1979.

The first flight lasting more than six months - Soyuz-36 - Salyut-6 - Soyuz-37, Leonid Popov, Valery Ryumin, April 9, 1980.

The world's first spacecraft to transmit color photographs and sound recordings from the surface of Venus was the Soviet spacecraft Venera-13, March 1, 1982. She worked on the surface of this planet for a record and still unsurpassed time: 127 minutes.

The first time a female cosmonaut joins the crew is Soyuz T-7, Svetlana Savitskaya, 1984.

The first man-made object to leave the Solar System (reaching the orbit of Neptune, which at that time was further than Pluto from the Sun) was the American spacecraft Pioneer 10, June 13, 1983.

The first person in history to work in outer space without any connection with the ship (in free flight) was astronaut Bruce McCandless II, Challenger STS-41B, February 7, 1984.

The first female cosmonaut performs a spacewalk - Soyuz T-12, Svetlana Savitskaya, July 25, 1984.

The first American woman to walk in outer space is Katherine Sullivan, October 11, 1984.

First American Senator in Space - Edwin Garn, Discovery STS-51D, April 12, 1985

The first interorbital flight from one space station to another was made from Mir to Salyut-7 on the Soyuz T-15 spacecraft, Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, May 4, 1986.

The first flight lasting one year - “Soyuz TM-4” - “Mir (orbital station)” - “Soyuz TM-6”, Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov, December 21, 1987 - December 21, 1988

The first and only space flight of the Soviet reusable transport ship Buran. The spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome using the Energia launch vehicle on November 15, 1988

The first spacecraft to fly near the Martian satellite Phobos and transmit photographs of its surface was the Soviet AMS Phobos-2, February 21, 1989.

The first paid flight into space. The first commercial non-state astronaut, the first professional journalist in space, the first Japanese in space - Toyohiro Akiyama. December 2, 1990.

The first and last curious case when cosmonauts launched in the USSR in 1991 landed in a country with a different name - the Russian Federation - Sergei Krikalev and Alexander Volkov, Soyuz TM-13, March 25, 1992

The first and only artificial satellite of Jupiter was the American spacecraft Galileo on December 8, 1995.

First ever successful Mars rover mission. The Sojourner rover was delivered to Mars by the American Mars Pathfinder on July 4, 1997.

The first Chinese spacecraft "Shenzhou-1" - the beginning of the Chinese manned program (an unmanned launch for now), November 20, 1999.

The first soft landing of a spacecraft on the surface of an asteroid in history was made by the American spacecraft “NEAR Shoemaker” on the surface of Eros, February 12, 2001

The world's first space tourist - Dennis Tito (USA), Soyuz TM-32 - ISS - Soyuz TM-31, April 28, 2001, flight duration 7 days 22 hours. The flight cost him $20 million. Previous commercial cosmonauts are not considered tourists, since they flew with the money of sponsors, whose tasks they carried out in flight.

The first and only artificial satellite of Saturn was the American-European space probe Cassini-Huygens, July 1, 2004.

The first ever soft landing in the Outer Solar System, the European Huygens probe successfully entered the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan, landed on its surface and transmitted photographs from there on January 14, 2005.

The first delivery to Earth of a capsule with samples of cometary substance was made by the American spacecraft “Stardust” on January 15, 2006.

The first marathon in space. While in orbit, Sunita Williams took part in the marathon, which is held annually in Boston, on April 16. A special simulator was built for marathon running in zero gravity. Running time - 4 hours 23 minutes.

The first hereditary cosmonaut (son of an astronaut) in space - Sergei Volkov, April 8, 2008.

China's first three-seat spacecraft, Shenzhou-7, launched on September 25, 2008.

The first successful experiment to deploy a solar sail was carried out by the Japanese spacecraft IKAROS on June 4-10, 2010.

On December 8, 2010, the private Dragon spacecraft reached low-Earth orbit for the first time.

The first ever private space transport flight to the ISS was made by the American Dragon spacecraft on May 22, 2012.

The first man-made object to enter the boundary of interstellar space is the American spacecraft Voyager 1, June 14, 2012. At the moment, this spacecraft has reached its greatest distance from Earth.