The legendary first human flight into space, carried out on April 12, 1961, is a great event not only for the USSR and its successor Russia, but also for the whole world. In this round of the space race, the USSR unconditionally won over its main competitor, the United States. But how were the preparations and the flight itself carried out? and What happened after Gagarin flew over our land and landed back? All this, of course, still arouses the interest of many people.

How was the preparation carried out?

Leading Soviet specialists prepared very carefully for sending a man into space. The candidates for the role of the first cosmonaut (initially there were 20) were not the most the best aces, but this was not necessary - they were selected according to other parameters. Korolev, chief designer of the Vostok-1 satellite and pioneer practical astronautics, a pilot was required up to thirty years old, weighing up to seventy-two kilograms and height up to one hundred and seventy centimeters, with excellent psychophysical health.

Such requirements were dictated by the complexity of space flights and the design of the cabin of the Vostok-1 module - only one person with certain data could fit in it. Plus, it was necessary that the astronaut be a real communist, and not a non-party member.

When designing the Vostok, several simple, but very effective solutions, which were later used on other space rockets. It was not possible to do some things on time, and, for example, for this reason it was decided not to install an emergency rescue system here at launch. In addition to this, the second braking system, which duplicated the first, was removed from the design of the ship already under construction. The refusal was justified by the fact that Vostok-1, having entered a not too high orbit (up to 200 kilometers), would still have flown out of it within ten days due to braking from the higher atmospheric layers and would have returned back to our planet . And the life support systems on the satellite ship were also enough for a maximum of ten days.

Sergei Korolev wanted to launch his apparatus into outer space as quickly as possible, because there was information that the States were planning to implement something similar in the second half of April 1961. First, out of 20 applicants, 6 were chosen, and final decision Who exactly should fly was decided at one of the meetings of the state commission - the candidacy of Yuri Gagarin was approved (German Titov was appointed as an understudy). And April 12 was chosen as the date for the launch of Vostok-1.

Biography of Gagarin before the day of flight

Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934 in ordinary family workers. He spent most of his childhood in the town of Gzhatsk (now this city in the Smolensk region is called Gagarin) and neighboring villages, and experienced, as a little boy, fascist occupation. In October 1955, Gagarin was called up to armed forces and sent to Chkalov (this city is called Orenburg today) to the local aviation school. Gagarin studied with pilot Yadkar Akbulatov, who at that time was considered one of the best specialists in his field.

In his studies, Yuri had very good results in all subjects. high marks and he was even appointed assistant platoon commander. But at the same time, he could not master the landing perfectly - the nose of the plane was tilting down a little all the time. At one point, because of this, it was even decided to expel him. But Gagarin begged to be given another chance, declaring that he could not imagine his life without the sky. In the end, he managed to achieve a perfect landing. In October 1957, a document confirming graduation from the school was finally issued to Yuri Gagarin.

Then he served for two years in a fighter aviation regiment near Murmansk. And at the end of 1959, he was included in the list of candidates for cosmonaut and asked to come to the capital for a medical examination. By this time he had the rank of “starley” (senior lieutenant).

The probability of launch success was not one hundred percent

The fact of the launch of Vostok-1 was not covered in any way in advance - the authorities sought to ensure secrecy. And in general, many had doubts about the success of this flight - many facts speak about this. For example, it is known that on the eve of the flight, Gagarin wrote a touching farewell letter to his wife and children. But since he was still able to return back to Earth, the letter was not shown to the recipients that day. Only after the death of the astronaut in 1968 was it handed over to his wife.

A TASS (main news agency Soviet Union) prepared in advance, even before April 12, three different messages about this flight: in case of its successful completion, in case of a search for an astronaut abroad, and in case of a fatal disaster.

One cannot discount the fact that before the April flight of Vostok-1, six test launches had already been carried out and three of them ended in tragedy. On May 15, 1960, the satellite ship launched into orbit was unable to descend to the ground due to problems in the orientation system - it still flies around our planet today. In September 1960, a rocket exploded immediately during takeoff; there were two dogs on board. The launch on December 1 started well: the dogs Pchelka and Mushka rose into orbit as planned. But the descent trajectory at the end of the flight turned out to be incorrect - the ship with the animals inside it exploded and completely burned out.

Legendary flight: 108 minutes that changed history

Vostok-1, piloted by Yuri Gagarin, launched from Baikonur on April 12, 1961 at 09:07 (Moscow time). The launch manager was rocket engineer Anatoly Kirillov - he gave commands for the stages of the rocket launch and monitored their implementation, monitoring the situation from the command room.

As soon as the launch vehicle began its ascent, Gagarin said that famous word: “Let's go!” In general, the launch vehicle performed its functions without any problems. Only at the final stage did the system responsible for shutting down the third stage engines fail to work. The engines turned off only after the backup mechanism was activated. By this time, the satellite ship was already one hundred kilometers above the planned orbit.

Gagarin, while in orbit, talked about his own observations. He looked through the porthole window at the Earth with its clouds, mountains, oceans and rivers, saw clouds and the atmosphere from the blackness of space, the Sun and distant stars. He liked the view of our planet that opened up to him. He even urged people to preserve this beauty and not destroy it. Gagarin was most impressed by the horizon line - it separated the globe from the very black sky.

Gagarin also conducted several experiments: he ate, drank water, and made a couple of notes with a simple pencil. At some point, he let go of the pencil, and it immediately began to float away from him. Gagarin came to the conclusion that such things should be recorded in zero gravity.

Before the flight, it remained a mystery how the human psyche could react to the conditions of space, so special protection against the pilot’s insanity was implemented inside the ship. To control the ship, Gagarin had to switch to manual control. And for this he needed to open an envelope with one piece of paper on which was written math problem. Only by solving it could you find out the access code to the control panel.

In general, the flight went smoothly and no serious emergencies occurred. The duration of this flight was 108 minutes, during which time the satellite ship made one single revolution around globe.

But when returning to Earth, during landing, the braking system failed a little and there was a slight deviation from the course.

At an altitude of seven kilometers, in full accordance with the plan, Gagarin ejected, after which the module and the cosmonaut in the spacesuit began to descend down on two different parachutes (this landing method was used, by the way, in the other five Vostok rockets). By adjusting the parachute lines, the cosmonaut was able to avoid falling into the cool waters of the Volga and landed on the shore. Thus ended this space flight.

After the flight

After landing, Gagarin was accidentally met by the forester's wife and her granddaughter - they were just walking in these places. Then the military appeared in the landing area - they took the cosmonaut pilot to the military unit. Here he got in touch with the command and reported that the task assigned to him had been completed.

As soon as Khrushchev became aware of this, he called Defense Minister Malinovsky. During the conversation, Khrushchev asked that Gagarin be promoted to the rank of major as quickly as possible. And, by the way, TASS reports dated April 12 already featured Major Yuri Gagarin. But the cosmonaut himself learned about his new rank only after landing. And a little later he was awarded the title “Hero of the Soviet Union.”

Initially, no celebrations related to Gagarin’s appearance in Moscow were planned. But suddenly plans changed, and a ceremonial meeting was organized at a hasty pace. On an Il-18 plane, the cosmonaut arrived at the capital's Vnukovo airport, where an enthusiastic crowd, media representatives, and top officials were already waiting for him Soviet state. Next, Gagarin was driven along the main streets of Moscow in an open-top ZIL car. Gagarin rode standing and greeted those who came to meet him. Congratulations came from all sides, many brought posters with them. Some man even made his way through the cordon and handed flowers to Gagarin.

Then, on Red Square, the cosmonaut, walking along the red carpet, reported on the successful flight to Nikita Khrushchev. Some people watching this newsreel noticed the untied lace on Gagarin's boot. This funny detail made the astronaut even more popular among the people.

The legendary footage of Gagarin in a heavy helmet saying “Let’s go” were filmed not before the launch itself, but much later - that is, this clean water imitation. On April 12, none of the main participants in the launch had time to film. Then they decided to recreate these shots - Yuri Gagarin and Sergei Korolev repeated in front of the cameras everything they said and did on the morning before the launch.

This space flight attracted the attention of people from all over the globe, and Gagarin became a celebrity on an international, planetary scale. At the invitation of top officials of other states, he visited approximately three dozen countries. The cosmonaut made many trips throughout the territory of the Soviet Union. Interestingly, in the sixties of the last century the most popular male name in the USSR the name Yuri became. Many couples wanted to name their children after the man who flew into space.

Gagarin speaks to the audience: Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida looks at him enthusiastically

In the sixties, Gagarin carried out noticeable social activities, worked at the Cosmonaut Training Center, and had plans for a second space flight...

However, on March 27, 1968, Gagarin died unexpectedly and prematurely in a plane crash during Vladimir region. He crashed when, together with instructor Vladimir Seryogin, he was carrying out a scheduled flight on a MiG-15UTI aircraft. The circumstances of the disaster have not been fully clarified to this day. It’s just that communication with the MiG was lost, and then its wreckage was found several tens of kilometers from the airfield.

In connection with the death of Gagarin, mourning was declared in the Soviet Union. They were named after the cosmonaut. settlements, separate avenues, alleys and streets. On top of everything in different corners The earth was discovered great amount monuments and sculptures dedicated to Gagarin.

The significance of Gagarin's flight on Vostok-1

This flight, of course, opened a new era - the era of human exploration of previously unexplored and amazing in its scale outer space. How far this development will go, and what we can achieve along this path, is not yet very clear. For example, there is now talk about the colonization of the Moon and Mars.

But there is no doubt that this journey began on April 12, 1961. And it is quite natural that every year on this spring day such a holiday as Cosmonautics Day is celebrated.

The history of human space exploration began with Gagarin's flight

Forever Soviet citizen Yuri Gagarin will be in our memory and the memory of our descendants the first person to be in space. No one will ever take this status and this title away from him.

Documentary film “A Star Named Gagarin”

began long before man was there. Many people remember those times when seeing planet Earth or visiting the Moon was something out of the world of science fiction. Today, every schoolchild knows the date April 12, 1961 - first man's flight into space. This event, which was watched by the whole world, is associated with the name of the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin; his flight lasted 108 minutes.

This was a colossal success for Soviet scientists, the beginning of the history of mastering the territory of weightlessness, the whole country was waiting for Gagarin’s triumphant return home. After all, no matter how well the astronaut was prepared, no one knew what exactly was happening outside our planet. Year of the first flight into space knows the whole world, and April 12 has since become an official holiday.

History of the study outer space is the most a shining example jubilation human mind over once unruly matter. The first object that was able to fly into Earth’s orbit took 50 years to create by the standards of historical chronicles, which is quite a bit. Before made the first flight into space Yuri Gagarin, the textbook Belka and Strelka, whose return no one expected, have already been there. But it took place, and the shaggy ones returned home.

The flight took place in August 1960 on the fifth satellite; in one day the animals managed to fly around the planet 17 times. It was no coincidence that they chose white dogs - the image on the screens was black and white, so contrast was required to observe the behavior of Belka and Strelka. They developed a special system for training dogs; they had to get used to wearing a vest and calmly respond to surveillance sensors. Most of all, scientists were concerned about how the state of weightlessness would affect the body, and it was impossible to answer this question while on Earth. This honorable task faced the shaggy cosmonauts.

After 8 months it was completed first manned space flight. Immediately before Gagarin, in March, a dog named Zvezdochka flew there. Future cosmonauts were also present at the launch of the ship to make sure that the object was completely ready for a safe human flight. Senior Lieutenant Gagarin also studied the technique. After it took place first manned space flight every year new discoveries were made.

It must be said that Belka and Strelka and Yuri Gagarin are far from the first living beings to conquer the territory of weightlessness. Before that, the dog Laika visited there, whose flight was prepared for 10 years and ended sadly - she died. Turtles, mice, and monkeys have also flown into space. The most striking flights, and there were only three of them, were made by a dog named Zhulka. Twice she launched on high-altitude rockets, the third - on a ship, which turned out to be not so perfect and suffered technical failures. The ship could not reach orbit, and a decision was considered to destroy it.

But again problems occur in the system, and the ship ahead of schedule returns home falling. The satellite was discovered in Siberia. No one hoped for a successful outcome of the search, not to mention the dog. But after surviving a terrible accident, hunger and thirst, Zhulka was saved and lived for another 14 years after the fall.

Gagarin in space. How it was

Day April 12, 1961 - began first flights into space man, it became a milestone and divided the history of the exploration of weightless space into two periods - when man only dreamed of stars and the time of conquest of the “dark” territory. Gagarin started as a senior lieutenant and landed with the new rank of major. Baikonur Cosmodrome, launch pad No. 1, at exactly 9:07 Moscow time, the Vostok-1 ship set off with the first person on board. It took 90 minutes to fly around planet Earth and cover 41 thousand km.

Yuri Gagarin's first flight into space took place, he landed near Saratov and since then he has become one of the most revered and famous people Planets. It must be said that the astronaut had to experience a lot during the flight, he was well prepared, but even the most approximate conditions at home during training cannot be compared with what actually happened. The ship tumbled repeatedly, had to endure a lot of overloads, and there were system failures, but everything ended well. Thus, space race The Soviet Union won with the USA.

The first manned flight into space: the most interesting things

A simple Soviet guy Yuri Gagarin made real feat, he was the one who did it first flight into space this brought real success to the young man, now he will remain forever in the hearts of people with his famous “Let's go!” and a wide, kind smile. Do we know everything about this flight? There are many facts that were carefully hidden from the Soviet public until recently.

• Valentin Bondarenko could have become the first cosmonaut, but literally two weeks before the launch of the spacecraft, he died during a fire in a pressure chamber.
• Before entering the Earth's atmosphere, there was a failure in the automation responsible for separating the compartments, so the ship tumbled for 10 minutes.
• Landing at Saratov region was not planned, Gagarin missed by 2800 km. The first people to meet the astronaut were the wife and daughter of a local forester.
• When selecting dogs for space flight, preference was given exclusively to females, since they did not raise their legs when relieving themselves.
• Gagarin's first flight into space could have ended tragically, so he wrote his wife a farewell letter, in case he did not return. Therefore, it was given away not in 1961, but in 1968 after a plane crash in which the astronaut died.

German Titov was much better physically prepared for the flight, but the charisma of his competitor played a key role here. Despite the fact that the Americans tried in every possible way to assign the title of discoverer to themselves and disputed year of the first manned space flight, arguing that they were there before, all their judgments are unfounded.

Surely there is no person in the entire post-Soviet space today who does not know who Yuri Gagarin is. First flight to space, perfect by man in 1961, became a significant event not only in the Soviet Union, but throughout the world. But how did all this happen - the preparation, the flight process, and what happened after a person was finally able to get into space for the first time? And of course, a little about what kind of person Yuri Gagarin himself was.

Short biography

Yuri Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934 in the village of Klushino (now Smolensk region), located near the city of Gzhatsk, which after the flight into space was named in his honor. Yuri's parents were simple peasants who worked for the good of the country, and his father was also reputed a good master carpentry Early childhood The first cosmonaut was held in his native village.

In 1945, the Gagarins moved to Gzhatsk, where Yuri, starting in 1949, combined his studies at school with classes at a vocational school. In 1951, Gagarin entered an industrial technical school, and in 1954 he went to a flying club, where he made his first solo flight in an airplane.

In 1955, Yuri Gagarin began his service in the army, where he had the opportunity to attend a military aviation school. He then served in a fighter aviation regiment, where by 1959 he had flown 265 hours and was promoted to first lieutenant. Gagarin married in 1957 and raised two daughters in marriage.

Preparation

Before Gagarin's first flight into space took place, Yuri had to sign up for the list of applicants to become an astronaut. Subsequently, he had to undergo several medical examinations before he was declared fit for space flights and were included in the group of candidates. In March 1960, Gagarin and his family left for a new place of residence in Moscow, where his intensive training to space flights. It was not only physical training, he also had to study many sciences from a variety of fields.

In parallel with the training of cosmonauts, the Vostok-1 satellite ship, designed by Sergei Korolev, the founder of practical astronautics, was also being prepared. A year later, Gagarin flew into space on it. Yuri saw it already in the summer of 1960, then the future cosmonauts were shown the aircraft. At that time, it was a rather complex device, because in addition to the fact that the ship had to fly into space, its task was also to provide the pilot with the necessary conditions both during the flight and after its completion.

Spacecraft-satellite "Vostok-1"

The satellite ship from the Vostok series, on which Gagarin made his first flight into space, deserves special attention. The device itself is launched by a multi-stage launch vehicle, from which it must separate after reaching the desired height. The ship consists of two parts: a cabin in which life support systems and a control panel are located, and a second compartment with a braking engine and other instruments.

In the cockpit there is a chair in which a catapult is built, separating it from the ship. In addition, the chair is equipped with a supply of food and medicine, a walkie-talkie and even a rescue boat in case of a forced landing on the water. As is known, the shell of a ship located in dense layers atmosphere, heats up to incredible temperatures, so special thermal protection is provided for this, and the windows are made of heat-resistant glass. We can say that Gagarin's flight into space was thoroughly prepared.

Candidate selection

In total, there were exactly twenty candidates for the first flight into space - they were not the best aviation aces and were selected according to specific characteristics. The Queen needed a man under 30 years of age, weighing 72 kg and height 170 cm, with good physical and mental health. Space flights are quite a serious thing, and the cabin of the Vostok-1 spacecraft was designed in such a way that a person with certain physical characteristics could fit in it.

In addition, it was required that the candidate for the first cosmonaut be a communist, and Gagarin had just recently joined the CPSU. Sergei Korolev was in a hurry to send the first man into space, because there were rumors that the Americans intended to do the same on April 20, 1961. At first, six out of twenty candidates were selected, and the final decision was made at a meeting of the Civil Committee almost at the last moment. So, Yuri Gagarin’s flight into space was scheduled for April 12, and German Titov was supposed to become his backup.

Flight

On April 12, 1961, at the beginning of ten o'clock in the morning, the command “Start!” was given, and for the first time a spaceship with a person on board, propelled by a launch vehicle, set off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on its relatively short journey. During the flight, Yuri Gagarin experimented a little: he tried to eat and drink, write notes with a pencil, while in a state of weightlessness.

When Vostok-1 passed through the dense layers of the atmosphere, the first cosmonaut was able to see the Earth. According to him, what impressed him most was the view of the horizon, only this time its line separated the planet from the unimaginably black sky. In general, the flight went well, and no failures or unforeseen circumstances occurred during it. Gagarin's flight into space lasted only 108 minutes, during which he managed to make one revolution around our planet.

Return to Earth

At the very end of the journey, during landing, something went wrong in the braking system, so the ship deviated somewhat from the planned course. Despite this, the astronaut made a successful landing. By controlling the parachute lines, he avoided falling into the cold waters of the Volga. This is how Yuri Gagarin's flight into space ended.

The hero was first met by the wife of a local forester and her six-year-old granddaughter, who happened to be not far from where he landed. Then the military arrived there - they took the first cosmonaut to a nearby unit, where he was able to contact the leadership and report on the successful completion of the task. The helicopter searching for Gagarin picked him up on the way to the city of Engels and took him to the base, where he was given a telegram of congratulations from the Soviet government.

Honors

Initially, no grandiose celebrations were planned on the occasion of Gagarin’s arrival in Moscow, but at the last moment plans changed, and the first cosmonaut was greeted with great dignity. Yuri flew to the capital on an Il-18 aircraft, accompanied by an escort of fighter jets. After circling over the city center, over Red Square, the plane took Gagarin to Vnukovo airport, where many jubilant people, journalists and the country's leadership were waiting for him. Then Yuri was driven through the streets of Moscow in an open ZIL-111V, and people congratulated him and gave him flowers. On Red Square it was announced that Gagarin had been awarded the titles “Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR” and “Hero of the Soviet Union”. Subsequently, he made many trips abroad, and everywhere he was received with great joy and respect.

Gagarin in history

The year of Gagarin's flight into space marked the beginning of the era of humanity's exploration of new, previously unexplored spaces. From now on, April 12 has become Cosmonautics Day, and this holiday is celebrated all over the world. And our hero will forever remain the first person to travel into space.

As Yuri Gagarin said, the first flight into space is not only his personal responsibility, it is a responsibility to all the people of the world. However, a lot kind words was said by this wonderful person. Talking about his impressions of what he saw during the flight, he called for preserving our planet and increasing its beauty.

April 12, 1961, early spring morning, a powerful launch vehicle launched the Vostok spacecraft into orbit with the Earth's first cosmonaut, citizen of the Soviet Union Yuri Gagarin, on board. This day has gone down in human history forever. What was that day like and what did it give? to the Soviet people- in the memoirs of contemporaries, which are shared today by participants in the “You Are a Reporter” project and bloggers.

First post-war joy

“My mother was 12 then - and today she burst into tears when she told me about April 12, 1961. And in the memoirs of Yuri Levitan, I read that he had difficulty holding back tears 2 times in his life - when he announced unconditional surrender Germans on May 9, 1945, and when Gagarin flew into space,” says anichchka.

People were filled with pride. Completely different worlds opened up. This was probably the first general post-war joy. In Magnitogorsk, for example, at that time the little girl Olga Khaenko was very afraid of war: “I was very afraid of war, but no one knew about my secret experiences. Suddenly - the call sign “My native country is wide” and the solemnly anxious voice of Levitan (who is he? I didn’t know!)... Without waiting for the continuation, confident that now there will be a DECLARATION OF WAR, I jump out into the yard and freeze with wide-eyed eyes and a wildly beating heart. The yard began to be filled with cheerful neighbors who jumped out, already knowing about Gagarin’s flight. I learned this news and was very happy."

General holiday

“Our neighbor, Evgenia Alekseevna Serebryakova, was also filled with high feelings. And she, children's teacher, under the impression of Gagarin’s flight, she decided to collect materials about space. We neighbors affectionately called her “cosmonaut.” She was not offended and boldly declared that if not for the years, she would definitely compete with Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to be in low-Earth orbit,” Vladimir Bayatov from Rostov-on-Don shared his memories.

“My mother told me that people poured out into the street that day: complete strangers to each other, hugging, crying)) They pulled tables into the courtyards and carried whatever they could onto them, celebrating SUCH an event together!” writes vodani4_ey in LiveJournal.

In Brest, as in many other cities, on this day until night main square people didn't leave. "When they learned about Gagarin's flight, people flocked to the square. Mostly students of the Brest pedagogical institute. They shouted something joyfully, all excited and festive. Sparklers flew into the air. Later, one of the adults said that one such smoldering candle fell on the girl’s white coat and either set it on fire or simply smeared it with soot. Towards evening, when it was dark enough, a film carriage arrived at the square. They hung a screen on a pole and showed films about Tsiolkovsky,” Tatyana Mukhorovskaya quotes a note in a regional newspaper of that time.

Great and small feats

Despite the fact that April 12 fell in the middle working week, people took to the streets, everyone was in a festive mood, everyone was happy and having fun. A holiday has arrived in the country. According to the memoirs of Dmitry Yasenkov’s grandmother, “the management of the Mosfilm film studio announced to all workers at the film studio that this wonderful day was a landmark day for our country. And for fulfilling and exceeding the plan for April 12, 1961, there was even an increased bonus.”

Georgy Andreev from Vologda also talks about exceeding plans in honor of this holiday: “On April 12, having heard the good news about Gagarin’s flight, senior driver Mikhail Shmargunov, assistant driver Sergei Vorobyov and fireman Yuri Tsvetkov decided to dedicate a heavy-lift flight to this event. The crew conducted a train exceeding the norm by 400 tons, ahead of schedule... mechanic Sergei Kurkov called the editorial office of "Red North" at 10.30 - I am delighted with the achievements of our science! Now I want to move mountains!... A spontaneous rally arose on the steps of the main building. shipyard. “Now, with tenfold strength, we will exceed the tasks!” the workers decided. “We too will fight for the development of our “river space”!”

“Medical school student Yuri Sitsilo, after the announcement on the radio, managed to record the frequencies of the satellite ship, turned on his receiver and conveyed the good news to the Stalingrad region, to a friend from Bulgaria, an acquaintance from Hungary, and heard the word “Moon.” Foreign radio amateurs congratulated us, many said, that now it won’t be long before the USSR lands on the Moon,” writes Georgy Andreev.

"I was 6 years old, I lived in Kuibyshev. My mother came to pick me up kindergarten joyful and joyful and told me that Gagarin flew into space. On the way home, she told me that I, too, had to do something outstanding that day. Therefore, when I came home, I lit the stove myself with a match for the first time,” recalls 4may.

News of this event even disrupted classes in schools. Vladimir Sokolov told how it happened: “They conveyed the message, and immediately began broadcasting from Red Square. People carried posters “Yuri is a hero”, “Everyone into space.” Of course, no classes in There was almost no school, the teachers just fought off our questions. We were sent home somewhere early for a lesson. There was a feeling of absolute unreality of what was happening, like in a dream, when you are waiting to be woken up.”

This event also caught the blogger jkl_jkl at school: “In the middle of the lessons, everyone was gathered for a line. full power loudspeaker, from which a perky, almost boyish voice was heard: “Dear compatriots!” I liked the voice. He must be very handsome, this Major Gagarin! And then the school principal announces that all classes are canceled for today, and everyone can go home and watch TV.

“My mother and father got married on April 12, 1961. Then there was such an impulse that they came out of the registry office and said at the same time that they would have an astronaut. But 3 years later I was born. :),” writes orang_m.

How the idea of ​​human flight was born and developed

Age: 14 years

Place of study: KGOAU "School of Cosmonautics"

City, region: Krasnoyarsk region, Zheleznogorsk

Head (full name, place of work): Malyugin Igor Viktorovich, head of the Research Laboratory "Planetarium" KGOAU "School of Cosmonautics"

Historical research work "HOW THE IDEA OF HUMAN FLIGHT ORIGINED AND DEVELOPED"

Plan

1. Introduction
2. Main part

• Flight in myths and legends

The Myth of Daedalus and Icarus

Aircraft of the Aryans

Nazca Lines

Flight in the myths and legends of Ancient Egypt

Flight in the myths and legends of Rus'

Flight in myths and legends Ancient Rome and medieval Italy

Flight in fairy tales, myths and legends of other peoples

• First human flights

Ancient Greece

Conquest of airspace in Ancient China

- “Flights from the bell towers”

• Leonardo da Vinci

I would like to go to heaven...

First parachute

• Balloons

Montgolfier brothers

Balloons of other inventors

• First parachute jump
• Airships

Airship Meunier

Giffard's airship

Dupree de Luma's airship

Airship G enleina

Airship of Reynard and Krebs

Airships in Russia

• Iron birds
• Hang gliders
• Space exploration

Early history (before 1945)

Flights into space

Human space flights

1. Conclusion
2. Information sources

Introduction

Since ancient times, man has dreamed of flight, of conquering airspace. They looked at the birds, and they wanted to soar in the sky just like that. This became the idea for the appearance of balloons and airplanes. Only after the invention did people realize that it was still possible to move quickly in this way.

Main part

Flight in myths and legends

The Myth of Daedalus and Icarus

The myth tells of the great Greek sculptor Daedalus, who decided to escape from King Minos to his homeland and made two pairs of wings from bird feathers - for himself and for his son Icarus. The day came when they managed to fly away, but intoxicated by the flight, Icarus forgot his father’s instructions and rushed upward towards the sun, which melted the wax that held the feathers together. The wings crumbled, and Icarus fell into the waves of the Aegean Sea.

The history of the creation of the first heavier-than-air aircraft began with the study of the load-bearing properties of a feathered wing, based on observations of the gliding flight of birds. Both in distant times and in times close to us, people received the “keys to the sky” from birds. At first they copied the “techniques of nature”, then, taking off from the ground, they mastered the laws of soaring.

Aircraft of the Aryans

In the ancient Indian epic “Mahabharata”, “Ramayana” and other texts in Sanskrit, flying machines are mentioned countless times - vimanas, ray weapons, the analogues of which humanity now has no analogues - “divine lightning”.

The Mahabharata reports that Mayasura's four-wheeled vimana was twelve cubits long and was used by the king to throw flaming projectiles. When, during Krishna's pursuit of his opponent, the latter's chariot became invisible to view, Krishna still struck the opponent, determining the trajectory of the vimana by sound

Nazca Lines

No one knows exactly what the Nazca Lines are. The only indisputable fact is that they are in South America, in Peru, on the Nazca plateau in the southern part of the country. In 1994 they were listed World Heritage UNESCO. This is where the indisputable facts end, leaving scientists with many unsolved mysteries.

Both groups of drawings - the Nazca and Palpa geoglyphs - must be viewed from a bird's eye view. Otherwise, it is simply impossible to understand what this phenomenon is. If you stand nearby, then before your eyes there is only a mountain desert and the Nazca lines running into the distance. Only on earth it doesn’t occur to you to follow the line to find out where it leads. The scale of the picture can be appreciated while in the air.

But besides lines, there are also drawings. And in the case of the Nazca drawings, the theory is true again - they must be viewed from an airplane. But the lines (more precisely, drawings) of Palpa are suitable for studying them from the ground. A small tower will be enough.

Flight in the myths and legends of Ancient Egypt

Recently, archaeologists carried out excavations at the edge of the Nile Valley, in Egypt. They came across a very ancient burial place. The ancient Egyptians believed in afterlife, therefore, during burial, they put a lot of different things into the grave, which supposedly could be useful for life “in the next world.” Scientists were not at all surprised that next to the mummy of a deceased person there were jugs, dishes, beads and other items. This is common. And suddenly their attention was attracted by an object that resembled a modern... glider. Where could this flying toy come from in a grave that is 4 thousand years old?!

Then archaeologists, with the greatest care, transported the find to Paris. There they made an exact copy of it and launched it. It is not difficult to imagine the greatest amazement of scientists when a model of a glider from such a long time ago flew. Who and how in ancient times came up with the secret of gliding flight? After all, the first modern glider flew only at the end of the nineteenth century.

Flight in the myths and legends of Rus'

Russian chronicles say that in the 16th century “Nikitka stank, boyar's son Lupatov’s slave,” allegedly made wings for himself from wood and leather and even successfully flew on them around the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda. It is clear that we also classify such events as legends.

In Russia at that time, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich ruled, whom the people nicknamed the Terrible. The news about the daring slave Nikita reached the royal ear, and a public trial was held in Moscow. The king ordered: “Man is not a bird, he has no wings. If he puts wooden wings on himself, he is doing something against nature... For this friendship, with evil spirits, cut off the head of the inventor... And burn the invention, equipped with the devil’s help, with fire after the Divine Liturgy.”

And the Russian Icarus Nikitka, son of Trofimov, nicknamed Vyvodkov, paid for his courage with his head on the chopping block. This for a long time discouraged everyone else in Rus' from imitating Nikita. And if anyone thought about wings, it was done secretly, so that no one would know - neither the kings nor the king's minions.

Flight in the myths and legends of Ancient Rome and medieval Italy

Chronicles report that about five hundred years ago an Italian, professor of mathematics Dante from the city of Perugia, also built himself wings. His neighbors and townspeople claimed that Dante allegedly flew them perfectly. But still he was unlucky. One day his wing broke in flight, he fell onto the roof of a church and broke his hip.

Flight in fairy tales, myths and legends of other peoples

In legends northern peoples The flight technique was described very simply: a fire was lit from shavings, covered with wet matting, anyone could sit on the matting, and the heat lifted him to heaven right up to the Lord God himself.

At the other end of the earth, the aborigines of Oceania, have a similar myth about traveling to the heavenly country of their ancestors with the help of a smoke stream: “Iolofat sat on a stream of smoke and rose to Lang” or “A woman entered a smoke column and rose with him to the sky... "

In Finnish folk epics"Kalevala" contains a number of stories about how people or animals flew into the sky to different luminaries.

In the book “Legends and Tales” central Asia" we find a Mongolian "Tale of the Origin Ursa Major" It tells how seven Mongols learned to fly, left our land and flew to the sky, where they formed the seven stars of the Big Dipper.

Conclusion: A person’s acquisition of wings and the ability to fly is one of the most common plots in the mythology of the peoples of the world. However, the vast majority of ancient legends on this topic have a sad ending. The flight of Daedalus only emphasized the improbability of this event.

First human flights

Ancient Greece

Around 400 BC Archytas of Tarentum, ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, statesman and strategist, may have developed the first aircraft, which is a model of a bird, and, according to sources, flew about 200 meters. This machine, which the inventor named the Dove, was probably suspended from a cable or rod during flight.

Conquest of airspace in ancient China

China is one of the oldest centers of world civilization. The people who inhabited this region built the Great the Chinese wall, gave humanity paper, gunpowder, fireworks and many other useful things. The earliest evidence of a real-life aircraft has reached us from Ancient China.

In the book "The Comprehensive Mirror of History" you can find a story about a man flying with a kite in the 4th century. Such flights were extremely dangerous, so slaves and prisoners were most often used as pilots.

Similar experiments continued in the future. In 1271 the famous Italian traveler Marco Polo traveled to China and lived there for about seventeen years.

The “Book” (1298), written in his words, contains a mention of the amazing flights of a man tied to a huge kite, which the navigator repeatedly observed in China and neighboring lands.

Legends have also been preserved about the first Chinese “cosmonaut”. A certain nobleman, Wang Gu, tied a bunch of rockets around the bamboo chair he was sitting on and set them on fire at the same time. With a terrible crash, the chair rose into the air. Naturally, Wang Gu could not fly far, and his “ship” fell not far from the launch site.

"Flights" from the bell towers

Oliver from Malesbury in 1020, having attached homemade wings, made a jump from the bell tower of the monastery. The flight was short and resulted in broken legs. But this failure did not break the obsessed naturalist, who received the nickname the Flying Monk, but only convinced him that it was necessary to install attachments to the legs of the tail stabilizing planes. Living out his life, he complained many times that he had forgotten about this annoying little thing.

A subject of the Turkish Sultan Arslan II, a Saracen from Constantinople, who jumped with only a cloak in which stiffening ribs were sewn, was much less fortunate: one of the stiffening ribs broke in flight, and the daredevil died.

The attempt of the Saracen gymnast ended just as tragically in 1178 in Constantinople. He decided to pay a large sum of money to fly across the entire racing field during the next equestrian lists. The desperate inventor independently prepared fabric wings, sewed them onto a special suit, and sewed willow twigs into the wings for rigidity. He rushed with high tower and a moment later he broke his neck.

Similar incidents continued for a long time when, finally, one of these thousands of daredevils managed to stay in the air for some time in the 17th century and not break anything. The lucky guy's name was Jéserphen Selibi. Jumping from the tower in Gala ( mall Istanbul), before touching the ground, according to eyewitnesses, he flew some distance through the air, but that’s all.

Leonardo da Vinci

I would like to go to heaven...

Throughout his life, da Vinci was obsessed with the idea of ​​flight. One of the very first (and most famous) sketches is a diagram of a device that in our time is considered to be a prototype of a helicopter. Leonardo proposed making a propeller with a diameter of 5 meters from thin flax soaked in starch. It had to be driven by four people turning levers in a circle.

In Milan, he made many drawings and studied the flight mechanism of birds of various breeds and bats. In addition to observations, he conducted experiments, but they were all unsuccessful. Leonardo really wanted to build a flying machine. He said: “He who knows everything can do everything. If only you find out, you will have wings!”

At first, Leonardo developed the problem of flight using wings driven by muscle strength of man: the idea of ​​the simplest apparatus of Daedalus and Icarus. But then he came up with the idea of ​​​​building such an apparatus to which a person should not be attached, but should maintain complete freedom in order to control it; The apparatus must set itself in motion by its own force.

As a result, Leonardo never managed to create current model flying machine. He concentrated only on the structure of the wing, worrying little about the power components of the mechanism.

First parachute

The drawing of the device, which Leonardo himself described as follows, turned out to be prophetic: “If you have enough linen fabric sewn into a pyramid with a base of 12 yards, then you can jump from any height without any harm to your body.” The master made this recording between 1483 and 1486. Several centuries later, such a device was called a “parachute”.

Balloons

Montgolfier brothers

After the death of their father, the brothers inherited a successfully operating factory and were able to spend significant sums on their experiments and experiments, which they did not fail to do. And the brothers were interested in the opportunity to take to the air. They pursued not only scientific, but also practical interest - the ability to quickly move over significant distances.

In November 1782, the brothers first sewed and filled a silk shell with a volume of 1 cubic meter with hot air. The silk balloon, heated over the fire, rose to a height of about thirty meters. And already on June 5, 1783, the brothers demonstrated their invention to the public of their city. Balloon with a volume of 900 cubic meters. soared to a height of about one kilometer.

On September 19, 1783, a hot air balloon was flown with a ram, a rooster and a duck on board. The experiment ended successfully; the ball flew 4 km in 10 minutes.

Balloons of other inventors

Flights to balloons became more and more popular. WITH early XIX century they began to be used for scientific purposes.

In 1887, D.I. Mendeleev made an independent flight to observe a solar eclipse.

In the first scientific flights, aeronauts managed to rise to a height of seven thousand meters or more.

In 1894, the German Berson in the Phoenix balloon rose to a height of 9150 meters, and in 1900, during the World Exhibition in Paris, the Frenchmen de la Vaux and Costellon in the Centaurus balloon covered a distance of 1922 kilometers in 35 hours 45 minutes, landing in the Kyiv province.

In the 20-30s of the XX century. stratospheric balloons were created - balloons with a sealed gondola for research upper layers atmosphere. They reached a height of 20 kilometers.

First parachute jump

On October 22, 1797, 14 years after the first balloon took to the skies, famous balloonist Andre Jacques Garnerin made the historic first parachute jump from an aircraft (rather than from a tower or roof).

Garnerin, who climbed to a height of 680 meters above the Parisian Parc Monceau with his brother, at some point ordered him to cut the rope holding an 8-meter canvas-covered umbrella under the gondola.

And then, clutching the handle of the umbrella, he went to free fall, accompanied by the enthusiastic glances of a crowd of thousands.

Andre Jacques Garnerin's parachute was a structure made of white silk, in the shape of an umbrella, with a diameter of about 8 meters. The parachute was attached to the balloon balloon, and a basket was attached to the parachute lines.

Airships

Airship Meunier

Jean Baptiste Marie Charles Meunier is considered the inventor of the airship. The Meunier airship was to be made in the shape of an ellipsoid. Controllability had to be achieved using three propellers, manually rotated by the efforts of 80 people. By changing the volume of gas in the balloon by using a ballonet, it was possible to adjust the flight altitude of the airship, so he proposed two shells - the outer main one and the inner one.

Giffard's airship

Giffard rose on this balloon, which contained 2500 m³ of gas, on September 24, 1852 from the Paris hippodrome and, despite quite strong wind, began to make different turns and lateral movements using a propeller and a special steering wheel; he descended safely from Trapp to the ground.

Airship Dupuy de Loma

Dupuis de Lôme built his ball oval shape, 36 m long and with a capacity of 3564 cubic meters. meters. Attached to the boat, 6 m wide and 3 meters long, was a propeller consisting of 4 wings, each about 1 meter wide. The wings were covered with silk taffeta. The screw made 21 revolutions per minute and was driven by 4 people. At this screw speed, the ball made 2.22 meters per second on its own. If the propeller was rotated by 8 people, average speed it reached 28 - 32 revolutions, and the ball moved at a speed of 2.28 m per second. In addition, between the boat and the balloon, a triangular sail, 5 meters high, was placed, which played the role of a rudder. This sail with the help of a mast strengthened in fixed point supports, could be installed in any position. A double rope net surrounded the entire airship. The trial lifting, which took place on February 2, 1872, from the Fort-Nave, in Vincennes, was very favorable for the inventor. The rudder worked despite the wind. The ball could travel an average of 10 km per hour. The test gave the previously foreseen result that it is possible to move against the wind, the speed of which is less than the speed of the balloon.

Henlein's airship

This balloon also had a small compensation ball of the Meunier system inside. In order to soften and reduce the shock when lowering the ball to the ground, a special device was placed at the bottom of the rook. The speed of the Haenlein balloon, built at the expense of capitalists, during experiments in Brunn, reached a maximum value of about 5 meters per second.

Airship of Renard and Krebs

The next technological breakthrough came in 1884, when the first fully controlled free flight was carried out on the French military airship with an electric engine, La France, by Charles Renard and Arthur Krebs. The length of the airship was 52 m, the volume was 1,900 m³, and in 23 minutes a distance of 8 km was covered using an 8 1/2 liter engine. With.

Airships in Russia

In the 19th century The issue of aeronautics was being diligently developed in all countries. There were entire aeronautical societies that published periodicals on this issue.

In Russia, aeronautics in the 19th century. did great success. In addition to the military aeronautical detachment on Volkovo Pole, where every year flights were made and various new experiments were made, a new VII aeronautical department was formed at the Technical Society, which had many members. Russian aeronauts provided significant services to aeronautics, such as Kozlov, Mikhail Rykachev, Alexander Kovanko.

Iron birds

On November 3, 1881, St. Petersburg scientist A.F. Mozhaisky received a patent for the invention of an airplane - the world's first heavier-than-air aircraft. Aircraft designers from the leading countries of the world worked on its creation, but aviation acquired its most rapid development only in the first half of the 20th century. In 1903, the famous Wright brothers set a record for the number of flights made on their Flyer biplane, unlike their predecessors, having managed to carry out tests without accidents. The planes were used during World War I. Subsequently, aircraft designs improved so rapidly that they became obsolete in just 2-3 years.

Hang gliders

The first prototypes of hang gliders were tested by the German aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal, who died during one of his flights in 1896. Although Lilienthal's works had a significant impact on the development of aviation in general, the idea of ​​ultra-light aircraft was long forgotten.

A hang glider is an aircraft consisting of three duralumin pipes connected to each other at the forward point and forming horizontal plane fan, with an angle between the pipes of 90-140 degrees. A sheet of light, but dense and durable synthetic fabric is stretched between the pipes. The two side tubes and the rear edge of the fabric form almost a triangle when viewed from above. To maintain their shape, the main pipes are fixed with auxiliary pipes of smaller diameter and steel cables. The pilot, wearing a special harness, originally borrowed from a parachute, is suspended on a rope by the central pipe in a certain place, close to the center of mass of the device. With his hands, the pilot holds onto a trapezoid - a structure of three pipes, which, when viewed from the front, most often represents a triangle with a horizontal base, fixed in space by braces - steel cables with a diameter of several millimeters.

Flight control is carried out by the pilot by moving his body relative to the suspension point. Takeoff and landing are performed on your own feet.

Space exploration

Early history (before 1945)

Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was one of the first to put forward the idea of ​​using rockets for space flights. He designed a rocket for interplanetary communications in 1903. The Tsiolkovsky formula, which determines the speed that an aircraft develops under the influence of the thrust of a rocket engine, still forms an important part of the mathematical apparatus used in the design of rockets, in particular, in determining their main mass characteristics.

The German scientist Hermann Oberth also outlined the principles of interplanetary flight in the 1920s

American scientist Robert Goddard began developing liquid liquid in 1923 rocket engine and a working prototype was created by the end of 1925. On March 16, 1926, he launched the first liquid-propellant rocket, which used gasoline and liquid oxygen as fuel.

The work of Tsiolkovsky, Oberth and Goddard was continued by groups of enthusiasts rocket technology in the USA, USSR and Germany. IN THE USSR research papers led Study Group jet propulsion(Moscow) and Gas Dynamic Laboratory (Leningrad). In 1933, the Jet Institute (RNII) was created on their basis.

Flights into space

In 1957, under the leadership of Korolev, the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile R-7, which in the same year was used to launch the world's first artificial Earth satellite.

• October 4, 1957 - first launched artificial satellite Earth Sputnik-1.
• November 3, 1957 - the second artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik 2, was launched, which for the first time launched a living creature into space - the dog Laika.
• August 19, 1960 - the first ever orbital flight into space of living beings was made with a successful return to Earth. This flight was carried out on the Sputnik 5 spacecraft by dogs Belka and Strelka.
• April 12, 1961 - the first manned flight into space, Gagarin, Yuri Alekseevich.
• October 30, 1967 - the first docking of two unmanned spacecraft “Cosmos-186” and “Cosmos-188” was carried out. (USSR).
• September 15, 1968 - first return spacecraft(Zond-5) to Earth after flying around the Moon. There were living creatures on board: turtles, fruit flies, worms, plants, seeds, bacteria.
• January 16, 1969 - the first docking of two manned spacecraft Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5 was made.
• April 19, 1971 - the first orbital station Salyut-1 was launched.
• March 3, 1972 - launch of the first device, which subsequently left the territory solar system: Pioneer-10.
• April 12, 1981 - first flight of the first reusable transport spaceship"Colombia".
• February 20, 1986 - launch of the base module into orbit orbital station World
• November 15, 1988 - the first and only space flight of the Buran spacecraft in automatic mode.
• November 20, 1998 - launch of the first Zarya block of the International Space Station.