A Brief History of Space. History of Soviet cosmonautics in persons

In the second half of the 20th century. Humanity has stepped onto the threshold of the Universe - it has entered outer space. Our Motherland opened the road to space. The first artificial Earth satellite, which opened the space age, was launched by the former Soviet Union, the world's first cosmonaut is a citizen of the former USSR.

Cosmonautics is a huge catalyst for modern science and technology, which in an unprecedentedly short time has become one of the main levers of the modern world process. It stimulates the development of electronics, mechanical engineering, materials science, computer technology, energy and many other areas of the national economy.

Scientifically, humanity strives to find in space the answer to such fundamental questions as the structure and evolution of the Universe, the formation of the Solar system, the origin and development of life. From hypotheses about the nature of planets and the structure of space, people moved on to a comprehensive and direct study of celestial bodies and interplanetary space with the help of rocket and space technology.

In space exploration, humanity will have to explore various areas of outer space: the Moon, other planets and interplanetary space.

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This is not science fiction - it is a necessity, and the more people fly in space, the more this need will be felt." These words, spoken by the legendary Chief Designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev at the very beginning of the space age, were certainly prophetic. Since then, in the open They have already enslaved dozens of people in space, who have had to convince themselves many times of the truth of these words.

No room for error

The first step towards the development of open space was taken exactly 40 years ago - on March 18, 1965, pilot-cosmonaut Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov was the first earthling to step outside the spaceship. At this stage of space exploration, the daredevils who dared to leave the cozy earth’s surface could only rely on themselves and the equipment that flew away with them. There were no rescue systems in space at that time - it was impossible to dock, and it was impossible, after leaving one ship, to cross through airless space into another, rescue one. They made the equipment as reliable as possible and tried to plan for everything, but emergencies still happened. To ensure safety and increase the efficiency of long-term flights, it was necessary to develop a rescue system and organize the possibility of astronauts going overboard the ship. Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, who was the first to propose using a special airlock chamber for spacewalks, dreamed of such an opportunity.

Both the USA and the USSR were preparing to enter open airless space, but Soviet scientists were the first to accomplish this task, unprecedented at that time. After 6 single-seat Vostok spacecraft were in orbit (including Vostok-6 in June 1963 with the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova), the design bureau under the leadership of S.P. The Queen began to create a new three-seater ship, Voskhod. Simultaneously with the preparation of the flight of a crew of three (it was carried out on October 12-13, 1964 by V. Komarov, K. Feoktistov and B. Egorov) on the basis of Voskhod, it was decided to create a two-seater ship for a person to go into open airless space. At the same time, the space freed up after the removal of the third chair was used to put on a spacesuit and organize the entrance to the airlock chamber, which was embedded in the main hatch of the ship.

At first, it was planned to “conduct an experiment to depressurize a container with an animal enclosed in a spacesuit. After depressurization, the animal will be pushed out (or will make an independent exit) from the spacecraft, followed by a return to the ship and landing together with the ship.” But they decided to abandon such a step, and not only because an experiment with an animal would require the development of a special spacesuit and other complex equipment. An animal going into outer space would not answer the main question: will a person be able to navigate and move in such an unusual environment - after all, you cannot warn an animal about what awaits it, and it will not later tell about its impressions and sensations.

The project group of the design bureau received the task of developing technical means to ensure a person’s exit from the Voskhod spacecraft. To do this, experts analyzed several exit options. The easiest way was to use the hatch, which served to board the crew into the ship. But the air loss would be too great, and many instruments in the ship’s cabin would have to be sealed.

As a result of the development of various technical solutions, preference was given to the option with an airlock chamber, which is a small space isolated on all sides, where an astronaut dressed in a spacesuit is temporarily located while all the air surrounding him is gradually released, after which the hatch opens to the outside. The return to the ship occurs in the reverse order - the airlock chamber, closed from the inside and outside, is filled with air, after which the internal hatch opens and the astronaut finds himself inside the ship.

The chamber itself was inflatable and located outside the rigid body of the spacecraft. When entering orbit, it was folded and placed under the ship's fairing. And after going into space, before descending to Earth, the main part of it was shot off and the ship entered the dense layers of the atmosphere almost in its usual form - with only a small growth in the area of ​​the entrance hatch. Tests carried out in advance on Cosmos 110 showed that the ballistics of the descent compartment were not affected due to the remains of the airlock chamber. If the “shooting” of the camera did not take place for some reason, the crew would have to put on their space suits again and, having depressurized the ship and leaning out into the hatch, manually cut off the airlock chamber that was interfering with the descent to Earth.

"Walking Suit"

It is clear that in order to survive in a vacuum, special clothing was needed, and NPO Zvezda took on its development. On their first flights, the cosmonauts were sent out in SK-1 rescue suits, weighing only 30 kg, with an autonomous supply of oxygen in case of an accident and so-called positive buoyancy - in case a splashdown occurs instead of landing. But to go into space and actively work there, fundamentally different “suits” were needed, with a more powerful life support system, thermoregulation and protection from solar radiation and space cold.

The Berkut spacesuit, in which the cosmonauts trained and went into outer space, was significantly different from the one in which they flew on the Vostok. To increase reliability, an additional backup hermetic shell was introduced. The outer overalls were sewn from multilayer metallized fabric - screen-vacuum insulation. In essence, it was a thermos consisting of several layers of plastic film coated with aluminum. Gaskets made of screen-vacuum insulation were also installed in gloves and shoes. Outer clothing also protected the astronaut from possible mechanical damage to the sealed part of the spacesuit, since it was made from very durable artificial fabrics that are not afraid of high and low temperatures. The suit became noticeably heavier - the life support system also added weight. It was placed in a back pack and included, in addition to the ventilation system, two more 2-liter oxygen cylinders. A fitting for filling them and a pressure gauge window for monitoring the pressure were attached to the body of the backpack. In case of an emergency, the airlock chamber had a backup oxygen system connected to the spacesuit using a hose.

The total weight of the “exit suit” approached 100 kg, and during training on earth, the astronauts had to ride in a kind of “runner” that supported the rigid part of the spacesuit. But in zero gravity, the mass of the spacesuit did not play a significant role. Much more interference was created by the air pressure filling the sealed shell, making the suit rigid and unyielding. The astronauts had to forcefully overcome the resistance of their own clothing. Alexey Leonov recalled: “In order, for example, to squeeze a hand in a glove, an effort of 25 kilograms was required.” Therefore, during preparation for the flight, physical fitness was given special importance: the cosmonauts did daily cross-country or ski runs, and did intense gymnastics and weightlifting.

The color of the suit also changed: to better reflect the sun's rays, it changed from orange to white. A light filter appeared on the helmet to protect from bright sunlight. In a word, a modern spacesuit is a real miracle of technology and, in the firm opinion of the designers, “a machine more complex than a car.”

Ground training

Simultaneously with the start of modifications to the Voskhod spacecraft, two crews of cosmonauts began preparing for the flight: Alexey Leonov with Pavel Belyaev and their backups, Viktor Gorbatko and Evgeny Khrunov. Leonov recalled: “At the end of 1963, we visited Korolev’s experimental design bureau, where ships were manufactured and we studied space technology. Sergei Pavlovich met us, took us to the workshop and showed us a model of the Voskhod spacecraft, equipped with some kind of strange camera. Having noticed our Surprised, he said that this was a gateway to enter free space. Sergei Pavlovich suggested that I put on a spacesuit and try to perform the experiment. After two hours of work, during which I had to work hard, I expressed my thoughts to Korolev. It’s possible to complete the task, you just need to think it through well.”

During training, for more free control of their body, the cosmonauts performed a special set of physical exercises, jumped from a height into the water, trained on a trampoline, parachuted, and conducted classes on a special device - a freely rotating “Zhukovsky bench.” Working on simulators simulating unsupported space was supposed to help astronauts feel more confident in outer space.

The cosmonauts also trained in conditions of real weightlessness, but only for a short time - in an airplane flying along a special trajectory. “Dozens of times,” recalls Leonov, “we took to the air and in short periods of time, step by step, perfected all the details of going into outer space and entering the spacecraft cabin.” To do this, a life-size model of the Voskhod-2 cockpit with an airlock chamber was installed in the spacious cabin of the Tu-104 aircraft. The plane accelerated, diving down, and went steeply upward, performing a “slide” aerobatics maneuver, during which “weightlessness” set in. The “quality” of the resulting weightlessness depended entirely on the skill of the pilot, who, relying only on the data of his own vestibular apparatus, forced the plane to fly in a parabola, simulating a free fall. With each such maneuver, weightlessness lasted a little more than 20 seconds, and during this time the astronauts had to complete the planned part of the training. During the 1.5 hour flight of the plane, 5 such “slides” were made, and in total about 2 minutes of weightlessness were gained.

Ingredients for Success

Before the first human spacewalk, conflicting assumptions were made. Some argued that the astronaut could be “welded” to the spacecraft. And such concerns, based on well-known experiments on cold welding in a vacuum, were expressed quite seriously, although to a large extent they were removed by tests in a thermobaric chamber. Others believed that a person deprived of his usual support would not be able to make a single movement outside the ship. Still others believed that infinite space would cause fear in a person and have a negative impact on his psyche... One way or another, no one, including the Chief, knew exactly how the cosmos would greet a person who dared to take the first step in its space. constructor. “If it becomes very difficult, make a decision depending on the situation,” Korolev told the cosmonauts. As a last resort, the crew was allowed to “confine themselves to only opening the hatch and... sticking their hands overboard.”

And here it was necessary to solve another important problem. It consisted in the fact that when selecting a crew, it was necessary to take into account not only the goals and objectives of the flight, as well as its duration and the complexity of the work ahead, but also the individual psychological characteristics of the astronauts, based on research by psychologists. The crew of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft required special coordination and teamwork. Such a complex task as the first human spacewalk from a ship’s cabin through an airlock chamber could only be solved with complete mutual understanding, trust and confidence in each other. When distributing responsibilities between crew members, they took into account not so much professional training as the individual psychological qualities of the astronauts.

As psychologists noted, Belyaev was characterized by will and endurance, allowing him not to get lost in the most difficult situations, logical thinking, and great persistence in overcoming difficulties in achieving his goal. Leonov was of the choleric type - impetuous, courageous, decisive, he was able to easily develop vigorous activity. In addition, being endowed with an artistic gift, Leonov could quickly take in and memorize entire paintings, and then reproduce them quite accurately. These two different personalities complemented each other well, forming, as psychologists put it, a “highly compatible group” that was actually able to successfully complete a complex spacewalk program and write up a detailed account of the surprises and problems associated with working in outer space.

In preparation for the flight, we tried to anticipate any surprises and practiced actions in possible emergency situations. For example, the behavior of the crew commander was very carefully worked out in the event that something unexpected happened to the second member of the team who went into outer space and the commander had to provide him with assistance. In addition, extensive flight experience helped the crew gain the necessary confidence and calm.

“We reasoned like this: we flew on airplanes, jumped with parachutes, therefore, it cannot be that the psychological barrier turned out to be a serious obstacle for us,” recalled A. Leonov.

Man overboard

On March 18, 1965, Voskhod-2 with cosmonauts Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Immediately after ascending into orbit, already at the end of the first orbit, the crew began to prepare for Leonov’s spacewalk. Belyaev helped him put on a backpack of an individual life support system with a supply of oxygen, then filled the airlock chamber with air, pressed the button and the hatch connecting the ship’s cabin with the airlock chamber opened. Leonov “floated” into the airlock chamber, Belyaev closed the hatch into the chamber and began depressurizing it, then pressed the button and opened the chamber hatch. The last step remains to be taken...

Alexey Leonov gently pushed away from the ship, carefully moving his arms and legs. The movements were performed relatively easily, and he, spreading his arms like wings, began to soar freely in airless space high above the Earth, while a 5-meter halyard securely connected him to the ship. From on board the ship, Leonov was constantly monitored by two television cameras (and although their resolution was low, a quite decent film was later mounted on Earth about the first spacewalk of an earthling).

Belyaev transmitted to Earth: “Man has entered outer space!” Leonov flew about a meter away from the ship, then returned to it again. The Black Sea was floating right below, Leonov was able to see a ship going far from the shore, brightly illuminated by the Sun. When they flew over the Volga, Belyaev connected the phone in Leonov’s spacesuit to a broadcast from Moscow Radio - Levitan was reading a TASS report about a man’s spacewalk.

Five times the astronaut flew away from the ship and returned. All this time, the spacesuit was maintained at “room” temperature, and its outer surface was heated in the sun to +60° and cooled in the shade to -100°C.

When Leonov saw the Irtysh and Yenisei, he received Belyaev’s command to return to the cabin, but this turned out to be difficult. The fact is that in a vacuum Leonov’s spacesuit swelled. The fact that something like this could happen was expected, but hardly anyone expected it to be so strong. Leonov could not squeeze into the airlock hatch, and there was no time to consult with the Earth. He made attempt after attempt - all to no avail, and the oxygen supply in the suit was designed for only 20 minutes, which was inexorably running out. In the end, Leonov released the pressure in the spacesuit and, contrary to the instructions instructing him to enter the airlock with his feet, he decided to “float” face forward, and, fortunately, he succeeded... Leonov spent 12 minutes in outer space, during which time he he was sweating, as if a bucket of water had been poured on him - the physical exertion was so great.

Enthusiastic messages about the new Soviet experiment continued to be heard over the receiver from Earth in different voices, and the crew began to prepare for the descent. The flight program provided for an automatic landing on the seventeenth orbit, but due to an automatic failure caused by the “shooting” of the airlock, it was necessary to go to the next, eighteenth orbit and land using a manual control system. This was the first manual landing, and during its implementation it was discovered that from the astronaut’s working chair it was impossible to look out the window and assess the position of the ship in relation to the Earth. It was possible to start braking only while sitting in a seat and fastened. Due to this emergency situation, the accuracy required during descent was lost. The delay in the command to turn on the brake motors was 45 seconds. As a result, the cosmonauts landed far from the calculated landing point, in the remote taiga, 180 km northwest of Perm.

They were not found immediately; there was no search service as such then. Tall trees prevented the landing of the helicopters, and it was also not possible to drop warm clothes for the astronauts. Therefore, they had to spend the night near the fire, using parachutes and spacesuits for insulation. The next day, a rescue force descended into the small forest, a few kilometers from the crew’s landing site, clearing an area for a small helicopter. The next day, Belyaev and Leonov were taken to Baikonur.

The significance of what was accomplished by Alexey Leonov and Pavel Belyaev was assessed by Chief Designer S.P. Korolev: “The crew of Voskhod-2 was given a very difficult task, qualitatively different from previous flights. The further development of astronautics depended on its successful solution, perhaps no less than on the success of the first space flight... The significance of this feat is difficult to overestimate: their flight showed that a person can live in free space, leave the ship... he can work everywhere as it turns out to be necessary. Without such an opportunity, it would be impossible to think about breaking new paths in space."

Overseas records

The Americans also planned to carry out a manned spacewalk and hoped to be the first to do so. On Earth, Edward White, a US Air Force test pilot, trained in a pressure chamber to solve this problem. He joined the astronaut corps in 1962, by which time he had the most experience in zero gravity, since he flew on the KS-13B transport aircraft, where weightlessness was simulated during astronaut training.

The launch of a Soviet cosmonaut into outer space was regarded in the United States as another challenge - in those years there was a competition in space between two superpowers, and American specialists were forced to intensify their efforts. According to the original plan, White only had to look out of the open hatch in orbit. But the program for the upcoming flight had to be changed on the fly.

White, who was preparing to go into outer space, did not expect that his time would strike so quickly. NASA announced the upcoming flight with an astronaut into outer space on May 25, 1965, and on June 3, the Gemini 4 spacecraft launched into space with astronauts D. McDivitt and E. White on board. Soon after Gemini entered orbit, the astronauts began preparing for their primary mission. Since Gemini, unlike Voskhod, did not have an airlock, the astronauts pumped out the air from the cabin and opened the entrance hatch. White pushed off from the ship and “floated” into outer space, McDivitt filmed his actions with a movie camera. A gilded halyard 7.6 m long was connected to White’s ship, through the same halyard the oxygen necessary for breathing was supplied.

White was outside the ship for 22 minutes, and he, like Leonov, was amazed by outer space: “I saw amazing pictures that defy description.” What a wealth of colors! The bright colors of the sky gave way to views of clouds, land, ocean... The blue of the ocean was so deep. The green and brown colors of the land seemed much more natural than from an airplane flying at a relatively low altitude."

Over the 40 years of history of spacewalks and work in outer space - experts call it extravehicular activity - the duration of a person’s stay in the vacuum of space in one spacewalk has grown from 12 minutes (A. Leonov, March 16, 1965) to 9 hours (D. Voss and S. Helms, leaving the American shuttle Discovery on March 11, 2001 for work on the ISS). Creating and maintaining the ISS in working order would have been impossible without long spacewalks and a huge amount of installation and repair work.

The predecessors of the ISS - the Soviet orbital stations "Salyut", "Mir" and the American "Skylab" - were repeatedly complicated during their operation, and their service life was extended many times over. Accordingly, the likelihood of malfunctions increased and the need to monitor the condition of individual components and assemblies, including those located outside - in outer space, became urgent. The intensity of spacewalks has increased several times - if the first hundred spacewalks were completed in 17 years, then the second hundred were three times faster - in just 9 years. Over the history of manned astronautics, 140 spacewalks have been carried out (data as of February 1, 2005). Anatoly Soloviev performed the largest number of spacewalks. He has 16 of them with a total duration of 71 hours and 32 minutes. Sergei Avdeev made 10 trips with a total duration of 42 hours. Jerry Ross is the leader among Americans - 9 spacewalks, he spent 58 hours behindboard. The first woman to perform a spacewalk on July 25, 1984 was Svetlana Savitskaya.

History of space exploration: first steps, great cosmonauts, launch of the first artificial satellite. Cosmonautics today and tomorrow.

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The history of space exploration is the most striking example of the triumph of the human mind over rebellious matter in the shortest possible time. From the moment a man-made object first overcame Earth's gravity and developed sufficient speed to enter Earth's orbit, only a little over fifty years have passed - nothing by the standards of history! Most of the planet's population vividly remembers the times when a flight to the moon was considered something out of science fiction, and those who dreamed of piercing the heavenly heights were considered, at best, crazy people not dangerous to society. Today, spaceships not only “travel the vast expanse”, successfully maneuvering in conditions of minimal gravity, but also deliver cargo, astronauts and space tourists into Earth orbit. Moreover, the duration of a space flight can now be as long as desired: the shift of Russian cosmonauts on the ISS, for example, lasts 6-7 months. And over the past half century, man has managed to walk on the Moon and photograph its dark side, blessed Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury with artificial satellites, “recognized by sight” distant nebulae with the help of the Hubble telescope, and is seriously thinking about colonizing Mars. And although we have not yet succeeded in making contact with aliens and angels (at least officially), let us not despair - after all, everything is just beginning!

Dreams of space and attempts at writing

For the first time, progressive humanity believed in the reality of flight to distant worlds at the end of the 19th century. It was then that it became clear that if the aircraft was given the speed necessary to overcome gravity and maintained it for a sufficient time, it would be able to go beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and gain a foothold in orbit, like the Moon, revolving around the Earth. The problem was in the engines. The existing specimens at that time either spat extremely powerfully but briefly with bursts of energy, or worked on the principle of “gasp, groan and go away little by little.” The first was more suitable for bombs, the second - for carts. In addition, it was impossible to regulate the thrust vector and thereby influence the trajectory of the apparatus: a vertical launch inevitably led to its rounding, and as a result the body fell to the ground, never reaching space; the horizontal one, with such a release of energy, threatened to destroy all living things around (as if the current ballistic missile were launched flat). Finally, at the beginning of the 20th century, researchers turned their attention to a rocket engine, the operating principle of which has been known to mankind since the turn of our era: fuel burns in the rocket body, simultaneously lightening its mass, and the released energy moves the rocket forward. The first rocket capable of launching an object beyond the limits of gravity was designed by Tsiolkovsky in 1903.

First artificial satellite

Time passed, and although two world wars greatly slowed down the process of creating rockets for peaceful use, space progress still did not stand still. The key moment of the post-war period was the adoption of the so-called package rocket layout, which is still used in astronautics today. Its essence is the simultaneous use of several rockets placed symmetrically with respect to the center of mass of the body that needs to be launched into Earth orbit. This provides a powerful, stable and uniform thrust, sufficient for the object to move at a constant speed of 7.9 km/s, necessary to overcome gravity. And so, on October 4, 1957, a new, or rather the first, era in space exploration began - the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, like everything ingenious, simply called “Sputnik-1”, using the R-7 rocket, designed under the leadership of Sergei Korolev. The silhouette of the R-7, the ancestor of all subsequent space rockets, is still recognizable today in the ultra-modern Soyuz launch vehicle, which successfully sends “trucks” and “cars” into orbit with cosmonauts and tourists on board - the same four “legs” of the package design and red nozzles. The first satellite was microscopic, just over half a meter in diameter and weighed only 83 kg. It completed a full revolution around the Earth in 96 minutes. The “star life” of the iron pioneer of astronautics lasted three months, but during this period he covered a fantastic path of 60 million km!

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The first living creatures in orbit

The success of the first launch inspired the designers, and the prospect of sending a living creature into space and returning it unharmed no longer seemed impossible. Just a month after the launch of Sputnik 1, the first animal, the dog Laika, went into orbit on board the second artificial Earth satellite. Her goal was honorable, but sad - to test the survival of living beings in space flight conditions. Moreover, the return of the dog was not planned... The launch and insertion of the satellite into orbit was successful, but after four orbits around the Earth, due to an error in the calculations, the temperature inside the device rose excessively, and Laika died. The satellite itself rotated in space for another 5 months, and then lost speed and burned up in dense layers of the atmosphere. The first shaggy cosmonauts to greet their “senders” with a joyful bark upon their return were the textbook Belka and Strelka, who set off to conquer the heavens on the fifth satellite in August 1960. Their flight lasted just over a day, and during this time the dogs managed to fly around the planet 17 times. All this time, they were watched from monitor screens in the Mission Control Center - by the way, it was precisely because of the contrast that white dogs were chosen - because the image was then black and white. As a result of the launch, the spacecraft itself was also finalized and finally approved - in just 8 months, the first person will go into space in a similar apparatus.

In addition to dogs, both before and after 1961, monkeys (macaques, squirrel monkeys and chimpanzees), cats, turtles, as well as all sorts of little things - flies, beetles, etc., were in space.

During the same period, the USSR launched the first artificial satellite of the Sun, the Luna-2 station managed to softly land on the surface of the planet, and the first photographs of the side of the Moon invisible from Earth were obtained.

The day of April 12, 1961 divided the history of the exploration of space into two periods - “when man dreamed of the stars” and “since man conquered space.”

Man in space

The day of April 12, 1961 divided the history of the exploration of space into two periods - “when man dreamed of the stars” and “since man conquered space.” At 9:07 Moscow time, the Vostok-1 spacecraft with the world's first cosmonaut on board, Yuri Gagarin, was launched from launch pad No. 1 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Having made one revolution around the Earth and traveled 41 thousand km, 90 minutes after the start, Gagarin landed near Saratov, becoming for many years the most famous, revered and beloved person on the planet. His “let’s go!” and “everything is visible very clearly - space is black - the earth is blue” were included in the list of the most famous phrases of humanity, his open smile, ease and cordiality melted the hearts of people around the world. The first manned flight into space was controlled from Earth; Gagarin himself was more of a passenger, albeit an excellently prepared one. It should be noted that the flight conditions were far from those that are now offered to space tourists: Gagarin experienced eight to tenfold overloads, there was a period when the ship was literally tumbling, and behind the windows the skin was burning and the metal was melting. During the flight, several failures occurred in various systems of the ship, but fortunately, the astronaut was not injured.

Following Gagarin's flight, significant milestones in the history of space exploration fell one after another: the world's first group space flight was completed, then the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova went into space (1963), the first multi-seat spacecraft flew, Alexey Leonov became the first a man who performed a spacewalk (1965) - and all these grandiose events are entirely the merit of the Russian cosmonautics. Finally, on July 21, 1969, the first man landed on the Moon: American Neil Armstrong took that “small, big step.”

Cosmonautics - today, tomorrow and always

Today, space travel is taken for granted. Hundreds of satellites and thousands of other necessary and useless objects fly above us, seconds before sunrise from the bedroom window you can see the planes of the solar panels of the International Space Station flashing in rays still invisible from the ground, space tourists with enviable regularity set off to “surf the open spaces” (thereby embodying the ironic phrase “if you really want to, you can fly into space”) and the era of commercial suborbital flights with almost two departures daily is about to begin. The exploration of space by controlled vehicles is absolutely amazing: there are pictures of stars that exploded long ago, and HD images of distant galaxies, and strong evidence of the possibility of the existence of life on other planets. Billionaire corporations are already coordinating plans to build space hotels in Earth’s orbit, and projects for the colonization of our neighboring planets no longer seem like an excerpt from the novels of Asimov or Clark. One thing is obvious: once having overcome earth's gravity, humanity will again and again strive upward, to the endless worlds of stars, galaxies and universes. I would only like to wish that the beauty of the night sky and myriads of twinkling stars, still alluring, mysterious and beautiful, as in the first days of creation, never leaves us.

The Cold War is a historical period from the end of World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union, when two major superpowers were in a military-political confrontation. Although the Cold War was based on the confrontation between two specific states, it is considered global, since almost all the powers of the world were drawn into the race.

The Second World War, despite its destructive nature, nevertheless gave impetus to the creation of improved weapons systems, the study of additional methods of defense and led to new world discoveries.

After the end of the Second World War and the victory over Hitler, the two largest and most powerful superpowers emerged - these USSR And USA. Rivalry between countries manifested itself in all spheres of life and affected economics, politics, science and ideology. What appeared in one state was instantly transferred to the second with new improvements and ideas. Thus, both powers had the strongest command and control bodies: the American NATO and the Soviet Department of Internal Affairs, both states were engaged in the successful development of nuclear weapons, actively developed the military economy, developed new means of defense and attack, and also acted as third parties in all emerging military battles and conflicts. These were times of bitter rivalry, hidden conflicts, spies and envoys, secret codes and great scientific achievements.

The causes of the Cold War were:

• US focus on world domination;

The goal of the United States was quite clear - the weakened European powers could not take the palm, since establishing the usual way of life required a colossal investment of time and finances. Other countries in the world were still too undeveloped to compete with a strong, modern and innovative America. The United States decided to use this as a chance to seize world territories and unite all peoples under American ideology.

• the difference between the ideologies promoted by the USA and the USSR.

Primarily, the differences were based on ideology and the promoted way of life. The views of the communist Soviet Union were in direct opposition to the values ​​and morals of capitalist America. The victory over Nazi Germany brought unprecedented glory and greatness to the Soviet Union. Fearing the spread of communism, the United States openly declared its rights and launched a conflict with the Soviet Union.

Why didn't the powers switch to open military action?

The main limiting factor was the presence of nuclear missile weapons in huge quantities by both powers. Open hostilities between two world leaders would inevitably lead to the complete destruction of the Earth.

Winner of the race

The results of the Cold War turned out to be ambiguous and in some ways even contradictory.

Specifically regarding the two adversaries, the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The post-war economic system of the USSR could not withstand the arms race. A too rapid leap in development and dramatic modernization of all existing state-owned enterprises in the country led to the collapse of the state into separate autonomous powers. The communist ideology and policies of Stalin turned out to be unacceptable for many participants in the USSR, during which the socialist camp collapsed.

Russia turned out to be the direct successor of the USSR and retained its status as a nuclear power and its place in the UN. The United States remained the only superpower, and American values ​​and ideology of life gradually began to be introduced into the territory of the post-Soviet space.

However, during the Cold War, two significant discoveries were made for global development: nuclear weapons and the first flight into space. And although the USSR cannot be called the winner in the race, the role of scientists and their discoveries in world experience is priceless; the space race between the USA and the USSR brought incredible achievements to the world.

About the first manned flight into space

For many centuries, space has excited the minds of scientists and seemed unattainable. However, scientific progress made it possible to take the first steps at the beginning of the twentieth century. Productive space exploration began with the launch into orbit of the notorious Belka and Strelka, who became the world's first cosmonauts and conquerors of outer space. Less than a year after this event, Soviet scientists dared to launch the first man into space. April 12, 1961 Soviet pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin went to explore the expanses of space on a spaceship . Gagarin's time in space was a whopping 108 minutes, which was incredible by those standards. The first manned space flight is recognized as a colossal success and achievement of Soviet scientists, and 1961 the start of the exploration of new unexplored territories of weightlessness and the triumph of human consciousness over unknown matter.

How did it happen?

The history of the first flight into space ambiguous, the newspapers largely embellished the events. And although Gagarin’s feat is not questioned, many of the inaccuracies of the flight were revealed only later. The first space rocket was carefully designed and built over a period of 50 years, undergoing many inspections, tests and trials. Baikonur Cosmodrome became the starting point of the first space flight.

Yuri Gagarin flew around orbits land, covering 41,000 km. The young pilot-cosmonaut became one of the most respected people in society, as well as an idol for hundreds of young people who dreamed of following him to conquer space. Despite the careful thought and planning of the first flight, many unpredictable events occurred during it. For example, before entering the Earth's atmosphere, the ship suffered an accident, causing it to somersault for 10 minutes. Landing near Saratov was also not planned; the cosmonaut missed by 2800 km. April 12, 1961 is the officially recognized date when celebrated Cosmonautics Day.

First human spacewalk

The second serious step towards space exploration was the entry of man into outer space. This mission was entrusted to the crew of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, which consisted of Alexander Belyaev and Alexei Leonov.

The next goal of Soviet scientists was the release of man into outer space. In March 1965, the Voskhod 2 spacecraft was carried into outer space ship crew, which consisted of P.A. Belyaev and A.A. Leonova. 18th of March Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov carried out a spacewalk, the astronaut left the ship and moved 5 meters away from the ship. The time spent in outer space was 12 minutes, 9 seconds.

A photo of a smiling Leonov in a space helmet with the inscription “USSR” spread across all the newspapers of the world, adding to the fame of the Soviet Union. However, few people knew how much effort it took for the astronauts to train before the flight, and for the scientists to build an equipped spacecraft and spacesuits.

Special spacesuits called “Berkut” were developed especially for Voskhod-2, in which the cosmonauts could leave the ship’s territory and remain alive. The Berkut had an additional sealed layer, and on its back there was a backpack with a supply of oxygen. The suit was quite bulky and heavy, so the astronauts had to undergo additional training.

Scientists have built many theories regarding human behavior in outer space. Most of which were based on the impossibility of a person being in outer space: the astronaut would either be unable to move, or be welded to the ship, or simply go crazy. However, the pessimistic theories did not come true; at the appointed hour X, Leonov pushed off from the ship and gently floated into outer space. The astronaut felt well, as evidenced by his report, Leonov fully completed the entire planned program. Difficulties arose with returning to the ship, since the space suit, which had swelled in zero gravity, did not allow Leonov to get into the airlock. Leonov independently decided to lower the pressure in the Berkut and rushed into the airlock head first. When returning to Earth, an incident occurred - the ship's system malfunctioned, and the astronauts had to switch to manual control. The rocket landing took place in the wilderness of the Perm forests, the task force managed to save both heroes. The first human spacewalk was successfully completed, and Alexey Leonov forever made his name in the history of astronautics. Newspapers gave the USSR a new name - space superpower.

First woman's flight into space

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova first female astronaut, going into the unknown space element. In June 1963, Valentina flew around the Earth 45 times on the Vostok-6 spacecraft, spending 71 hours in space.

The hours spent in space were far from the happiest in the woman’s life, since the hull of the ship itself was extremely cramped and uncomfortable, and during the flight many shortcomings of the system were revealed. In addition, the flight was extremely risky; none of the scientists had accurate data on the consequences of the influence of space on the female body and health.

Results of achievements

The space race is one of the key “battles” of the cold confrontation between the two superpowers. For 18 years, the USSR and the USA actively fought for the right to primacy in scientific achievements and space exploration.

Here are the ten most recognized space achievements:

1. Development and construction of the first space rocket.
2. An artificial lunar satellite was created and launched into space for the first time.
3. The first creature (dog) sent into earth orbit.
4. The first animal astronaut launched into Earth orbit.
5. The launch of an artificial satellite of the Sun and the start of studies of our star.
6. Station on the Moon.
7. Man for the first time in space.
8. First passage through outer space.
9. Building a bridge between two planets.
10. The first experiment with living plants and creatures during a flyby of the Moon.
11. Station on Mars.