Mir worked in orbit for 15 years: the base unit was launched on February 20, 1986. During this time, 31 manned ships, 64 cargo ships, 9 times - the American Shuttle docked with Mir. 68 cosmonauts and astronauts (some of them multiple times) from the Soviet Union (Russia), as well as from Austria, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany, Syria, Slovakia, the USA, France and Japan worked on board the Mir.

24 flights were performed under international programs. The first international crew began working at the station back in 1987. Therefore, in fact, for 14 years out of fifteen, the Mir orbital complex was an international station.

On March 23, 2001, the orbital complex was carefully deorbited. The modules of the complex mostly burned up in the atmosphere. And the most durable parts reached the Earth and sank in the Pacific Ocean. For a decade and a half of service to mankind, Mir has not even fully exhausted its resource. Some experts believe that the glorious history of the complex could be extended for a few more years. About two hundred enterprises of our country took part in the creation and maintenance of the life of the complex.

Mir was so well made that its design formed the basis of the International Space Station. The service module of the International Space Station is almost a copy of the Mir base unit.

After the Mir orbital complex was sunk, scientists and designers from different countries realized that such structures should be created by joint efforts and be international. It was the cooperation of states that made space more accessible. Many countries do not have cosmodromes, they cannot build rockets, but they also want to participate in manned flights, they want to develop space science. For this, an international partnership is needed. Now everyone is well aware of how much effort, money and time it would take for a country that alone would decide to build a modern orbital complex.

On November 20, 1998, the Proton rocket launched the Zarya module, manufactured at the Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome into near-Earth orbit. From that day began the history of the International Space Station. The United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency, which has its own cosmonaut detachment uniting representatives of different European countries, became partners in its creation and operation.

In 2000, the Russian Zvezda module, which was made on the basis of the base block of the Mir orbital complex, was docked with Zarya. So we can say: "Mir" and the ISS are relatives. To date, modules from other countries are operating as part of the ISS. The station has grown and become larger than Mir, but is still being completed. Thanks to this, the capabilities of the station are constantly increasing. If earlier only three astronauts could stay on the ISS for a long time, now six astronauts constantly live and work at the station at the same time. And sometimes visiting expeditions come to them for a short time. And then up to a dozen astronauts work on board!

WHERE AND HOW ASTRONAUTS LIVE

The first space city. - Khovanka. - Housing problem

First space city

The master plan for the residential part of the Green Town was developed in 1963 by the 1st Central Military Project of the Ministry of Defense and approved on May 29, 1964. This date is considered the birthday of Star City, although it received its star name later. According to the historian of Star City L.V. Ivanova, the first in 1965 were put into operation two panel houses out of nine planned in this series. Although these houses had good plumbing and parquet, not everyone liked the apartments. Houses were erected where the astronauts should live. The master plan provided for the construction of three eleven-story brick houses according to a project unique for that time in our country: a single-entrance house, in which there were only three- and four-room apartments of a large area - 90-120 square meters, ceilings over three meters high, huge windows and loggias. The apartments have kitchens with an area of ​​14–17 square meters with built-in hanging cabinets; imported, Czechoslovakian, ceramic tiles are laid around the entire perimeter of the walls. Qualitatively equipped separate bathroom. Many built-in wardrobes in the corridors, oak parquet and solid oak doors - all this gave the apartments at that time a special significance and solidity.

On December 26, 1965, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev visited Zvezdny. He walked around the town, assessed the almost finished tower, expressed his comments and wishes, but on the whole he approved of the house. True, he did not like the interior layout. He was supported by the wives of the astronauts, and the builders took into account their proposals. And two weeks later Sergei Pavlovich was gone.

Architects and builders did a lot to ensure that the cosmonauts' apartments had a lot of air, sun, and space. At the beginning of 1966, the builders presented the first tower - house 2 - for delivery. As usual in such cases, commissions worked, fixing shortcomings and imperfections. Some of them were eliminated by the builders immediately, others took time. In the meantime, future new settlers with their wives and children inspected and took a fancy to the apartments. In February 1966, the cosmonaut families moved to permanent residence from the temporary housing of the Chkalovsky garrison. In March, they celebrated a general housewarming.

In 1967, house 4 was commissioned according to the same project. “By autumn, in the residential area of ​​Star City, we, the new members of the cosmonaut corps, were offered a choice of apartments in a newly built eleven-story building. Moreover, the allocation of living space was done according to the principle: those who had one child in the family were given a three-room apartment, those who had two children were given a four-room apartment ”(see in the list of references: Porvatkin N. S. The thorny path of a test cosmonaut ...). The newcomers who moved in lived a normal life. However, the bulk of the workers remained at Chkalovskaya.

Between the two houses - for the astronauts and the leaders of the center - a transition was built, a kind of "conference hall", where it was planned to spend leisure time for the astronauts with their families. This transition-extension was called differently, but Gagarin's definition - "insert" - took root. In this "insert" for decades, cosmonauts celebrated the New Year, celebrated important events, celebrated weddings, and held farewell ceremonies. Here for many years children receive musical education, learn the art of painting. Near the houses, on the initiative of the residents, a sports ground was built independently.

For young people, a dance floor in the form of an octahedron with benches was built near house 2 in the forest. In the evenings, young people danced there to the orchestra.

Fairs were periodically organized in the gym, where various industrial goods were traded. There was no other place at first.

For the heroes of the Soviet Union opened a table of orders.

The second well-known town of cosmonauts appeared in the north of Moscow between the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (now the All-Russian Exhibition Center) and the television center in Ostankino, on Khovanskaya Street, which once led to the village of Leonovo, which belonged to the Khovansky princes. In the late 1970s, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution on the construction of the “Civil Cosmonaut Complex”. It was planned to hand it over in 1982-1983. The construction was financed by Stroybank. But suddenly the construction stopped - funding stopped. Stroybank had such a right: in the event of design discrepancies or other violations, suspend the allocation of funds until the situation is clarified. It turned out that one of the military cosmonauts did not like that not even apartments were being built on Khovanka, as in Zvezdny, but three-story cottages with a garage below. In addition, each cottage had a small plot on which there was a place for a garden. The message that “disgrace is happening” on Khovanka was the cause of the misunderstanding. Cosmonauts Vladimir Viktorovich Aksenov and Valery Viktorovich Ryumin tried to rectify the matter, met with the deputy chairman of Stroybank, gave a complete justification for the project, and on Mondays for two years went to the builders for RAM.

Space for humans is an extremely hostile environment. According to the combination of unfavorable factors, the cosmic void has no earthly competitors, except perhaps an open fire. The peculiarities of the life of astronauts in orbit are not romance, but a huge, intense and dangerous work. The flight takes place in almost complete vacuum, weightlessness, with very large temperature differences and under the influence of ionizing radiation. But even in such conditions, a person has learned not only to survive, but to work productively - with the help of special equipment.

Life support in space

Even now, when the experience of near-Earth flights is calculated for years, life support in space remains an extremely difficult technical and medical problem. Its solution is entrusted to the life support system (SOZH). Sometimes the term "life support systems" (LSS) is also used. These include devices and supplies for the uninterrupted supply of air, water and food to the crew, for air and water purification, temperature control and sanitary and hygienic provision. The coolant works continuously, starting from the landing of the crew in the spacecraft at the launch complex and ending with the landing of the descent vehicle. The system is subject to very stringent requirements. First of all, reliability is required from it, ensuring safety and comfortable working conditions for the crew at all stages of the flight.

Weightlessness

Weightlessness makes space life unbearable. Compliance with the usual rules of hygiene becomes a problem. In orbit, you can’t really wash or go to the toilet. At one time, several research institutes worked on the issue of space toilets. Until now, in one of the research institutes, the “bronze backside” of Valentina Tereshkova, created from an individual cast, has been preserved. All this was done in order to completely eliminate the ingress of urine and other unpleasant things into the cockpit. After all, the top and bottom in outer space are equivalent, fly as you want.

The astronauts also have cabins. These are niches about half a meter wide and deep. The furnishings in the "apartments" are also not luxurious: a sleeping bag hanging on a hook and a mirror. Many astronauts complain that at first they cannot fall asleep due to the lack of the usual horizontal position and bed.

Nutrition in space

Space food is quite diverse (the diet is carefully thought out at the Institute of Biomedical Problems), but mostly sublimated or canned. Shchi and borscht are in tubes, you can’t use plates in space. The bread is packaged in small pieces so that they can be sent whole in the mouth. The fact is that any flying crumb or drop, getting into the respiratory tract of one of the crew members, can cause his death.

Astronauts choose their own food from a special menu. Just before the flight, they hold a tasting and make a wish list about what they want to eat in space.

Personal Care in Space

Astronauts are often asked about their personal hygiene in orbit. It turns out it's not easy. At first, the astronauts used only wet wipes, but as the periods of stay in orbit lengthened, they brought into space ... a bath. This is a special barrel, which has its own "cosmic" features such as non-flowing dirty water. Indeed, in order to wash in weightlessness, just one glass of liquid is enough. It spreads over the body, filling all the bumps.

It is also problematic to brush your teeth, you just have to swallow the foam from the toothpaste.

But the automated control system (in our opinion - a toilet room) works on the principle of a vacuum cleaner. Urine after "flushing" is split into oxygen and water, after which these elements again enter the closed cycle of the station (alas, the water is reusable there) ... Solid residues in special containers are thrown into outer space.

Daily regime

So that life does not “get” the astronauts so much, their working day is scheduled literally by the minute. Well, after the end of the working day, the service module easily turns into a gym (you just need to get a treadmill or a bicycle out of the floor) or a wardroom, where crew members gather at the space table for joint lunches and dinners. On the table - a lot of rubber bands to secure products.

Outfit of astronauts

If we talk about equipment, then spacesuits are used only when launching the station into orbit, during docking or undocking, landing. And the rest of the time the astronauts wear more comfortable clothes: jumpsuits with hairpins (so that the clothes do not ride up in zero gravity), which are sewn individually for the astronauts, long T-shirts, shirts. For tailoring, natural cotton is usually used. On the working suits of astronauts, you can find many pockets that are located in precisely verified places. For example, oblique chest pockets on overalls appeared as a result of the fact that astronauts constantly tried to put something in their bosoms so that these things would not scatter throughout the station. Other pockets, wide on the lower leg, appeared due to the fact that it is most convenient for a person in weightlessness to be in the fetal position. Also, the clothes of astronauts never use buttons that can come off and fly around the station.

For objective reasons, washing on board is not possible, so the used wardrobe items of the astronauts are loaded into a special spacecraft, then it is undocked from the station, and it burns up in the atmosphere.

Astronauts practically do not use shoes in orbit, except for sports, where they put on leather sneakers with a hard arch support. Special socks are used instead of shoes.

Features of the life of astronauts in orbit and after it

In orbit, the Sun rises and sets every 90 minutes, so during the day you can see the dawn as many as 16 times. Because of this regime, sleeping in space is not easy, astronauts conditionally adhere to earthly time. Studies conducted in 2001 showed that those astronauts who snored on Earth sleep very quietly in space. The lack of gravity reduces snoring.

The absence of gravity straightens the spine so that you can "grow" by 5-8 cm. Unfortunately, excess growth can cause complications in the form of back pain or problems with the nervous system.

The longest stay in space is 438 days. The record for the longest stay in space was set by Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov. He spent 14 months aboard the Mir space station in 1995.

Almost every astronaut has experienced "space" sickness. In the absence of gravity, the signals of the vestibular apparatus become contradictory. The result is disorientation: many astronauts do not even feel the location of their own hands and feet. Disorientation is the main cause of the so-called Space Adaptation Syndrome, which for the astronauts themselves is a euphemism for vomiting.

Features of the life of astronauts in orbit do not pass without a trace. The most difficult thing after returning to Earth is getting used to the fact that objects still fall. After a long stay in space, astronauts get used to gravity for a long time, hit objects, releasing them out of habit, for several months after the flight.

From space, astronauts observe things never seen on Earth: the Earth - a blue disc on a black background, the far side of the Moon, as well as strange flashes of light in the eyes. It turns out that this is not light at all, but cosmic radiation, which is perceived by the brain as a flash. Such flashes are very harmful to the eyes, and many astronauts subsequently have vision problems.

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Life outside the planet - on a space station - is associated not only with dreams and unprecedented fantasies, but also with real everyday tasks that ordinary people seem trifling, and astronauts have to expend a lot of effort to overcome them.

website learned all the details of the organization of the life of the space crew.

1. Almost at home

4. How to eat?

The well-known food in tubes for astronauts is no longer in vogue, now they eat food, pre-dehydrated, for the preparation of which you need "just add water." The menu is chosen by themselves, having previously tested it on Earth, it includes a wide variety of dishes: pork with pepper, beef, chicken soup, juice, and even ice cream and chocolate.

Salt and pepper, by the way, are made in the form of a liquid so that the grains do not interfere with breathing.

5. Shower on board

Instead of a shower, cosmonauts used to use wet wipes and sponges, now the station is equipped with a special bath or cover, a device for collecting moisture and fastenings for fixing human legs are installed on the lower part. water is reusable.

6. How is the toilet

The organization of hygiene and toilet is a rather complicated process, which the astronauts themselves do not like to talk about. Water, for example, is reusable, and waste is split into oxygen and water and sent to a closed cycle. As for the personal hygiene device, or, more simply, the toilet, it was first designed for each astronaut individually, accurately observed the proportions of the body so that the liquid could not get into the air. Now private toilets are not used. The station now has only 2 toilets, which also work like a vacuum cleaner, and each costs approximately $19 million.

7. Difficult but possible

Sex in space is possible, but not safe, and all because of gravity. Despite this, procreation in orbit is impossible. Conducted studies on breeding offspring with quail chicks showed that they could not eat and did not orient themselves in space, the surviving chicks did not endure the stress during landing.

There are only about 20 people who gave their lives for the benefit of world progress in space exploration, and today we will tell about them.

Their names are immortalized in the ashes of cosmic chronos, burned into the atmospheric memory of the universe forever, many of us would dream of remaining heroes for humanity, however, few would like to accept such a death as our astronaut heroes.

The 20th century became a breakthrough in mastering the path to the expanses of the Universe, in the second half of the 20th century, after long preparations, a person was finally able to fly into space. However, there was a downside to this rapid progress - death of astronauts.

People died during pre-flight preparations, during takeoff of a spacecraft, during landing. Total during space launches, flight preparations, including cosmonauts and technical personnel who died in the layers of the atmosphere more than 350 people died, only astronauts - about 170 people.

We list the names of the cosmonauts who died during the operation of the spacecraft (the USSR and the whole world, in particular America), and then we will briefly tell the story of their death.

Not a single cosmonaut died directly in space, basically all of them died in the Earth's atmosphere, during the destruction or fire of the ship (the Apollo 1 cosmonauts died in preparation for the first manned flight).

Volkov, Vladislav Nikolaevich ("Soyuz-11")

Dobrovolsky, Georgy Timofeevich ("Soyuz-11")

Komarov, Vladimir Mikhailovich ("Soyuz-1")

Patsaev, Viktor Ivanovich ("Soyuz-11")

Anderson, Michael Phillip (Columbia)

Brown, David McDowell (Columbia)

Grissom, Virgil Ivan (Apollo 1)

Jarvis, Gregory Bruce (Challenger)

Clark, Laurel Blair Salton (Columbia)

McCool, William Cameron (Columbia)

McNair, Ronald Ervin (Challenger)

McAuliffe, Christa (Challenger)

Onizuka, Allison (Challenger)

Ramon, Ilan (Columbia)

Resnick, Judith Arlen (Challenger)

Scobie, Francis Richard (Challenger)

Smith, Michael John (Challenger)

White, Edward Higgins (Apollo 1)

Husband, Rick Douglas (Columbia)

Chawla, Kalpana (Colombia)

Chaffee, Roger (Apollo 1)

It is worth considering that we will never know the stories of the death of some astronauts, because this information is secret.

Soyuz-1 disaster

Soyuz-1 is the first Soviet manned spacecraft (KK) of the Soyuz series. Launched into orbit April 23, 1967. On board the Soyuz-1 was one cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union Colonel-Engineer V. M. Komarov, who died during the landing of the descent vehicle. Komarov's understudy in preparation for this flight was Yu. A. Gagarin.

Soyuz-1 was supposed to dock with the Soyuz-2 spacecraft to return the crew of the first ship, but due to malfunctions, the Soyuz-2 launch was canceled.

After entering orbit, problems began with the operation of the solar battery, after unsuccessful attempts to launch it, it was decided to lower the ship to Earth.

But during the descent, 7 km to the ground, the parachute system failed, the ship hit the ground at a speed of 50 km per hour, the hydrogen peroxide tanks exploded, the cosmonaut died instantly, the Soyuz-1 almost completely burned out, the cosmonaut's remains were badly burned so that it was impossible to determine even fragments of the body.

"This crash was the first in-flight death in the history of manned spaceflight."

The causes of the tragedy have not been fully established.

Soyuz-11 disaster

Soyuz-11 is a spacecraft whose crew of three cosmonauts died in 1971. The reason for the death of people is the depressurization of the descent vehicle during the landing of the ship.

Just a couple of years after the death of Yu. A. Gagarin (the famous cosmonaut himself died in a plane crash in 1968), having already gone along the well-trodden path of conquering outer space, several more cosmonauts passed away.

Soyuz-11 was supposed to deliver the crew to the Salyut-1 orbital station, but the ship was unable to dock due to damage to the docking port.

Crew composition:

Commander: Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Dobrovolsky

Flight Engineer: Vladislav Volkov

Research Engineer: Victor Patsaev

They were between 35 and 43 years old. All of them were posthumously awarded awards, diplomas, orders.

What happened, why the spacecraft was depressurized, could not be established, but most likely we will not be told this information. But it is a pity that at that time our cosmonauts were "guinea pigs", which they began to release into space after the dogs without much reliability, security. However, probably, many of those who dreamed of becoming astronauts understood what a dangerous profession they were choosing.

Docking took place on June 7, undocking on June 29, 1971. There was an unsuccessful attempt to dock with the Salyut-1 orbital station, the crew was able to board the Salyut-1, even stayed at the orbital station for several days, a TV connection was established, however, already during the first approach to the station, the cosmonauts turned their footage for some smoke. On the 11th day, a fire began, the crew decided to descend on the ground, but problems were revealed that disrupted the undocking process. Space suits were not provided for the crew.

On June 29, at 21.25, the ship separated from the station, but after a little more than 4 hours, communication with the crew was lost. The main parachute was deployed, the ship landed in a given area, and the soft landing engines fired. But the search team found at 02.16 (June 30, 1971) the lifeless bodies of the crew, resuscitation measures were unsuccessful.

During the investigation, it was found that the astronauts tried to the last to eliminate the leak, but mixed up the valves, fought not for the broken one, in the meantime they missed the opportunity to save. They died from decompression sickness - air bubbles were found during the autopsy of the bodies, even in the valves of the heart.

The exact reasons for the depressurization of the ship have not been named, more precisely, they have not been announced to the general public.

Subsequently, engineers and creators of spacecraft, crew commanders took into account many tragic mistakes of previous unsuccessful flights into space.

Shuttle Challenger disaster

The Challenger Shuttle Disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle Challenger at the very beginning of the STS-51L mission was destroyed by an explosion of an external fuel tank at the 73rd second of flight, which led to the death of all 7 crew members. The crash occurred at 11:39 EST (16:39 UTC) over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the central part of the Florida peninsula, USA.

In the photo, the crew of the ship - from left to right: McAuliffe, Jarvis, Reznik, Scobie, McNair, Smith, Onizuka

All of America was waiting for this launch, millions of eyewitnesses and viewers on TV watched the launch of the ship, it was the climax of the conquest of space by the West. And so, when there was a grand launch of the ship, in seconds, a fire began, later an explosion, the shuttle cabin separated from the destroyed ship and fell at a speed of 330 km per hour on the surface of the water, seven days later the astronauts will be found in a breakaway cabin at the bottom of the ocean. Until the last moment, before hitting the water, some crew members were alive, trying to supply air to the cabin.

In the video below the article there is an excerpt from the live broadcast with the launch and death of the shuttle.

“The crew of the shuttle Challenger consisted of seven people. Its composition was as follows:

The crew commander is 46-year-old Francis "Dick" R. Scobee. Francis "Dick" R. Scobee. US military pilot, US Air Force lieutenant colonel, NASA astronaut.

The co-pilot is 40-year-old Michael J. Smith. Test pilot, US Navy captain, NASA astronaut.

The scientific specialist is 39-year-old Allison S. Onizuka. Test pilot, US Air Force lieutenant colonel, NASA astronaut.

The scientific specialist is 36-year-old Judith A. Resnick. NASA engineer and astronaut. She spent 6 days in space 00 hours 56 minutes.

Scientific specialist - 35-year-old Ronald E. McNair. Physicist, NASA astronaut.

The payload specialist is 41-year-old Gregory B. Jarvis. NASA engineer and astronaut.

The payload specialist is 37-year-old Sharon Christa Corrigan McAuliffe. The Boston teacher who won the competition. For her, this was her first flight into space as the first participant in the “Teacher in Space” project.”

Last photo of the crew

Various commissions were created to establish the causes of the tragedy, but most of the information was classified, according to assumptions - the reasons for the crash of the ship were poor interaction between organizational services, violations in the fuel system that were not detected in time (the explosion occurred at launch due to burnout of the wall of the solid fuel booster) and even. . terrorist attack. Some have said that the shuttle explosion was staged to hurt America's prospects.

Columbia shuttle disaster

“The shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, shortly before the end of its 28th flight (mission STS-107). The last flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia began on January 16, 2003. On the morning of February 1, 2003, after a 16-day flight, the shuttle returned to Earth.

NASA lost contact with the spacecraft at approximately 14:00 GMT (09:00 EST), 16 minutes before the expected landing on Runway 33 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which was scheduled to take place at 14:16 GMT. Eyewitnesses filmed the burning wreckage of the shuttle flying at an altitude of about 63 kilometers at a speed of 5.6 km / s. All 7 crew members were killed."

Pictured is the crew - From top to bottom: Chawla, Husband, Anderson, Clarke, Ramon, McCool, Brown

The Columbia shuttle was making its next 16-day flight, which was supposed to end with a landing on Earth, however, as the main version of the investigation says, the shuttle was damaged during launch - a piece of thermal insulation foam came off (the coating was intended to protect oxygen tanks from ice and hydrogen) damaged the wing coating as a result of the impact, as a result of which, during the descent of the apparatus, when the heaviest loads on the hull occur, the apparatus began to overheat and, subsequently, destruction.

Even during the shuttle expedition, engineers repeatedly turned to NASA management in order to assess damage, visually inspect the shuttle body using orbital satellites, but NASA specialists assured that there were no fears and risks, the shuttle would safely descend to Earth.

“The crew of the Columbia shuttle consisted of seven people. Its composition was as follows:

The crew commander is 45-year-old Richard "Rick" D. Husband. US military pilot, US Air Force colonel, NASA astronaut. Spent 25 days 17 hours 33 minutes in space. Prior to Columbia, he was commander of the STS-96 Discovery shuttle.

The co-pilot is 41-year-old William "Willie" C. McCool. Test pilot, NASA astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.

The flight engineer is 40-year-old Kalpana Chawla. Researcher, first female NASA astronaut of Indian origin. Spent 31 days 14 hours 54 minutes in space.

Payload Specialist - 43-year-old Michael F. Anderson (Eng. Michael P. Anderson). Scientist, NASA astronaut. Spent 24 days, 18 hours, 8 minutes in space.

Specialist in zoology - 41-year-old Laurel B. S. Clark (Eng. Laurel B. S. Clark). US Navy Captain, NASA Astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.

Scientific specialist (physician) - 46-year-old David McDowell Brown. Test pilot, NASA astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.

Scientific specialist - 48-year-old Ilan Ramon (Eng. Ilan Ramon, Heb.אילן רמון‏‎). First Israeli NASA astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.

The shuttle descended on February 1, 2003, landing on Earth was supposed to occur within an hour.

“On February 1, 2003 at 08:15:30 (EST), the space shuttle Columbia began its descent to Earth. At 08:44 the shuttle began to enter the dense layers of the atmosphere. However, due to damage, the leading edge of the left wing began to overheat badly. From the period of 08:50, the ship's hull endures strong thermal loads, at 08:53, debris began to fall off the wing, but the crew was alive, there was still communication.

At 08:59:32, the commander sent the last message, which was interrupted in mid-sentence. At 09:00 eyewitnesses have already filmed the explosion of the shuttle, the ship fell apart into a lot of debris. that is, the fate of the crew was a foregone conclusion due to the inaction of NASA, but the destruction itself and the death of people occurred in a matter of seconds.

It is worth noting that the Columbia shuttle was operated many times, at the time of its death the ship was 34 years old (in operation with NASA since 1979, the first manned flight in 1981), flew into space 28 times, but this flight turned out to be fatal.

In space itself, no one died, in the dense layers of the atmosphere and in spacecraft - about 18 people.

In addition to the disasters of 4 ships (two Russian - Soyuz-1 and Soyuz-11 and American - Columbia and Challenger), in which 18 people died, there were several more disasters during the explosion, fire in pre-flight preparation , one of the most famous tragedies - a fire in an atmosphere of pure oxygen in preparation for the Apollo 1 flight, then three American cosmonauts died, in a similar situation, a very young USSR cosmonaut, Valentin Bondarenko, died. The astronauts just burned alive.

Another NASA astronaut, Michael Adams, died while testing the X-15 rocket plane.

Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin died during an unsuccessful flight on an airplane during a routine training.

Probably, the goal of the people who stepped into space was grandiose, and it’s not a fact that even knowing their fate, many would renounce astronautics, but still you always need to remember at what cost we paved the way to the stars ...

In the photo is a monument to the fallen astronauts on the moon

The first space city. - Khovanka. - Housing problem

First space city

The master plan for the residential part of the Green Town was developed in 1963 by the 1st Central Military Project of the Ministry of Defense and approved on May 29, 1964. This date is considered the birthday of Star City, although it received its star name later. According to the historian of Star City L.V. Ivanova, the first in 1965 were put into operation two panel houses out of nine planned in this series. Although these houses had good plumbing and parquet, not everyone liked the apartments. Houses were erected where the astronauts should live. The master plan provided for the construction of three eleven-story brick houses according to a project unique for that time in our country: a single-entrance house, in which there were only three- and four-room apartments of a large area - 90-120 square meters, ceilings over three meters high, huge windows and loggias. The apartments have kitchens with an area of ​​14–17 square meters with built-in hanging cabinets; imported, Czechoslovakian, ceramic tiles are laid around the entire perimeter of the walls. Qualitatively equipped separate bathroom. Many built-in wardrobes in the corridors, oak parquet and solid oak doors - all this gave the apartments at that time a special significance and solidity.

On December 26, 1965, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev visited Zvezdny. He walked around the town, assessed the almost finished tower, expressed his comments and wishes, but on the whole he approved of the house. True, he did not like the interior layout. He was supported by the wives of the astronauts, and the builders took into account their proposals. And two weeks later Sergei Pavlovich was gone.

Architects and builders did a lot to ensure that the cosmonauts' apartments had a lot of air, sun, and space. At the beginning of 1966, the builders presented the first tower - house 2 - for delivery. As usual in such cases, commissions worked, fixing shortcomings and imperfections. Some of them were eliminated by the builders immediately, others took time. In the meantime, future new settlers with their wives and children inspected and took a fancy to the apartments. In February 1966, the cosmonaut families moved to permanent residence from the temporary housing of the Chkalovsky garrison. In March, they celebrated a general housewarming.

In 1967, House 4 was commissioned according to the same project. the family had one child, they were given a three-room apartment, who had two children - a four-room apartment "(see in the list of references: Porvatkin N. S. The thorny path of a test cosmonaut ...). The newcomers who moved in lived a normal life. However, the bulk of the workers remained at Chkalovskaya.

Between the two houses - for the cosmonauts and the leaders of the center - a transition was built, a kind of "conference hall", where it was planned to spend leisure time of the cosmonauts with their families. This transition-extension was called differently, but Gagarin's definition - "insert" - took root. In this "insert" for decades, cosmonauts celebrated the New Year, celebrated important events, celebrated weddings, and held farewell ceremonies. Here for many years children receive musical education, learn the art of painting. Near the houses, on the initiative of the residents, a sports ground was built independently.

For young people, a dance floor in the form of an octahedron with benches was built near house 2 in the forest. In the evenings, young people danced there to the orchestra.

Fairs were periodically organized in the gym, where various industrial goods were traded. There was no other place at first.

For the heroes of the Soviet Union opened a table of orders.

Khovanka

The second well-known town of cosmonauts appeared in the north of Moscow between the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (now the All-Russian Exhibition Center) and the television center in Ostankino, on Khovanskaya Street, which once led to the village of Leonovo, which belonged to the Khovansky princes. In the late 1970s, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution on the construction of the "Civil Cosmonaut Complex". It was planned to hand it over in 1982-1983. The construction was financed by Stroybank. But suddenly the construction stopped - funding stopped. Stroybank had such a right: in the event of design discrepancies or other violations, suspend the allocation of funds until the situation is clarified. It turned out that one of the military cosmonauts did not like that not even apartments were being built on Khovanka, as in Zvezdny, but three-story cottages with a garage below. In addition, each cottage had a small plot on which there was a place for a garden. The message that "disgrace is happening" on Khovanka was the cause of the misunderstanding. Cosmonauts Vladimir Viktorovich Aksenov and Valery Viktorovich Ryumin tried to rectify the matter, met with the deputy chairman of Stroybank, gave a complete justification for the project, and on Mondays for two years went to the builders for RAM.

In 1987, the complex, completely built for budget money, was transferred to the Energia Research and Production Association (now the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation named after S. P. Koroleva) and settled. There are 36 apartments in the complex (four blocks of nine apartments each), almost all of them were occupied by cosmonauts, and some military cosmonauts, German Stepanovich Titov and Pavel Romanovich Popovich, rented their apartments in Star City to the Ministry of Defense and received apartments on Khovanka. And the first cosmonauts also built cottages near Star City, so the grievances disappeared.

Needless to say, living on Khovanka (so entrenched in the language) was convenient. There is also a central building with a large hall, and a gym. Until now, tennis tournaments with the participation of astronauts have been held on Khovanka.

But the complex quickly filled up. New civilian cosmonauts appeared, there was no place for them on Khovanka. Gradually, those living there stopped flying into space. To date, of the local residents, only Alexander Yuryevich Kaleri has visited the International Space Station on the fiftieth anniversary of Yu. A. Gagarin's flight, there are no other active cosmonauts on Khovanka. However, it is still a pleasure to go there, meet space veterans and learn news related to astronauts and space flights. After all, the history of astronautics is inexhaustible.

Housing problem

And yet, the housing problem did not spoil the astronauts, although it often played a decisive role in their lives. Many of those who could have become cosmonauts never did - not because of their health, but precisely because of the notorious question "where to live?".

At first, the military cosmonauts did not have such a problem. They were selected, came to Star City and received a service apartment. If someone was expelled from the detachment, he rented out his service area and left for another garrison.

Many intelligent engineers from different regions of Russia could also pass the competitive selection for cosmonauts. But who would give them an apartment? Therefore, historically it turned out that the majority of civilian cosmonauts work at RSC Energia, located in Korolev. They came to the royal design bureau in different ways, some were born and raised here either in the nearest cities and towns - in Mytishchi, Ivanteevka, Fryazino, Pushkin or in Moscow. Many of them, therefore, already had housing.

The young people who came after the institutes to work at RSC Energia were accommodated in the city hostel. Many astronauts have passed through it. There is a known case when an astronaut got married, twins were born to the young, and all together they continued to live in the same room with a shower and toilet at the end of the corridor. But this cosmonaut was preparing for a space flight. Many military cosmonauts begin in the same way - from a hostel or hotel in Zvezdny - before they get (in the order of the general queue) an apartment.

In Russia, which has rapidly passed to capitalism, the conditions have changed. Astronauts are told: "Fly into space, earn money and buy yourself an apartment." But prices are rising so rapidly that upon returning from a space trip, the money received by the cosmonaut is not even enough for a one-room apartment.

Meanwhile, the intense training regimen requires doing not only at the Cosmonaut Training Center, but also at home, sometimes until late at night, and sometimes at night. At the same time, the rules require the astronaut to take good care of his health. What can be done if the astronaut has a family, children who are often sick, and he is constantly in the same room with them and thinks how not to get infected, how to pass a medical examination tomorrow?

So that our story does not resemble plaintive sobs about the difficult fate of the Russian cosmonaut, let's turn to real documents.

As always happens in Russia, when it is simply impossible to solve something in the usual way, they turn to the president. The moment came when, in despair, the Russian cosmonauts from the CTC (11 people), RSC Energia (10 people), the Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center (one person) and the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation "Institute of Biomedical Problems" (one person). And all that was necessary was to allocate seven apartments for the Russian cosmonautics and sixteen cosmonauts - to improve their living conditions! At the same time, they were ready to hand over all the former apartments. It seemed to be nothing compared to the mass migration of St. Petersburg residents to Moscow!

But it was not there. This is how the events that began in 2006 developed and are developing.

To the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin on behalf of the Russian cosmonauts