- The first artificial Earth satellite was launched on October 4, 1957.. It is this date that is recognized by mankind as the day of the entry into the space age. In Russia, it is also an official holiday. space troops countries.
- The first artificial satellite was named PS-1, which stands for "Simple Satellite".
- The launch of PS-1 took place from the first and largest cosmodrome in the world, Baikonur, located on the territory of modern Kazakhstan.
- A whole group of brilliant scientists and researchers worked on the development of the first satellite. Their leadership was entrusted to an outstanding designer and Soviet Union Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. It is noteworthy that before the development of an outstanding achievement of rocket and space technology, he spent six years in prison, but was subsequently rehabilitated due to the lack of corpus delicti.
- After the launch of the satellite, the world community put forward candidates for Nobel Prize her designer. However, the surname Koroleva was kept secret by the Soviet government. In response to the proposed award, they replied that it was the merit of the entire Soviet people.
- The appearance of the satellite was a ball, weighing about 80 kilograms, with four antennas along the edges..
- 314 seconds after takeoff, the PS-1 issued a distinctive sound signal that people in all corners could hear. globe. It marked the triumph of mankind, which reached unprecedented heights of its scientific activity.
- Interestingly, the satellite was not equipped with any scientific equipment.. The only opportunity for its study was the reception of radio signals sent by it, which all institutes and scientific laboratories Earth.
- Sputnik-1 spent exactly 4 months in open space. The end of his flight took place on January 4, 1958. During his stay outside earth's atmosphere he covered a distance of almost 60 million kilometers.
- The launch of the satellite took place with the help of the R-7 ballistic missile, which its inventors affectionately nicknamed the Seven.
- Experimental launches of the above rocket were defeated for a long time. However, in August 1957, the launch of the rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome was successful and it landed safely at the base located in Kamchatka.
- In 2007, in honor of the anniversary of the creation of PS-1, a monument was erected to him in the city of Korolev.
- On the day of the PS-1 launch, Barcelona hosted another international Conference, dedicated to astronautics. Since the development of outer space in the USSR was carried out under the heading of secrecy, the representatives of the Soviet Union, who took part in the meeting of the congress, shocked the entire world community with their statement.
- "Taming the Fire" - a product of the domestic film industry. The film, which was released in 1972, describes the biographical features of the life of the head of the Soviet space program, Korolev, and members of his team. An American-made film "October Sky" was also shot, also based on real events.
- Another merit of the first satellite was the emergence of the global Internet.. After all, it was the research related to the work of PS-1 that led to the idea of its creation.
We hope you liked the selection of pictures - Interesting facts about the launch of the first satellite of the Earth (15 photos) online of good quality. Please leave your opinion in the comments! Every opinion matters to us.
The space race began on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial Earth satellite. Over the next years, Soviet scientists came up with many novelties for space exploration, including the first to send a man into space, were able to reach outer space. Below is a list of the most notable achievements of the Soviet space program.
The first artificial earth satellite
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first man-made object in Earth orbit, on October 4, 1957. But the official Soviet news agency, Tass, did not announce the launch until the next day. But the reaction of the world community was different - from concern to jubilation. Some people feared that a nation capable of launching objects into space might one day launch missiles against other countries. Others believed that the launch of the satellite marked the beginning of an exciting new era in human history. But despite the politics cold war, the possibilities of Sputnik have captured the imagination of many people. Radio operators around the world could pick up Sputnik's signature signal in its orbit. And with the help of binoculars, even casual viewers could see how the satellite flies over their heads. "Sputnik" remained in orbit until January 4, 1958, until it burned up, falling into the Earth's atmosphere. Ultimately, the launch of the first artificial object prompted many countries, including the United States, to continue the space programs that are being developed to this day.
The first animals in Earth's orbit: Belka and Strelka
The first Soviet satellites were not designed to re-enter the earth's orbit. However, Soviet scientists undertook a series of animal experiments aboard orbiters to test whether human spaceflight was possible. The first animal to travel into space was the husky. However, they couldn't bring her back. After a series of similar unsuccessful experiments, on August 19, 1960, scientists launched a pair of dogs - Belka and Strelka - into orbit aboard a ship called Vostok. Belka and Strelka became international media darlings when their module successfully landed after orbiting Earth for 24 hours. After the first flight, the "cosmonauts" were retired. Belka and Strelka died of old age, and their effigies were left for posterity. The exhibits can be viewed at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow.
Flight parameters
- Start of flight- October 4, 1957 at 19:28:34 GMT
- End of flight- 4 January
- Machine weight- 83.6 kg;
- Max Diameter- 0.58 m.
- Orbital inclination- 65.1°.
- Period of circulation- 96.7 min.
- Perigee- 228 km.
- Apogee- 947 km.
- Vitkov - 1440
Device
The satellite hull consisted of two half-shells with docking frames connected to each other by 36 bolts. The tightness of the joint was provided by a rubber gasket. Two antennas were located in the upper half-shell, each of two pins 2.4 m and 2.9 m each. Inside the sealed case were placed: a block of electrochemical sources; radio transmitting device; fan; thermal relay and air duct of the thermal control system; switching device of onboard electroautomatics; temperature and pressure sensors; onboard cable network.
Launch history
satellite signal
The flight of the first satellite was preceded by the titanic work of the Soviet rocket designers led by Sergei Korolev.
1947-1957. In ten years from V-2 to PS-1.The history of the creation of the First Sputnik is the history of the rocket. Rocket technology of the Soviet Union and the United States had a German origin.
The developed project of a rocket of a new layout was approved by the Council of Ministers of the USSR on November 20, 1954. It was necessary to solve many new tasks as soon as possible, which included, in addition to the development and construction of the rocket itself, the choice of a place for the launch site, the construction of launch facilities, the commissioning of all necessary services and the equipment of the entire 7000-kilometer flight route with observation posts. The first complex of the R-7 rocket was built and tested during 1955-1956 at the Leningrad Metal Plant, at the same time, in accordance with a government decree of February 12, 1955, the construction of NIIP-5 began in the area of the Tyura-Tam station. When the first rocket in the factory shop was already assembled, the plant was visited by a delegation of the main members of the Politburo, headed by N. S. Khrushchev. The rocket made a terrific impression not only on the Soviet leadership, but also on leading scientists.
We [nuclear scientists] thought that we had a large scale, but there we saw something, an order of magnitude larger. I was struck by a huge, visible naked eye, technical culture, the coordinated work of hundreds of highly qualified people and their almost everyday, but very businesslike attitude to those fantastic things with which they dealt ...
- (collection "First Space", p. 18)
On January 30, 1956, the government signed a decree on the creation and launch into orbit in 1957-1958. "Object" D "" - a satellite weighing 1000-1400 kg carrying 200-300 kg of scientific equipment. The development of the equipment was entrusted to the USSR Academy of Sciences, the construction of the satellite was assigned to OKB-1, and the launch was entrusted to the Ministry of Defense. By the end of 1956, it became clear that reliable equipment for the satellite could not be created within the required time frame.
Multimedia
- The sound of the signal from the first artificial satellite(info)
Literature
- The first space (collection of articles dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the space era) / compiled by O. V. Zakutnyaya. - M.: 2007. - ISBN 978-5-902533-03-0
Links
- "Sputnik as a warning", "Los Angeles Times", September 30, 2007 - "Moscow was the first to go into space in order to show military force. Fifty years have passed - and the same thing begins again ”- Matthew Brzezinski.
- “France celebrates the anniversary of the launch of the first Soviet satellite”, “Izvestia. Ru", 04.10.07 - "A stamp dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first satellite and the exploration of space by mankind"
- Satellite instead of a bomb. Documentary Roscosmos TV studios
Notes
Day of the beginning of the space age of mankind (October 4, 1957); proclaimed by the International Federation of Astronautics in September 1967 (on this day the world's first artificial Earth satellite was successfully launched in the USSR)
On October 4, 1957, the world's first artificial Earth satellite was launched into near-Earth orbit, which opened the space era in the history of mankind. The satellite, which became the first artificial celestial body, was launched into orbit by an R-7 carrier rocket from the 5th research site of the USSR Ministry of Defense, which later received the open name of the Baikonur cosmodrome. The spacecraft PS-1 (the simplest satellite-1) was a ball with a diameter of 58 centimeters, weighed 83.6 kilograms, was equipped with four pin antennas 2.4 and 2.9 meters long for transmitting signals from battery-powered transmitters. 295 seconds after the launch, PS-1 and the central block of the rocket weighing 7.5 tons were launched into an elliptical orbit with an altitude of 947 km at apogee and 288 km at perigee. At 315 seconds after the launch, the satellite separated from the second stage of the launch vehicle, and immediately the whole world heard its call signs. The PS-1 satellite flew for 92 days, until January 4, 1958, making 1440 revolutions around the Earth (about 60 million km), and its radio transmitters worked for two weeks after launch. The United States was able to repeat the success of the USSR only on February 1, 1958, by launching the Explorer-1 satellite on the second attempt, weighing 10 times less than the first satellite. Scientists M.V. Keldysh, M.K.Tikhonravov, N.S. Lidorenko, V.I. Lapko, B.S. Chekunov and many others.
The formation of the rocket and space industry and technology in our country practically began in the spring of 1946. It was then that research institutes, design bureaus, testing centers and factories for the development and production of long-range ballistic missiles. Then NII-88 appeared (later OKB-1, TsKBM, NPO Energia, RSC Energia) - the main institute in the country's jet weapons, which was headed by S.P. Korolev. Together with the chief designers - on rocket engines, control systems, command instruments, radio systems, launch complexes, etc., S.P. Korolev supervised the creation of rocket and space complexes that provide the first and subsequent flights of automatic and manned vehicles. In the country, in a short historical period, a powerful industry was created for the production of the most diverse rocket and space technology. Thousands of vehicles for various purposes were designed, built and sent into space, and a huge amount of work was done to study outer space. Launch vehicles "Zenith", "Proton", "Cosmos", "Lightning", "Cyclone" launched research, applied, meteorological, navigation, military satellites "Electron", "Horizont", "Start" into space orbit , Cosmos, Resurs, Gals, Prognoz, communication satellites Ekran, Molniya and others. Unique work was done by automatic spacecraft during flights to the Moon, Mars, Venus, to Halley's comet.
In 1957, under the leadership of S.P. Korolev, the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile R-7 was created, which in the same year was used to launch the world's first artificial earth satellite.
artificial earth satellite (satellite) - This spacecraft revolving around the earth in a geocentric orbit. - the trajectory of the movement of a celestial body along an elliptical trajectory around the Earth. One of the two foci of the ellipse along which it moves heavenly body, coincides with the Earth. In order to spaceship found himself in this orbit, he needs to be informed of a speed that is less than the second cosmic velocity, but not less than the first cosmic velocity. AES flights are carried out at altitudes up to several hundred thousand kilometers. The lower limit of the satellite flight altitude is determined by the need to avoid the process of rapid deceleration in the atmosphere. The orbital period of a satellite, depending on the average flight altitude, can range from one and a half hours to several days.
Of particular importance are satellites in geostationary orbit, the period of revolution of which is strictly equal to a day, and therefore, for a ground observer, they “hang” motionlessly in the sky, which makes it possible to get rid of rotary devices in antennas. geostationary orbit(GSO) - a circular orbit located above the Earth's equator (0 ° latitude), in which an artificial satellite revolves around the planet with an angular velocity equal to the angular velocity of the Earth's rotation around its axis. Movement of an artificial Earth satellite in geostationary orbit.
Sputnik-1- the first artificial satellite of the Earth, the first spacecraft, launched into orbit in the USSR on October 4, 1957.
Satellite code - PS-1(The simplest Sputnik-1). The launch was carried out from the 5th Tyura-Tam research site of the USSR Ministry of Defense (later this place was called the Baikonur Cosmodrome) on a Sputnik launch vehicle (R-7).
Scientists M. V. Keldysh, M. K. Tikhonravov, N. S. Lidorenko, V. I. Lapko, B. S. Chekunov, A. V. Bukhtiyarov and many others.
The date of the launch of the first artificial satellite of the Earth is considered the beginning of the space age of mankind, and in Russia it is celebrated as a memorable day for the Space Forces.
The body of the satellite consisted of two hemispheres with a diameter of 58 cm made of aluminum alloy with docking frames interconnected by 36 bolts. The tightness of the joint was provided by a rubber gasket. Two antennas were located in the upper half-shell, each of two pins 2.4 m and 2.9 m each. Since the satellite was not oriented, the four-antenna system gave uniform radiation in all directions.
A block of electrochemical sources was placed inside the hermetic case; radio transmitting device; fan; thermal relay and air duct of the thermal control system; switching device of onboard electroautomatics; temperature and pressure sensors; onboard cable network. Mass of the first satellite: 83.6 kg.
The history of the creation of the first satellite
On May 13, 1946, Stalin signed a decree on the creation in the USSR of the rocket branch of science and industry. In August S. P. Korolev was appointed chief designer of long-range ballistic missiles.
But back in 1931, the Jet Propulsion Study Group was created in the USSR, which was engaged in the design of rockets. This group worked Zander, Tikhonravov, Pobedonostsev, Korolev. In 1933, on the basis of this group, the Jet Institute was organized, which continued work on the creation and improvement of rockets.
In 1947, the V-2 rockets were assembled and tested in Germany, and they marked the beginning of Soviet work on the development rocket technology. However, the V-2 embodied in its design the ideas of lone geniuses Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Hermann Oberth, Robert Goddard.
In 1948, the R-1 rocket, which was a copy of the V-2, manufactured entirely in the USSR, was already being tested at the Kapustin Yar test site. Then the R-2 appeared with a flight range of up to 600 km, these missiles were put into service since 1951. And the creation of the R-5 missile with a range of up to 1200 km was the first separation from the V-2 technology. These missiles were tested in 1953, and immediately began research into their use as a carrier. nuclear weapons. On May 20, 1954, the government issued a decree on the development of a two-stage intercontinental rocket R-7. And already on May 27, Korolev sent a memorandum to the Minister of Defense Industry D.F. Ustinov on the development of artificial satellites and the possibility of launching it using the future R-7 rocket.
Launch!
On Friday, October 4, at 22 hours 28 minutes 34 seconds Moscow time, successful launch. 295 seconds after the launch, PS-1 and the central block of the rocket weighing 7.5 tons were launched into an elliptical orbit with an altitude of 947 km at apogee and 288 km at perigee. At 314.5 seconds after the launch, Sputnik separated and he gave his vote. "Beep! Beep! - so sounded his call signs. They were caught at the training ground for 2 minutes, then the Sputnik went beyond the horizon. People at the cosmodrome ran out into the street, shouting "Hurrah!", rocked the designers and the military. And even on the first orbit, a TASS message sounded: "... As a result of the great hard work of research institutes and design bureaus, the world's first artificial satellite of the Earth was created ..."
Only after receiving the first signals of the Sputnik did the results of telemetry data processing come in and it turned out that only a fraction of a second separated from failure. One of the engines was “late”, and the time to enter the regime is tightly controlled and if it is exceeded, the start is automatically canceled. The block went into mode less than a second before the control time. At the 16th second of the flight, the fuel supply control system failed, and due to the increased consumption of kerosene, the central engine turned off 1 second ahead of the estimated time. But the winners are not judged! The satellite flew for 92 days, until January 4, 1958, making 1440 revolutions around the Earth (about 60 million km), and its radio transmitters worked for two weeks after launch. Due to friction against the upper layers of the atmosphere, the satellite lost speed, entered the dense layers of the atmosphere and burned out due to friction against the air.
Officially, Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 were launched by the Soviet Union in accordance with the obligations assumed for the International Geophysical Year. The satellite emitted radio waves at two frequencies of 20.005 and 40.002 MHz in the form of telegraph packets with a duration of 0.3 s, this made it possible to study the upper layers of the ionosphere - before the launch of the first satellite, it was possible to observe only the reflection of radio waves from the regions of the ionosphere lying below the zone of maximum ionization of the ionospheric layers.
Launch goals
- verification of calculations and main technical solutions adopted for the launch;
- ionospheric studies of the passage of radio waves emitted by satellite transmitters;
- experimental determination of the density of the upper atmosphere by the deceleration of the satellite;
- study of the operating conditions of the equipment.
Despite the fact that the satellite was completely absent of any scientific equipment, the study of the nature of the radio signal and optical observations of the orbit made it possible to obtain important scientific data.
Other satellites
The second country to launch a satellite was the United States: on February 1, 1958, an artificial earth satellite was launched Explorer-1. It was in orbit until March 1970, but stopped broadcasting as early as February 28, 1958. The first American artificial earth satellite was launched by Brown's team.
Werner Magnus Maximilian von Braun- German, and since the late 1940s, an American designer of rocket and space technology, one of the founders of modern rocket science, the creator of the first ballistic missiles. In the US, he is considered the "father" of the American space program. Von Braun, for political reasons, was not given permission to launch the first American satellite for a long time (the US leadership wanted the satellite to be launched by the military), so preparations for the launch of the Explorer began in earnest only after the Avangard accident. For launch, a boosted version of the Redstone ballistic missile, called the Jupiter-S, was created. The mass of the satellite was exactly 10 times less than the mass of the first Soviet satellite - 8.3 kg. It was equipped with a Geiger counter and a meteor particle sensor. The Explorer's orbit was noticeably higher than the orbit of the first satellite..
The following countries that launched satellites - Great Britain, Canada, Italy - launched their first satellites in 1962, 1962, 1964 . in American launch vehicles. And the third country that launched the first satellite on its launch vehicle was France November 26, 1965
Now satellites are being launched more than 40 countries (as well as individual companies) with the help of both their own launch vehicles (LV) and those provided as launch services by other countries and interstate and private organizations.
