Space Race of the USSR and the USA
This is a translation of the article by John Glenn inspired by the Soviets to push harder , which allows you to look at the space race through the eyes of Americans.
John Glenn is the first American astronaut who made an orbital flight on the Friendship 7 spacecraft on February 20, 1962 (the official name is Mercury-Atlas 6). This was necessary for America as a response to the flight of Yuri Gagarin. Glenn instantly became a national hero, and the space race between the USSR and the USA, after a six-month lull, received a new impetus to development.
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One of the rules of the Soviet space program was that any repetition of an already realized space mission, for example, the suborbital flights of Alan Shepard (Alan Shepard) and Virgil Grissom (Virgil "Gus" Grissom), is a waste of resources. The ideologue was Sergei Korolev, the chief designer and inspirer of the USSR space program.
Not wanting to launch the next satellite, after Sputnik 1, he modified Sputnik 2 and launched the first cosmonaut, the dog Laika , in less than a month.
Korolev was also the first to understand the importance of the space program for Soviet propaganda. The USSR government was not impressed with the launch of the first satellite in 1957, but after the stormy reaction of the world community to this event, it revised its attitude. Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, wished the soonest launch of Sputnik 2.
The enthusiasm of Sergei Korolyov and the support of the space program by the Soviet authorities led to the successful launch of Vostok 1, in which Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space on April 12, 1961. As already mentioned, the main rule of Sergei Korolev was not to repeat the space missions that had already taken place. Therefore, the resources of the Vostok program were divided into two parts: the first half of the 18 spacecraft will be used for subsequent controlled flights, and the second for unmanned research flights.
Four months after Yuri Gagarin’s flight, on August 6, 1961, a daily flight (which lasted 25 hours and 18 minutes) of German Titov was performed on the Vostok 2 spacecraft.
In the fall of 1961, NASA was still far from manned orbital flights, so the race in this direction from the USSR slowed down.
Sergey Korolev planned new flights. One of them is the opportunity for several astronauts on separately manned spacecraft to meet in space. The idea was proposed a month after Titov’s flight to Vostok 2. Three ships launched one after another, each of which had to spend at least one day in orbit, were to take part in the project. The project was eventually abandoned, because It was difficult to communicate simultaneously with the three spacecraft. As a result, it was decided to use only two ships.
In October, six astronauts began training, they had to be ready for a mission in a month. But the Soviet leadership was more interested in launching unmanned satellites of the Zenit program.
For flights under the Zenit program, the same equipment and the same launch pads were used as for Vostok. There were problems in the ships, so the launch of both controlled and unmanned spacecraft was postponed. While the USSR was solving technical problems, NASA managed to launch astronaut John Glenn into orbit.
The reaction of the media all over the world to the flight of John Glenn prompted both sides to engage in space missions with a new force. The emphasis has shifted again towards the controlled flight. On February 17, 1962, Sergey Korolev made statements that two Vostok ships would be launched in mid-March. However, these plans were not destined to be realized, because the main resources were still directed to the Zenit program.
The first Zenit was launched on April 26th. During the second, on June 1, an accident occurred that damaged the launch pad, which took several months to recover, which is why flights of Zenit and Vostok were delayed again.
In August, the USSR was able to respond to the flight of John Glenn: the flight of Andriyan Nikolaev and Pavel Popovich was made, during which two spacecraft passed in close proximity to each other. During the flight, the first experiments on radio communication between two ships in space were conducted, scientific experiments were performed. The astronauts landed at a distance of 475 km from each other in Kazakhstan on August 15.
This was the sign mission of Sergei Korolev, which allowed the Soviet Union to once again take the initiative in the space race. Perhaps everything would have been different if John Glenn had not been flown.
John Glenn is the first American astronaut who made an orbital flight on the Friendship 7 spacecraft on February 20, 1962 (the official name is Mercury-Atlas 6). This was necessary for America as a response to the flight of Yuri Gagarin. Glenn instantly became a national hero, and the space race between the USSR and the USA, after a six-month lull, received a new impetus to development.
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USSR Space Program
One of the rules of the Soviet space program was that any repetition of an already realized space mission, for example, the suborbital flights of Alan Shepard (Alan Shepard) and Virgil Grissom (Virgil "Gus" Grissom), is a waste of resources. The ideologue was Sergei Korolev, the chief designer and inspirer of the USSR space program.
Not wanting to launch the next satellite, after Sputnik 1, he modified Sputnik 2 and launched the first cosmonaut, the dog Laika , in less than a month.
Korolev was also the first to understand the importance of the space program for Soviet propaganda. The USSR government was not impressed with the launch of the first satellite in 1957, but after the stormy reaction of the world community to this event, it revised its attitude. Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, wished the soonest launch of Sputnik 2.
The enthusiasm of Sergei Korolyov and the support of the space program by the Soviet authorities led to the successful launch of Vostok 1, in which Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space on April 12, 1961. As already mentioned, the main rule of Sergei Korolev was not to repeat the space missions that had already taken place. Therefore, the resources of the Vostok program were divided into two parts: the first half of the 18 spacecraft will be used for subsequent controlled flights, and the second for unmanned research flights.
Four months after Yuri Gagarin’s flight, on August 6, 1961, a daily flight (which lasted 25 hours and 18 minutes) of German Titov was performed on the Vostok 2 spacecraft.
Calm in manned flights
In the fall of 1961, NASA was still far from manned orbital flights, so the race in this direction from the USSR slowed down.
Sergey Korolev planned new flights. One of them is the opportunity for several astronauts on separately manned spacecraft to meet in space. The idea was proposed a month after Titov’s flight to Vostok 2. Three ships launched one after another, each of which had to spend at least one day in orbit, were to take part in the project. The project was eventually abandoned, because It was difficult to communicate simultaneously with the three spacecraft. As a result, it was decided to use only two ships.
In October, six astronauts began training, they had to be ready for a mission in a month. But the Soviet leadership was more interested in launching unmanned satellites of the Zenit program.
For flights under the Zenit program, the same equipment and the same launch pads were used as for Vostok. There were problems in the ships, so the launch of both controlled and unmanned spacecraft was postponed. While the USSR was solving technical problems, NASA managed to launch astronaut John Glenn into orbit.
Resumption of the race
The reaction of the media all over the world to the flight of John Glenn prompted both sides to engage in space missions with a new force. The emphasis has shifted again towards the controlled flight. On February 17, 1962, Sergey Korolev made statements that two Vostok ships would be launched in mid-March. However, these plans were not destined to be realized, because the main resources were still directed to the Zenit program.
The first Zenit was launched on April 26th. During the second, on June 1, an accident occurred that damaged the launch pad, which took several months to recover, which is why flights of Zenit and Vostok were delayed again.
In August, the USSR was able to respond to the flight of John Glenn: the flight of Andriyan Nikolaev and Pavel Popovich was made, during which two spacecraft passed in close proximity to each other. During the flight, the first experiments on radio communication between two ships in space were conducted, scientific experiments were performed. The astronauts landed at a distance of 475 km from each other in Kazakhstan on August 15.
This was the sign mission of Sergei Korolev, which allowed the Soviet Union to once again take the initiative in the space race. Perhaps everything would have been different if John Glenn had not been flown.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/188140/
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