The rocket is so far the only vehicle capable of launching a spacecraft into space. And then K. Tsiolkovsky can be recognized as the author of the first space rocket, although the origins of rockets date back to the distant past. From there we will begin to consider our question.
History of the invention of the rocket
Most historians believe that the invention of the rocket dates back to the Chinese Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), with the discovery of gunpowder and the beginning of its use for fireworks and entertainment. When a powder shell exploded, a force arose that could move various objects. Later, the first cannons and muskets were created using this principle. Powder weapon shells could fly long distances, but were not rockets, since they did not have their own fuel reserves, but It was the invention of gunpowder that became the main prerequisite for the emergence of real rockets. Descriptions of the flying "fire arrows" used by the Chinese indicate that these arrows were rockets. A tube made of compacted paper was attached to them, open only at the rear end and filled with a flammable composition. This charge was ignited and the arrow was then released using a bow. Such arrows were used in a number of cases during the siege of fortifications, against ships and cavalry.
In the 13th century, together with the Mongol conquerors, rockets came to Europe. It is known that rockets were used by Zaporozhye Cossacks in the 16th-17th centuries. In the 17th century, a Lithuanian military engineer Kazimir Semenovich described a multistage rocket.
At the end of the 18th century in India, rocket weapons were used in battles with British troops.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the army also adopted military missiles, the production of which was established by William Congreve (Congreve's Rocket). At the same time, the Russian officer Alexander Zasyadko developed the theory of rockets. Great success the Russian artillery general achieved in improving missiles in the middle of the nineteenth century Konstantin Konstantinov. Attempts to mathematically explain jet propulsion and create more efficient missile weapons did in Russia Nikolay Tikhomirov in 1894.
Created the theory of jet propulsion Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. He put forward the idea of using rockets for space flight and argued that the most efficient fuel for them would be a combination of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. He designed a rocket for interplanetary communication in 1903.
German scientist Hermann Oberth in the 1920s he also outlined the principles of interplanetary flight. In addition, he conducted bench tests of rocket engines.
American scientist Robert Goddard in 1926 he launched the first liquid-propellant rocket, using gasoline and liquid oxygen as fuel.
The first domestic rocket was called GIRD-90 (an abbreviation for the “Group for the Study of Jet Propulsion”). It began to be built in 1931, and was tested on August 17, 1933. GIRD at that time was headed by S.P. Korolev. The rocket took off 400 meters and was in flight for 18 seconds. The weight of the rocket at launch was 18 kilograms.
In 1933, in the USSR at the Jet Institute, the creation of a fundamentally new weapon was completed - rockets, the installation for launching which later received the nickname "Katyusha".
At the rocket center in Peenemünde (Germany) it was developed A-4 ballistic missile with a flight range of 320 km. During the Second World War, on October 3, 1942, the first successful launch of this rocket took place, and in 1944 it began combat use called V-2.
The military use of the V-2 showed the enormous capabilities of rocket technology, and the most powerful post-war powers - the USA and the USSR - also began developing ballistic missiles.
In 1957 in the USSR under the leadership Sergei Korolev The world's first intercontinental ballistic missile, the R-7, was created as a means of delivering nuclear weapons, which in the same year was used to launch the world's first artificial Earth satellite. This is how the use of rockets for space flight began.
Project by N. Kibalchich
In this regard, it is impossible not to recall Nikolai Kibalchich, a Russian revolutionary, Narodnaya Volya member, and inventor. He was a participant in the assassination attempts on Alexander II, it was he who invented and manufactured projectiles with “explosive jelly”, which were used by I.I. Grinevitsky and N.I. Rysakov during the assassination attempt on the Catherine Canal. Sentenced to death.
Hanged together with A.I. Zhelyabov, S.L. Perovskaya and other Pervomartovites. Kibalchich put forward the idea of a rocket aircraft with an oscillating combustion chamber to control the thrust vector. A few days before his execution, Kibalchich developed an original design for an aircraft capable of space flight. The project described the design of a powder rocket engine, flight control by changing the angle of the engine, a programmed combustion mode, and much more. His request to transfer the manuscript to the Academy of Sciences was not satisfied by the investigative commission; the project was first published only in 1918.
Modern rocket engines
Most modern rockets are equipped with chemical rocket engines. Such an engine can use solid, liquid or hybrid propellant. A chemical reaction between the fuel and oxidizer begins in the combustion chamber, and the resulting hot gases form an escaping jet stream, are accelerated in the jet nozzle (or nozzles), and are expelled from the rocket. The acceleration of these gases in the engine creates thrust - a pushing force that makes the rocket move. The principle of jet propulsion is described by Newton's third law.
But chemical reactions are not always used to propel rockets. There are steam rockets, in which superheated water flowing through the nozzle turns into a high-speed steam jet, which serves as propulsion. The efficiency of steam rockets is relatively low, but this is compensated by their simplicity and safety, as well as the cheapness and availability of water. The operation of a small steam rocket was tested in space in 2004 on board the UK-DMC satellite. There are projects using steam rockets for interplanetary transportation of goods, with water heating using nuclear or solar energy.
Rockets like steam rockets, in which the working fluid is heated outside the engine's operating area, are sometimes described as systems with external combustion engines. Examples of external combustion rocket engines include most designs of nuclear rocket engines.
Alternative ways to lift spacecraft into orbit are now being developed. Among them are the “space elevator”, electromagnetic and conventional guns, but they are still at the design stage.
To date Russian Federation has the most powerful space industry in the world. Russia is the undisputed leader in the field of manned space exploration and, moreover, has parity with the United States in matters of space navigation. Our country has some lags only in the research of distant interplanetary spaces, as well as in developments in remote sensing of the Earth.
Story
The space rocket was first conceived by Russian scientists Tsiolkovsky and Meshchersky. In 1897-1903 they created the theory of its flight. Much later, foreign scientists began to explore this area. These were the Germans von Braun and Oberth, as well as the American Goddard. In the peaceful interwar period, only three countries in the world dealt with the issues of jet propulsion, as well as the creation of solid fuel and liquid engines for this purpose. These were Russia, the USA and Germany.
Already by the 40s of the 20th century, our country could be proud of the successes achieved in the creation of solid fuel engines. This made it possible to use such formidable weapons as the Katyusha during World War II. As for the creation of large rockets equipped with liquid engines, Germany was the leader. It was in this country that the V-2 was adopted. These are the first short-range ballistic missiles. During World War II, the V-2 was used to bomb England.
After the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany, the main team of Wernher von Braun, under his direct leadership, launched its activities in the USA. At the same time, they took with them from the defeated country all the previously developed drawings and calculations, on the basis of which the space rocket was to be built. Only a tiny part of the team of German engineers and scientists continued their work in the USSR until the mid-50s of the 20th century. They had separate parts at their disposal technological equipment and missiles without any calculations or drawings.
Subsequently, both in the USA and in the USSR, the V-2 rockets were reproduced (in our country it is R-1), which predetermined the development of rocket science aimed at increasing the flight range.
Tsiolkovsky's theory
This great Russian self-taught scientist and outstanding inventor is considered the father of astronautics. Back in 1883, he wrote the historical manuscript “Free Space”. In this work, Tsiolkovsky first expressed the idea that movement between planets is possible, and for this we need a special one called a “space rocket”. The theory of the reactive device itself was substantiated by him in 1903. It was contained in a work entitled “Exploration of World Space.” Here the author provided evidence that a space rocket is the apparatus with which one can leave the confines of the earth’s atmosphere. This theory was a real revolution in the scientific field. After all, humanity has long dreamed of flying to Mars, the Moon and other planets. However, pundits have not been able to determine how an aircraft should be constructed that will move in completely empty space without a support capable of giving it acceleration. This task was solved by Tsiolkovsky, who proposed using it for this purpose. Only with the help of such a mechanism could it be possible to conquer space.
Operating principle
Space rockets from Russia, the USA and other countries to this day enter Earth's orbit using rocket engines proposed at one time by Tsiolkovsky. In these systems, the chemical energy of the fuel is converted into kinetic energy, which is possessed by the jet ejected from the nozzle. A special process occurs in the combustion chambers of such engines. In them, as a result of the reaction of the oxidizer and fuel, heat is released. In this case, the combustion products expand, heat up, accelerate in the nozzle and are ejected at enormous speed. The rocket moves due to the law of conservation of momentum. She receives acceleration, which is directed in the opposite direction.
Today, there are such engine projects as space elevators, etc. However, in practice they are not used, since they are still under development.
First spacecraft
The Tsiolkovsky rocket, proposed by the scientist, was an oblong metal chamber. Outwardly, it looked like a balloon or airship. The front, head space of the rocket was intended for passengers. Control devices were also installed here, and carbon dioxide absorbers and oxygen reserves were also stored. Lighting was provided in the passenger compartment. In the second, main part of the rocket, Tsiolkovsky placed flammable substances. When they were mixed, an explosive mass was formed. It was ignited in its designated place in the very center of the rocket and ejected from the expanding tube at enormous speed in the form of hot gases.
For a long time, the name of Tsiolkovsky was little known not only abroad, but also in Russia. Many considered him an idealistic dreamer and an eccentric visionary. The works of this great scientist received a true assessment only with the advent of Soviet power.
Creation of a missile complex in the USSR
Significant steps in the exploration of interplanetary space were made after the end of World War II. This was the time when the United States, being the only nuclear power, began to exert political pressure on our country. The initial task set before our scientists was to build up Russia's military power. For a worthy rebuff in the conditions unleashed during these years cold war it was necessary to create an atomic one, and then the second, no less difficult task was to deliver the created weapon to the target. This is what combat missiles were needed for. In order to create this technology, already in 1946 the government appointed chief designers of gyroscopic devices, jet engines, control systems, etc. S.P. became responsible for linking all systems into a single whole. Korolev.
Already in 1948, the first ballistic missile developed in the USSR was successfully tested. Similar flights to the USA were carried out several years later.
Launch of an artificial satellite
In addition to building up military potential, the USSR government set itself the task of space exploration. Work in this direction was carried out by many scientists and designers. Even before the intercontinental-range missile took off, it became clear to the developers of such technology that by reducing the payload of the aircraft, it was possible to achieve speeds exceeding cosmic speed. This fact indicated the likelihood of launching an artificial satellite into earth orbit. This epoch-making event occurred on October 4, 1957. It marked the beginning of a new milestone in the exploration of outer space.
The work on developing the airless near-Earth space required enormous efforts on the part of numerous teams of designers, scientists and workers. The creators of space rockets had to develop a program for launching an aircraft into orbit, debug the work of the ground service, etc.
The designers faced a difficult task. It was necessary to increase the mass of the rocket and make it possible for it to reach the second. That is why in 1958-1959 a three-stage version of the jet engine was developed in our country. With his invention, it became possible to produce the first space rockets in which a person could go into orbit. Three-stage engines also opened up the possibility of flying to the Moon.
Further, launch vehicles became more and more improved. Thus, in 1961, a four-stage model of a jet engine was created. With it, the rocket could reach not only the Moon, but also get to Mars or Venus.
First manned flight
The launch of a space rocket with a person on board took place for the first time on April 12, 1961. The Vostok ship, piloted by Yuri Gagarin, took off from the surface of the Earth. This event was epoch-making for humanity. In April 1961, space exploration received its new development. The transition to manned flights required designers to create aircraft that could return to Earth, safely crossing the layers of the atmosphere. In addition, the space rocket had to be equipped with a human life support system, including air regeneration, nutrition and much more. All these tasks were successfully solved.
Further space exploration
Vostok-type missiles for a long time contributed to maintaining the leading role of the USSR in the field of exploration of near-Earth airless space. Their use continues to this day. Up to 1964 aircraft"Vostok" surpassed all existing analogues in terms of their carrying capacity.
Somewhat later, more powerful carriers were created in our country and in the USA. The name of space rockets of this type, designed in our country, is “Proton-M”. An American similar device is Delta-IV. In Europe, the Ariane-5 launch vehicle, which belongs to the heavy type, was designed. All these aircraft make it possible to launch 21-25 tons of cargo to an altitude of 200 km, where low Earth orbit is located.
New developments
As part of the project for a manned flight to the Moon, launch vehicles belonging to the super-heavy class were created. These are US space rockets such as the Saturn 5, as well as the Soviet N-1. Later, the USSR created the super-heavy Energia rocket, which is not currently used. The Space Shuttle became a powerful American launch vehicle. This rocket made it possible to launch spaceships weighing 100 tons into orbit.
Aircraft manufacturers
Space rockets were designed and created at OKB-1 (Special Design Bureau), TsKBEM (Central Design Bureau of Experimental Mechanical Engineering), as well as at NPO (Scientific and Production Association) Energia. It was here that domestic ballistic missiles of all types saw the light of day. Eleven strategic complexes that our army adopted came from here. Through the efforts of the workers of these enterprises, the R-7 was created - the first space rocket, which is considered the most reliable in the world at the present time. Since the middle of the last century, work has been initiated and carried out at these production facilities in all areas related to Since 1994, the enterprise received a new name, becoming OJSC RSC Energia.
Today is the day of the space rocket manufacturer
RSC Energia named after. S.P. Korolev is a strategic enterprise of Russia. It plays a leading role in the development and production of manned space systems. The company pays great attention to the issues of creating latest technologies. Specialized automatic space systems are being developed here, as well as launch vehicles for launching aircraft into orbit. In addition, RSC Energia is actively introducing high-tech technologies for the production of products not related to the development of airless space.
This enterprise, in addition to the head design bureau, includes:
JSC "Experimental Mechanical Engineering Plant".
CJSC "PO "Cosmos"
CJSC "Volzhskoe Design Bureau"
Baikonur branch.
The most promising programs of the enterprise are:
Issues of further space exploration and the creation of a manned transport space system of the latest generation;
Development of manned aircraft that are capable of exploring interplanetary space;
Design and creation of energy and telecommunication space systems using special small-sized reflectors and antennas.
Modern intercontinental missiles capable of transporting nuclear charges, and launch vehicles that launch spacecraft into low-Earth orbit, have their origins in the era of the invention of gunpowder in the Middle Kingdom and its use to delight the eyes of emperors with colorful fireworks. No one will ever know what the first rocket was and who the creator of the rocket was, but the fact that it had the shape of a tube with one open end, from which a stream of flammable composition flew out, is documented.
The popular predictor and science fiction writer Jules Verne described in the most detailed way in the novel “From a Gun to the Moon” the design of a rocket capable of overcoming gravity and even reliably indicated the mass of the Apollo spacecraft, which was the first to reach the orbit of the earth’s satellite.
But seriously, the creation of the first rocket in the world is associated with the Russian genius K.E. Tsiolkovsky, who developed the design of this amazing device in 1903. A little later in 1926, the American Robert Goddard was able to create a full-fledged rocket engine using liquid fuel(a mixture of gasoline and oxygen) and launched the rocket.
This event can hardly serve as an answer to the question: “When was the first rocket created?”, simply due to the fact that the height that was then achieved was only 12 meters. But this was an undoubted breakthrough, ensuring the development of astronautics and military equipment.
The very first domestic missile, which reached a height of 5 km in 1936, was developed as part of experiments to create anti-aircraft guns. As is known, the implementation of this particular project, code-named GIRD, decided the fate of the Great Patriotic War, when the Katyushas plunged the German invaders into panic.
Even small children now know who invented the rocket that sent the first artificial Earth satellite into space in 1957. This is the Soviet designer S.P. Korolev, with whom the most outstanding achievements of astronautics are associated.
Until recently, there were no fundamental discoveries in the missile field. And so 2004 became known as the year of the creation and testing of steam rockets (otherwise known as the “external combustion system”), which are unsuitable for overcoming Earth’s gravity, but can be successful for interplanetary transportation of goods.
The next breakthrough in the rocket industry happened, as usual, in military industry. In 2012 American engineers stated that they had created the very first personal missile-bullet, which during bench tests showed amazing results of hitting accuracy (20 cm of deviation per kilometer of distance versus 10 meters of a conventional bullet). With a length of about 10 cm, this new generation ammunition is equipped with an optical sensor and an 8-bit processor. In flight, such a bullet does not rotate, and its trajectory resembles a small cruise missile.
The depth of the starry sky still attracts people, and I would like that subsequent achievements in the field of rocket engines and ballistics would be associated only with scientific and practical interest, and not with military confrontation.
Research project
"Rocket Science:
past, present, future"
Scientific supervisor: Daria Vladimirovna
1. Introduction. 3
2. The history of the origins of rocket science. 4
3. First steps in space. 7
4. Modern achievements in astronautics. 14
5. Imitation of a rocket launch at home. 16
6. Conclusion. 17
7. List of references used: 18
Introduction
Find out how rocket science began;
Explore the first steps in space,
Find out about modern achievements in astronautics,
Simulate a rocket launch at home.
The history of the origins of rocket science
At the end of the 9th century, the Chinese invented gunpowder, which they initially used to make firecrackers, which they attached to the tips of arrows and launched towards their enemies. The explosions frightened the horses and caused panic. Very soon, Chinese gunsmiths noticed that the fragile firecrackers were flying on their own: this is how the principle of launching a rocket was discovered. Soon gunpowder began to be widely used in military affairs, grenades, cannons, and rifles. Military strategists trusted direct-fire cannons more than unguided missiles, but aerial projectiles proved effective at hitting large targets. It was the invention of gunpowder that became the basis for the emergence of real rockets. Rockets began to be improved. Over time, various scientists calculated how much gunpowder was needed to launch a rocket to the moon. And since since ancient times man dreamed of breaking away from the Earth and reaching other worlds, we came to the point that we began to invent space rocket. Even 400 years ago, the possibility of space flights was proven, but until the mid-20th century, space flights were only in the minds of scientists and science fiction writers. And only two designers S. Korolev and V. von Braun made the dream a reality.
In 1931, a group for the study of jet propulsion was created, headed by Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. The scientist immediately focused his attention on creating cruise missiles. August 17, 1933 A hybrid fuel rocket, GIRD-09, took off into the sky, the rocket rose over 400 meters, and a few months later the first rocket using liquid jet fuel, GIRD-X, was launched. Soon two devices appeared and were successfully tested: RNII-212 and RNII-217. The study of jet propulsion was of interest not only to Soviet scientists. Similar works were also carried out in Germany. In 1933 In Germany, the first launch of a rocket by the German scientist von Braun took place - A-1.
The design of this rocket turned out to be unstable, which was taken into account when creating a new rocket: A-2. At the end of 1934, two missiles of this type were successfully launched from the test site. Both missiles had a liquid-propellant jet engine (LPRE). Already in 1936, the A-3 rocket was created, then the command of Nazi Germany gave the go-ahead for the development of the rocket program, and the following year tests of the A-3 began. The rocket, unlike its predecessors, weighed more and had gas rudders, which made it possible to launch it vertically from the launch pad. However, the tests ended in failure, and von Braun began work on the A-5.
Having successfully launched the A-5, designers moved on to work on the large A-4 rocket, which during the war became known as the V-2. The missile, weighing 13 tons and 14 meters high, hit targets at a distance of up to 300 km, covering it in 5 minutes; later the missile served as a model for all post-war missiles. After Germany's surrender, German scientists continued to work on improving rocket technology. Von Braun surrendered to the Americans and became one of the leading specialists in the American space program.
The USSR and the USA began a race for possession of German missile secrets. The Americans, together with von Braun, received not only documentation, but also the factories where the V-2 was manufactured. However, a few months later this territory ceded to the USSR, and a group of scientists led by Korolev immediately arrived there. The rocket scientists were tasked with reproducing the A-4 rocket. In 1948
Korolev successfully tested the R-1 rocket, a slightly modernized copy of the V-2. Later, in 1953, the designers were faced with the task of creating a rocket capable of delivering a detachable warhead weighing 5 tons to a distance of up to 8 thousand km. S.P. Korolev decided to abandon the German inheritance; he had to develop a completely new rocket, which did not yet exist. Despite the fact that the new military order was designed for new look nuclear weapons, Korolev had the opportunity to create a rocket that could launch a ship into space. Since the engine that could put such a load into orbit did not exist even in the projects, Korolev proposed a revolutionary rocket design. It consisted of four blocks of the first stage and one block of the second, connected in parallel. This system was called a “bundle”. Moreover, the engines began to work from the ground. On May 15, 1957, the first launch of a new rocket took place, which was named R-7. The success and, as a consequence, reliability of the design and very high power for a ballistic missile made it possible to use the R-7 as a launch vehicle. It was launch vehicles that opened up the space age to man.
First steps in space
Korolev made rockets for the military, but dreamed of starting space exploration with their help. In the spring of 1954, he, together with academician M.V. Keldysh and a group of scientists from the Academy of Sciences, determined the range of problems that artificial Earth satellites were supposed to solve. Korolev appealed to the government with a request to allow the use of a new rocket to launch space satellite. Khrushchev agreed, and at the beginning of 1956 a resolution was adopted on the creation of an artificial Earth satellite weighing 1000-1400 kg with equipment for scientific research weighing 200-300 kg. Scientists began work on two satellites at once. The first so-called “object-D” weighed more than 1.3 tons and carried 12 scientific instruments on board. In addition, it was equipped with solar panels, which powered the Mayak radio transmitter and a tape recorder for recording telemetry in those parts of the orbit that are inaccessible to ground-based tracking stations. However, before the start he broke down. To prevent the spacecraft from overheating in the sun, a gas thermoregulation system was developed inside the satellite. In addition, an original cooling system was invented. Thus, the “object-D”, which was supposed to open the space age, had all the systems of modern spacecraft. It was a full-fledged space research station.
The second satellite was biological. It was the head fairing of the R-7, inside which the scientists placed a pressurized cabin for the animal and containers with scientific and measuring equipment. The satellite had a mass of more than half a ton and was supposed to go into orbit after the “object-D”. The purpose of his launch of the ball is quite simple - to prove that a living creature is capable of flying into space and staying alive.
However, the first to fly into space was not a satellite loaded with scientific equipment, but a small metal ball equipped with a simple radio transmitter. This device was called the “simplest satellite”, or PS. A metal ball with a diameter of just over half a meter, consisting of two hemispheres fastened with 36 bolts, had a mass of only 83 kg.
It had 4 antennas installed on it, 2.5 and 2.4 meters long. The sealed aluminum case was filled with nitrogen, this was supposed to protect the device from overheating. Also inside were two transmitters weighing 3.5 kg and three batteries. The radio signals it transmitted made it possible to explore the upper layers of the ionosphere.
The simplest satellite was assembled in record time short terms. On February 15, 1957, a resolution was adopted on its creation, and on October 4 of the same year, it entered orbit. The “beep-beep” signal received by all radio amateurs heralded the beginning of a new space age. PS-1 spent 92 days in orbit, and already on November 4, exactly a month after launch, PS-2 went into space with the dog Laika on board. The first living creature was supposed to survive in orbit for a week, but the device overheated and the dog quickly died. Nevertheless, the main goal was achieved - Korolev proved the possibility of flying a living creature into space.
Laika was the first living creature to go into space, but she was far from the first animal to fly in a rocket. Scientists in the USSR and USA used animals to study overloads during flight. The Americans preferred to fly monkeys, and we preferred to fly dogs, which we found in the courtyards of the Institute of Aviation Medicine. Scientists have trained dogs to wear special clothes and eat moistened food from an automatic feeder, because it is impossible to lap in zero gravity. The dogs underwent training, preparing for overloads and ejection.
In the same year S.P. Korolev began research on creating a manned satellite spacecraft. The launch vehicle was to be the R-7. Calculations have shown that it is capable of delivering cargo weighing more than 5 tons into low-Earth orbit.
At the same time, Korolev’s bureau began work on the Vostok spacecraft. In total, three types of ships were created: the Vostok-1k prototype, on which the systems were tested, the Vostok-2k reconnaissance satellite, and the Vostok-3k, intended for human flights into space.
After completing work on the future Vostok spacecraft, it was time for testing. The first to fly on the satellite ship was the dummy, followed by the dogs. On August 19, 1960, the Sputnik 5 spacecraft, which was a prototype of the Vostok spacecraft, was launched into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The dogs Belka and Strelka went on the ship.
They spent about a day in orbit and returned safely to earth. For several months there were still attempts to launch dogs into space, but all were unsuccessful and the dogs died. S.P. Korolev could not send a man into space until he was sure that the ship was reliable and the astronaut would return to Earth safe and sound, so dog launches continued. On March 9, 1961, the Sputnik 9 spacecraft launched, carrying on board a mannequin, a dog Chernushka, a mouse and a guinea pig. When returning after entering the dense layers of the atmosphere, the dummy successfully ejected, and the animals landed in the descent module.
Zvezdochka was the next to go into space. March 25 spacecraft with a dog and a dummy on board, it went into orbit, performed a series of tests and returned to earth. The safety of the spacecraft was proven, and now Korolev, with a calm heart, gave the go-ahead for human flight. The single-seat Vostok spacecraft carried an astronaut into orbit, who was flying in a spacesuit. The life support system was designed for 10 days of flight. After the completion of the research program, the descent module was separated from the ship, which delivered the astronaut to the ground. At an altitude of 7 km, the astronaut ejected and landed separately from the descent module. However, in emergency cases, he could not leave the device. The total mass of the spacecraft reached 4.73 tons, length (without antennas) 4.4 m, and maximum diameter 2.43 m. The compartments were mechanically connected to each other using metal bands and pyrotechnic locks. The ship was equipped with systems: automatic and manual control, automatic orientation to
The sun, manual orientation to the Earth, life support, designed to maintain an internal atmosphere close in its parameters to the Earth's atmosphere for 10 days, command and logic control, power supply, thermal control and landing.
The weight of the spacecraft together with the last stage of the launch vehicle was 6.17 tons, and their combined length was 7.35 m. When developing the descent vehicle, the designers chose an asymmetrical spherical shape, as the most well studied and having stable aerodynamic characteristics for all ranges at different speeds. This solution made it possible to provide an acceptable mass of thermal protection for the device and implement the simplest ballistic scheme for descent from orbit.
At the same time, the choice of a ballistic descent scheme determined the high overloads that the person working on board the ship had to experience. The descent vehicle had two windows, one of which was located on the entrance hatch, just above the astronaut’s head, and the other, equipped with a special orientation system, in the floor at his feet.
On April 12, 1961, an 8k78 launch vehicle carrying the Vostok spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. On board the ship was pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who was the first to overcome the gravity of his native planet and enter low-Earth orbit. "Vostok" made one revolution around the Earth, the flight lasted 108 minutes. The flight of the Vostok spacecraft with a person on board was the result of the hard work of Soviet scientists, engineers, doctors and specialists in various fields of technology. On August 6, 1961, the ship, called Vostok-2, was launched with pilot-cosmonaut G.S. Titov. The flight lasted 25 hours. The orbital flight and descent went well. A professional reportage film camera was installed on the Vostok-2 ship, modified for on-board filming. Using this camera, a 10-minute photograph of the Earth was taken through the ship's windows.
The shooting objects were chosen by the astronaut himself, trying to obtain material illustrating the pictures he observed during the flight. The resulting high-quality footage was widely shown on television, published in national newspapers, and aroused the interest of the scientific community in studying images of the Earth from space. The next stage was the Voskhod program for man's entry into space. For this purpose the design was changed. The two-seater Voskhod-2 was equipped with an inflatable airlock chamber, which was fired back after use. Outside the camera, the designers installed a movie camera, cylinders with a supply of air for inflation, and a supply of oxygen. A special Berkut spacesuit was developed for the flight. The suit had a multi-layer hermetic shell, with the help of which pressure was maintained, and on the outside there was a special coating that protected against sun rays. On March 18, 1965, Voskhod-2 launched with cosmonauts Belyaev and Leonov. An hour and a half after the start of the flight, Leonov opened the outer hatch and went into outer space.
Space shuttle launches have been put on hold new era into space exploration. In 1962, designers began designing the Soyuz spacecraft to fly around the Moon. Simultaneously with Soviet scientists, the US space agency began developing a lunar program; they wanted to be the first to explore the surface of the moon. Lunokhods were created to study the surface of the Moon. New launch vehicles and spacecraft, such as the Apollo, created by NASA scientists, to carry astronauts to the surface of the Moon. On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launched. The lunar module landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong descended onto the lunar surface on July 21, 1969, making the first lunar landing in human history. Spaceships could not provide a long stay in orbit, so scientists began to think about creating an orbital station. In 1971, the Salyut orbital station was launched into orbit using the Proton launch vehicle. 2 years later, the United States launched the Skylab station.
Orbital stations (OS) were intended for long-term stay of people in low-Earth orbit, for conducting scientific research in outer space, observations of the surface and atmosphere of the planet. What distinguished the OS from artificial satellites was the presence of a crew, which was periodically replaced using transport ships. The ships carried crew changes, fuel supplies and materials for the station, and also life support equipment for the crew. The length of stay at the orbital station depended on whether it could be refueled and repaired in time. Therefore, when developing the third-generation orbital station Salyut, it was decided to create a cargo ship on the basis of the manned Soyuz spacecraft, which later received the name Progress. During the design, onboard systems and the design of the Soyuz spacecraft were used. "Progress" had three main compartments: a sealed cargo compartment with a docking unit, which housed materials and equipment delivered to the station, a refueling compartment, and an instrumentation compartment.
In 1979, Soviet designers began work on a new type of long-term orbital stations. 280 organizations worked on “The World”. The base unit was launched into orbit on February 20, 1986. Then, over the course of 10 years, six more modules were docked one after another. Since 1995, foreign crews began to visit the station. Also, 15 expeditions visited the station, 14 of them international.
The station spent 5,511 days in orbit. In the late 1990s, numerous problems began at the station due to the constant failure of various instruments and systems. After some time, the decision was made to scuttle the Mir. On March 23, 2001, the station, which had worked three times longer, was sunk in the Pacific Ocean. In the same 1979, American designers built the first Shuttle, space shuttle, and reusable transport spacecraft. The shuttle launches into space, performs maneuvers in orbit as a spacecraft, and returns to Earth as an airplane. It was understood that the Shuttles would scurry like shuttles between low-Earth orbit and the Earth, delivering payloads in both directions. The ships began to be used to launch cargo into orbit at an altitude of 200-500 km, conduct research, and service orbital space stations.
At the Battle of Kaiken in 1232, the Chinese unleashed “fire arrows,” which were tubes filled with gunpowder, at the Mongol-Tatar army. After the Battle of Kaiken, the Mongols began producing their own rockets and helped spread the first rocket technology to Europe. From the 13th to the 15th centuries, various experiments with rockets were reported. In England, a monk named Roger Bacon was working on a new formula for gunpowder that would increase the range of rocket projectiles. In France, Jean Froissart discovered that the flight of a projectile could be more accurate if the rocket was launched through a tube. Froissart's idea gave impetus to the creation of anti-tank missiles like the bazooka several centuries later. In Italy, Gian de Fontana developed a torpedo-shaped missile that moved on the surface of the water to set enemy ships on fire.
However, the innovator of modern rocket technology can be called the Indian prince Haidar Ali, who ruled in the kingdom of Mysore (or Karnataka), in southern India. During the wars between Mysore and the British East Indian trading company Haydar Ali used missiles and missile regiments as regular troops. The main technological innovation was the use of a high-quality metal shell in which a charge of gunpowder was placed (this is how the first combustion chamber appeared). Haidar Ali also created specially trained missile squads that could guide missiles to distant targets with reasonable accuracy. The use of missiles in the Anglo-Mysore wars gave the British the idea of using this type of weapon. William Congreve, an officer of the British forces who captured several Indian missiles, sent these shells to England for further study and development. In 1804, Congreve, the son of the head of the royal arsenal at Woolwich, near London, began developing a rocket program and mass production of rockets. Congreve made a new combustible mixture and developed a rocket engine and a metal pipe with a cone-shaped tip. These rockets, weighing 15 kg, were called "Congreve Rockets".
The British used new weapons in the wars against Napoleon. During the siege of Boulogne in 1805, they rained down two thousand shells on this city, and in September of the following year, the capital of Denmark, Copenhagen, was burned with the help of 14 thousand different shells (rockets, bombs and grenades), of which 300 were “Congreve rockets.”
Modern rocket technology owes its development mainly to the works and research of three outstanding scientists: the Russian Pole Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the German Hermann Oberth and the American Robert Goddard. Although these ascetics worked independently of each other and their ideas were often ignored at the time, they laid down theoretical and practical basics rocketry and astronautics
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, a schoolteacher who came from an impoverished Polish noble family, first wrote about liquid-propellant rockets and artificial satellites in 1883 and 1885. In his work Exploration of World Spaces by Jet Instruments (1903), he outlined the principles of interplanetary flights. Tsiolkovsky argued that the most efficient fuel for rockets would be a combination of liquid oxygen and hydrogen (although even laboratory quantities of these substances were quite expensive at the time), and proposed using a bunch of small engines instead of one large one. He also proposed using multi-stage rockets instead of one large one to facilitate interplanetary travel. Tsiolkovsky developed the basic ideas of crew life support systems and some other aspects of space travel.
Hermann Oberth, a German physicist and engineer who lived in Romanian Transylvania (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) set out the principles in his books The Rocket into Interplanetary Space (Die Rakete zu den Planetenraumen, 1923) and Ways of Implementing Space Flight (Wege zur Raumschiffahrt, 1929) interplanetary flight and performed preliminary calculations of the mass and energy required for flights to the planets. His forte was mathematical theory, but practical activities it did not progress beyond bench testing of rocket engines.
The gap between theory and practice was filled by the American Robert Hutchins Goddard. As a young man, he was captivated by the idea of interplanetary flight. His first research was in the field of solid propellant rockets, for which he received his first patent in 1914. By the end of World War I, Goddard was well advanced in developing barrel-launched rockets, which were not used by the US Army due to the advent of peace; During World War II, however, his developments led to the creation of the legendary bazooka, the first effective anti-tank missile. The Smithsonian Institution awarded Goddard a research grant in 1917, which resulted in his classic monograph, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes (1919). Goddard began work on a liquid-propellant rocket engine in 1923, and a working prototype was created by the end of 1925. In 1926, he carried out the world's first rocket launch with a liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket engine. These works by Goddard stimulated rocket research in Germany in the 1930s and became the basis of modern rocketry. In 1935, his rocket with a liquid-propellant engine reached supersonic speed, then a rocket was created that rose to a height of 1.6 km. Goddard owns more than 200 patents, including liquid rocket engines, gyroscopic stabilization, multi-stage rockets reaching supersonic speed, etc. A significant part of the patents were issued after the death of the scientist based on archival materials, and in 1960 the US government decided to pay $1 million to his heirs as compensation for the use of the results of Goddard’s work in the field of rocketry. Goddard died in Baltimore (Maryland) on August 10, 1945 (one day after the end of World War II). During the wars, Goddard also worked on launch boosters for naval aviation.
The work of Tsiolkovsky, Oberth and Goddard was continued by groups of rocketry enthusiasts in the USA, USSR, Germany and Great Britain. In the USSR research papers conducted by the Jet Propulsion Research Group (Moscow) and the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (Leningrad). Members of the British Interplanetary Society, limited in their testing by the British Fireworks Act dating back to the Gunpowder Plot (1605) to blow up Parliament, focused their efforts on developing a "manned lunar spacecraft" based on the technology available at the time.
The German Society for Interplanetary Communications VfR in 1930 was able to create a primitive installation in Berlin, and on March 14, 1931, VfR member Johannes Winkler carried out the first successful launch of a liquid-propellant rocket in Europe.
Among the members of the VfR was Wernher von Braun (1912–1997), a young aristocrat, a doctoral student at the University of Berlin, who in December 1932 began working on his dissertation on liquid propellant engines at the German army artillery range in Kummersdorf. With poor technical equipment, von Braun created an engine with a thrust of 1300 N in one month and began work on creating an engine with a thrust of 3000 N, which was used on the experimental A-2 rocket, successfully launched from the island of Borkum in the North Sea on December 19, 1934.
The German army saw missiles as weapons that it could use without fear of international sanctions, since the Treaty of Versailles, which concluded the First World War, and subsequent military treaties did not mention missiles. After Hitler came to power, the German military department was allocated additional funds for the development of rocket weapons, and in the spring of 1936 a program was approved to build a rocket center at Peenemünde (von Braun was appointed its technical director) on the northern tip of the island of Usedom off the Baltic coast of Germany.
The next rocket, the A-3, had a 15 kN thrust engine with a liquid nitrogen pressurization system and a steam generator, a gyroscopic control and guidance system, a flight parameters control system, electromagnetic servo valves for supplying fuel components and gas rudders. Although all four A-3 rockets exploded on or shortly after launch from the Peenemünde test site in December 1937, the technical experience gained from these launches was used to develop the 250 kN thrust engine for the A-4 rocket, the first successful launch of which was October 3, 1942.
After two years of design tests, pre-production and troop training, the A-4 rocket, renamed V-2 ("Weapon of Vengeance 2") by Hitler, was deployed starting in September 1944 against targets in England, France and Belgium.
On May 3, 1945, the chief designer of the V-2 (V-2) rocket, von Braun, and most of his employees surrendered to the US occupation authorities. Upon arrival in the United States, von Braun became head of the US Army's weapons design and development service, then headed the guided missile department at the Redstone Army Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. In 1960 he became one of the leaders of NASA and the first director of the Space Flight Center. Marshall in Huntsville. Under his leadership, the Saturn series launch vehicle for manned flights to the Moon, the Explorer series artificial earth satellites and the Apollo spacecraft were developed. Subsequently, von Braun took the post of vice president of Faichild Space Industries in Germantown (Maryland), which he left shortly before his death. Brown died in Alexandria (Virginia) on June 16, 1977.
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