The Astronomy Book

208

THE WAY TO THE

STARS IS OPEN

THE LAUNCH OF SPUTNIK

IN CONTEXT

KEY ASTRONOMER

Sergei Korolev (1907–1966)

BEFORE

1955 The US announces plans

to launch a satellite for the

International Geophysical Year.

1955–57 Wernher von Braun,

a former Nazi rocket scientist

recruited by the US, launches

the Jupiter-C rocket, capable

of carrying a satellite into orbit.

AFTER

1957 On board Sputnik 2,

the dog Laika becomes the

first large animal in space.

1958 Juno 1 launches the

first US satellite, Explorer 1.

1961 Yuri Gagarin orbits

Earth in Vostok 1.

1963 Va lenti na Teresh kova

becomes the first woman

and first civilian in space.

1965 Voskhod 2 becomes the

first two-man crew in space;

Alexei Leonov completes the

first spacewalk.

W

ith the launch of

Sputnik 1, the world’s

first artificial satellite

in 1957, the Soviet Union won

the first round in the superpower

Space Race. This momentous

accomplishment was achieved

primarily through the drive and

genius of one man—the tough

and pragmatic “Chief Designer”

Sergei Korolev, the scientist who

masterminded the top-secret

space program. Until the collapse

of the Soviet Union in 1991, very

little was known about Korelev in

the West. The Soviets had referred

to him only as Chief Designer for

fear that the Americans might try

to assassinate him.

Korolev had trained as an

aircraft designer, but his true

talent lay in strategically planning

vast and complex projects under

extreme political pressure. By 1957,

he already had one major “first”

under his belt, with the launch

Vostok 1, designed by Korolev,

launched Yuri Gagarin from the

Baikanur Cosmodrome on April 12,

1961. During the flight Gagarin said,
      “I don’t see any God up here.”