On October 4, 1957, the world's first Soviet artificial satellite Earth.

Back in 1939, one of the founders of practical cosmonautics in the USSR, the closest associate of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov, wrote: “Without exception, all work in the field of rocket technology eventually leads to space flight.” Subsequent events confirmed his words: in 1946, almost simultaneously with the development of the first Soviet and American ballistic missiles, the development of the idea of ​​launching an artificial Earth satellite began.

The times were hard. Barely finished the second World War, and the world was already teetering on the brink of a new one, this time nuclear. The atomic bomb appeared, and means of delivery were hastily developed - first of all, combat missile systems. On May 13, 1946, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a detailed Decree on issues of jet weapons, the creation of which was declared the most important state task. They were ordered to create a special committee on jet technology and dozens of new enterprises - research institutes, design bureaus; factories were redesigned for the production of new equipment, testing grounds were created. On the basis of Artillery Plant No. 88, the State Allied Research Institute (NII-88) was created, which became the lead organization for the entire range of work in this area. On August 9 of the same year, by order of the Minister of Defense, Korolev was appointed chief designer of ballistic missiles. long range, and on August 30, he became head of the department of ballistic missile design tests of "product number 1" - the R-1 missile.

It was in this context that the creation of an artificial satellite of the Earth began, for which it was necessary to attract huge financial, material and human resources. In other words, government support was required. At the first stage (until 1954), the development of the idea of ​​launching a satellite was carried out in conditions of misunderstanding and opposition from top leaders and those who determined the technical policy of states. In our country, the main ideologist and leader practical work Sergei Pavlovich Korolev was responsible for the spacewalk, and in the USA, Wernher von Braun.

On May 12, 1946, the von Braun group submitted to the US Department of Defense a report "Preliminary design of an experimental spaceship orbiting the Earth”, which stated that a rocket to launch a satellite weighing 227 kg into a circular orbit about 480 km high could be created in five years, that is, by 1951. The military department refused to allocate the necessary appropriations to von Braun's proposal.

In the USSR, Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov, who worked at the NII-1 MAP, proposed a project for a high-altitude rocket VR-190 with a pressurized cabin with two pilots on board for flying along a ballistic trajectory with an ascent to a height of 200 km. The project was reported to the USSR Academy of Sciences and to the collegium of the Ministry aviation industry and received positive feedback. On May 21, 1946, Tikhonravov sent a letter to Stalin, and this was the point. After moving to NII-4 of the Ministry of Defense, Tikhonravov and his group of seven people continued to work on issues scientific justification the possibility of launching an artificial satellite of the Earth. On March 15, 1950, he reported the results of the research work "Compound long-range liquid fuel rockets, artificial satellites of the Earth" at the plenary session of the scientific and technical conference of the Department of Applied Mechanics of the USSR Academy of Sciences. His report was approved, nevertheless Tikhonravov every now and then he received “bruises and bumps” from his superiors, and ridicule in the form of cartoons and epigrams from his fellow scientists. In accordance with the “spirit of the times” (at the very beginning of the 1950s), a “signal to the top” was even sent - they say that state funds are being wasted, and we need to see if this is sabotage? The inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense, which checked NII-4, recognized the work of Tikhonravov's group as unnecessary, and the idea as fantastic and harmful. The group was disbanded, and Tikhonravov was demoted.

Meanwhile, work continued: in 1950-1953, research was carried out behind the scenes, almost secretly, and in 1954 their results were made public. And after that, the idea was able to "come out of the underground." This, however, was facilitated by some additional circumstances. Both Korolev and Brown, each in their own country, did not abandon their efforts to gain understanding of the decision makers, putting forward accessible arguments of the military and political importance of developing and launching satellites. President of the USSR Academy of Sciences Mstislav Keldysh most actively supported the idea of ​​launching an artificial satellite. Beginning in 1949, academic institutions conducted research into the upper atmosphere and near-Earth space, as well as the reactions of living organisms in rocket flights. Rockets to hold scientific research were developed on the basis of combat missiles, they were called "academic". The first geophysical rocket was the R1-A rocket, developed on the basis of the R-1 combat rocket. In October 1954, the organizing committee of the International Geophysical Year turned to the leading world powers with a request to consider the possibility of launching satellites for scientific research. On June 29, US President Dwight Eisenhower announced that the US would launch such a satellite. Soon the Soviet Union made the same statement. This meant that the work on creating an artificial satellite of the Earth was legalized, and there was no room left for ridicule and denial of the idea.

On June 26, 1954, Korolev submitted to the Minister of Defense Industry Dmitry Ustinov a memorandum "On an artificial satellite of the Earth", prepared by Tikhonravov, with an overview of work on satellites abroad. The note said: “At present, there are real technical possibilities to achieve with the help of rockets a speed sufficient to create an artificial satellite of the Earth. The most realistic and feasible in the shortest possible time is the creation of an artificial satellite of the Earth in the form of an automatic device that would be equipped with scientific equipment, have radio communication with the Earth and revolve around the Earth at a distance of about 170–1100 km from its surface. Such a device will be called the simplest satellite.

In the United States, on May 26, 1955, at a meeting of the National Security Council, a program for launching a scientific satellite was approved - provided that it does not interfere with the development of combat missiles. The fact that the launch will take place within the framework of the International Geophysical Year will emphasize its peaceful nature, the military believed. Unlike our country, where everything was "in the same hands" - Korolev and Tikhonravova - these works were carried out by all branches of the armed forces, and it was necessary to decide which project to give preference to. For this, a special commission was created. The final choice was between the Naval Research Laboratory project (Vanguard satellite) and the Rand Corporation project (Explorer satellite, developed under the direction of Wernher von Braun). Brown stated that, given sufficient funds, the satellite could be launched into orbit in January 1956. Perhaps, if he had been believed, the United States would have launched its satellite earlier than the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the choice was made in favor of the "Vanguard" ("Vanguard"). Apparently, von Braun's personality played a role here: the Americans did not want a German with a recent Nazi past to become the "father" of the first American satellite. But, as shown

further development of events, their choice was not very successful.

In 1955, the USSR was working on the problems associated with the creation of satellites. On January 30, 1956, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopts a resolution on the development of object D (a satellite weighing 1000–1400 kg and with scientific equipment for 200–300 kg). The launch date is 1957. The draft design is ready by June. A ground-based command and measurement complex (CMC) is being developed to ensure the flight of the satellite. By the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of September 3, 1956, it was ordered to organize seven ground measuring points (NIP) on the territory of our country along the flight route. The task was entrusted to the Ministry of Defense, NII-4 was identified as the head organization.

By the end of 1956, it became clear that it would not be possible to prepare object D by the appointed date, and it was decided to urgently develop a small, simple satellite. It was a spherical container with a diameter of 580 mm and a mass of 83.6 kg with four antennas. On February 7, 1957, the Council of Ministers of the USSR issued a resolution on the launch of the First AES, and on October 4, the launch was successfully carried out. The device was put into orbit with perigee 228 and apogee 947 km. The time of one revolution was 96.2 minutes. The satellite was in orbit for 92 days (until January 4, 1958), making 1440 revolutions. According to the factory documentation, the satellite was called PS-1, that is, the simplest satellite. However, the design and scientific and technical problems that the developers faced were by no means simple. In fact, it was a test of the possibility of launching a satellite, which ended, as Academician Boris Evseevich Chertok, one of Korolev's closest associates, put it, with the triumph of the launch vehicle. A thermal control system, power supplies, two radio transmitters were installed on board the satellite, operating at different frequencies and sending signals in the form of telegraph parcels (the famous “beep-beep-beep”). In the orbital flight, studies were carried out on the density of the high layers of the atmosphere, the nature of the propagation of radio waves in the ionosphere, and the issues of observing a space object from the Earth were worked out.

The reaction of the world community to this event was very stormy. There were no indifferent people.

Millions and millions ordinary people» the planets perceived this event as greatest achievement human thought and spirit. Satellite transit time over various settlements announced in advance in the press, and people on different continents came out of their homes at night, looked at the sky and saw: among the usual fixed stars one is moving! In the United States, the launch of the first satellite was a real shock. It suddenly turned out that the USSR, a country that had not yet really recovered from the war, had a powerful scientific, industrial and military potential, and that it must be reckoned with. The prestige of the United States as a world leader in the scientific, technical and military fields has been shaken.

At this stage, the "space race" began: in an open letter to President Eisenhower, the editor of the magazine " space research... We must work feverishly to solve those technical problems that Russia has undoubtedly solved ... In this race (and this is undoubtedly a race), the prize will be given only to the winner, this prize is the leadership of the world ... ".

On November 3 of the same 1957, the Soviet Union launched a second satellite weighing 508.3 kg. It was already a real scientific laboratory. For the first time, a highly organized living creature, the dog Laika, went into outer space. The Americans had to hurry: a week after the launch of the second Soviet satellite, on November 11, the White House announced the upcoming launch of the first US satellite. The launch took place on December 6 and ended in complete failure: two seconds after leaving the launch pad, the rocket fell and exploded, destroying the launch pad. In the future, the Avangard program went very hard, out of eleven launches, only three were successful. Von Braun's Explorer was the first American artificial satellite. It was launched on January 31, 1958.

Launch of the Sputnik launch vehicle. The exit of mankind into space.

Launch pad: launch vehicle 8K71-PS (R-7) with Sputnik-1.

The launch of the R-7 launch vehicle from the AES-1. RGANTD.

Assembly "PS-1".

"The simplest satellite first." Assembly process.

satellite components.

Satellite launch.

Final check of all systems.

The internal layout of the AES-1. RGANTD.

The head cutter and the last stage of the launch vehicle (frame from the training film).

General view of the satellite.

The layout diagram of the AES-1. 1957 RGANTD.

Replica of the world's first artificial Earth satellite at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington.

The State Commission, which led the preparation of the launches of the First and Second artificial satellites of the Earth. November 3, 1957 RGANTD.

Newspaper "Pravda" October 6, 1957. The main page is dedicated to the launch of the satellite.

Listening to satellite signals.

Radio amateur Roy Welch from Dallas (USA) plays the signals of the first Soviet satellite recorded by him on a tape recorder to other radio amateurs.

Astronomers from Australia took a picture of the passage of the Sputnik over Melbourne, October 8, 1957.

Postage stamp of the USSR with the image of Sputnik-1.

Postage stamp dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the launch of the 1st satellite of the Earth - AES in near-Earth orbit. Solar Galaxy - Date June 24, 1967.

Postal block in honor of the 25th anniversary of the launch of the world's first artificial Earth satellite. USSR 1982.

Jubilee stamp "100 years since the birth of KE Tsiolkovsky" with an overprint about the launch of the world's first satellite. Post of the USSR 1957.

Monument to the creators of the first Soviet artificial Earth satellite. Installed in 1958 near the Rizhskaya metro station in Moscow. Sculptor Kovner.

inside the satellite. Layout, M 1:1.

Metal lock key, the last remaining element from the first satellite. Blocked the connection of the batteries and the transmitter until the missile was launched. Exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC. When entering orbit, another fuse was already turned off and the Sputnik began to give a signal.

VDNKh, model of Sputnik-1 in the pavilion "Cosmos". July 11, 1968

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the launch of the satellite, on November 3, 1997, from the space station "Mir", the astronauts manually launched "Sputnik 40" - a model in the size of 1/3 of the first satellite. The satellite was made by Russian and French students.

Examples of the first commemorative badges issued in honor of the launch of Soviet Sputnik No. 1.

Artistic stamped envelope dedicated to the launch of the satellite. Post of the USSR, 1957.

Radio amateurs are winners of the Radio magazine for scientifically valuable observations of the first satellites. "Radio", 1958, No. 1.

Painting by A. Sokolov "It's done!".

Satellite sounds

(0:14) Recorded in Czechoslovakia

(2:28) Recorded in Washington DC

(0:23) Recorded in Germany

The satellite transmitted signals in the form of telegraph packets (the so-called "beeps") with a duration of about 0.3 seconds.
Radio waves were on two frequencies 20.005 and 40.002 MHz.

The signal frequency and pause were determined by 2 sensors:
- pressure, response threshold: 0.35 atm
- temperature, response threshold: +50 °С and 0 °С

The radio transmitters worked for two weeks.

☆ On January 30, 1956, a decree was issued on launching into orbit in 1957-1958. "Object" D "" - a satellite with scientific equipment. 200-300 kg of scientific equipment was to be developed by the USSR Academy of Sciences.
On January 14, 1957, the R-7 flight test program was approved by the Council of Ministers of the USSR. And Korolev sent a memorandum to the Council of Ministers, writing that 2 missiles could be ready, in a satellite version, in April - June 1957, "and launched immediately after the first successful launches of an intercontinental missile."
In February, construction work was underway at the test site, and two missiles were already ready. Korolev, realizing that the equipment for the satellite would be made for a long time, sent an unexpected proposal to the government:
There are reports that in connection with the International Geophysical Year, the United States intends to launch satellites in 1958. We risk losing priority. Instead of a complex laboratory - object "D", I propose to launch a simple satellite into space.

☆ After the Satellite began to send signals, the analysis of incoming telemetry data began. It turned out:
- One engine "was late", but not less than a second before the control time, still went to normal mode (and the start was not automatically canceled).
- At the 16th second of the flight, the fuel supply control system stopped working, an increased consumption of kerosene began, the central engine turned off 1 second ahead of the estimated time. Turn it off a little earlier and the first space velocity might not have been achieved.

☆ Many media of that time wrote that the satellite could be observed in the sky naked eye, in fact, it was not so easy to see it. And the asterisk, which was seen by a large number of people, was the second stage - the central block of the rocket (weighing 7.5 tons), it also went into orbit and moved until it burned out.

☆ The Soviet government donated a model of Sputnik-1 to the UN, the model is placed in the entrance hall of the UN Headquarters in New York.

☆ In honor of the 40th anniversary of the launch of the first Sputnik, on November 4, 1997, cosmonauts manually launched Sputnik-40 from the Mir orbital station (a model made by Russian and French students, on a scale of 1:3).

☆ In 2003, they tried to sell a copy of Sputnik-1 at an eBay auction. According to some researchers, between four and twenty models (exact copies) were made in the Soviet Union, for testing, demonstrations and diplomatic gifts. No one can name the exact number of models, because. this was classified information, however, many museums in the world claim that they have an authentic copy.

Today, the space industry is developing at an incredibly fast pace. The conquest of space no longer seems such a fantastic idea, as it was still a few decades ago. The first persons of the leading countries of the world are already directly talking about the possibility of colonizing some planets solar system soon.

But we must remember that the first step in the conquest of space was the launch of the first artificial earth satellite, which took place already in the distant 1957. It is this event that will be discussed in this article.

According to historical data, the idea of ​​​​creating and launching was born in the late forties of the last century. The prerequisite for this was the rapid development of science and technology against the backdrop of the end of the Second World War. Naturally, to launch such an object into near-Earth orbit, a “carrier” was needed, that is, a device capable of raising the satellite to the required height. The first prototype of such a device was the German FAU-1 and FAU-2 rockets, the development of which was carried out during the war. These were the world's first combat unmanned jet missiles capable of hitting targets at long distances.

After the end of the war, technologies and developments fell into the hands of Soviet and American scientists. A few years later, the US and the USSR already owned a new and terrible type of weapon - atomic bomb. The world is in danger new war, this time nuclear, and both superpowers began to develop a way to deliver the "death gift".

On the basis of the German developments of the V-1 and V-2 rockets, new rocket prototypes were created. The first Soviet prototype was ballistic missile P-1, developed by the Design Bureau of S.P. Korolev. After that, the first geophysical rocket R1-A appeared.

Rocket R1

Already in 1954, Korolev outlined the idea in his report that the development of technology at that time already made it possible to create and launch into orbit soviet satellite earth. His program was strongly supported by the Soviet government. The impetus for this was the announcement of the US authorities about their intention to launch such a device.

First launch of an artificial earth satellite

The first artificial earth satellite was launched on October 4, 1957, at 7 pm and 28 minutes UTC. Its launch was carried out from the research site of the USSR Ministry of Defense. The R-7 ballistic missile became the carrier that allows launching an artificial spacecraft. The first satellite was launched under the special name PS-1, which meant "The Simplest Satellite".

The chief designer of the PS-1, as well as the head of the entire process of creating, developing and launching the apparatus, was Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. In addition to him, Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov, Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh, and other prominent scientists also worked on the creation of the satellite.

Satellite PS-1

295 seconds after its launch from the Earth's surface, the R-1 rocket entered orbit. And after 314 seconds, the first artificial satellite separated from the rocket unit. The news that everything went well was the receipt by scientists at the test site of the signals coming from the satellite. These were short beeps that scientists could only listen to for a few minutes until spacecraft did not disappear beyond the horizon.

In total, PS-1 spent 92 days in space, flying about 60 million kilometers. The electronic signals that he sent to Earth made it possible for scientists to better study individual layers of the atmosphere, for example, the ionosphere. At the end of its “journey”, the satellite, losing speed, descended into the dense layers of the atmosphere and burned up there.

The first artificial Earth satellite was launched into orbit in the USSR on October 4, 1957. The launch date is considered the beginning of the space age of humanity.
The flight of the first satellite was preceded by a long work of Soviet rocket designers headed by Sergei Korolev. The history of the creation of the First Sputnik is the history of the rocket. Missile technology Soviet Union and the USA had german start(V-2). In 1947, flight tests of V-2 rockets assembled in Germany marked the beginning of Soviet work on the development of rocket technology. 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 February 2, 1956, the world's first launch of a rocket with a nuclear charge was carried out. On May 27, 1954, Korolev sent a memorandum to the Minister of Defense Industry D. F. Ustinov on the development
artificial satellite of the Earth (AES) and the possibility of launching it with the help of the future two-stage intercontinental rocket R-7.
At the same time, in 1950-1953, a series of research works “Research on the creation of an artificial satellite of the Earth” was carried out at the NII-4 of the Ministry of Defense under the leadership of M.K. Tikhonravov. The first R-7 rocket complex was built and tested during 1955-1956 at the Leningrad Metal Plant.
By the end of 1956, it became clear that reliable equipment for the satellite could not be created within the required time frame. Korolev sends an unexpected proposal to the government: There are reports that the United States intends to launch an artificial satellite in 1958. We risk losing priority. Instead of a complex laboratory - object "D", I propose to launch a simple satellite into space. On February 15, this proposal was approved.
After several unsuccessful tests of the R-7 on August 21, 1957, a successful launch was carried out, the Rocket normally passed the entire active phase of the flight and reached the specified area - the test site in Kamchatka. On August 27, TASS announced the creation of an intercontinental ballistic missile in the USSR.
The satellite was designed as a very simple device with two radio beacons for trajectory measurements. The range of the transmitters of the simplest satellite was chosen so that radio amateurs could track the satellite.
On October 2, Korolev sent a notice of readiness to Moscow. No response instructions came, and Korolev independently decided to place the rocket with the satellite at the starting position. On October 4, a successful launch was made. At 314 seconds after the launch, Sputnik separated and he gave his vote. "Beep! Beep! - so sounded his call signs.
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 ...". The satellite flew for 92 days.
The launch of the first satellite dealt a big blow to the prestige of the United States. All this went against the American propaganda about the strong technical backwardness of the Soviet Union. Many American newspapers anticipated the success of the US in the space race. Just recently, the American government informed citizens about the creation of a perfect air defense system, and now an invulnerable Soviet apparatus flies over the territory of the United States every hour and a half.
So the start of the space race was given, and the USSR became the first "space power". Only four months later, on February 1, 1958, the United States succeeded, after several unsuccessful attempts, in launching its artificial satellite.
In honor of this event, in 1964 in Moscow on Prospekt Mira, near the metro station VDNKh, a 99-meter obelisk "To the Conquerors of Space" was built in the form of a rocket taking off, leaving behind a trail of fire.