Soviet propaganda myth: Gagarin was not the first in space. Who was the first to fly into space?

Who are they - the first people in space? The second half of the twentieth century is significant for many events. One of the most grandiose was the discovery of outer space by man. The Soviet Union played a leading role in this qualitative leap that humanity made when it began to explore space. Despite the strong rivalry between the leading powers of the world, the USSR and the USA, the first people in space were from Soviet Union, which caused bouts of impotent anger in the rival country.

1961

The twelfth of April 1961 is a date that is known to any schoolchild. On this day, a man flew into space for the first time. It was then that all the people of Earth learned from the astronaut that our planet is really round. It was then, on April 12, that the first man visited space. The year 1961 will forever go down in the history of earthlings.

In those years, there was fierce rivalry between the USSR and the USA. Both there and there actively sought to explore outer space. The United States was also preparing to fly into space. But it so happened that the first cosmonaut to fly was from the Soviet Union. It turned out to be Yuri Gagarin. Experiments had already been carried out before, and dogs, the famous Belka and Strelka, flew into space, but not humans. The whole world applauded the first cosmonaut, despite all the US attempts to reduce the significance of his flight.

How it was

The Vostok-1 spacecraft launched at 9:07 a.m. from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, with Yuri Gagarin on board. His flight did not last long, only 108 minutes. This is not to say that it was completely smooth. Communication failures occurred during the flight; the leakage sensor, which prevented the unit compartment from being disconnected, did not work; there was also a jamming of the spacesuit.

But the optimism of the astronaut and the technology as a whole did not disappoint. He landed, catapulting to Earth. But due to a malfunction in the braking system, the device descended not in the planned area (110 kilometers from Stalingrad), but in Saratov, not far from the city of Engels.

It is because of this that the US for a long time tried to impose on the world their opinion that the flight could not be called complete. However, the attempts were unsuccessful. Gagarin was greeted in many countries as a hero. He was awarded a huge number of various awards in different countries peace.

Yuri Gagarin: short biography

He was born on March 9, 1934 in the village of Klushino, Gzhatsky district (currently Gagarinsky district, Smolensk region) into a simple peasant family. There he survived a year and a half of occupation by fascist troops, when the entire family was kicked out of the house and was forced to huddle in a dugout. At this time, the boy did not study, and only after the liberation by the Red Army did school resume. Gagarin graduated with honors from a vocational school and entered the Saratov Industrial College. In 1954, he first came to the Saratov flying club, and in 1955, after graduating, he made his first flight. There were subsequently 196 in total.

He then graduated from the military aviation school and served as a fighter pilot. And in 1959, he wrote an application to be included in the group of astronaut candidates.

Yuri Gagarin passed away very early, at the age of 34. But during his short life, he left a great memory of himself in the hearts of many people, who remembered him as the person who first visited extraterrestrial space.

After Yuri Gagarin's flight, this direction began to develop at an even more active pace. Man and space beckoned each other with new strength. Scientists are now eager for a woman to visit there. Perseverance and intelligence helped the fair sex Valentina Tereshkova. On June 16, 1963, having launched on the Vostok-6 spacecraft, the first woman visited space, and has since become famous throughout the world.

Valentina Tereshkova: short biography

She was born on March 6, 1937 in the Tutaevsky district Yaroslavl region V ordinary family. Her father was a tractor driver and died at the front, and her mother worked at a weaving factory. In 1953, Valya graduated from seven classes and got a job as a bracelet maker at a Yaroslavl factory. At the same time, she received her education at evening school. In 1959, young Tereshkova began to study parachuting and made about a hundred jumps.

She cast her lot in with astronautics in 1962, when it was decided to send a woman into space. Out of many applicants, only five candidates were selected. After joining the cosmonaut squad, Valentina began intensive training and education. And a year later, she was chosen for the flight.

The first astronaut in open space

He was the first to leave the spacecraft into open extraterrestrial space. It was March 18, 1965. At that time, no rescue systems were provided for astronauts. It was impossible to dock or move from one ship to another. One could only rely on himself and the equipment that flew with him. Alexey Arkhipovich decided to do this, thereby realizing the dream of the legendary Tsiolkovsky, who proposed using an airlock chamber to go into outer space.

And again the USSR was ahead of the USA. They also wanted to implement this. But the first man in space was carried out by a Soviet man.

How it was

At first they wanted to send the animal into open space, but later abandoned this idea. After all the main task The problem, which consists in finding out how a person will behave in space, would not have been solved. In addition, the animal would not be able to tell about its impressions later.

There were various assumptions on the lips of the public regarding the entry of man into open extraterrestrial space. And, despite the fact that the first people had already been in space, no one had exact confidence in how a person would behave outside the ship.

The crew composition was selected most carefully. In addition to excellent physical data, coherence and teamwork of the entire team was required. Belyaev and Leonov became cosmonauts, two people who complement each other in their qualities. The astronaut stayed overboard for twelve minutes, during which he flew away from the ship and returned back five times. The problem arose when he needed to return to the cockpit. The suit in the vacuum swelled so much that he could not squeeze into the hatch. After a number of unsuccessful attempts, Leonov decided, contrary to instructions, to swim inside with his head and not his feet. He succeeded.

Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov: short biography

He was born on May 30, 1934 in a Siberian village, near the city of Kemerovo. His father was a miner, and his mother was a teacher.

Alexey grew up in large family and was the ninth child. Even at his school desk, he began to become interested in aviation technology, and after high school entered pilot school. Then he graduated from fighter pilot school. And in 1960, having passed a strict selection process, he was enrolled as an astronaut.

Leonov carried out his flight in 1965. From 1967 to 1970, he led the lunar group of astronauts. In 1973, he was selected for a joint flight with US astronauts, when spacecraft docked for the first time in history.

Alexey Leonov is an international member of the astronaut corps, an academician of the RAA and co-chairman of the association of space flight participants.

Man and space

Touching on the topic of space, one cannot fail to mention such people as S. P. Korolev and K. E. Tsiolkovsky. They are not the first people in space and have never been there. However, largely thanks to their efforts and labors, man still achieved it.

Sergei Pavlovich - creator of the rocket and space mission It was on his initiative that the first artificial satellite Earth and Vostok-1 with Yuri Gagarin on board. When a photo of Sergei Pavlovich was found in his jacket.

Konstantin Eduardovich is a self-taught scientist, considered the founder of theoretical cosmonautics. He is the author of many scientific and science fiction works, and promoted the ideas of space exploration.

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.

The history of space exploration is the most a shining example the exultation of the 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 spacecraft 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 spacecraft 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, the Soviet Union won the space race with the United States.

The first manned flight into space: the most interesting things

A simple Soviet guy, Yuri Gagarin, accomplished a real feat, it was he who accomplished 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.

The first rocket in space was a significant breakthrough in the study and development of astronautics. Sputnik was launched in 1957 on October 4. He was involved in the design and development of the first satellite, and it was he who became the main observer and researcher of the first step towards conquering extraterrestrial peaks. The next one was the Vostok spacecraft, which sent the Luna-1 station into lunar orbit. It was launched into space on January 2, 1959, but control problems did not allow the carrier to land on the surface of a celestial body.

First launches: animals and people in space exploration

The study of outer space and the capabilities of aircraft also took place with the help of animals. The first dogs in space - Belka and Strelka. They were the ones who went into orbit and returned safe and sound. Next, launches were carried out with monkeys, dogs, and rats. The main objective of such flights was to study biological changes after spending a certain time in space and the possibilities of adaptation to weightlessness. Such preparation was able to ensure the successful first-ever human space flight.

Vostok-1

The first cosmonaut flew into space on April 12, 1961. And the first ship in space that could be piloted by an astronaut was Vostok-1. The device was initially equipped with automatic control, but if necessary, the pilot can switch to manual coordination mode. The first flight around the earth ended after 1 hour and 48 minutes. And the news of the first man's flight into space instantly spread throughout the globe.

Development of the field: man outside the apparatus

The first human flight into space was the main impetus for the active development and improvement of technology. A new stage was the desire for the pilot himself to exit the ship. Another 4 years were spent on research and development. As a result, 1965 was marked important event in the world of astronautics.

The first person to go into space, Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov, left the ship on March 18. He stayed outside aircraft 12 minutes and 9 seconds. This allowed the researchers to draw new conclusions and begin to improve projects and improve spacesuits. And the first photo in space graced the pages of both Soviet and foreign newspapers.

Subsequent development of astronautics

Svetlana Savitskaya

Research in the area continued long years, and on July 25, 1984, the first spacewalk was carried out by a woman. Svetlana Savitskaya went into space at the Salyut-7 station, but after that she did not take part in such flights. They, together with Valentina Tereshkova (who flew in 1963), became the first women in space.

After lengthy research, more frequent flights and longer stays in extraterrestrial space became possible. The first cosmonaut to go into space, who became the record holder for the time spent outside the spacecraft, is Anatoly Solovyov. Over the entire period of work in the field of astronautics, he carried out 16 exits to open space, and their cumulative length of stay was 82 hours and 21 minutes.

Despite further progress in the conquest of extraterrestrial spaces, the date of the first flight into space became a holiday on the territory of the USSR. In addition, April 12 became the international day of the first flight. The descent module from the Vostok-1 spacecraft is stored in the museum of the Energia Corporation named after S.P. Queen. Also preserved are newspapers of that time, and even stuffed Belka and Strelka. The memory of achievements is stored and studied by new generations. Therefore, the answer to the question: “Who was the first to fly into space?” every adult and every schoolchild knows.

the first successful human flight into space, Yuri Gagarin - he said “Let’s go”

History of astronautics, first flights into space. Who flew into space before Gagarin. First flights into space- territories of cold and weightlessness, and a world of great secrets. April 12, the official holiday of astronautics, in honor of Yuri Gagarin's first flight.

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, a cosmonaut of the Soviet Union, accomplished first manned space flight, lasting 108 minutes. It was a huge success. A colossal step in the exploration of outer space.

It was a time of great achievements by Soviet scientists. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin makes a manned flight into space in Earth orbit! The whole country rejoiced and celebrated!

This is how it was remembered in the history of space exploration….

Yu. Gagarin's flight into space was extremely important for the Union, because there was a race for space conquests between two superpowers, the USSR and the USA. And it was necessary to prove to the whole world that only in the Union is everything most advanced, and only under the control of the Communist Party are great things accomplished.

But before the first cosmonaut made a historic flight, animals were the first to go into space. These are world famous dogs, Belka and Strelka. Having made the first orbital flight around the Earth, and having spent a day in weightlessness. But as academician Oleg Georgievich Gazenko, an employee of a special laboratory at the Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine, says, they were not the first to go into space.

— In 1948, the special laboratory was tasked with preparing dogs for space flights. To do this, animals were caught on the streets, selecting 4-5 kilograms by weight. And already in 1951 we began work in earnest. These are multi-level training systems - getting dogs used to wearing a vest with sensors for reading bioparameters.

Accustom them to the cramped cabin of a ship so that the animals do not develop the fear of claustrophobia. Almost all kinds of tests that could be foreseen during the launch and flight of a rocket in space, of course, except for the conditions of weightlessness. It was weightlessness that worried scientists a lot about what its effect on the body would be. The experimental animals answered this question.

But before the successful flight of Belka and Strelka, many will remember that Laika was sent into orbit in 1957. Preparations for this flight took 10 years. But the artificial satellite was not equipped with a system for returning to Earth, and the dog died.

And the dogs Gypsy and Desik were the first to go into space, albeit on a high-altitude rocket, but the dogs’ flight was successful, and they returned safely to Earth. Oleg Georgievich remembers the dog Zhulka, who went to space three times. This is a little-known, white and fluffy heroine of astronautics. Twice she successfully launched into space on high-altitude rockets. For the third time, Zhulka went into orbit in December 1960, on a ship that was the predecessor of Gagarin’s spacecraft.

But this time, she faced many dangers. Due to technical equipment failures, the ship does not reach orbit. In this case, the destruction of the ship was prescribed. But again there is a misfire in the operation of the systems, and the ship does not explode. And the satellite falls to Earth, in the vastness of Siberia, in the Podkamennaya Tunguska region. It took two days for the rescue team to reach the fallen vehicle.

All this time, Zhulka, who survived all the vicissitudes of the fall of the spacecraft, was in the cold, without food or drink. But she survived, and was then “written off” from the space program participants. Oleg Georgievich took pity on the brave astronaut and took the dog to his home, where Zhulka lived for about 14 more years.

It must be said that not only dogs and mice, but even turtles have been in space. By the way, little known fact, but it was the turtles who were the first to fly around the Moon, on the Soviet Zond-5 apparatus. The turtles returned safely to Earth after splashing down in the Indian Ocean.

And just before the flight of Senior Lieutenant Gagarin, a dog named Zvezdochka went into space. All future cosmonauts were invited to the launch of the spacecraft in March 1961, with Zvezdochka on board. To see and be convinced, the development of space technology allows a person to make a safe flight into space. Yuri Gagarin, whose successful flight took place in April, was also present.

During this flight, Senior Lieutenant Gagarin uttered the word known to several generations of earthlings: “ Go". Gagarin landed when he was already a major. Some people even now express doubts whether Yuri himself said “ Go“, or it was “necessary”. — But is this important for the history of astronautics? I think not.

Some researchers, looking closely at the history of Soviet cosmonautics, talk about other cosmonauts. Who allegedly went into space before Gagarin, but died during unsuccessful launches, burning up in spaceships.

According to researchers, archival documents hide the names and faces of people who will never see the spotlight. These are people who flew into space even before Gagarin. They were the pioneers, the first people to overcome the gravity of the Earth.

But the names of the first cosmonauts who searched for the paths of space roads do not appear among the names of astronauts. They died in spacecraft searching for a way into orbit. And unsuccessful launches space rockets They are not needed for history, just like people. — the researchers say.

Of course, I’m going to get ahead a little now, but I want to immediately state the official point of view on this issue. Both officials and historians.

Here's what A. Pervushin said about it: “Perhaps the secrecy surrounding the space program is not entirely justified. And it gave rise to many rumors and speculations. But in the history of Soviet cosmonautics there are no hidden corpses and never have existed.” And he calls it “the fruit of a wild fantasy generated strict regime secrecy" and also - "no matter how cynical it may sound, but the interest was not in the successful return of the astronaut - this did not matter, in the conditions of the race the main thing was to declare one’s own priority«

Historians also talk about this. As already mentioned, in the space race with the Americans, it was very important that the Soviet cosmonaut be the first to fly into space. As an example refuting unknown flights, a document of the CPSU Central Committee is given, signed 9 days before Gagarin’s launch, on April 3, 1961. The document ordered the preparation of two TASS messages about the launch of a manned spacecraft.

One of them was laudatory about the successful launch Soviet ship with a pilot on board, and a great achievement for the USSR. Another message was about the death of Gagarin. That is, there was no concealment of information whatever the outcome of the flight. According to historians allowed to study the documents, the surnames of the often mentioned dead cosmonauts Ledovsky, Shiborin, Mitkov and Gromov did not exist in reality; these were fictitious names by someone unknown. In any case, according to historians, there was no connection with the people behind these names.

The story of the dead cosmonauts who allegedly made the first flights into space before Gagarin.

We should probably start with famous photograph on the cover of Ogonyok magazine, October 1959. The image shows five people, Kachura, Mikhailov, Zavadovsky, Belokonev, Grachev, testers from the Institute of Space Medicine. In the photo they are wearing pressure helmets, and many decided that these were the future cosmonauts. However, their surnames are not found among the names of astronauts. And the Western press puts forward the version that they died during the first flights into space.

Allegedly, cosmonauts Grachev and Belokonev went into space in September 1961 with the goal of circumnavigating the Moon in a two-seater spacecraft. According to journalists (in particular the Western press), a breakdown occurs on the ship, and the astronauts cannot return. A ship with astronauts on board, having lost control, turns into a space wanderer, getting lost in the cold depths of space. — Tragic story death.

However, at that time, space technology did not allow manned flights to the Moon. Otherwise, the USSR would have defeated the USA in the exploration of the Moon. But this does not bother journalists, the main thing is more smoke on the territory of the ideological enemy. The death of Gennady Mikhailov was completely timed to coincide with the unsuccessful launch of an automatic Venus probe. On February 4, 1961, the launch of the station was unsuccessful due to an accident in the upper stage, automatic station“stuck” in low-Earth orbit.

True, sometimes there are records that Kachura died this way. But the station was unmanned, fully automatic. However, everything is clear here, from the name of the Institute it is clear what the people mentioned were doing. In addition, within the framework of the same secrecy regime, the persons who appeared on the covers of the magazine could not participate in space flights.

But there is still one case of unknown astronauts that researchers in the dark corners of astronautics can point to. This is Vladimir Ilyushin, the son of a famous designer, they point to him as the first cosmonaut. Officially, Ilyushin was in a car accident a few months before Gagarin was launched into orbit.

After being cured in his homeland, he went to China to improve his health with the help of oriental medicine. His health problems were immediately counted as an unsuccessful flight into space. Allegedly, the ship, completing its flight, made an unsuccessful landing in which the astronaut was injured. And for the sake of the same notorious secrecy, the astronaut’s injuries were officially “recorded” as a car accident.

However, this version does not stand up to criticism; not only does it lack logic, it is also funny. What can be hidden here? Even in this version, the launch of the ship was successful - it is easier to hide its difficult landing - and one can safely report to the whole world about the achievements of Soviet scientists.

Pyotr Dolgov, a test pilot, burned to death in the ship during a launch failure in September 1960. Yes, he died, but not during the launch into orbit. And two years later, in November 1962, jumping from a stratospheric balloon using a parachute. Presumably died while testing a new model of a spacesuit.

Other facts cited by researchers alternative history astronautics, and the secretly buried dead astronauts are identical. But there were losses among the 20 cosmonauts of the “Gagarin” set. These are Grigory N., Ivan A., and Valentin F., expelled from the detachment for resisting an army patrol while drunk (surnames are not indicated based on ethical standards).

It is known that Grigory N., while serving in Far East in a regular air regiment, he said that it was he who should have flown into space instead of Gagarin. True, his colleagues did not believe him. In 1966, Grigory died after being hit by a train. It remains unknown whether it was an accident, suicide, or, as the researchers wonder, a regime of secrecy overtook him.

Another one, the story of the disastrous “before Gagarin” launches, as well as the subsequently killed cosmonauts, is told by the Italians - Cordilla brothers. I'll start with the technical capabilities of the brothers. Maybe now the design engineers will laugh, but the Cordilla brothers, alone, using only photographs ground stations NASA tracking, were able to assemble their own device. With the help of which they listened to the negotiations of astronauts in orbit with the MCC.

It was the brothers who managed to accomplish the impossible, while all the countries, following the actions of the Soviet cosmonauts, were trying to listen to the broadcast and do it only the Cordilla brothers could. In particular, only they were able to hear how the dying cosmonauts communicated with the Earth in the last seconds of their lives. In the press, including on television, the story of the Cordilla brothers is retold in some detail.

Therefore, we will not dwell in detail on how many distress signals in orbit, screams and moans of dying cosmonauts were recorded by the Cordiglia Italians. But even a person who is not familiar with the details of special communication devices knows that it is impossible to listen to a communication channel on a “closed” frequency, even if you have a triple supercomputer of the future, you will not be able to “sit in” to listen to this channel. Here we can add that the operation of the special equipment used is strikingly different from the currently known scramblers (a device for encrypting information from unauthorized persons).

So is it really within the framework space program, the military used open frequencies for communication? And they were able to discover it only the Cordilla brothers, and technical employees of the intelligence services of other states turned out to be completely incompetent? At the same time, the Italians had been listening to communications since the time of Laika’s flight. But they shared information only in 2007, publishing their observation diary.

But what’s interesting is that, as the Italian brothers report, the first flight into space was made by the dog Laika, whose heart function they were able to record. And indeed, they could not know that the dogs Gypsy, Desik, and Zhulka had been in space; this information, due to the lack of any importance, was not disseminated. And the brothers could not know about this. This means that everything else can be considered fiction.

And repetition known cases the deaths of cosmonauts, in terms of hiding space secrets “before Gagarin’s” flights, are of no interest, they are generally known.

I remember space history America. After all, as it appears in the press, a manned rocket launch was carried out in Germany back in 1945. This happened under the leadership of the famous inventor Fau, Dr. von Braun. Allegedly, the latest version of the V-2 rocket was a full-fledged spaceship. It was on it that one of the pilots went into outer space. Moreover, he subsequently landed safely.

Another very funny story tells how in the mid-80s, in coastal waters near Miami, sometimes mentioned Canary Islands, the spacecraft falls. The police who arrived at the splashdown site freeze; in front of them are three people dressed in German uniforms. and they confirm that they are pilots of great Germany. And they were launched into orbit in 1945. But due to a malfunction of the suspended animation chamber, their sleep lasted longer.

Thus, they also claim to be the first astronauts. However, in reality, you need to pay attention to one fact, and then all these stories collapse easier soap bubble. Dr. von Braun defected to the United States and took part in the space race against the Soviet Union. Then why, the inventor who has already sent astronauts into orbit, has been painstakingly working for decades to create a manned spacecraft. The answer is simple, there was no necessary technology, and all the stories are fiction.
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Of course, unsuccessful Soviet launches spacecraft were. And many astronauts died during unsuccessful launches. But no one hid their names. Another thing is that little has been said about this, but that's a completely different story.

Some achievements of space technology are also interesting for use in Everyday life, so to speak, in civilian life. For example, the Penguin space suit, designed to help astronauts cope with weightlessness, was later used to cure cerebral palsy.

Another space development is “Bifidum-bacterin”, which has hit the store shelves. It was originally developed for astronauts as a preventative against dysbacteriosis.