10 Soviet space achievements that are erased by the West from history

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Below we will analyze a dozen interesting achievements of the USSR in the field of space exploration or its attempts to gain space glory in front of other countries of the world.

Everyone now seems to be aware that it was the Soviet Union that became the pioneer of cosmonautics in sending a satellite, an animal and even a person, these events are rightfully considered one of the most important in our historical annals. The space race prompted the USSR to triumph over the United States in this "battle of powers". There were not only enchantingly successful events, but also failures, about many of this the modern generation does not even imagine, since the Internet is full of information about the successes of the United States in the space field. But it is worth remembering what such a great power of that time as the USSR achieved.

10. Who flew around the moon first?

It was the apparatus named "Luna-1", launched into space in 1959, on January 2, that turned out to be, in fact, the first apparatus ever to reach the Moon. But it was made by Soviet designers. It is an apparatus weighing 360 kg. He bore the coat of arms of the USSR. It was he who was given the task of reaching the Moon and demonstrating the advantages and predominance of the USSR in the field of science in relation to the United States. However, he simply passed by, at a distance of 6 thousand km. from the moon. The probe emitted sodium vapor clouds that glowed for a time with such a high brightness that it made it possible to track the trajectory of the satellite.

Luna 1 is the fifth attempt by the USSR to visit the moon. Previous failures are not made public, information about them is strictly classified.

If we compare the apparatus with modern probes, Luna-1 is, of course, extremely simple in design, because it did not even have its own motor, and the energy was supplied only by means of simple batteries. Its arsenal did not yet include cameras, as is the case with modern counterparts, and the signals from it simply disappeared three days after it was launched into space.

9. Who flew around another planet for the first time?

The Venera-1 spacecraft was launched in early 1961. His goal was to make a hard landing on Venus. This event marked the second attempt by the Soviet Union to send a probe to the aforementioned astronomical body. The descent capsule was faced with the task of delivering the emblem of the USSR there. The apparatus should have lost a significant part of the cargo upon entering such a critical atmosphere, but despite this, the country still hoped for the capsule to reach the Venusian surface and for leadership in this matter.

The probe was launched and the first experiments were carried out with it - almost everything was marked with success, the first three checks of the functioning spoke of the sane functionality of the device, however, the fourth session was 5 days late, as a result of which a system malfunction was identified. Thus, they lost contact with the apparatus when the probe was located at a distance of about 2 million km. from the earth. The device went into free drift through space, located at a distance of 100,000 km. from Venus. As a result, he was unable to correct the direction.

8. Who first photographed the far side of the moon?

It was launched back in 1959, on October 4, and was named the Luna-3 satellite. It was successfully sent to the moon and differed from its predecessors, because a camera was already installed on it to take a photo. Scientists then set the task of obtaining with the help of a probe a photo of the far side of the moon, which at that time no one had seen yet.

The camera was still quite primitive back then, and at the same time limited and difficult in efficiency. The ship had the ability to film only 40 times. Then the photo had to be developed and dried on the very same ship. Further, the on-board cathode-ray tube was planned to be used to scan photographic materials, after which they would be sent to specialists. The power and functionality of the radio transmitter was very limited, for this reason several attempts to send a photo were unsuccessful. When the probe got close enough to our planet and began to orbit the Moon, experts were able to get 17 low-quality images.

Scientists looked at the pictures and were extremely excited by what they saw. The mysterious lunar side was somewhat different from the one already familiar to us, it is practically flat, has mountainous and strange darkened terrain.

7. Who first landed on extraterrestrial territory?

In 1970, on August 17, the launch of the Venera-7 spacecraft, which is one of two twin ships made in the USSR, was launched. It was planned, after he made a soft landing on Venus, to turn the transmitter to send information to Earth and thus set a record: the device was for the first time on a previously unknown planet. To survive in this atmosphere, the descent module was cooled to -8 ° C. Scientists hoped for the longest possible stay of the device at rest, so they decided to dock the capsule with the carrier at the moment it entered the Venusian atmosphere until atmospheric resistance separates them.

The plans were fulfilled: "Venera-7" managed to enter the atmosphere, but almost half an hour before reaching the surface of the planet, there was a trouble with the braking parachute: it broke. At first it was thought that he had hit and could not withstand it, but then an analysis of the recorded signals was carried out, which indicated that the probe was able to read and send temperature values from the planet for 23 minutes after it landed. The engineers who designed this ship were intended to do just that.

6. An artificial object of which country happened to be the first on the Red Planet?

Back in 1971, in the month of May, the USSR alternately launched twin ships called "Mars-2" and "Mars-3" with an interval of one day. Orbiting the orbital territory near Mars, they performed the task of mapping the planetary surface. The descent modules were planned to be launched from these vehicles. Soviet specialists harbored hopes for primacy in achieving the object of the Martian surface invented by them.

However, the USA managed to come out ahead of the USSR in this regard. They were the first to reach the orbit of Mars. Launched in May 1971, Mariner 9 managed to reach Mars a couple of weeks earlier than the USSR, and rightfully bears the title of the first spacecraft to have been in Martian orbit. Probes on both sides have found that the planet has a dust cover, and this has become a hindrance to the collection of information.

The Mars-2 descent module was defeated, and after it, Mars-3 was successfully delivered to the planet. He managed to convey information about the planet to scientists on Earth. However, this was not given to him for long, because after 20 seconds the process was interrupted. In such a short time period, the device managed to send only a photo with indistinct details and low illumination to earthlings. It is possible that the termination of work is due to a large sandstorm that occurred there, which prevented the device from capturing the surface of Mars more clearly.

5. Who first shipped the returned samples? The first automation system

NASA had rocks that the Apollo astronauts had successfully retrieved from the lunar surface. The USSR did not have time to be the first to land a man on a satellite of the planet, but with all this it was sure that it had a chance to overtake the United States, and an automatic probe, capable of collecting samples of soil rocks on the Moon and delivering them to Earth, should have helped in this. The Luna-15 probe was the first such apparatus of the USSR. He was smashed right on landing. A further five attempts were also unsuccessful: the launch vehicle turned out to be faulty. Nevertheless, the USSR managed to launch the Luna-16 probe, which is the sixth in a row.

The USSR station landed near the Sea of Plenty and managed to get the cherished soil samples. She managed to place the samples of the apparatus, which later returned with them to Earth. At the time of the opening of the sealed container, scientists of the USSR discovered only 101 grams of soil lunar rocks. Meanwhile, "Apollo-11" managed to get as much as 22 kg. Researchers of the USSR carefully studied the samples obtained. They found that the structure of the lunar soil is close to the earth's moist sand. Thus, it was reputed to be the first return of an automatic descent module.

4. Who first got a device that can accommodate three people?

It is noteworthy that the famous "Voskhod-1", which was launched in 1964, on October 12, turned out to be the first ship capable of taking on board more than one person. The USSR announced this ship as new, but in reality it was a modernization of the ship that delivered the famous Gagarin into space. However, the United States was surprised by this, because at that time they did not have ships that could accommodate a crew of even two people, let alone three. The designers of the USSR classified the Voskhod as unsafe. They insisted that it should not be used until the moment when the government did not dare to bribe them with a proposal to send one designer into orbit to replace the cosmonaut. With all this, the safety of the design of this device still left much to be desired.

For example, it does not provide for such a function as emergency ejection of crew members with an unsuccessful start. After all, there was no possibility of creating a hatch for each of the cosmonauts. Also, the crew members were very cramped there, and they could not even wear a spacesuit because of this. If such an unfavorable process for such conditions, as depressurization, happened, they could easily die. The landing system, consisting of two parachutes and a braking engine, was tested only once. Also, the crew members were required to adhere to some kind of diet to facilitate the rocket launch process.

Such difficulties mean that one should not expect a perfect flight here.

3. Which African was the first in space?

In September 1980, Soyuz-38 took a course to the orbital station, on board which happened to be a cosmonaut from the USSR and Cuban pilot Arnaldo Tamayo Mendes. The second was honored to become the first African to ever visit space. He flew there in the framework of the USSR program called "Interkosmos", which allowed other states to take part in space missions together with the USSR.

The Cuban stayed on the Salyut-6 for a week, during which time he carried out over 24 chemical and biological experimental work. Its metabolism, the structure of electrical brain activity and metamorphosis in the forms of the bones of the lower extremities in weightlessness were studied during the flight. Mendes was even awarded the "Hero of the Soviet Union" medal.

The Cuban was not a US citizen, so the states did not consider this flight to be as important an achievement as it should have been. For them, the first African to visit space was a certain Guyon Stewart, who was on the Challenger in 1983.

2. Who made the first docking with a dead object in space?

In 1985, on February 11, the Salyut-7 station suddenly fell silent. For some reason, short circuits occurred, as a result of which all the electricity was turned off, the station froze over and became dead.

Crew rescue goals were set, and two veteran cosmonauts were dispatched from the Soviet Union to troubleshoot. It was not possible to use an automatic docking system, so the astronauts had to get closer to try to do docking in manual mode. The station remained stationary, and the crew managed to dock. They learned that in difficult space conditions, it is possible to dock any object, even if control is disrupted there and it is more likely dead than alive.

The crew members were able to send out a message that mold was observed right in the station, numerous icicles were located on the walls, and the temperature dropped to -10 ° C. As a result, it took several days to establish the work of the station. The crew was forced to check hundreds of wires to identify the cause of the electrical circuit malfunction, but they were unable to do so.

1. The first victim of space - who is she?

At the end of the first summer month of 1971, the Soviet Union was awaiting the return of three comrades who had been in orbit for over 23 days. At the moment the capsule landed, the astronauts suddenly fell silent. The specialists opened the hatch, and a terrible picture appeared before them: all the crew members were dead. It is noteworthy that there were multiple dark eruptions on their faces. Bruises from the ear and nose openings were also noticeable. For what reason could this have happened? The investigation team conducted an investigation and found that the descent module separated from the orbital module, which led to the death of the crew. The bottom line is that the valve of the first was not closed, and in almost a couple of minutes oxygen ran out there. When the pressure readings dropped, the astronauts simply suffocated immediately. They did not have time to find and close the valve before losing consciousness and subsequent death.

There were, of course, more deaths, however, they were recorded even during the departure of the crew and the penetration of the ship into the atmosphere. And Soyuz-11 reached an altitude of 168 km, that is, it managed to go into space, so that the members of this crew are now the first and only ones who died in space.

Conclusion

Thus, the USSR took an active part in the "space battle" with the United States, and is rightfully considered powerful in this area, because how much colossal work has been invested, but, unfortunately, at the present time it is all forgotten, and all the glory goes to the Americans.

Therefore, you should know the history of the achievements of your native state in terms of space exploration. Remember her. Although there are victories and defeats, the USSR was still a great country, worthy of honor and attention.