We continue to publish materials on the development of domestic astronautics. Today our story is dedicated to Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. Thanks to his talent as a scientist and the character of a commander, world science and technology were enriched with many wonderful discoveries, and a huge contribution was made to space exploration.

Childhood and adolescence

In the Ukrainian town of Zhitomir, a son was born in the family of engineer Pavel Yakovlevich Korolev in 1907. But soon after Seryozha’s birth, the family broke up, and his mother gave her little son to the care of her parents in Nizhyn. Here A five-year-old boy saw an airplane fly for the first time. The turns of a huge, man-made bird, controlled by man, captured his imagination.

Soon Sergei, his mother and stepfather settled in Odessa. Teenager spent hours watching seaplanes fly over the sea, cherishing the dream of flying. The pilots noticed an inquisitive, smart boy and soon he became a reliable assistant to the mechanic of the hydraulic squad. And finally the day came when he was allowed to take off in a seaplane. The impressions of the flight only strengthened his desire to connect his life with aeronautics.

Seryozha studied at home under the guidance of his stepfather and mother, I read a lot about aviation. He entered school only at the age of 15. He studied with pleasure, impressing his teachers with his excellent memory and clear thinking. Already at this age he was distinguished by his organization, combining study, work, sport sections and even music. His every day was planned down to the minute, but when a gliding circle opened in the city, the young man became an active participant. And a year later he presented his first project of a non-motorized aircraft.

Birth of a dream

In the 1930s, interest in extra-atmospheric flights and space in general appeared in Russia. A society of interplanetary flight enthusiasts organized in Moscow. He becomes an honorary member of society. His idea of ​​making extra-stratospheric flights on jet vehicles was fueled by science fiction novels, giving rise to new bold ideas and projects.

In 1930, a meeting between Sergei Korolev and K. E. Tsiolkovsky took place. The conversation between these two people predetermined not only the fate of the future general designer, but also the entire space industry. Parting with Tsiolkovsky, he was already firmly convinced - from now on, the meaning of his life will be the creation of rockets and flight to other celestial bodies. The young man was especially attracted by the Red Planet - Mars. Since then, he has subordinated his every step to the fulfillment of this dream.

At the Moscow Institute, where Sergei studied, lectures on aircraft engineering were given by the famous aircraft designer Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev. He noticed a talented student and took him for an internship at his design bureau, becoming the head of his graduation project. Their friendship and cooperation continued for many years.

First rocket

In the newly created GIRD group during these years, which united rocketry enthusiasts, Sergei headed the technical council. Here On his life's path he meets a true like-minded person - F.A. Zander. For a whole year, their youth team worked for free, devoting all their time and energy to the new business. Two years later, the first liquid Soviet rocket took off into the sky. In 18 seconds, it moved 400m away from its home planet. And let her life path was short-lived. But it was a success! This means they are on the right track.

Arrest and work in closed design bureaus

The year 1933 brought good news to the Girdovites - the Jet Research Institute was created. The work on creating rockets has entered a qualitatively new level.

But wave of repression, which swept across the country in 1937, overwhelmed many prominent specialists in the aviation industry. In 1938, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev was also arrested. Many hours interrogations and unbearable living conditions did not break him. On the wall of Butyrka prison he left calculations for his first radio-controlled rocket.

After 2 years, Korolev ends up in a new place of detention - a Moscow special prison, where works together with Tupolev in the prison design bureau on the design of new bombers and guided aerial torpedoes. “Zeks” are first-class engineers and designers who worked with great dedication on defense orders.

A year before the end of the war, Korolev is released. And already in 1945 he was appointed chief technical director of the research institute for the study of the German V-2 rocket.

Missiles are defense and science

For this purpose, Korolev and a group of Soviet specialists are sent to Germany. Where the British organized an exhibition of this the latest weapons Wehrmacht. Thorough Study V-2, it was necessary to build its complete analogue, but from domestic materials. The task was completed.

The Soviet equivalent of the missile was known as the R-1. But Korolev’s design ideas work tirelessly. With his enthusiasm and efficiency, he infects the entire team working on the order. Sergey Pavlovich is designing a missile capable of hitting targets at a distance of 600 km.

The arms race that unfolded against the backdrop of the Cold War showed the need to create intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear charge. Korolev brilliantly solves this problem. Thanks to his scientific genius the military industry was equipped with medium- and intercontinental-range missiles. They became the basis of the USSR's nuclear missile shield. It was followed by more advanced models with a flight range of up to 3000 km.

Space Assault

Working on orders from the War Ministry, Sergei Pavlovich never never parted with the dream of human space flight. In parallel with his work in the defense industry, he uses the vertical launch of R-1 and R-5 rockets to study near space and the influence of various cosmic factors on highly developed animals. The means of their life support and return to earth were worked out very carefully. Thus he laid the foundation for human space flight.

The space age of mankind dates back to October 4, 1957. It was on this day that he began his journey around his home planet. For two weeks, radio amateurs around the world listened with bated breath to his call signs.

In two years The first rocket launches towards the Moon, the next one delivers a pennant with the coat of arms of the USSR to its surface, photographs the side of our satellite invisible from Earth and transmits the pictures to Earth.

And on April 12, 1961, the whole world rejoiced when it learned about the fantastic news -. The first spaceship made only one revolution, because no one imagined how weightlessness and psychological stress would affect a person. This was followed by longer flights with various tasks and cosmonaut Alexei Leonov going into outer space.

Sergei Pavlovich is very treated the astronauts with care, often talked with them, highly appreciated their courage and dedication to the profession.

Under the leadership of Korolev, projects for interplanetary stations and satellites were developed for various purposes, new spaceships. The pinnacle of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev’s design thought was the flight of ships to Mars and Venus, the creation of the Molniya-1 communications satellite.

So this outstanding designer, an excellent organizer, step by step, realized his youthful dream - an assault on space.

Invisible Man

He passed away the day before his 59th birthday in 1966. And only then did the country and the whole world learn the name and surname of the person whom the press, radio and television were simply called General Designer. The secrecy regime has been lifted.

During his lifetime, Academician Korolev was awarded two orders of Hero of Socialist Labor. Recognition of his enormous services to humanity were monuments erected in his homeland, in the Moscow region, where the great designer built ships and at the cosmodrome, where the road to the Universe began.

History does not know a person who loved the sky more intensely and devotedly.

If this message was useful to you, I would be glad to see you

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. Born December 30, 1906 (January 12, 1907) in Zhitomir - died January 14, 1966 in Moscow. Soviet scientist, designer, main organizer of the production of rocket and space technology and missile weapons USSR, founder of practical cosmonautics.

Father - Pavel Yakovlevich Korolev (1877-1929), teacher of Russian literature, originally from Mogilev.

Mother - Maria Nikolaevna Moskalenko (by her second husband - Balanina) (1888-1980), daughter of a merchant from Nizhyn.

When Sergei Pavlovich was 3 years old, his mother left the family. He was sent to Nezhin to his grandmother Maria Matveevna and grandfather Nikolai Yakovlevich Moskalenko.

In 1915 he entered the preparatory classes of the gymnasium in Kyiv.

In 1917, he went to the first grade of a gymnasium in Odessa, where his mother, Maria Nikolaevna Balanina, and stepfather, Grigory Mikhailovich Balanin, moved.

I didn’t study at the gymnasium for long - it was closed. Then there were four months of unified labor school. Then he received his education at home - his mother and stepfather were teachers, and his stepfather, in addition to teaching, had an engineering education.

Also in school years Sergei was interested in the then new aviation technology, and showed exceptional abilities for it.

In 1922-1924 he studied at a construction vocational school, participating in many clubs and taking various courses.

In 1921, he met the pilots of the Odessa hydraulic squad and actively participated in aviation public life: from the age of 16 - as a lecturer on eliminating aviation illiteracy, and from the age of 17 - as the author of the project for the K-5 non-motorized aircraft, which was officially defended before the competent commission and recommended for construction.

Having entered the Kiev Polytechnic Institute in 1924 with a specialization in aviation technology, Korolev mastered general engineering disciplines there in two years and became a glider athlete.

In the fall of 1926, he was transferred to the Moscow Higher Technical School (MVTU) named after N. E. Bauman.

During his studies at the Moscow Higher Technical School, S.P. Korolev already gained fame as a young, capable aircraft designer and an experienced glider pilot. On November 2, 1929, on the “Firebird” glider designed by M.K. Tikhonravov, Korolev passed the exams for the title of “glider pilot”, and in December of the same year, under the leadership of Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev, he defended his thesis - the project of the SK-4 aircraft.

The aircraft he designed and built - the Koktebel and Krasnaya Zvezda gliders and the SK-4 light aircraft, designed to achieve a record flight range - showed Korolev’s extraordinary abilities as an aircraft designer. Thus, the SK-3 “Red Star” glider, for the first time in the USSR, was specially designed for performing figures aerobatics and in particular, loop, which was successfully demonstrated by the pilot V.A. Stepanchonok during the VII All-Union Glider Meeting in Koktebel on October 28, 1930. However, especially after meeting with K.E. Tsiolkovsky, Korolev was carried away by thoughts about flights into the stratosphere and principles jet propulsion.

In September 1931, S.P. Korolev and a talented enthusiast in the field of rocket engines F.A. Tsander achieved the creation in Moscow with the help of Osoaviakhim public organization- Jet Propulsion Study Groups (GIRD). In April 1932, it became essentially a state research and design laboratory for the development of rocket aircraft, in which the first Soviet liquid-ballistic missiles (BR) GIRD-09 and GIRD-10 were created and launched.

In 1933, on the basis of the Moscow GIRD and the Leningrad Gas Dynamic Laboratory (GDL), the Jet Research Institute was created under the leadership of I. T. Kleimenov. Korolev was appointed his deputy with the rank of development engineer.

In 1935, he became head of the rocket aircraft department.

In 1936, he managed to bring cruise missiles to testing: anti-aircraft - 217 with a powder rocket engine and long-range - 212 with a liquid rocket engine.

In his department, by 1938, designs for liquid-fueled cruise and ballistic missiles had been developed long range, aircraft missiles for firing at air and ground targets and anti-aircraft solid-fuel missiles. However, differences in views on the prospects for the development of rocket technology forced Korolev to leave the post of deputy director, and he was appointed to the ordinary position of senior engineer.

Arrest and imprisonment of Sergei Korolev

Sergei Korolev was arrested on June 27, 1938 on charges of sabotage, after the arrest of Ivan Terentyevich Kleimenov and other employees of the Jet Institute. According to some reports, he was tortured - both jaws were broken. The author of this version is journalist Ya. Golovanov. In his book, he emphasizes that this is only a version: “In February 1988, I talked with corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences S.N. Efuni. Sergei Naumovich told me about the 1966 operation, during which Sergei Pavlovich died. Efuni himself took part in it only at a certain stage, but, being at that time the leading anesthesiologist of the 4th Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Health, he knew all the details of this tragic event.

“Anesthesiologist Yuri Ilyich Savinov encountered an unforeseen circumstance,” said Sergei Naumovich. - In order to give anesthesia, it was necessary to insert a tube, but Korolev could not open his mouth wide. He had fractures of two jaws... - Were Sergei Pavlovich’s jaws broken? - I asked Korolev’s wife, Nina Ivanovna.

“He never mentioned it,” she answered thoughtfully. “He really couldn’t open his mouth wide, and I remember that when he had to go to the dentist, he was always nervous...

Korolev writes clearly: “investigators Shestakov and Bykov subjected me to physical repression and abuse.” But I cannot prove that Nikolai Mikhailovich Shestakov broke the jaws of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. Unfortunately, no one can prove this anymore. You can't even prove that you hit him. That he just pushed. I repeat again: I cannot prove anything, there is no such evidence in nature. I can only try to see. There is no other evidence confirming that Korolev’s jaw was broken during interrogations.”.

On September 25, 1938, Korolev was included in the list of persons subject to trial by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR. On the list he was in the first (execution) category. The list was endorsed by Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov and Kaganovich.

Korolev was convicted by the Military Collegium Supreme Court USSR September 27, 1938, charge: Art. 58-7, 11. Sentence: 10 years of labor camp, 5 years of disqualification. On June 10, 1940, the term was reduced to 8 years in the ITL (Sevzheldorlag), released in 1944. According to his application to the Military Prosecutor's Office dated May 30, 1955, he was rehabilitated “for lack of evidence of a crime” on April 18, 1957.

Sergei Korolev went through Butyrka in Moscow and a transit prison in Novocherkassk.

On April 21, 1939, he arrived in Kolyma, where he was located at the Maldyak gold mine of the Western Mining Administration and was engaged in so-called “general work.” On December 23, 1939, he was sent to the disposal of Vladlag.

He arrived in Moscow on March 2, 1940, where four months later he was tried a second time by a Special Meeting, sentenced to 8 years in prison and sent to the Moscow NKVD special prison TsKB-29, where, under the leadership of A. N. Tupolev, also a prisoner, he took an active part in the creation Pe-2 and Tu-2 bombers and at the same time proactively developed projects for a guided aerial torpedo and a new version of a missile interceptor.

This was the reason for the transfer of S.P. Korolev in 1942 to another prison-type design bureau - OKB-16 at the Kazan aircraft plant No. 16 (now - Open Joint-Stock Company"Kazan Engine Production Association" /JSC KMPO/), where work was carried out on new types of rocket engines for the purpose of using them in aviation. Here S.P. Korolev, with his characteristic enthusiasm, devotes himself to the idea practical use rocket engines for the improvement of aviation: reducing the length of the aircraft's takeoff run during takeoff and increasing the speed and dynamic characteristics of aircraft during air combat.

At the beginning of 1943, he was appointed chief designer of the group rocket launchers. Was engaged in improvement technical characteristics Pe-2 dive bomber, whose first flight with the current rocket launcher took place in October 1943.

According to the memoirs of L. L. Kerber, S. P. Korolev was a skeptic, a cynic and a pessimist, who looked absolutely gloomily at the future, “They will slam without an obituary,” was his favorite phrase. At the same time, there is a statement by cosmonaut Alexei Leonov regarding S.P. Korolev: “He was never embittered... He never complained, never cursed or scolded anyone. He didn't have time for that. He understood that embitterment does not cause creative impulse, but oppression."

In July 1944, S.P. Korolev was released early from prison with his criminal record expunged but without rehabilitation (minutes of the July 27, 1944 meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR) on personal instructions, after which he worked in Kazan for another year.

Daughter Queen said: "Dad miraculously survived. I flew to the Maldyak mine in the summer of 1991. It was small village, where two barracks were preserved in which the authorities lived. But the camp doctor Tatyana Dmitrievna Repyeva was still alive. She, of course, did not remember the prisoner Korolev, but she told how people were saved from scurvy: they brought it from home raw potatoes, rubbed the gums of the sick, made decoctions from fir cones. The father was able to survive. Mikhail Aleksandrovich Usachev, director of the Moscow Aviation Plant before his arrest, also played a major role in the rescue of Sergei Pavlovich. The plane on which Chkalov crashed was built. Usachev was a master of sports in boxing, and he decided to restore order in the camp where criminals ruled. He called the headman: “Show me your farm!” They went into the tent where my dying father lay. Usachev asked: “Who is this?” - “This is the King, one of yours, but he won’t get up!” When Usachev threw away his rags and saw my father, whom he knew before, he realized that something incredible had happened and he needed to be saved. He got his father transferred to the infirmary and forced the criminals to share their rations. And soon an order came to send the pope to Moscow to review the case. A second trial took place, which sentenced him to eight years in prison. After the Maldyak mine, my father hated gold all his life.".

On January 12, 2007, a high relief of S.P. was inaugurated on the building (entrance) of OJSC KMPO. Queen of work sculptor M. M. Gasimov.

Ballistic missiles of Sergei Korolev

On May 13, 1946, Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1017-419ss “Issues of Jet Weapons” appears. S.P. Korolev is not directly mentioned in the text of the Resolution, but in accordance with this document he was appointed to a new place of work.

In August 1946, he was appointed Chief Designer of Special Design Bureau No. 1 (OKB-1), created in Kaliningrad near Moscow, to develop long-range ballistic missiles, and head of Department No. 3 of NII-88 for their development. Almost immediately, the Council of Chief Designers appeared.

Speaking about the design of Soviet missiles that followed the R-1, it is difficult to distinguish between the time periods for their creation. So, Korolev thought about the R-2 back in Germany, when the R-1 project had not yet been discussed, he was developing the R-5 even before the delivery of the R-2, and even earlier, work began on the small mobile rocket R-11 and the first calculations for intercontinental missile R-7.

The first task set by the government to S.P. Korolev, as the Chief Designer of OKB-1, and all organizations involved missile weapons, was the creation of an analogue of the V-2 rocket from Soviet materials. But already in 1947, a decree was issued on the development of new ballistic missiles with a greater flight range than the V-2 - up to 3000 km.

In 1948, S.P. Korolev began flight design tests ballistic missile R-1 (analogous to the V-2) and in 1950 successfully put it into service.

During 1954 alone, Korolev simultaneously worked on various modifications of the R-1 rocket (R-1A, R-1B, R-1B, R-1D, R-1E), completed work on the R-5 and outlined five different modifications of it , completed complex and responsible work on the R-5M missile - with a nuclear warhead. Work was underway on the R-11 and its marine version R-11FM, and the intercontinental R-7 acquired increasingly clear features.

In 1956, under the leadership of S.P. Korolev, a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile R-7 was created with a detachable warhead weighing 3 tons and a flight range of 8 thousand km. The rocket was successfully tested in 1957 at Test Site No. 5 in Kazakhstan (the current Baikonur Cosmodrome) built for this purpose.

For combat duty of these missiles in 1958-1959, a combat launch station (Angara facility) was built in the area of ​​​​the village of Plesetsk ( Arhangelsk region, the current Plesetsk cosmodrome). A modification of the R-7A missile with a range increased to 11 thousand km was in service with the USSR Strategic Missile Forces from 1960 to 1968.

In 1957, Sergei Pavlovich created the first ballistic missiles using stable fuel components (mobile land and sea based) - he became a pioneer in these new and important areas of development of missile weapons.

The first artificial satellite of the Earth by Sergei Korolev

In 1955 (long before the flight tests of the R-7 rocket), S. P. Korolev, M. V. Keldysh, M. K. Tikhonravov came to the government with a proposal to launch an artificial Earth satellite into space using the R-7 rocket ). The government supported this initiative. In August 1956, OKB-1 left NII-88 and became an independent organization, the chief designer and director of which was appointed S.P. Korolev.

To implement manned flights and launch automatic space stations S.P. Korolev developed a family of perfect three- and four-stage launch vehicles based on a combat rocket.

On October 4, 1957, the first artificial Earth satellite in human history was launched into low-Earth orbit. His flight was a stunning success and created high international authority for the Soviet Union.

“He was small, this very first artificial satellite of our old planet, but his sonorous call signs spread across all continents and among all peoples as the embodiment of mankind’s daring dream.”, - said S.P. Korolev later.

In parallel with preparations for manned flights, work is underway on satellites for scientific, economic and defense purposes. In 1958, the geophysical Sputnik-3 was developed and launched into space, and then the paired Elektron satellites to study the Earth's radiation belts.

In 1959, three automatic stations to the Moon were created and launched: “Luna-1” flew near the Moon, “Luna-2” was the first in the world to fly from Earth to another cosmic body Having “symbolically” delivered the pennant of the Soviet Union to the Moon (after hitting the surface, the satellite with the pennant instantly turned into gas), Luna-3 for the first time photographed the far (invisible from Earth) side of the Moon.

Subsequently, S.P. Korolev began developing a more advanced lunar apparatus for soft landing on the surface of the Moon, photographing and transmitting a lunar panorama to Earth (the so-called object E-6).

Launch of the first man into space

April 12, 1961 S.P. Korolev again amazes the world community. Having created the first manned spacecraft "Vostok-1", he realized the world's first human flight into space - a citizen of the USSR in low-Earth orbit. Sergei Pavlovich is in no hurry to solve the problem of human exploration of outer space. The first spacecraft made only one orbit: no one knew how a person would feel in such a prolonged weightlessness, what psychological stress would affect him during an unusual and unexplored space journey.

For preparing the first manned flight into space, S.P. Korolev was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor for the second time (the decree was not published).

Following the first flight of Yu. A. Gagarin, on August 6, 1961, German Stepanovich Titov made a second space flight on the Vostok-2 spacecraft, which lasted one day. Again - a scrupulous analysis of the influence of flight conditions on the functioning of the body. Then the joint flight of the Vostok-3 and Vostok-4 spacecraft, piloted by cosmonauts A.G. Nikolaev and P.R. Popovich, from August 11 to 12, 1962, direct radio communication was established between the cosmonauts.

The following year - a joint flight of cosmonauts V.F. Bykovsky and V.V. Tereshkova on the Vostok-5 and Vostok-6 spacecraft from June 14 to 16, 1963 - the possibility of a woman flying into space is being studied. After the flight, S. Korolev told his wife that there was no place for women in space.

From October 12 to 13, 1964, the more complex Voskhod spacecraft was in space with a crew of three people various specialties: ship commander, flight engineer and doctor.

The world's first spacewalk took place on March 18, 1965 during the flight of the Voskhod 2 spacecraft with a crew of two. Cosmonaut A. A. Leonov in a spacesuit exited through the airlock and was outside the ship for about 20 minutes.

Continuing to develop the program of manned near-Earth flights, Sergei Pavlovich begins to implement his ideas about the development of a manned DOS (long-term orbital station). Its prototype was a fundamentally new, more advanced than previous ones, Soyuz spacecraft. This ship included a living compartment where astronauts could for a long time be without spacesuits and conduct Scientific research. During the flight, automatic docking in orbit of two Soyuz spacecraft and the transfer of cosmonauts from one spacecraft to another through outer space in spacesuits were also envisaged. Sergei Pavlovich did not live to see his ideas implemented in the Soyuz spacecraft.

Also back in the mid-1950s Korolev hatched the idea of ​​putting a man on the moon. Corresponding space program was developed with the support of . However, this program was never implemented during Sergei Pavlovich’s lifetime due to the lack of unity of command (the program was developed under the leadership of the USSR Ministry of Defense, in which Korolev did not work), disagreements with the chief designer of rocket engines V.P. Glushko, as well as a change in the leadership of the CPSU - did not attach the same importance to the lunar program as Khrushchev. After the death of Sergei Pavlovich, the program for launching astronauts to the Moon was gradually curtailed. The Soviet lunar exploration program was subsequently carried out using unmanned spacecraft.

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev ( documentary)

Illness and death of Sergei Korolev

Korolev had polyps in the rectum, which it was decided to remove surgically. The operation seemed uncomplicated to the doctors.

Sergei Pavlovich was operated on by the Minister of Health of the USSR, full member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, Professor B.V. Petrovsky, and Petrovsky was assisted by the head of the surgical department, associate professor, candidate of medical sciences D.F. Blagovidov.

It was not possible to stop the bleeding by removing the polyps. They decided to open the abdominal cavity. When they began to get to the site of the bleeding, they discovered a tumor the size of a fist. It was a sarcoma - a malignant tumor. Petrovsky decided to remove the sarcoma. At the same time, part of the rectum was removed. It was necessary to remove the remaining part through the peritoneum.

Due to an untreated injury received in exile (according to the version, see above, the investigator broke Korolev’s jaw by hitting Sergei Pavlovich on the cheekbone with a decanter; due to unsuccessful bone fusion, Korolev could not open his mouth wide enough while eating), difficulties arose during intubation trachea. They could not insert a breathing tube into his trachea correctly.

Medical report on the illness and cause of death of a friend Korolev Sergei Pavlovich: "Comrade S.P. Korolev was sick with sarcoma of the rectum. In addition, he had: atherosclerotic cardiosclerosis, sclerosis of the cerebral arteries, pulmonary emphysema and metabolic disorders. S.P. Korolev underwent an operation to remove the tumor with extirpation of the rectum and part sigmoid colon. The death of Comrade S.P. Korolev was caused by heart failure (acute myocardial ischemia)", - stated in the conclusion, which was signed by: Minister of Health of the USSR, full member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, Professor B.V. Petrovsky; full member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, Professor A. A. Vishnevsky; head of the surgical department of the hospital, associate professor, candidate of medical sciences D. F. Blagovidov; Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, Professor A. I. Strukov; Head of the Fourth Main Directorate under the USSR Ministry of Health, Honored Scientist, Professor A. M. Markov.

Boris Vasilievich Petrovsky told Y. Golovanov: “The biopsy really showed a polyp in the rectum, and I prescribed an operation to rid Sergei Pavlovich of this polyp. An attempt was previously made under anesthesia using an endoscope to take tissue again for analysis, but severe bleeding began , and the need for surgery became obvious."

Petrovsky says the same thing in his book: “Laparotomy (opening the abdominal cavity) showed the presence of immobile malignant tumor, growing into the rectum and pelvic wall. With great difficulty, an electric knife was used to isolate the tumor and take a biopsy, which confirmed the presence of the most malignant tumor - angiosarcoma."

In 1973, the Washington Post newspaper published an article by a doctor who emigrated from the USSR, who claimed that there was no sarcoma, there was a polyp and Korolev died as a result medical error. The same version was supported by the famous surgeon, academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences F.G. Angle

The coffin with the body of the late S.P. Korolev was installed in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. Access to farewell to the deceased was opened on January 17, 1966 from 12 noon to 8 pm. The funeral with state honors took place on Red Square in Moscow on January 18 at 13:00.

The urn with the ashes of S.P. Korolev is buried in the Kremlin wall.

Personal life of Sergei Korolev:

Was married twice.

First wife - Ksenia Maximilianovna Vincentini (1907-1991), surgeon. In 1935, the marriage gave birth to a daughter, Natalia Sergeevna, Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, laureate of the State Prize.

“My mother’s grandfather was an Italian, his name was Maximilian. At the age of 25, he came to Bessarabia, converted to Orthodoxy and after baptism became Nicholas. I know about my great-grandfather that for fifteen years he was the director of the Chisinau School of Viticulture and Winemaking and received noble title. He named his son Maximilian. My mother is Vincentini Ksenia Maximilianovna. She did not change this surname and bore it all her life...

When my dad was arrested, I was only three years old. Mom, of course, said that she would work for her husband, but family council decided that she has no right to do this because she has Small child, and my father’s mother, Maria Nikolaevna, will intercede. The mothers were not touched. And my grandmother rushed to save her only son. She wrote letters and telegrams to Stalin, Yezhov, then Beria,” said the daughter of Sergei Korolev.

Second wife - Nina Ivanovna (10/20/1920 - 4/25/1999).

“She invaded our family, knowing that Sergei Pavlovich had a wife and child. So I am his only daughter. But we must pay tribute: Nina Ivanovna devoted her whole life to him,” said Koroleva’s daughter.

Sergei Korolev with his second wife Nina Ivanovna(in the role of Korolev -).

documentaries:

Empire Queen;
2004 - Sergey Korolev. Destiny - creative workshop “Studio A”, “Channel One”;
2006 - Liberation of the designer - television company "Civilization", cycle "Korolev's Empire". Film 1st. TV channel Culture;
2006 - Trophy space - television company "Civilization", cycle "Korolev's Empire". Film 2. TV channel Culture;
2006 - Inaccessible Moon - TV company “Civilization”, cycle “Korolev’s Empire”. Film 3. TV channel Culture;
2006 - Tsar Rocket. Interrupted flight - Roscosmos TV studio, TV Center;
2006 - The world consists of stars and people - TV Channel Culture;
2007 - First on Mars. The unsung song of Sergei Korolev - Roscosmos television studio;
2007 - Sergey Korolev. Reaching Heaven - television studio Prospekt TV, Channel One;
2007 - Sergiy Korolyov - NTU, 2007, (in Russian-Ukrainian language);
2009 - Five deaths of Academician Korolev - Studio “07 Production”, TV channel “Inter” (in Russian-Ukrainian language);
2010 - Korolev. Countdown - NTV channel;
2011 - Sergey Korolev. Life at cosmic speed - Roscosmos television studio, Russian Space program, Russia-2 TV channel.

Many foreigners associate Russia with space. But in our country the word cosmos is primarily associated with the surname Korolev.

Sergei Pavlovich was born in January 1907, in the city of Zhitomir. His father, Pavel Yakovlevich, was a simple teacher; he taught Russian literature at school. Mother Maria Nikolaevna Moskalenko was also a teacher.

As a child, Sergei differed from his peers in his passion for technology. This thrust was not without talent. And passion multiplied by talent always yields great results.

This is what happened with Korolev. At the age of 17, he developed a design for his first aircraft - a non-motorized aircraft.

In 1924, Sergei Korolev entered the Kiev Polytechnic Institute at the Faculty of Aviation Engineering. In two years of study, I mastered all general engineering subjects. In 1926, he moved to and continued his studies at the Moscow Higher Technical School - Moscow Higher Technical School.

During his studies, Sergei Pavlovich established himself as a talented designer. He built a number of aircraft: “Koktebel”, “Red Star”, as well as the SK-4 aircraft.

These models were interesting from a point of view. In the fall of 1931, Korolev and Zander created, with permission from above, a group for the study of jet propulsion. A year later, this group became a de facto state laboratory engaged in the development of rocket and aircraft.

In 1933, the Jet Research Institute was founded, with Kleimenov becoming its director. Sergei Pavlovich became his deputy. Korolev's fate was difficult.

In 1938, he went to prison on trumped-up charges. Two years later, the state still needed his services. While in prison, he took a large part in the creation of TU-2.

In 1946, Sergei Pavlovich was appointed chief designer of ballistic missiles. He is in as soon as possible developed several generations of ballistic missiles, which are typical in better side differed from their counterparts.

The next step in his life was the development of a launch vehicle for atomic warheads. Again, he coped with this task brilliantly. In 1956, the first domestically produced missile with a nuclear warhead was put into service. Subsequently, developments in this direction did not stop and Korolev managed to create several modifications.

Soon the space exploration program began. And this could not have happened without his knowledge and skills. Sergei Pavlovich created the first manned spacecraft in world history. The name of the ship is “Vostok”.

On this ship, a man flew into space for the first time. And this man was Yuri. Under the leadership of Korolev, the space program continues to develop, following Gagarin, Titov, Nikolaev, Popovich, Bykovsky, Tereshkova, Leonov fly into space.

The rapid development of astronautics in the USSR does not end only with the development of manned spacecraft. Korolev creates several drones with scientific purposes.

Satellites are launched into space to study the Earth's radiation belts. Telecommunications and radio broadcasting satellites are also launched into space.

Sergei Pavlovich was seriously ill and died in early 1966. Korolev is a Great Russian scientist, his contribution to the development of space can hardly be overestimated. Thanks to its scientific activity, is known not only in Russia, but also abroad.

> Sergey Korolev

Biography of Sergei Korolev (1906 -1966)

Short biography:

Place of Birth: Zhitomir, Volyn province, Russian Empire

A place of death: Moscow, RSFSR, USSR

– Soviet scientist and design engineer: biography with photos, rocket designer, launch of the first rocket of the USSR, the first Earth satellite, Yuri Gagarin.

His whole life is filled with curious events that ultimately helped the scientist stay alive. For my short life he managed to avoid death many times, for example, when he was flying on an airplane, a malfunction occurred and the device crashed, but the Soviet scientist miraculously remained alive. Then absurd accusations were brought against the outstanding designer, and he became an “enemy of the people,” after which he was to be shot, but he was lucky and in the end the scientist ended up in a camp, from which he left after a while. He always said that he was protected by a guardian angel, because he saved him from death on a ship in Pacific Ocean, which he was late for. He remained intact after many curious situations, because he had to complete one important mission, and thanks to his abilities he would introduce humanity to the cosmic world. And this man's name Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, who was born on January 19, 1907 in Zhitomir. His whole life was connected with space, and that’s why he simply loved the vastness of the sky, and, of course, beautiful women - another of his weaknesses.

Korolev loved the expanses of the sky so much that when he fell in love with his first, he kissed the charming lady on the roof of his house in Odessa. This girl was Ksenia Vincentina or simply Lyalya, but, unfortunately, for this temptress Seryozha was just another fan who joined her numerous list. In order to somehow attract attention to himself, Korolev had to use not only his logic, but also his athletic skills, because he walked upside down and stood on his hands on the edge of the roof in the morgue. And in the end, a miracle happened, the girl melted, after much effort the Queen finally allowed herself to be kissed, and this happened on the roof.

When Serezha graduated from school, he firmly decided to join the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, choosing the aviation department. But before leaving, the guy proposed to Lyalya, but the girl refused, citing the fact that she loves him very much, but will marry him only if he learns and starts earning money on his own to support his family.

But after the Kyiv institute, he continued his education at the Moscow Higher Technical School in Moscow, and the young charmer received her education in Kharkov at the medical institute, and after graduation she was assigned to the Donbass. And so the young scientist ends up in this city and again tries to woo the girl, offering her his hand and heart, but Lyalya does not want to give her consent to the marriage again. And now she argues that the young people are in completely different cities and they will have to live like this for a long time, then why get married? But Korolev was a very decisive person and is trying to get Lyalya’s authorities to let her go early and after that she agreed to connect her life with his and in 1931 they got married and after that the young family moved to Moscow for permanent residence.

But the most unexpected thing happens: the Queen, after 7 long years of effort, ceases to be interested in his wife, and he begins to look at other handsome men. His friends even told one story that when Lyalya was cleaning his jacket, she accidentally found two tickets to the Bolshoi Theater, which her husband tactfully kept silent about, but the girl was not at a loss and decided to play a most interesting game. She asked her old admirer to take her to this performance, and when she entered the hall with her boyfriend in uniform, she seemed to accidentally run into her husband and his beautiful companion at the door. Of course, Korolev’s reaction was predictable; he quickly began to make excuses and say that it happened at the last moment. He offered to meet after the performance and go home together, but his wife did not want to and hinted that she had someone to go with. What ultimately happened is not known, but in the end the young people still went home together.

Similar stories happened over the years and eventually Ksenia’s patience ran out, and she poured out all her grievances in a letter to his mother in 1948, writing to her that she had endured all his grievances for a long time and had experienced a lot of grief and grief throughout their life together. She was freed from them only when Seryozha was sent to prison in 1938. Now she firmly decided that she wanted to give him the opportunity to live as he wanted, despite the fact that she still had feelings for her husband, because only in this way would she free herself from this heavy burden.

Although Korolev and his wife were together for a total of 25 years, they still lived for about 8, and all these years they lived as if they were strangers and saw each other for moments. A little daughter named Natasha loved her mother very much and blindly obeyed her. Ksenia did not hide from the little girl the reason why her parents separated, and therefore the girl already at the age of 12 knew that her father very often offended her mother with his constant infidelities. Therefore, Natasha decided to tear all the surviving photographs of her father into small pieces and told him that she no longer wanted to have anything in common with him. The tense relationship between daughter and father lasted throughout their lives, and those fleeting meetings that they had were dry and tense. Even when she got married, the young girl didn’t even want to call her father. There are references that when Sergei Korolev was in Baikonur, he had the opportunity to congratulate his daughter on her birthday by calling her, but the girl, not wanting to talk to him, hung up the phone all the time, which brought tears to her father.

The second wife of Sergei Korolev also experienced the same suffering as the first. Because a man could very easily start a relationship with any representative of the fairer sex. Even with his second wife, he began a relationship simply and without constraint, because he conquered her with his simplicity and sociability. They met when a young translator came to his office to simply translate the required article, but the girl did not cope with the task the first time, because she was overwhelmed with a huge number of incomprehensible terms and she had to come to him more than once . Then the man invited her to reap and dance, and in the end Nina spent the night with him.

After a while, the girl married him and was not at all afraid of the big age difference. But the newly-made husband, although he had new wife, but still spent his time on constant business trips and was not at home at all. But Korolev writes to his wife all the time and pours out his soul to her, thereby as if asking her for an apology for everything he has done. He tells her all the time that she is his closest friend, but not his wife. And as a result, the girl begins to get tired of this state of affairs.

Let's take a little look at the biography of the scientist and designer.

Sergei Korolev was born on January 12, 1907 in Zhitomir. He was an outstanding man and a brilliant designer Thanks to his efforts and excellent leadership, the group that studied jet propulsion launched the first rocket in the Soviet Union on August 17, 1933. After these events in 1938, Korolev was arrested because it was believed that he was causing harm while being part of an anti-Soviet organization. At first he was given a preventive measure in the form of imprisonment for a period of 10 years, but then they decided that this was too much and reduced it by 2 years. When he was sitting, he was working on new developments, being behind barbed wire. In 1944, Beria sent a letter to Stalin, in which he asked to urgently release the designer. And already in September 1945 he was sent to Germany so that Korolev would gain experience and engineers. Two years later he returned and began very quickly to design rockets in the USSR, thereby increasing combat power countries.

And ten years later, in 1957, the first rocket called R-7 was launched, which launched the first satellite of planet Earth into space. And on April 12, 1961, a flight into space took place, under the leadership of Gagarin, and the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova, was also on board as part of the crew. And four years later the first spacewalk took place. The great designer did not participate in launches anymore, because he died in 1966. His body was cremated and, according to legend, part of the ashes were sent in a special container to the moon. But is this really still a mystery?

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev is considered the founder of practical astronautics.

In the 20th century, he was the man who determined the strategy and tactics of practical space exploration.

Created by him missile systems and spaceships that made Soviet Union pioneer in space exploration.

Biography, education

Sergei Korolev was born on January 12, 1907 in Zhitomir, which is 130 kilometers from the city. His parents were teachers. For several years he lived in Nizhyn with his grandparents. In first grade I went to a gymnasium in Odessa, which was soon closed. This was in the stormy year of 1917.

His mother and stepfather, who received an engineering degree in Germany, took care of his home education. In 1924, Sergei became a student at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, intending to be an aeronautical engineer. There he became interested in gliding.

Two years later, he continued his studies at the Moscow Higher Technical School named after N. E. Bauman (MVTU).

Through aviation to missiles

At the Moscow Higher Technical School he creates designs for original gliders and aircraft. He was actively involved in gliding and participated in gliding rallies in the Crimean Koktebel. He designed aircraft that received high marks from specialists. After meeting the great K.E. Tsiolkovsky devoted himself to rocket science.

In 1931, together with another enthusiast, F.A. Zander, he created a Group for the Study of Jet Propulsion on a voluntary basis. The following year it became a government agency for missile development. The results obtained interested the military, and in 1933 a special research institute for the development of missiles was created.

With the rank of divisional engineer, Sergei Pavlovich became deputy head of the institution, deputy head of the institute. Under his leadership, three years later, anti-aircraft and long-range cruise missiles were developed and tested. By 1938, projects appeared: cruise and ballistic missiles with liquid-propellant engines, missiles for aircraft, hitting targets in the air and on the ground, surface-to-air missiles using solid fuel.

A prisoner

However, a denunciation was written against him. An arrest followed in June 1938. Two months later, on charges of subversion, he was sentenced to ten years in prison and a five-year disqualification. Went through Butyrskaya and transit prisons, Kolyma. In the spring of 1940, he was unexpectedly transported to Moscow, where in the summer of that year he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

However, instead of the camp, they are sent to a special NKVD prison in Moscow called TsKB-29. Here he, under the leadership of also prisoner A.N. Tupolev participates in the creation of bombers and develops unique types of missile weapons. In 1942, he was transferred to the prison design bureau at the aircraft plant in Kazan, where he designed rocket boosters for aircraft and installations for launching missiles from a bomber.

In July 1944, he was released early and his criminal record was cleared. He was rehabilitated only in 1957 due to the lack of evidence of a crime.

Rocket shield constructor

Soon after the Great Patriotic War needed to create long-range missiles, capable of hitting targets thousands of kilometers away. In 1946 S.P. Queens are appointed by them general designer. Missiles of various modifications were developed, including those with a nuclear charge.

In 1956, an intercontinental ballistic missile was created, capable of delivering a charge, first 8, and a little later 11 thousand km. A year later, sea-based and mobile ground-based missiles appeared.

Path to space

Sergei Korolev led the development of satellites and space stations, more advanced rockets for launching them. The first result of this work was the launch in October 1957 of the first artificial satellite into low-Earth orbit. This fantastic success provided the USSR with enormous prestige in the world.

Work was carried out at an accelerated pace to create satellites for military, national economic and scientific purposes. Automatic stations to the Moon are launched, back side which is being photographed. The development of a device for landing on this satellite of the earth begins, which could photograph its surface and transmit images to Earth.

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev amazes the world with the creation of the first manned spaceship, which for the first time circled the globe in space. Then there were other flights of Soviet cosmonauts, including joint ones, the flight of a female cosmonaut, and a man’s spacewalk. He developed the idea of ​​creating a long-term orbital station, in which you can work without spacesuits and change crews.

Unfortunately, he did not live to see the practical implementation of this project.

Confession. Memory

Sergei Korolev was awarded the country's highest awards, including twice receiving the star of the Hero of Socialist Labor. The USSR Academy of Sciences elected him as a full member. S.P. died Korolev on January 14, 1966 during an operation that his heart failed. Buried in the wall of the Moscow Kremlin.

His name is borne by:

• several space-related businesses;
• city ​​near Moscow - Korolev;
• several universities;
• streets in many localities;
• one of the most high peaks Pamir;
• lunar and Martian craters;
• research ship;
• departmental medals and other awards.

Films were made and written about him literary works. Thousands of people visit memorial house museums in Moscow and Zhitomir.

• Name S.P. The Queen during his lifetime was a mystery. He was not mentioned either after the launch of the first satellite, or in connection with the first flight of an earthling into space;
• People who knew him closely recalled that he never cursed anyone and never complained. He looked gloomily at the future, was a skeptic and a cynic. He liked to say: “They’ll slam you without an obituary”;
• when he was transferred from Kolyma to Moscow, he was late for the ship, which sank during a storm on the way to Vladivostok;
• among the world's first launches was the flight of a satellite with a dog named Laika and the launch of a ballistic missile from under water;
• a year before his rehabilitation, Korolev in 1956 became a Hero of Socialist Labor for the creation of an intercontinental ballistic missile.