Sixty years ago, the Soviet Union was significantly ahead of the United States in the space race. However, soon after that, everything changed due to one important event.
In 2024, not only in the United States, but all over the world, the inhabitants of the Earth celebrated the 55th anniversary of the culminating event of the space race - the flight of a man to the Moon and his safe return to Earth. On July 20, 1969, humanity realized its dream, which arose long before the advent of our civilization: people finally set foot on another planet. A man walked on the surface of the Moon, which is about 380 thousand kilometers from the Earth. From 1969 to 1972, a total of twelve American astronauts landed on the moon. This is the first and only time humans have set foot on a solid surface outside of our planet.
Most earthlings believed that the Soviet Union would be the first to do this, because the Soviets had previously led in space: the first satellite, the first manned space flight, the first man in Earth orbit, the first woman in space, the first spacewalk, the first landers on another planet, and much more. After the terrible fire of the Apollo 1 spacecraft, everything seemed to be a foregone conclusion: the USSR would be the first to set foot on the moon. However, they didn't even come close to that. Why did this happen? The answer lies in a man most people have probably never heard of, Sergei Korolev. That's what each of us should know about him.
Long before humanity managed to overcome the Earth's gravity, there were only a few scientists in the world who were working on the creation of a new scientific field called "theoretical cosmonautics." Despite the fact that it had a lot in common with conventional aeronautics, which was based on Newtonian physics, along with the idea of traveling into space, additional limitations and concerns appeared in the new field. Indeed, unlike flights in the Earth's atmosphere, space flight entailed the following problems::
- the need to create fuel that could propel a spacecraft in the absence of the Earth's atmosphere;
- the ability of a spacecraft to continuously accelerate over long periods of time;
- the need to create materials that would ensure the safety of astronauts and equipment at all temperatures and pressure fluctuations during flight;
- the need for protection from solar and cosmic radiation, as well as deep space vacuum;
- solving the problem of increasing the payload with fuel and mass limitations of the rocket.
At the initial stage, only theorists participated in solving all the above problems. At the beginning of the 20th century, we can identify several pioneers. These are Robert Goddard, who created and launched the first liquid-fueled rocket; Robert Esnault-Pelterie, who began by designing airplanes and aircraft engines, but later, switching to rocket technology, began to develop the theory of missile maneuvering; and Hermann Oberth, who He launched rockets, built rocket engines, liquid-fueled rockets, and was a mentor to the young Wernher von Braun.
However, the predecessor of all of them was Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who was the first to establish the fundamental relationship between rocket fuel consumption, mass, thrust and acceleration. In comparison with the works of other thinkers, Tsiolkovsky's early works had perhaps the greatest impact on the further conduct of space flights and space exploration. Goddard was American, Esnault-Peltry was French, and Aubert was German. Tsiolkovsky, on the other hand, lived all his life in Moscow and its environs; first he lived in Russia, and after the October Revolution in the Soviet Union (or USSR).
Tsiolkovsky died in 1935, but left behind a legacy of lasting scientific significance, especially for Russian scientists. Sergei Korolev was an experimental pioneer who embodied Tsiolkovsky's ideas; he dreamed of going to Mars and in 1933 launched the first Soviet liquid-fueled rocket, as well as the first rocket with a hybrid engine. However, in 1938, he became a victim of Stalinist repression. Korolev was imprisoned in the Gulag, where he had to spend most of the Second World War until 1944.
After the end of World War II, the space programs of the USA and the USSR were expanded by involving captured German scientists. The United States managed to get most of the leading German specialists at that time, as well as a large number of V-2 missiles. But the Soviet Union also received many documents from Germany, including drawings from the V-2 production sites. In addition, the influential scientist Helmut Grettrup was also relocated to the USSR. At the same time, Tsiolkovsky's legacy gave the Soviets, unlike the United States, an initial advantage.
As a result, the combination of German V-2 technology, Tsiolkovsky's theoretical work, and Korolev's intellectual powers and imagination proved to be an amazing recipe for Soviet success in space exploration. Korolev's career after his release from the GULAG was simply meteoric.
In 1945, Korolev was drafted into the Red Army with the rank of colonel, and there he immediately began developing rocket engines. In the same year, he was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor and sent to Germany to help reproduce the technology of the V-2 rocket. In 1946, Korolev was appointed head of a group of German specialists, which included Grettrup; they were tasked with developing a national rocket program. Korolev was appointed chief designer of long-range missiles, and by 1947 his group was able to launch R-1 missiles, which were exactly the same as the German V-2.
Of course, the United States was doing something very similar. For example, in the late 1940s, the United States also launched V-2 missiles from the White Sands missile range in New Mexico, fully relying on the post-war developments of the Germans. But starting in 1947, the Korolev group began to work on improving and improving the design of the Soviet R-1 missiles. This led to an increase in their flight range and the introduction of separate stages that could easily be used as warheads.
By 1949, the Soviets were launching the R-2 missiles developed by Korolev, which, compared with the original versions of the V-2, were characterized by a doubled range and improved accuracy. Meanwhile, Korolev was already thinking about further developments. Back in 1947, he proposed a completely new design for the R-3 rocket with a range of three thousand kilometers: it was quite enough to fly from Moscow to Great Britain.
Under Korolev's leadership, work on improving rocket technology proceeded at a rapid pace. In 1957, the Soviets successfully test-launched the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile, the R-7 ("Seven"). It was two—stage, with a maximum range of seven thousand kilometers and a payload of 5.4 tons. That would be enough to launch a Soviet atomic bomb from St. Petersburg and hit New York City.
These achievements contributed to Korolev's widespread fame in the Soviet Union. He was fully rehabilitated, and he began to advocate the use of the R-7 to launch space satellites. The Communist Party met this proposal with almost no interest. However, as soon as the American media began discussing the issue of investing millions of dollars in the launch of a satellite, Korolev took his chance. As a result, the design, creation and launch of Sputnik-1 took less than a month.
The space age officially began on October 4, 1957. Korolev rockets helped humanity to enter Earth orbit, overcoming the earth's gravity. At first, Khrushchev was a little bored watching Korolev's missile launches. However, the worldwide recognition of the designer's achievements was too great to continue to ignore them in the international sphere. Less than a month later, Sputnik-2 (six times heavier than Sputnik-1) was launched, with the help of which the dog Laika was in orbit.
Sputnik 2, launched in May 1958, demonstrated the capabilities of the Soviet space program. It was an apparatus of complex design, equipped with scientific instruments and a primitive recording device. However, Korolev set his sights on a larger target, the moon. Having initially decided to use the R-7 rocket for cargo delivery, Korolev modified the upper stage of the rocket to optimize it for the conditions of outer space. It was the first rocket designed for such a purpose.
Despite the enormous lack of funding, time constraints and the inability to test the equipment before launch, Korolev was determined to launch a rocket with a payload to the Moon. On January 2, 1959, the Luna-1 spacecraft went to the surface of the satellite, but instead of colliding with it, according to the plan, it flew past (it missed by less than six thousand kilometers). On September 14, 1959, Luna-2 achieved success and became the world's first artificial object to reach the moon.
Less than a month later, Luna 3 took the first photo of the far side of the moon. In the field of space exploration, the USSR was reaching new heights, and the United States was striving to keep up. Korolev's achievements set an example, and his dreams became more ambitious. He aimed for his spacecraft to make the first soft landing on the moon; in addition, he also set his sights on Mars and Venus. But still, his biggest dream was to fly a man into space and the very possibility of getting people to where his rockets flew.
Starting in 1958, Korolev began conducting research as part of the Soviet Vostok spacecraft project. He began developing a fully automated lander that could accommodate a man in a spacesuit. By May 1960, an unmanned prototype was launched, which circled the Earth sixty-four times. On August 19, 1960, two dogs, Belka and Strelka, went into low Earth orbit, after which both successfully returned. This was the first time that a living being was launched into space and then returned. And on April 12, 1961, the R-7 rocket, modified by Korolev, went into space with Yuri Gagarin, the first person to overcome the force of gravity, and, moreover, the first person to find himself in low—Earth orbit. The repeated flights of Vostok, carried out under the supervision of Korolev (he coordinated the work of the descent vehicle), included the implementation of the first communication system between spacecraft and their rendezvous, as well as the sending into space of the first female cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova.
Korolev then began work on the Voskhod program, the ultimate goal of which was to send several astronauts into space and eventually to the moon. Back in 1961, Korolev began designing the N-1 superheavy class launch vehicle, which was powered by an NK-15 liquid engine; this rocket was the same scale as the Saturn-5. The N-1 rocket could accommodate a crew of three, and it could make a soft landing upon return — in short, the USSR was ready to take the next step in the space race.
On October 12, 1964, a crew of three Soviet cosmonauts (Vladimir Komarov, Boris Egorov, and Konstantin Feoktistov) made sixteen orbits around the Earth aboard Voskhod 1. Five months later, Alexey Leonov performed the first spacewalk in the history of mankind aboard Vostok-2. The next step was to reach the moon, and Korolev was ready for that. After Khrushchev's resignation in 1964, Korolev was appointed sole responsible for the manned space program, which included a landing on the moon in October 1967. This event was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It would seem that the goal is quite achievable.
Korolev began designing the Soyuz spacecraft, designed to deliver crews to the Moon, as well as the Luna spacecraft with the possibility of a soft landing on the surface of the satellite. In addition, he thought about flights to Mars and Venus. Korolev also sought to fulfill Tsiolkovsky's dream of delivering humans to Mars and planned to create closed-loop life support systems, electric rocket engines and orbiting space stations that would be used as interplanetary launch pads.
But this was not to be: on January 5, 1966, Korolev was hospitalized for elective intestinal surgery. Nine days later, according to doctors, he died from complications caused by colon cancer; however, many still see some kind of trick in this. Without Korolev as chief designer in the USSR, everything quickly went downhill. During his lifetime, Korolev managed to stop attempts at interference from various competing rocket designers, including Mikhail Yangel, Vladimir Chelomey and Valentin Glushko. However, the managerial vacuum that arose after his death proved to be extremely disastrous.
Vasily Mishin was chosen as Korolev's successor, and disaster immediately followed. No, no, the goals of the space program for sending humans into lunar orbit in 1967 and further landing on the Moon in 1968 have not changed much. To achieve these goals, Mishin was under enormous pressure — in this sense, any failure was unacceptable. On April 23, 1967, Soyuz-1 was launched with Komarov on board, the first manned flight after Korolev's death.
Despite the 203 design flaws reported by the project's engineers, the launch nevertheless took place, and malfunctions immediately began to occur. At first, one solar panel did not open, as a result, there was a shortage of electricity on the ship. Then the orientation sensors failed, the automatic stabilization system failed, and due to a thunderstorm, the launch of Soyuz-2, which was supposed to dock with Soyuz-1, was canceled. Komarov's report on the 13th orbit led to the cancellation of the flight; after 5 orbits (about 7 hours), Soyuz-1 started its braking engines and entered the Earth's atmosphere. However, the parachute did not open due to malfunctions, and the reserve parachute, manually activated by Komarov, also could not open due to tangled slings.
The first flight under the leadership of Korolev's successor ended in the worst disaster imaginable. This was the first human death in the history of all space programs. And this case was not an isolated one, as the subsequent failures suddenly became the norm. Gagarin, the first man to fly into space, tragically died during a test flight in 1968. Mishin began having alcohol problems, which coincided with the numerous failures and explosions of the N-1 rockets that plagued the Soviet space program throughout 1969. Rare positive cases began to occur in January 1969, when the crew managed to rendezvous, dock and transfer from one Soyuz spacecraft to another.
However, Korolev's death and the failures of his successors are the real reason that the USSR lost its leadership in the space race, and later failed to achieve the goal of landing people on the moon. In the 1970s, the Soviet space program implemented smaller missions, such as the creation of the first robotic lunar rover, as well as the first automatic landings on Mars and Venus, but the main prize had already been missed. If it had not been for the unexpected deterioration of Korolev's health and his death at a critical moment, it is quite possible that history would have followed a different path. Ultimately, the presence of a bright, competent leader (or lack thereof) can be a decisive factor in success or failure.
The author of the article: Ethan Siegel.
