The twentieth century gave us the world's first man in space, the first woman astronaut and the first man to go into space. In the same period of time, man took the first steps on the moon.

First man on the moon

The first spacecraft to bring humans to the surface of the moon was the American manned research spacecraft Apollo 11. The flight began on July 16 and ended on July 24, 1969.

Almost a day on the surface of the moon spent the pilot and crew commander: Edwin Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. Their time there was twenty-one hours, thirty-six minutes and twenty-one seconds. All this time, the command module was controlled by Michael Collins, who, while in orbit, was waiting for a signal.

Astronauts made one exit to the surface of the Moon. Its duration is almost two and a half hours. The first step to the surface of this planet was taken by the commander of the crew, Armstrong. Fifteen minutes later, Aldrin joined him. During the exit to the surface, the astronauts set the US flag on the moon, took several kilograms of soil for further research, and also installed research instruments. They took the first photographs of the landscape. Thanks to the installed equipment, it became possible to determine with maximum accuracy the distance between the Moon and the Earth. This significant event happened on July 20, 1969.

Thus, America won the lunar race by being the first to land on the surface of the earth's satellite, and the national goal set by John F. Kennedy was considered fulfilled.

It should be noted that some researchers call the landing of American astronauts on a natural satellite of the Earth the biggest hoax of the twentieth century. They also provide a number of evidence that there was no such landing at all.

First man in outer space

Man first went into outer space in 1965. It's about the Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. On that significant flight, he set off on March 18 together with his partner Pavel Belyaev on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft.

Upon reaching orbit, Leonov donned a spacesuit designed for spacewalks. The supply of oxygen in it was enough for forty-five minutes. Belyaev at that time began to install a flexible lock chamber, through which Leonov was supposed to carry out a spacewalk. Having taken all the necessary precautions, Leonov left the ship. In total, the astronaut spent 12 minutes 9 seconds outside of it. At this time, Leonov's partner transmitted a message to Earth that a man had gone into outer space. An image of an astronaut hovering against the background of the Earth was broadcast on television.

During the return, I had to worry, because in the vacuum conditions the suit swelled up greatly, because of which Leonov did not fit into the airlock. Being a prisoner of outer space, he independently found a way out of this situation, realizing that in this case, advice from the Earth would not help him. To reduce the size of the suit, the astronaut vented excess oxygen. He did this gradually, at the same time trying to squeeze into the cell. Every minute counted. Leonov prefers not to tell anyone about his experiences at that moment.

Difficulties with the suit were not the last troubles of that significant flight. It turned out that the orientation system did not work, and for landing the astronauts were forced to switch to manual control. The result of such a landing was that Belyaev and Leonov landed in the wrong place where it was supposed. The capsule ended up in the taiga, 180 kilometers from Perm. Two days later, the astronauts were discovered. This successful flight was marked by Leonov and Belyaev being awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

First female astronaut

The first woman to travel in space was Valentina Tereshkova. She made her flight alone, which in itself is an unprecedented case. Tereshkova for this flight was chosen from a large number of paratroopers.

The ship "Vostok-6" was in Earth's orbit on June 16, 1963. The Soviet Union became not only the first country to send its cosmonaut into space, but also the first country to send a woman into space. This move was politically motivated.

Surprisingly, the relatives of the world's first female astronaut learned about her flight into space from radio messages only after she made a successful landing. Knowing that the flight could well have ended in tragedy, the girl chose to keep the upcoming event a secret.

Tereshkova's flight lasted 22 hours 41 minutes. During this time, the first female astronaut made forty-eight orbits around our planet. Her call sign is "Seagull".

First person in space

Yuri Gagarin is known to be the first person to go into space. His historic flight, which thundered all over the world, was made on April 12, 1961. This date is called "Cosmonautics Day". The first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had the call sign Kedr

During the time spent in orbit, Gagarin completed the entire planned program. According to his recollections, he carefully recorded all his observations, examined the Earth and even ate.

Well, to the largest star in the universe, whose radius is one and a half thousand times greater than the radius of the sun, not a single astronaut will go in the near future. According to the site, there are no plans to send people outside the solar system yet.
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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 question of the existence of life on other planets has been tormenting the minds of scientists and the common man for many years. Previously, the cosmos seemed to be something mysterious and unknown, mysterious and inexplicable. With the development of technology, this mystery has been successfully solved so far. It all started with the launch of the first satellite into orbit, which made it possible to obtain data on the high layers of the atmosphere. Another giant leap in space exploration is the study of the nearest celestial body - the Moon. But the most memorable and large-scale event in the whole world is the first flight into space. Astronauts are the category of people that always causes awe and delight. They see the incredible beauty of planet Earth. And who, if not they, can say what the Universe is. So who are they - Russian cosmonauts, and what secrets does space hold?

The need for space exploration

Modern navigators, satellite dishes and television seem mundane and everyday, but this became possible only thanks to space exploration. His energy is colossal, it is a huge potential in the development of all spheres of life on the planet. Below are the most important aspects in the need to study the Universe:

• Weather forecasting. The Meteorological Service reports the weather throughout the country every day. Heavy rains, heavy snowfall, raging winds or calm, calm weather are all predicted from space data, so you can take timely safety measures in case of an emergency.
• In addition to the planets, the expanses of the Universe are criss-crossed by the remnants of once-existing stars, comets, asteroids, and meteorites. Their trajectory is unpredictable and their composition is unknown. Free wandering in the vastness of the Universe and the likelihood of their collision with the Earth can be tracked with the help of special equipment in observatories and catastrophes on a global scale can be prevented in time.
• The study of space is important for the security of a country. Rockets, torpedoes or other weapons can cause significant harm to the inhabitants or the settlement as a whole. To prevent this, special satellites are used to monitor outer space and take action in the event of an attack.

• Asteroids are rich in rare precious metals: platinum, gold, silver. Modern equipment allows them to be mined, thereby affecting the Earth in a smaller amount and allowing it to preserve its integrity.
• Information for planes, ships, cars comes directly from space. This allows you to lay the right route and see the obstacle in time that interferes with the movement.
• The environmental situation is one of the most important problems in modern times. Waste plastic, household chemicals, metal production occupy vast areas on the planet and cause significant harm to the environment and human health. The exploration of outer space for waste disposal will solve this global problem.

These important components are of great importance for the development of all spheres of human activity. The space of space is unique, immense and fraught with many interesting things. And it needs to be studied.

First steps in the field of astronautics

For the first time, the USSR decided to find out what is outside the planet. On October 4, 1957, the first satellite was launched - PS-1 (stands for the Simplest Sputnik-1). Many scientists and designers worked on the creation of the satellite, including Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov, who developed the satellite, and Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, who created the launch vehicle. It was he who put the satellite into orbit.

PS-1: flight results and significance for the country

PS-1 was launched from the Research Institute of Polygon No. 5 (now Baikonur). 4 hours after launch, the satellite gave a signal, it was heard for several minutes, after which it disappeared into outer space. The device successfully reached the orbit and moved along it for about three months, having completed more than 1400 revolutions around the Earth. But at some point, the fuel supply system failed, which led to malfunctions in one of the engines. Because of this, the satellite began to decline and burned up in the atmosphere. And yet the launch of the first satellite of the Earth is the grandest event in the whole world. This marked the beginning of the space race between the two superpowers - the USSR and the USA.

Satellite flight results:

• Successful testing of the technical condition of the apparatus and verification of calculations for its launch.
• The possibility of studying the ionosphere using radio waves coming from a satellite from space and passing through the atmosphere.
• Study of the upper layers of the atmosphere. Data can be obtained by observing the craft and its speed as it rubs against the atmosphere.

PS-1 is simple in its execution, it did not have special sensors, but despite this, scientists obtained important data about the Earth's atmosphere, which is necessary in the study of the planet.

Laika in space

Before the astronauts of Russia, the USSR and other countries began to explore space, dogs were the first in the vastness of the Universe. In November 1957, the astronaut dog Laika went into space. In the apparatus where Laika flew, special sensors were installed to monitor the well-being of the dog. In addition, there was an automatic power supply, a special installation for saturating the cabin with oxygen and removing carbon dioxide. The device with the dog on board was already on the way for several hours when she died from overheating due to an undeveloped thermal control system.

Belka and Strelka

On August 19, 1960, the Sputnik-5 spacecraft was launched with the dogs Belka and Strelka. As in the case of Laika, everything necessary was installed in the cockpit, but sad experience showed that improvement of previous shortcomings was required. The dogs endured the flight calmly, without visible deviations from the norm. The flight was recorded on film, where it was later possible to view all the comments and deviations.

At the appointed time, the apparatus with the dogs on board landed successfully. After examination, they felt satisfactory.

Animals in the vastness of the Universe: contribution to the development of astronautics

The flight of Belka and Strelka into space left an indelible mark on the exploration of outer space. Obtained data from the flight of dogs show that a person can fly around the Earth, but with fewer turns. And a few months later, the first man flies into space - Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin.

Human flight into space

This event became significant all over the world. Unprecedented discoveries have been made in this area, which made it possible to take a person into outer space. And it happened on April 12, 1961. The first person in the world to fly into space was Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin. He was born on March 9, 34 in the small village of Klushino.

In 1945, the whole family moved to Gzhatsk (which was later renamed in honor of the astronaut). In 1951, he became a student at the Saratov Industrial College and, having entered an amateur flying club in 1954, made his first flight in an airplane. This predetermined his future life. As a future cosmonaut, Yuri went through regular medical commissions and hard training. In parallel with this, the Vostok-1 ship, on which the flight will be made, was being refined to perfection.

On April 12, 1961, a spacecraft with a man on board was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The flight itself lasted less than two hours, the device made one revolution around the planet. At the beginning of the flight, the ship climbed a little more than planned. But a special coating did not allow the device to burn out in the upper atmosphere. In general, the flight went smoothly, without any incidents.

But when the ship was lowered for landing, there were problems in the braking system, so the device landed further than planned. Nevertheless, Yuri Gagarin successfully completed the mission. The cosmonaut was greeted with honors by his relatives and the top leadership of the country. Subsequently, he traveled to different countries, where he was warmly received. In our time, April 12 is celebrated as Cosmonautics Day, and Yu. A. Gagarin will forever be remembered as the first man to fly into space.

Further exploration of outer space

After the flight of Yuri Gagarin, the cosmonauts of Russia and other countries actively explored space. During the flights, unique data on the planet were obtained, extensive research was carried out on the influence of space on the daily life of earthlings, and many discoveries were made in this area.

The cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia made a special contribution to the development of this area. The list and photos of them are presented to your attention:

• Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin. He flew on the twelfth of April 1961, the first man in space in the history of mankind.
• German Stepanovich Titov, who flew on August 6, 1961. The first cosmonaut to spend a day in zero gravity.
• Nikolaev Andriyan Grigorievich, who made his first flight on August 11, 1962.
• Popovich Pavel Romanovich. The flight took place on August 12, 1962. This is the world's first flight of two ships (together with A. G. Nikolaev).
• Bykovsky Valery Fyodorovich. The first flight took place on June 14, 1963.
• Kaleri Alexander Yurievich. He flew on March 17, 1992 as a flight engineer on the Soyuz TM-24 spacecraft.

This list is very long, and this is only a small part of it. In fact, there are a lot of astronauts. This once again shows that space was actively studied at that time. This made a significant contribution to the development of astronautics and aviation.

Russia in space exploration

In modern times, outer space is being studied more specifically. The latest technologies make it possible to obtain more accurate data, calculations are carried out on powerful computers in just a matter of seconds. By the way, in the USSR it took more than an hour. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky is one of the first scientists who proposed the use of a rocket engine for the speed of a spacecraft. Now it has been perfected. Cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia, as well as other countries, must know all the subtleties of the ship, its structure, and capabilities. It is important to be able to behave in certain circumstances.

Below is a short list of Russian cosmonauts, in chronological order, who have flown into space:

• Kaleri Alexander Yurievich. On March 17, 1992, he made his first flight as a flight engineer on the Soyuz TM-24 spacecraft.
• Avdeev Sergey Vasilievich. On July 27, 1992, he went into space as a flight engineer on the Soyuz TM-15 spacecraft.
• Poleshchuk Alexander Fedorovich. The flight was made on January 24, 1993 on Soyuz TM-16.
• Tsibliyev Vasily Vasilyevich flew into space on July 1, 1993.

These are well-known cosmonauts of Russia. Photos of some of them are presented in this article.

Women in space

You can find information about astronauts in any source. Outstanding people who left a huge mark on history are the cosmonauts of Russia. The list and photos, the years of life of these people are information that is in the public domain. And now we will talk about the fair sex in astronautics. Even in Soviet times, cosmonauts seemed to be something "transcendental", "heavenly". Children of that time dreamed about the stars and actively studied this science. I must say that many have achieved significant success in this area, as evidenced by their names, which are on everyone's lips.

It always seemed that Russian cosmonauts were purely men. After successful flights, they decided to launch the first woman into space. And this woman was Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova. She came from a simple family. His father, a tractor driver, died in the war in 1939, his mother was a textile factory worker. The girl was gifted, science at school was easy for her. In her spare time, she played the domra.

Having matured, Valentina became interested in parachuting, and this played in her favor when choosing candidates for space flight. She made her first flight on June 16, 1963 from Baikonur on the Vostok-6 ship. In general, the flight, which lasted three days, went well. Despite feeling unwell, the female cosmonaut coped with the task (keeping a logbook and taking a photo of the planet's horizon).

Other female cosmonauts of Russia and the USSR who left their mark on history:

• Svetlana Evgenievna Savitskaya. In August 1984, she made her first flight on the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft, and in 1984 she became the first woman in the world to go into outer space.
• Elena Vladimirovna Kondakova. The first flight took place in early October 1994 on the Soyuz TM-20 spacecraft. This is the world's first female astronaut who has been in space for a long time - 179 days.
• Serova Elena Olegovna She made her first flight on September 26, 2014 on the Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft as a flight engineer.

As you can see, there are not as many representatives of the weaker sex as men. But all trainings, tasks, loads were carried out on a par with colleagues. Fortitude, perseverance, willpower, the ability to set a goal and achieve it - these are the qualities that Russian cosmonauts fully possess. The list of these qualities is replenished with each test passed for them. Despite the difficulties, they managed to conquer space and leave their mark on the history of mankind.

From time immemorial, mankind has sought to fly. Perhaps it was their most desired dream. With the formation of modern civilization, people wanted not just to fly, but to reach the enchanting haze of outer space. And finally, they were able to realize the desire of mankind to go into outer space!

The first cosmonaut of the Soviet Union was, which entered forever into world history. Preparations for the flight of the world's first man lasted a little over a year, and, behold, on April 12, 1961, this historic moment took place. They met the pilot on Earth, as befits, to meet the heroes of the fatherland. Later, Gagarin was awarded many ranks and awards. The flight into space was soon repeated by an astronaut from the United States. After that, the struggle began to launch the first woman astronaut into space.

An event of unprecedented scale was the flight of the first female Soviet cosmonaut. Her journey to the stars began with the fact that by the age of 25 she was enrolled in the ranks of astronauts and, along with other girls, was preparing for flight into orbit. During the training, the project leaders noticed the activity of Valentina Tereshkova and her diligence, as a result of which she was appointed senior in the women's group. After only 1 year of preparation, she set off on a space journey that has remained forever in the history books - the first space flight by a woman.

The Soviet Union did not just launch the first cosmonaut into orbit, but opened a new milestone in the evolution of human technology and the level of development of mankind as a whole. were the first in everything that was connected with astronautics. Our state possessed the best technologies in the field of astronautics. We were the first not only in launching astronauts. The state held the world championship in the future in the field of launching manned flights and the operation of orbital stations.

We must pay tribute to the heroes of the Soviet Union - the cosmonauts - for their courage and devotion to their dream. It was they who marked the beginning of a new era of mankind - space. But do not forget about those outstanding people who have invested in this business not only labor and time, but also a particle of their soul. The achievements of Russian cosmonautics are worthy of being written about in textbooks.

Boris Valentinovich Volynov (b. 1934) - Soviet cosmonaut, twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

early years

Boris Volynov was born in Irkutsk on 18.12.1934. However, soon his mother was transferred to another place of work - to the city of Prokopyevsk, Kemerovo Region, and the whole family moved there. Until 1952, the boy studied at a regular high school, and already in his youth he was set on fire with the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bbecoming a pilot.

No sooner said than done: after school, Volynov went to Pavlodar, to the local military aviation school. Then he continued his education at the Stalingrad (now Volgograd) military aviation school. After training, he served as a pilot in Yaroslavl, later becoming a senior pilot.

Pavel Ivanovich Belyaev (1925 - 1970) - Soviet cosmonaut number 10, Hero of the USSR.

Pavel Belyaev is also known as an athlete and participant in the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945.

early years

Pavel Belyaev was born in the village of Chelishchevo, which today belongs to the Vologda region on 06/26/1925. He studied at a school in the city of Kamensk-Uralsky, after which he went to work as a turner at a factory. However, a year later he decided to devote himself to military affairs, as a result of which he entered the Yeisk Military Aviation School. So he became a pilot.

The Great Patriotic War had ended by that time (1945), but military operations against Japan were still ongoing in the Far East, and the young pilot went there.

Vladimir Dzhanibekov (Krysin) (b. 05/13/1942) is a very interesting representative of the national cosmonautics.

This is a man who has made several records in space flights. Firstly, he made a record number of flights in the USSR - five. Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev flew as many as six times, but this was already after the collapse of the USSR.

Secondly, in all five of his flights he was the commander. This record has not yet been surpassed by any cosmonaut in the world, and only James Weatherby repeated it, and even then only in his sixth flight, since he was not the commander in the first. Thus, Vladimir Dzhanibekov is the most experienced Soviet cosmonaut.

Valery Kubasov (1935 - 2014) - famous Soviet cosmonaut. He is known as a space flight engineer, and also as a participant in the famous Apollo-Soyuz program, during which the space stations of the two "superpowers" were docked.

Biography

Valery Kubasov was born in the city of Vyazniki, in the Vladimir region. He also went to school there. Since childhood, he dreamed of building airplanes, so after school he went to the Moscow Aviation Institute. Like many cosmonauts, Kubasov was an aviator in the early stages of his life.

Svetlana Savitskaya - test pilot, cosmonaut, Hero of the USSR (twice).

Probably everyone in the world knows who Valentina Tereshkova is. However, even after her, women continued to conquer space. Just next, after Tereshkova and the second female cosmonaut, was Svetlana Evgenievna Savitskaya.

She was a brilliant pilot, participated in two space expeditions, the first, among women, went into outer space and carried out work there, she became the only woman twice awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union. But first things first.

Viktor Gorbatko Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR, Major-General of Aviation.

Quite recently, on May 17, 2017, a well-known not only in Russia but also abroad pilot - cosmonaut Viktor Vasilyevich Gorbatko passed away.

This man participated in three space expeditions in his life, was one of the first chess players who played games between space and Earth. He is the 21st Soviet pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

In addition to a huge number of Soviet awards, he received awards from five countries, and for the last 16 years of his life he was the president of the Union of Philatelists of Russia.

Komarov Vladimir Mikhailovich (1927 - 1967) cosmonaut, twice Hero of the USSR, test pilot

Childhood and years of study

Vladimir Mikhailovich was born on March 16, 1927. He grew up in a poor janitor family. From an early age, he stared at the planes flying in the sky and launched kites from the roof of the house. Hometown - Moscow.

From the age of 7, he has been studying at the 235th school, which currently bears the number 2107. Having completed a seven-year course of general education there in 1943, at the height of the Great Patriotic War, he makes a fateful decision to become a pilot.

He made two space flights and stayed in space for 28 days and a little more than 17 hours.

short biography

Vladislav Nikolaevich Volkov was born on November 23, 1935 in Moscow in a family, all members of which were professionally engaged in aviation. His father was a leading engineer - designer of the largest aviation enterprise, his mother worked there in the design bureau.

It is natural that Vladislav dreamed of aviation since childhood. After graduating from Moscow school number 212 in 1953, he simultaneously enters the famous MAI - the forge of Soviet aviation engineers and, at the flying club.

Classes both at the institute and at the flying club were very successful.

Popovich Pavel Romanovich - Soviet pilot-cosmonaut number 4 from the first "Gagarin" detachment, a legend of Russian cosmonautics. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

short biography

The biography of cosmonaut Popovich is not much different from the biography of his peers. Pavel Popovich was born in October 1929 in the village of Uzin, Kyiv region, Ukraine. His parents were ordinary people.

Father Roman Porfiryevich Popovich comes from a peasant family, all his life he worked as a stoker at a local sugar factory. Mother Feodosia Kasyanovna was born into a wealthy family, but wealthy relatives abandoned her after her marriage, and the large Popovich family had a pretty hard time.

Pavel learned from early childhood what hard work is - he had to work as a shepherd, to be a nanny in a strange family. The difficult years of the German occupation left an imprint on Paul's appearance - at the age of 13 he became gray-haired. But, despite all the hardships of post-war childhood, the boy grew up very smart, inquisitive and was an excellent student.

Space ... One word, but how many bewitching pictures rise before your eyes! Myriads of galaxies scattered throughout the Universe, the distant and at the same time infinitely close and dear Milky Way, the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, peacefully located in the vast sky... The list is endless. In this article, we will get acquainted with the history and some interesting facts.

Space exploration in antiquity: how did they look at the stars before?

In far, far antiquity, people could not observe planets and comets through powerful Hubble-type telescopes. The only instruments for seeing the beauty of the sky and doing space exploration were their own eyes. Of course, nothing but the Sun, the Moon and the stars could be seen by human "telescopes" (except for the comet in 1812). Therefore, people could only guess about how these yellow and white balls actually look in the sky. But even then the population of the globe was attentive, so they quickly noticed that these two circles were moving across the sky, either hiding behind the horizon, or showing up again. They also found that not all stars behave in the same way: some of them remain stationary, while others change their position along a complex trajectory. From here began the great exploration of outer space and what is hidden in it.

The ancient Greeks achieved particular success in this field. It was they who first discovered that our planet has the shape of a ball. Their opinions about the location of the Earth relative to the Sun were divided: some scientists believed that it revolves around a heavenly body, the rest believed that it was the other way around (they were supporters of the geocentric system of the world). The ancient Greeks never came to a consensus. All their works and space research were captured on paper and framed in a whole scientific work called "Almagest". Its author and compiler is the great ancient scientist Ptolemy.

The Renaissance and the destruction of previous ideas about space

Nicolaus Copernicus - who hasn't heard this name? It was he who in the 15th century destroyed the erroneous theory of the geocentric system of the world and put forward his own, heliocentric, which claimed that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and not vice versa. The medieval inquisition and the church, unfortunately, did not doze off. They immediately declared such speeches heretical, and the followers of the Copernican theory were severely persecuted. One of her supporters, Giordano Bruno, was burned at the stake. His name has remained for centuries, and until now we remember the great scientist with respect and gratitude.

Growing interest in space

After these events, the attention of scientists to astronomy only intensified. Space exploration has become more and more exciting. As soon as the 17th century began, a new large-scale discovery took place: the researcher Kepler established that the orbits in which the planets revolve around the Sun are not at all round, as previously thought, but elliptical. Thanks to this event, major changes occurred in science. In particular, he discovered mechanics and was able to describe the laws by which bodies move.

Discovery of new planets

Today we know that there are eight planets in the solar system. Until 2006, their number was nine, but after that the last and most remote planet from heat and light - Pluto - was excluded from the number of bodies circling our heavenly body. This was due to its small size - the area of ​​​​Russia alone is already larger than the entire Pluto. It has been given the status of a dwarf planet.

Until the 17th century, people believed that there were five planets in the solar system. There were no telescopes then, so they judged only by those celestial bodies that they could see with their own eyes. Further than Saturn with its ice rings, scientists could not see anything. Probably, we would still be mistaken to this day if it were not for Galileo Galilei. It was he who invented telescopes and helped scientists to explore other planets and see the rest of the celestial bodies of the solar system. Thanks to the telescope, it became known about the existence of mountains and craters on the Moon, Saturn, Mars. Also, all the same Galileo Galilei discovered spots on the Sun. Science not only developed, it flew forward by leaps and bounds. And by the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists already knew enough to build the first and go to conquer the starry expanses.

Soviet scientists have carried out significant space research and achieved great success in the study of astronomy and the development of shipbuilding. True, more than 50 years have passed since the beginning of the 20th century before the first space satellite set off to conquer the expanses of the Universe. It happened in 1957. The device was launched in the USSR from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The first satellites did not pursue high results - their goal was to reach the moon. The first space exploration device landed on the lunar surface in 1959. And also in the 20th century, the Space Research Institute was opened, in which serious scientific work was developed and discoveries were made.

Soon the launch of satellites became commonplace, and yet only one mission to land on another planet ended successfully. We are talking about the Apollo project, during which several times, according to the official version, the Americans landed on the moon.

International "space race"

1961 became a memorable year in the history of astronautics. But even earlier, in 1960, two dogs visited space, whose nicknames are known to the whole world: Belka and Strelka. They returned from space safe and sound, having become famous and becoming real heroes.

And on April 12 next year, Yuri Gagarin, the first person who dared to leave the Earth on the Vostok-1 spacecraft, set off to surf the expanses of the Universe.

The United States of America did not want to give up the championship in the space race to the USSR, so they wanted to send their man into space before Gagarin. The United States also lost in the launch of satellites: Russia managed to launch the device four months ahead of America. Such conquerors of space as Valentina Tereshkova and the Last have already been in the airless space, the first in the world to make a spacewalk, and the most significant achievement of the United States in the exploration of the Universe was only the launch of an astronaut into orbital flight.

But, despite the significant successes of the USSR in the "space race", America was also not a blunder. And on July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft, carrying five space explorers, launched to the surface of the moon. Five days later, the first man set foot on the surface of the Earth's satellite. His name was Neil Armstrong.

Victory or defeat?

Who did win the moon race? There is no exact answer to this question. Both the USSR and the USA showed their best side: they modernized and improved technical achievements in space shipbuilding, made many new discoveries, took priceless samples from the surface of the Moon, which were sent to the Space Research Institute. Thanks to them, it was established that the Earth's satellite consists of sand and stone, and that there is no air on the Moon. The footprints of Neil Armstrong, left over forty years ago on the lunar surface, are still there today. There is simply nothing to erase them: our satellite is deprived of air, there is neither wind nor water. And if you go to the moon, you can leave your mark on history - both literally and figuratively.

Conclusion

The history of mankind is rich and vast, it includes many great discoveries, wars, grandiose victories and devastating defeats. The exploration of extraterrestrial space and modern space research rightfully occupy far from the last place on the pages of history. But none of this would have happened without such brave and selfless people as Nicolaus Copernicus, Yuri Gagarin, Sergei Korolev, Galileo Galilei, Giordano Bruno and many, many others. All these great people were distinguished by an outstanding mind, developed abilities in the study of physics and mathematics, a strong character and an iron will. We have a lot to learn from them, we can adopt invaluable experience and positive qualities and character traits from these scientists. If humanity tries to be like them, read a lot, exercise, study successfully at school and university, then we can say with confidence that we still have a lot of great discoveries ahead, and deep space will soon be explored. And, as one famous song says, our footprints will remain on the dusty paths of distant planets.