The history of cosmonautics development is a story aboutpeople with an uncommon mind, about the desire to understand the laws of the universe and about the desire to transcend the habitual and possible. The exploration of outer space, which began in the last century, gave the world many discoveries. They concern both objects of distant galaxies, and completely terrestrial processes. The development of cosmonautics contributed to the improvement of technology, led to discoveries in various fields of knowledge, from physics to medicine. However, this process took a long time.
Development of cosmonautics in Russia and abroadbegan long before the appearance of the first spacecraft. The first scientific developments in this regard were only theoretical and justified the very possibility of flying into space. In our country, one of the pioneers of cosmonautics on the tip of the pen was Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. "One of" - because he was ahead of Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich, sentenced to death for an attempt on Alexander II and a few days before the hanging, developed a design of a device capable of delivering a person into space. It was in 1881, but the project of Kibalchich was not published until 1918.
Tsiolkovsky, whose article with theoretical basicsflight into space was published in 1903, I did not know about the work of Kibalchich. At that time he taught arithmetic and geometry at the Kaluga School. His well-known scientific article "Exploration of the world spaces with reactive devices" touched upon the possibility of using rockets in space. The development of cosmonautics in Russia, then still tsarist, began precisely with Tsiolkovsky. He developed a missile structure project that could take a person to the stars, defended the idea of the diversity of life in the universe, spoke about the need to design artificial satellites and orbital stations.
Simultaneously theoretical cosmonauticsdeveloped abroad. However, there were practically no connections between scientists at the beginning of the century, or later, in the 1930s. Robert Goddard, Hermann Oberth and Esnaught Peltry, American, German and French, respectively, who worked on similar problems, for a long time did not know anything about Tsiolkovsky's works. Even then, the disunity of peoples affected the pace of development of the new industry.
The development of cosmonautics continued in the 20-40'syears by the forces of the Gas Dynamic Laboratory and the Jet Propulsion Group, and then by the Reactive Scientific Research Institute. The best engineering minds of the country worked in the walls of scientific institutions, including FA Tsander, MK Tikhonravov and SP Korolev. In laboratories worked on the creation of the first jet devices on liquid and solid fuels, the theoretical base of astronautics was developed.
In the pre-war years and during the Second World War,jet engines and rocket planes were created. During this period, for obvious reasons, much attention was paid to the development of cruise missiles and unguided missiles.
The first modern-day combat rocketcreated in Germany during the war under the leadership of Werner von Braun. Then V-2, or "V-2", has done a lot of trouble. After the defeat of Germany von Braun was sent to America, where he began to work on new projects, including the development of rockets for space missions.
In 1945, after the end of the war in Germany forA group of Soviet engineers arrived to study the V-2. Among them was Korolyov. He was appointed chief engineering and technical director of the Nordhausen Institute, which was formed in Germany in the same year. In addition to studying German missiles, Korolyov and his colleagues worked on the development of new projects. In the 50's, the design bureau under his leadership created the R-7. This two-stage rocket was able to develop the first space velocity and ensure the output of multi-tonnages to the near-earth orbit.
The advantage of Americans in training apparatusfor the exploration of space, associated with the work of von Braun, remained in the past when on October 4, 1957 the USSR launched the first satellite. Since that moment, the development of cosmonautics has gone faster. In the 1950s and 1960s, several animal experiments were carried out. In space, visited the dogs and monkeys.
Advanced development of domestic cosmonauticswas accepted all over the world, when Yuri Gagarin was poisoned in the sky. It was, without exaggeration, a great event on April 12, 1961. From this day began penetration of man into the vast expanses surrounding the Earth.
The development of cosmonautics was further coupled with the improvement of technical capabilities and the creation of more comfortable conditions for astronauts. Note the main stages of this process:
Today, space exploration continues.The successes of the past have borne fruit - the man has already visited the Moon and is preparing to get acquainted with Mars directly. However, the programs of manned flights are now developing less than the projects of automatic interplanetary stations. The current state of cosmonautics is such that the devices created can transmit information about the distant Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto to Earth, visit Mercury and even explore meteorites.
In parallel, space tourism is developing.International contacts are of great importance today. The world community is gradually coming to the conclusion that great breakthroughs and discoveries occur faster and more often if the efforts and opportunities of different countries are combined.
