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Soviet Soyuz rockets like the one pictured above were the first reliable means to transport objects into Earth orbit.

Sputnik 1 weighed less than 90 kg and orbited the Earth for less than three months. Its launch began the space race.

Having learned a bitter lesson during World War II at a cost of over 20 million lost lives and the devastation of its most populated region, the Soviet Union undertook projects to modernize its defense -- to build rockets, nuclear weapons, and instruments to resist attack of any potential enemy. Global delivery capabilities of the first intercontinental ballistic missile rocket (R-7 Semyorka) soon opened the era of space exploration. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... - Russian Public Domain photo File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... - Russian Public Domain photo File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Soyuz rocket on launch pad. ... Image File history File links Sputnik_1. ... Image File history File links Sputnik_1. ... Sputnik 1 (Russian: , Satellite 1) was the first artificial satellite to be put into orbit, on October 4, 1957. ... Adjectives: Terrestrial, Terran, Telluric, Tellurian, Earthly Atmosphere Surface pressure: 101. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... In military science, defense (or defence) is the art of preventing an enemy from conquering territory. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... A Minuteman III ICBM test launch from Vandenberg AFB, California, United States. ... R-7 with Sputnik 2 The R-7 Semyorka was the worlds first intercontinental ballistic missile and was deployed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War from 1959 to 1968. ... Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer space by both manned and unmanned spacecraft. ...

Being a primarily military program, the early Soviet space program was understandably classified. Sergey Korolyov (also transliterated as Korolev) was the head of the Soviet space program - his official title was called "chief designer" (standard title for similar positions in USSR). Similar to the U.S., announcements of success were delayed until success was certain, and failures sometimes were kept secret. During Gorbachev's policy of glasnost many facts about the space program (which was heavily interrelated to military space program) became declassified. Sergei Korolyov at the Kapustin Yar firing range in 1953. ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: ; Pronunciation: mih-kha-ILL ser-GHE-ye-vich gor-bah-CHOFF) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

The Soviet Space Program dissolved along with the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia and Ukraine became successors of the Soviet Space Program. Russia continued the space program by creating the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, which is now known as the Russian Federal Space Agency, abbreviated RKA. Ukraine created the National Space Agency of Ukraine or simply NSAU. The Russian Federal Space Agency (Russian: Федеральное космическое агентство России, commonly known as Roskosmos), formerly the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Russian: Российское авиационно-космическое агентство, commonly known as Rosaviakosmos) or RKA, is the government agency responsible for Russias space science programme and general aerospace research. ... The National Space Agency of Ukraine, or NSAU (Ukrainian: Національне космічне агентство України, Natsionalne kosmichne ahentstvo Ukrayiny, or НКАУ, NKAU) is the Ukrainian government agency responsible for space policy and programs. ... The National Space Agency of Ukraine, or NSAU (Ukrainian: Національне космічне агентство України, Natsionalne kosmichne ahentstvo Ukrayiny, or НКАУ, NKAU) is the Ukrainian government agency responsible for space policy and programs. ...

Origins

The theory of space exploration was well-established in the Russian Empire before the First World War by the writings of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (who published pioneering papers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in 1929 he even introduced the concept of the multistaged rocket), as was the practical part by early experiments of the reactive propulsion study group, GIRD in the 1920s and 1930s, where such pioneers as Friedrich Zander and Sergey Korolyov worked. On August 18, 1933 GIRD, successfully launched the first Soviet liquid-fueled rocket Gird-09, and on November 25, 1933 the first hybrid-fueled rocket GIRD-X was launched. In 1940-41 another major advance in the reactive propulsion field was made: the development and serial production of Katyusha multiple rocket launcher, that was feared by the Nazis. One more contributing factor to the Soviet research of the time was the inspection of trophey arms, in particular, reaching the V-2 production sites (after the Americans secretly moved most Nazi scientists to the US - see Operation Paperclip along with several V2 rockets) and tropheyed some drawings of V2. Under the direction of Dimitri Ustinov, the designer and engineer Sergey Korolyov inspected the drawings; aided by the German prisoners, they built a replica of the V-2 called the R-1. The weight of the Soviet nuclear warheads required a much more powerful booster. Also, Korolyov was dedicated to the use of liquid-fuelled cryogenic rockets he was experimenting with in late 1930s. This resulted in the design of the R-7 Semyorka intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which was successfully tested in August of 1957. Because of its global range and large payload capability (approximately 5 tons) the reliable R7 was not only effective as a heavy nuclear charge strategic delivery system, but also as an excellent basis for a space launch vehicle. Anthem: God Save the Tsar! The Russian Empire in 1914 Capital Saint Petersburg Language(s) Russian Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1721-1725 Peter the Great (first)  - 1894-1917 Nicholas II (last) History  - Established 22 October, 1721  - February Revolution 2 April, 1917 Area  - 1897 22,400,000 km2 8,648,688 sq... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (Константин Эдуардович Циолковский, Konstanty CioÅ‚kowski) (September 5, 1857 new style – September 19, 1935) was a Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of cosmonautics who spent most of his life in a log house on the outskirts of the Russian town of Kaluga. ... Gird is a region of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. ... Friedrich Zander (August 23, 1887 - March 28, 1933), often referred to as Fridrikh Tsander (transliterated from the Russian version of his name: Фридрих Артурович Цандер) or Fridrihs Canders (the Latvian version... Sergei Korolyov at the Kapustin Yar firing range in 1953. ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Katyusha multiple rocket launchers are a type of rocket artillery built and fielded by the Soviet Union beginning in the Second World War. ... BM-13 Katyusha RM-70 of the Polish Army A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system, in use since the Second World War. ... The Vergeltungswaffe 2 (V-2) (Reprisal weapon 2 Propaganda name given by Joseph Goebbels) , also known, in the Development Process as the A4 (Aggregat 1-4), was the first ballistic missile. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Operation Paperclip scientists pose together. ... V2 V2, Japanese musical duo formed by Yoshiki of ex-X Japan and Tetsuya Komuro V2 Records V2 word order, the verb-second word order of Germanic languages Velocity 2, the speed where an aircraft accelerating on a runway must lift-off Visual cortex#V2 area Vatican II or Second... Dimitri Fyodorovich Ustinov (October 17, 1908–December 20, 1984) was Defense Minister of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death. ... Sergei Korolyov at the Kapustin Yar firing range in 1953. ... The Vergeltungswaffe 2 (V-2) (Reprisal weapon 2 Propaganda name given by Joseph Goebbels) , also known, in the Development Process as the A4 (Aggregat 1-4), was the first ballistic missile. ... The R-1 rocket (NATO reporting name SS-1 Scunner) (and its evolved version R-2 or SS-2 Sibling) was a copy of the German V-2 rocket manufactured by the Soviet Union. ... R-7 with Sputnik 2 The R-7 Semyorka was the worlds first intercontinental ballistic missile and was deployed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War from 1959 to 1968. ... A Minuteman III ICBM test launch from Vandenberg AFB, California, United States. ... R7 has the following meanings: The SEPTA Regional Rail R7 line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania This is a disambiguation page — a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ...

The Soviet space program was tied into the USSR's Five-Year Plans and from the start was reliant on support from the Soviet military. In January 1956, plans were approved for Earth-orbiting satellites to gain knowledge of the space environment (Sputnik) and for unmanned military reconnaissance satellites (Zenit), with development work for a manned Earth orbit flight by 1964 and an unmanned lunar mission at an earlier date. Following the global propaganda success of the first Sputnik, Korolyov was charged to accelerate the manned program, the design of which was combined with the Zenit program to produce the Vostok spacecraft. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Sputnik 1 The Sputnik program was a series of unmanned space missions launched by the Soviet Union in the late 1950s to demonstrate the viability of artificial satellites. ... Zenit (Russian: , meaning zenith) is the name of a series of military spy satellites launched by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1994. ... Earth orbit is an orbit around the planet Earth. ... The Vostok (Восток, translated as East) was a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Unions space program for human spaceflight. ...

Firsts

Two days after the United States announced its intention to launch a satellite, on July 31, 1956, the Soviet Union announced its intention to do the same. Sputnik 1 became the first satellite with its launch on October 4, 1957. It stunned citizens the world over. An Earth observation satellite, ERS 2 For other uses, see Satellite (disambiguation). ... July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 153 days remaining. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sputnik 1 (Russian: , Satellite 1) was the first artificial satellite to be put into orbit, on October 4, 1957. ... October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

This image was recorded by astronauts as the Space Shuttle Atlantis approached the Russian space station prior to docking during the STS-76 mission. Sporting spindly appendages and solar panels, Mir was orbiting about 350 kilometers above New Zealand's South Island and the city of Nelson near Cook Strait.

The Soviet space program led the space race from 1957 through 1967 setting many records: From http://antwrp. ... From http://antwrp. ... For other uses, see Astronaut (disambiguation). ... Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-104) is one of the space shuttle fleet belonging to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ... STS-76 was a space shuttle mission by NASA using the Space Shuttle Atlantis. ... The South Island The South Island is one of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the North Island. ... A view of Nelson from the Centre of New Zealand Nelson stands on the southern corner of Tasman Bay, at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand and is the administrative centre of the Nelson region. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ...

• 1957: First intercontinental ballistic missile, the R-7 Semyorka
• 1957: First satellite, Sputnik 1
• 1957: First animal to enter Earth orbit, the dog Laika on Sputnik 2
• 1959: First firing of a rocket in Earth orbit, first man-made object to escape Earth's orbit, Luna 1
• 1959: First data communications, or telemetry, to and from outer space, Luna 1.
• 1959: First man-made object to pass near the Moon, first man-made object in Solar orbit, Luna 1
• 1959: First probe to impact the moon, Luna 2
• 1959: First images of the moon's far side, Luna 3
• 1960: First probe launched to Mars, Marsnik 1
• 1961: First probe launched to Venus, Venera 1
• 1961: First person in space (International definition) and in Earth orbit, Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1, Vostok programme
• 1961: First person to spend over a day in space Gherman Titov, Vostok 2
• 1962: First dual manned spaceflight and approach, Vostok 3 and Vostok 4. While considered by some to be the first space rendezvous, Vostok 3 and 4 were 5km apart as they passed each other in the closest point in their respective orbits, and the orbits were in different orbital planes. US Gemini 6A/Gemini 7 did the first parallel flight, three years later, however without docking. Actual docking was first done in 1967 by Soviet Cosmos 186/Cosmos 188 and manned docking with exchange of crew was first done by Soviet Soyuz 4/Soyuz 5 (see below).
• 1963: First woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, Vostok 6
• 1964: First multi-man crew (3), Voskhod 1
• 1965: First EVA, by Aleksei Leonov, Voskhod 2
• 1965: First probe to hit another planet (Venus), Venera 3
• 1966: First probe to make a soft landing on and transmit from the surface of the moon, Luna 9
• 1966: First probe in lunar orbit, Luna 10
• 1967: First unmanned rendezvous and docking, Cosmos 186/Cosmos 188. (Until 2006, this has remained the only major space achievement that the US has not duplicated.)
• 1969: First docking between two manned craft in Earth orbit and exchange of crews, Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5
• 1970: First samples automatically returned to Earth from another body, Luna 16
• 1970: First robotic space rover, Lunokhod 1
• 1970: First data received from the surface of another planet (Venus), Venera 7
• 1971: First space station, Salyut 1
• 1971: First probe to orbit another planet (Mars), first probe to reach surface of Mars, Mars 2
• 1975: First probe to orbit Venus, first photos from surface of Venus, Venera 9
• 1984: First woman to walk in space, Svetlana Savitskaya (Salyut 7 space station)
• 1986: First crew to visit two separate space stations (Mir and Salyut 7)
• 1986: First permanently manned space station, Mir, which orbited the Earth from 1986 until 2001
• 1987: First crew to spend over one year in space, Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov on board of TM-4 - Mir
• 1988: Soviets launched Buran.

- In addition, except for the period following Korolyov's death in 1965 through the end of the Skylab program in 1974, virtually all manned duration records have been set by the Russians, due largely to their Salyut/Mir series of space stations. R-7 with Sputnik 2 The R-7 Semyorka was the worlds first intercontinental ballistic missile and was deployed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War from 1959 to 1968. ... Sputnik 1 (Russian: , Satellite 1) was the first artificial satellite to be put into orbit, on October 4, 1957. ... Laika, in 1957, became the first animal to be launched into orbit, paving the way for human spaceflight. ... Sputnik 2 (Russian: , Satellite 2) was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on November 3, 1957, and the first to carry a living animal - a dog named Laika. ... Luna 1 is the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and the first of the Luna programme of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations successfully launched in the direction of the Moon. ... Telemetry is a technology that allows the remote measurement and reporting of information of interest to the system designer or operator. ... Layers of Atmosphere - not to scale (NOAA)[1] Outer space, also simply called space, refers to the relatively empty regions of the universe outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. ... Luna 1 is the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and the first of the Luna programme of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations successfully launched in the direction of the Moon. ... Luna 1 is the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and the first of the Luna programme of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations successfully launched in the direction of the Moon. ... Apparent magnitude: up to -12. ... Luna 2 (E-1A series) was the second of the Soviet Unions Luna program spacecraft launched in the direction of the Moon. ... Far side of the Moon. ... Luna 3, an automatic interplanetary station of the Luna program, was the third spacecraft successfully launched to the Moon and the first to return images of the lunar far side. ... The Marsnik program of unmanned spacecraft were the Soviet Unions first attempt at interplanetary exploration. ... Venera 1 Venera 1 diagram On February 12, 1961, 00:34:36 UTC, the first planetary probe was launched to Venus by the Soviet Union. ... Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Russian: , Jurij Alekseevič Gagarin; March 9, 1934 – March 27, 1968), Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet cosmonaut who in 1961 became the first person in space and the first human to orbit the Earth. ... Vostok 1 was the first manned space mission. ... The Vostok program (Восто́к, translated as East) was a Soviet human spaceflight project that succeeded in putting a person into Earth orbit for the first time. ... Gherman Titov Gherman Stepanovich Titov (Russian: Герман Степанович Титов; September 11, 1935, Verkhnee Zhilino – September 20, 2000, Moscow) was a Soviet cosmonaut and the second person to orbit the Earth. ... Gherman Titov Vostok 2 was a Soviet space mission which carried cosmonaut Gherman Titov into orbit for a full day in order to study the effects of a more prolonged period of weightlessness on the human body. ... Vostok 3 was a mission in the Soviet space program. ... Vostok 4 was a mission in the Soviet space program. ... A space rendezvous between two spacecraft, often between a spacecraft and a space station, is an orbital maneuver where the two arrive at the same orbit, make the orbital velocities the same, and bring them together (an approach maneuver, taxiing maneuver); it may or may not include docking. ... The orbital plane of an object orbiting another is the geometrical plane in which the orbit is embedded. ... Gemini 6A (officially Gemini VI-A) was a 1965 manned spaceflight in NASAs Gemini program. ... Gemini 7 (officially Gemini VII) was a 1965 manned spaceflight in NASAs Gemini program. ... 1963 USSR postage stamp depicting Valentina Tereshkova Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (Russian: ; born March 6, 1937), is a retired Soviet cosmonaut and was the first woman to fly in space, aboard Vostok 6 on the 16th of June 1963. ... A joint flight with Vostok 5, Vostok 6 carried the first woman into space, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. ... Voskhod 1 (Russian: ) was the first spaceflight to carry more than one person into space and the first flight without space suits. ... Astronaut Bruce McCandless on an untethered EVA Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth and outside of his or her spacecraft. ... General Aleksei Arkhipovich Leonov, Soviet Air Force (Ret. ... Voskhod 2 (Russian: Восход 2) was a Soviet manned space mission. ... (*min temperature refers to cloud tops only) Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 9. ... Venera 3 Venera-3 on-board medal Venera 3 (Russian:Венера-3) was a Venera program space probe that was built and launched by the Soviet Union to explore the surface of Venus. ... Luna 9 (E-6 series), also known as Lunik 9 (internal name E-6 N. 13), was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Unions Luna program. ... Luna 10 was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 10. ... Cosmos 186 incorporated a Soyuz programme descent module for landing scientific instruments and test objects. ... Cosmos 188 incorporated a Soyuz programme descent module for landing scientific instruments and test objects. ... Soyuz 4 launched January 14, 1969. ... The Soyuz 5 was a Soyuz spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union on January 15, 1969 that docked with Soyuz 4 in orbit. ... Luna 16 was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 16. ... Lunokhod series Soviet Moon exploration robot vehicle A panorama shot from Lunokhod 1 A photo from Lunokhod 1 showing the Luna 17 lander The tracks of Lunokhod showing the little wheel in the center that was used for odometry. ... The Venera 7 (Russian: Венера-7) was launched as part of the Venera program by the Soviet Union. ... Salyut 1 (DOS 1) was the first Salyut space station, and the first human-made space station of any kind. ... The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. ... Venera 9 lander Surface of Venus taken by Venera 9 and Venera 10 Venera 9 (Russian: Венера-9) was a USSR unmanned space mission to Venus. ... Astronaut Bruce McCandless on an untethered EVA Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth and outside of his or her spacecraft. ... Svetlana Yevgeniyena Savitskaya - first woman to perform a space-walk Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya (Russian: ; born August 8, 1948, in Moscow, Russia) was a Soviet female cosmonaut who flew the Soyuz T-7 in 1982, becoming the second woman in space some 19 years after Valentina Tereshkova. ... Salyut 7 was launched on April 19, 1982, the last of the Salyut space station program. ... Mir (Мир, which can mean both world and peace in Russian) was a Soviet (and later Russian) orbital station. ... Salyut 7 was launched on April 19, 1982, the last of the Salyut space station program. ... Mir (Мир, which can mean both world and peace in Russian) was a Soviet (and later Russian) orbital station. ... m. ... Adjectives: Terrestrial, Terran, Telluric, Tellurian, Earthly Atmosphere Surface pressure: 101. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Col. ... Musa Khiramanovich Manarov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR on March 22, 1951. ... Mir (Мир, which can mean both world and peace in Russian) was a Soviet (and later Russian) orbital station. ... The Buran spacecraft, serial number 11F35 K1, was the only fully completed and operational space shuttle from the Soviet Unions Buran program. ... Skylab was the first space station the United States launched into orbit. ...

Internal competition

Stamps honouring Sigmund Jähn

Unlike the American Space programme which had NASA as a single coordinating structure directed by former German scientist Wernher von Braun, the USSR's program was split between several competing design groups lead by Sergey Korolyov, Mikhail Yangel, Valentin Glushko and Vladimir Chelomei. Somewhat ironically, the free market and planned economy ideologies favoured by the respective nations were opposite to these organisational approaches. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1925x1179, 300 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1925x1179, 300 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn (born February 13, 1937) was the first German cosmonaut. ... Wernher von Braun stands at his desk in the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama in May 1964, with models of rockets developed and in progress. ... Sergei Korolyov at the Kapustin Yar firing range in 1953. ... Mikhail Yangel (1911-1971) was a leading missile designer in the Soviet Union. ... Valentin Petrovich Glushko (born September 2, 1908 in Odessa, Ukraine, died January 10, 1989) was a Russian engineer and rocketry pioneer. ... Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomei (Влади́мир Никола́евич Челоме́й) (June 30, 1914—December 8, 1984) was a Soviet mechanics scientist and rocket engineer. ... A free market is an idealized market, where all economic decisions and actions by individuals regarding transfer of money, goods, and services are voluntary, and are therefore devoid of coercion and theft (some definitions of coercion are inclusive of theft). Colloquially and loosely, a free market economy is an economy... This box:      A planned economy is an economic system in which a single agency makes all decisions about the production and allocation of goods and services. ...

Following the remarkable successes of Sputniks in 1957-1961 and Vostoks in 1961-1964 Korolyov's OKB-1 design bureau was in the ascent and planned to move forward with the Soyuz craft and N-1 heavy booster that would be the basis of a permanent manned space station and manned exploration of the moon, but Ustinov directed him to focus on near-Earth missions using the very reliable Voskhod spacecraft, a modified Vostok, as well as on interplanetary unmanned missions to nearby planets Venus and Mars. Yangel had been Korolyov's assistant but with the support of the military was given his own design bureau in 1954 to work primarily on the military space program. This had the stronger rocket engine design team including the use of hypergolic fuels but following the Nedelin catastrophe in 1960 Yangel was directed to concentrate on ICBM development. He also continued to develop his own heavy booster designs similar to Korolyov's N-1 both for military applications and for cargo flights into space to build future space stations. Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft approaching the International Space Station Soyuz (Russian: Союз, pronounced sah-YOUS, meaning union) is a series of spacecraft designed by Sergey Korolyov for the Soviet Unions space program. ... Two N1 Moon rockets appear on the pads at Baikonur Cosmodrome in early July 1969. ... The Voskhod (Восход, Voschod, or Wosschod, translated as Rising) was a spacecraft built by the Soviet Unions space program for human spaceflight (see Voskhod programme). ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hypergolic rocket fuels spontaneously ignite when their two components come into contact with each other. ... The R-16 Missile that caused the catastrophe. ...

Glushko was the chief rocket engine designer but had a personal friction with Korolyov and refused to develop the large single chamber cryogenic engines that Korolyov needed to build heavy boosters. Chelomei benefited from the patronage of Khrushchev and in 1960 was given the plum jobs of developing a rocket to send a manned craft around the moon and a manned military space station - but with limited experience his development was slow.

At one stage in the early 1960s the Soviet space program was actively developing 30 projects for launchers and spacecraft. With the fall of Krushchev in 1964 Korolyov was given complete control of the manned space program. Nikita Khrushchev in 1962 Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв) (nih-KEE-tah khroo-SHCHYOFF) (April 17, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ...

After Korolyov

Former Space Pavilion at the All-Soviet Exhibition Centre.

The monument "To the Conquerors of Space" near the All-Soviet Exhibition Centre.

Korolyov died following a routine operation that uncovered colon cancer and from complications from heart disease and severe hemorraging in January 1966 and leadership of the OKB-1 design bureau was given to Vasili Mishin who had the unenviable task of sending a man around the moon in 1967 and landing a man on it in 1968. Mishin lacked Korolyov's political authority and still faced competition from the other chief designers. Under pressure Mishin approved the launch of the ambitious Soyuz 1 flight in 1967 even though the craft had never been successfully tested on an un-manned flight. The mission launched with known design problems and ended a troubled flight by crashing to the ground killing Vladimir Komarov in the first in-flight fatality. Following this disaster and under new pressures Mishin developed a drinking problem. The Soviets were narrowly beaten to sending the first manned flight around the moon in 1968 by Apollo 8, but Mishin pressed ahead with development of the problematic N-1 in the hope that the Americans would have a setback, leaving enough time to make the N-1 workable and land a man on the moon before the Americans. There was a success with the joint flight of Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 in January 1969 that tested the rendezvous, docking and crew transfer techniques that would be used for the landing, and the LK Lander was tested successfully in earth orbit, but after four unmanned test launches of the N-1 ended in failure the heavy booster was abandoned and with it any chance of the Soviets landing personnel on the moon via a single launch. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2566x1897, 442 KB) Photo made by my brother, Alex Zelenko. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2566x1897, 442 KB) Photo made by my brother, Alex Zelenko. ... A gigantic statue over the northern entrance to the VDNKH. The All-Russia Exhibition Centre or All-Russian Exhibition Centre is a permanent general-purpose trade show in Moscow, Russia, initiated in the times of the Soviet Union and known under the name VDNKh. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2101x3121, 1553 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Soviet space program All-Russia Exhibition Centre Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2101x3121, 1553 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Soviet space program All-Russia Exhibition Centre Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital... Monument to the Conquerors of Space Monument To the Conquerors of Space (Russian: ) was erected in Moscow in 1964 to celebrate achievements of the Soviet people in space exploration. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Vasily Mishin Vasily Pavlovich Mishin (born January 18, 1917, died October 10, 2001) was a Soviet engineer and rocketry pioneer. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ... Soyuz 1 (Russian Союз 1, Union 1) was part of the Soviet Unions space program and was launched into orbit on April 23, 1967, carrying a single cosmonaut, Colonel Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov, who was killed when the spacecraft crashed after its return to Earth. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Vladimir Komarov Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov (Russian: Владимир Михайлович Комаров; March 16, 1927 – April 24, 1967) was a Soviet cosmonaut. ... Apollo 8 was the second manned mission of the Apollo space program, in which Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders became the first humans to orbit around the Moon. ... Soyuz 4 launched January 14, 1969. ... The Soyuz 5 was a Soyuz spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union on January 15, 1969 that docked with Soyuz 4 in orbit. ... The LK (Lunniy korabl - lunar craft) was a Soviet lunar lander and counterpart of the American LM Lunar Module. ...

Following this set back Chelomei convinced Ustinov to approve a crash program in 1970 to advance his Almaz military space station as a means of beating the US's announced Skylab. Mishin remained in control of the project that became Salyut but the decision backed by Mishin to fly a three man crew without pressure suits rather than a two man crew with suits to Salyut 1 in 1971 proved fatal when the re-entry capsule depressurized killing the crew on their return to earth. Mishin was removed from many projects with Chelomei regaining control of Salyut. After the experience of working with NASA on the Apollo Soyuz Test Project the Soviet leadership decided a new management approach was needed and in 1974 the N-1 was cancelled and Mishin was dismissed. A single design bureau was created NPO Energia with Glushko as Chief Designer. 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Almaz (Алмаз - Diamond) program was a series of military space stations launched by the Soviet Union under cover of the Salyut program. ... Skylab was the first space station the United States launched into orbit. ... The Salyut (Russian: Салют, Salute or Firework) program was a series of space stations launched by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. ... Salyut 1 (DOS 1) was the first Salyut space station, and the first human-made space station of any kind. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States Government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first joint flight of the US and Soviet space programs. ... S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (also known as RKK Energiya) is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components. ...

Failures

The Soviet program suffered various incidents and set-backs.

The Soviet space program was tied to the central planning of the USSR's five year plans. This made it difficult for the Chief Designers to respond in 1961 to the US launching a crash program for a manned lunar landing as the next five year plan would not start until 1964. Centralised planning and the concentration on production targets also made it difficult for middle management and engineers to highlight defects in equipment leading to poor quality control.

The Soviet space program produced the first cosmonaut fatality on March 23, 1961 when Valentin Bondarenko died in a fire within a low pressure, high oxygen atmosphere. March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (83rd in leap years). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Valentin Vasiliyevich Bondarenko (February 16, 1937 in Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR - March 23, 1961 in Moscow, USSR ) was a Soviet cosmonaut of Ukrainian descent. ...

The Voskhod program was cancelled after two manned flights due to the change of Soviet leadership and the near fatality of the second mission. Had the planned further flights gone ahead they could have given the Soviet space program further 'firsts' including a long duration flight of 20 days, a spacewalk by a woman and an untethered spacewalk. The Voskhod programme (Восход, translated as Sunrise) was a Soviet human spaceflight project. ...

The deaths of Korolyov (heart attack), Komarov (in the Soyuz 1 crash) and Gagarin (on routine fighter jet mission) within two years of each other understandably made some negative impact on the Soviet program. Soyuz 1 (Russian Союз 1, Union 1) was part of the Soviet Unions space program and was launched into orbit on April 23, 1967, carrying a single cosmonaut, Colonel Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov, who was killed when the spacecraft crashed after its return to Earth. ... Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Russian: , Jurij Alekseevič Gagarin; March 9, 1934 – March 27, 1968), Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet cosmonaut who in 1961 became the first person in space and the first human to orbit the Earth. ...

The Soviets continued striving for the first lunar mission with the huge N-1 rocket which exploded on each of four unmanned tests. The Americans won the race to land on the moon with Apollo 11 in July, 1969. Two N1 Moon rockets appear on the pads at Baikonur Cosmodrome in early July 1969. ... Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. ...

On April 5, 1975, the second stage of a Soyuz rocket carrying 2 cosmonauts to the Salyut 4 space station malfunctioned, resulting in the first manned launch abort. The cosmonauts were carried several thousand miles downrange and became worried that they would land in China, which the Soviet Union was then having difficult relations with. The capsule hit a mountain, sliding down a slope and almost slid off a cliff; fortunately the parachute lines snagged on trees and kept this from happening. As it was, the two suffered severe injuries and the commander, Lazerev, never flew again. April 5 is the 95th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (96th in leap years). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Salyut 4 (DOS 4) was a Salyut space station launched on December 26, 1974 into an orbit with an apogee of 355 km, a perigee of 343 km and an orbital inclination of 51. ... The International Space Station in 2006 Computer-generated image of the completed International Space Station A space station is an artificial structure designed for humans to live in outer space. ...

On March 18, 1980 a Vostok rocket exploded on its launch pad during a fueling operation killing 48 people. March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... The Vostok rocket (Russian Восток, translated as East) was a derivative of the Soviet R-7 ICBM designed for the human spaceflight programme but later used for other satellite launches. ...

In September 1983, a Soyuz rocket being launched to carry cosmonauts to the Salyut 7 space station exploded on the pad, causing the Soyuz capsule's abort system to engage, saving the two cosmonauts on board. Salyut 7 was launched on April 19, 1982, the last of the Salyut space station program. ...

The Soviet space program produced the Space Shuttle Buran based on the Energia launcher. Energia would be used as the base for a manned Mars mission. Buran was intended to operate in support of large space based military platforms as a response first to the US Space Shuttle and then the Strategic Defense Initiative. By the time the system was operational, in 1988, strategic arms reduction treaties and the end of the Cold War made Buran redundant. Several vehicles were built, but only one flew an unmanned test flight; it was found too expensive to operate as a civilian launcher. The Shuttle Buran, serial number 11F35 K1, was the only space shuttle to come out of the Shuttle Buran program that was completed. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), commonly called Star Wars after the popular science fiction movies of the time, was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983[1] to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic...

See also the complete list of space disasters. Test pilot Stuart Present ejects safely from the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle. ...

Projects

Buran-Energia on the launch pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The Soviet space program has undertaken a number of projects, including: Image File history File links public domain image from NASA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links public domain image from NASA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Shuttle Buran, serial number 11F35 K1, was the only space shuttle to come out of the Shuttle Buran program that was completed. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Map showing the location of Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan The Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakh: Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, Bayqoñır ğarış aylağı; Russian: Космодром Байконур, Kosmodrom Baykonur), also called Tyuratam, is the worlds oldest and largest operational space launch facility. ...

• Almaz space stations
• Buran shuttle
• Cosmos (satellite) satellites
• Energia
• Foton
• N1-L3 Manned Moon landing program
• Luna Moon probe program
• Mars probe program
• Meteor meteorological satellites
• Molniya communications satellites
• Mir space station
• Proton satellite satellites
• Salyut space stations
• Soyuz programme
• Sputnik program satellites
• TKS spacecraft spacecraft
• Tsicada navigation satellites
• Venera Venus probes program
• Vostok programme spacecraft
• Voskhod programme spacecraft
• Zond program

The Almaz (Алмаз - Diamond) program was a series of military space stations launched by the Soviet Union under cover of the Salyut program. ... The Shuttle Buran, serial number 11F35 K1, was the only space shuttle to come out of the Shuttle Buran program that was completed. ... Cosmos is name of a series of satellites which were launched by the Soviet Union and are being launched now by Russia. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Foton (or Photon) is the project name of two series of Russian science satellite programs. ... Proton-K rocket with Zond (7K-L1) circumlunar spacecraft (Baikonur) Details of the Soviet Moonshot were kept intensely secret until the arrival of glasnost. ... The Luna programme was a series of 24 unmanned space missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. ... The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. ... The Meteor craft are weather observation satellites launched by the USSR. The Meteor satellites were designed to monitor atmospheric and sea-surface temperatures, humidity, radiation, sea ice conditions, snow-cover, and clouds. ... Molniya 1 Molniya (lightning) was a military communications satellite system used by the Soviet Union. ... Mir (Мир, which can mean both world and peace in Russian) was a Soviet (and later Russian) orbital station. ... Proton was a model of Soviet scientific artificial satellites. ... The Salyut (Russian: Салют, Salute or Firework) program was a series of space stations launched by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. ... The Soyuz human spaceflight programme was initiated in the early 1960s as part of the manned lunar programme that was intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. ... Sputnik 1 USSR postage stamp depicting Sputnik 1 The Sputnik program was a series of unmanned space missions launched by the Soviet Union in the late 1950s to demonstrate the viability of artificial satellites. ... The TKS spacecraft was first designed as a Proton rocket launched manned spacecraft, with the VA (Vozvrashaemiy Apparat) capsule on top for the crew, where they would enter the lower portion of the TKS, the FGB (the Functional Cargo Block), through a hatch cut in the heat shield. ... Venera 7 lander Color image taken from the surface of Venus by the Soviet Venera 13 lander The Venera (Russian: Венера; formerly, sometimes referred to as Venusik in the West) series of probes was developed by the USSR to gather data from Venus. ... The Vostok program (Восто́к, translated as East) was a Soviet human spaceflight project that succeeded in putting a person into Earth orbit for the first time. ... Image:Woschod 1 Montage. ... The name Zond (meaning probe in Russian) is the name given to two series of Soviet unmanned space missions from 1964 to 1970 to gather information about nearby planets and test spacecraft. ...

See also

• Kerim Kerimov
• cosmonaut
• Yuri Gagarin
• Laika
• Russian space dogs
• Sergey Korolyov
• N1-L3 Manned Moon Landing

Kerim Kerimov Kerim Aliyevich Kerimov (Kərim Əli oĝlu Kərimov) (1917 – 2003) was Soviet rocket scientist, one of the founders of the Soviet space industry, and for many years a central figure in the Soviet space program. ... U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit. ... Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Russian: , Jurij Alekseevič Gagarin; March 9, 1934 – March 27, 1968), Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet cosmonaut who in 1961 became the first person in space and the first human to orbit the Earth. ... Laika, in 1957, became the first animal to be launched into orbit, paving the way for human spaceflight. ... Belka and Strelka orbited the Earth and returned safely on Korabl-Sputnik-5 During the 1950s and 1960s the USSR used a number of dogs for sub-orbital and orbital space flights to determine whether human spaceflight was feasible. ... Sergei Korolyov at the Kapustin Yar firing range in 1953. ... Proton-K rocket with Zond (7K-L1) circumlunar spacecraft (Baikonur) Details of the Soviet Moonshot were kept intensely secret until the arrival of glasnost. ...

External links

• Russian Space Web
• Soviet Space Web
• Soviet Exploration of Venus
• PBS Red Files
• Korolev, Mastermind of the Soviet Space Program
• Cosmos Family
• Soviet manned lunar program
• Russian Space Program
• The Cosmonautics Memorial Museum in Moscow

v • d • e Soviet (to 1991) and Russian government manned space programs
Active:	Soyuz - ISS (joint)
In Development:	Kliper
Past	Vostok, Voskhod, Salyut, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (joint), Mir, Shuttle-Mir Program (joint)
Cancelled	Zond (lunar Soyuz 7K-L1) - N1-L3 (Moon landing program) - Spiral - Almaz (incorporated into Salyut program) / TKS spacecraft - Energia / Buran