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 study group 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 quickly developed several generations of ballistic missiles, which are characteristically 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.

Twice Hero of Socialist Labor
Lenin Prize laureate
Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences

“What seemed impossible for centuries, what yesterday was just a daring dream, today becomes a real task, and tomorrow - an accomplishment!” S.P.Korolev

Sergei Korolev was born on January 12, 1907 in Ukraine, in Zhitomir, in the family of a literature teacher.

His father Pavel Yakovlevich Korolev graduated with honors from the Nezhin Historical and Philological Institute and received the title of gymnasium teacher. However, life together with Sergei’s mother, Maria Nikolaevna Moskalenko, did not work out for him. Soon after moving to Kyiv, his parents separated, and Sergei Korolev was brought up in the family of his mother’s parents in Nizhyn. Grandfather and grandmother loved their grandson very much and doted on him.

In Nezhin in 1911, Sergei first saw the Russian pilot Utochkin fly in an airplane, and this event shocked the imagination of the impressionable boy. I didn’t remember Korolev’s father. He was raised by his mother, a teacher, and his stepfather, engineer Grigory Mikhailovich Balanin. In 1917, Sergei and his mother moved to Odessa to live with his stepfather. In 1921, a detachment of seaplanes HYDRO-3 of the Main Directorate of the Air Force appeared in Odessa. Sergei watched their flights over the sea, dreaming of taking them into the sky. The incident brought the teenager together with hydraulic unit mechanic Vasily Dolganov. A new acquaintance, digging into the engine, explained to Sergei what was what. After the first “lecture” the “practice” began. All summer time He spent time in the hydraulic detachment, helping prepare planes for flight. Korolev became an indispensable, trouble-free assistant to mechanics and pilots.

He was not able to obtain a secondary general education immediately, since there were no conditions for this. Korolev graduated from a two-year vocational construction school. Sergei studied diligently. The class teacher told his mother Maria Nikolaevna about him: “A guy with a king in his head.” All this time, Korolev continued to participate in the life of the hydroaviation detachment. Under the patronage of Dolganov, Sergei once took off in a seaplane, which was piloted by the detachment commander, and decided to become a pilot. At the same time, Sergei gained the reputation of a real mechanic. He also spent hours working in the school workshop where wooden products were made. The “carpentry school” was very useful to Sergei when he started building gliders.

In 1923, the government appealed to the people to build their own Air fleet. The Aviation and Aeronautics Society of Ukraine and Crimea (OAVUK) was born in Ukraine.

Korolev immediately became a member of this society and began studying in one of its gliding circles. He lectured workers on gliding. Korolev acquired knowledge on gliding and aviation history on his own by reading books, including those in German. Sergei Korolev, thanks to his stepfather and construction school teacher Gottlieb Karlovich Ave, who taught lessons in German, knew German quite well. Knowledge of the language was firmly attached to him for the rest of his life.

When the construction of a glider designed by the famous military pilot K.A. Artseulov began in the OAVUK workshops, Sergei Korolev also took part in the work on it. In April 1924, he participated in the first conference of glider pilots in Odessa. At this time, in May, an event very important for the history of astronautics took place in Moscow - the world's first Society for the Study of Interplanetary Communications (SIMS) was founded. Felix Dzerzhinsky and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky were elected honorary members. The main task of this society was to promote the work of transatmospheric flights using jet vehicles and other scientifically based means."

It should be noted that in late XIX and at the beginning of the 20th century in Russia there was a high interest in space. It was fueled by science fiction writers. Capturing minds, they contributed to the emergence of scientific and technical ideas. Tsiolkovsky created the cosmic work “Exploration of World Spaces by Reactive Instruments,” publishing it in 1903. In it, the scientist first developed the theory of jet propulsion and, on its basis, proved that a liquid-fuel rocket of the design he proposed was capable of achieving the speed necessary to overcome gravity.

People read the fantastic story “Outside the Earth” by Tsiolkovsky and especially Tolstoy’s novel “Aelita”. Long queues lined up at cinemas and clubs where the film based on this work was shown. The audience warmly applauded engineer Mstislav Los and Red Army soldier Alexei Gusev, who dared to go to Mars. It was fantastic. But there lived a real Los, who developed the spaceship-airplane - our compatriot Friedrich Arturovich Zander, a follower of Tsiolkovsky’s ideas. Another engineer, Yuri Vasilyevich Kondratyuk, a theorist of astronautics, was pondering the work “For those who will read in order to build.” But Sergei Korolev has not yet read either Tsiolkovsky or Zander, and has not heard anything about Kondratyuk. They will come into his life later.

While after graduating from school, Sergei worked as a carpenter, covering roofs with tiles, and later began working at a machine in production. Seniority The chief designer began at the age of sixteen. “I will be a builder... but only of airplanes,” Korolev said in those years. Maria Nikolaevna in her heart opposed her son’s passion, expressing fears about the danger of his chosen life path. The sensible stepfather, on the contrary, treated him calmly. Sergei found support for his aspirations in his stepfather.

Sergei dreamed of studying at the Air Force Academy in Moscow. But it accepted people who had served in the Red Army and were over 18 years old. Sergei could have been helped by a certificate from the Odessa Gubernia Department of the OAVUK about the submission to the aviation technical department of the project of the K-5 motorless aircraft he designed, which Maria Nikolaevna brought to the leadership of the academy along with a petition for her son. However, uncertainty regarding admission to the Moscow Academy remained. And Sergei decided to enter the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, where at that time it was planned to begin training aviation engineers at the mechanical faculty.

Among the students of the Faculty of Mechanics, Sergei was considered one of the youngest and most educated. At the same time, he worked and was everything during these years: a newspaper delivery man, a loader, a carpenter, and a roofer. But still he could barely make ends meet. In a letter to his mother in Odessa, Sergei wrote: “I get up early in the morning, at about five o’clock. I run to the editorial office, pick up newspapers, and then run to Solomenka, deliver them. So I earn eight karbovanets. And I’m even thinking about renting a corner.”

There was a gliding circle at the institute. His work was followed and helped by many prominent scientists who taught at the KPI. Sergei Korolev became its member. He worked, like everyone else, hard and enthusiastically. Often at night. Korolev sometimes slept right in the workshop on wood shavings. He loved to work and was known as a jack of all trades. After that, nothing was ever redone. The gliders built in the institute's workshops participated in international competitions, receiving the highest marks. The circle members had a rule: whoever built the glider flew on it.

The KPIR-3 training glider was built, and Korolev contributed his share of his labor to it. Sergei flew on it. One of the flights almost cost him his life. At the border of the site - a wasteland where gliders were tested, a water pipe protruded from a pile of garbage. Sergei did not notice and landed the glider on it. The blow was strong enough and Korolev lost consciousness for some time.

In 1926, after studying for two years at the KPI, Sergei Korolev transferred to Moscow to a special evening group on aeromechanics at the Moscow Higher Technical School. During the day he worked either in a design bureau or at an aircraft factory, and studied in the evening. By this time, my mother and stepfather had moved to Moscow. Korolev aspired to aviation. As soon as he entered the Moscow Higher Technical School, Sergei immediately became involved in the work of the student group AKNEZH - Academic Circle named after Nikolai Egorovich Zhukovsky. Engineers and scientists gave lectures there.

In January 1927, the grand opening of the Moscow Glider School took place in the Gorki Leninskikh area. Sergei Korolev also became her cadet. He flew a lot and willingly, mastering new types of gliders. In March 1927, Sergei graduated from gliding school with honors. Sergei Korolev was especially looking forward to the lectures of aviation designer Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev, whose planes were already flying across the sky by that time. He taught students a course on aircraft construction.

In May 1927, at the international exhibition of interplanetary vehicles, Sergei first became acquainted with the works of Zander and Tsiolkovsky’s brochure “Exploration of World Spaces with Jet Instruments.” Books, drawings, diagrams, handicraft models - everything that was shown at the exhibition sank into Korolev’s consciousness. He began to pay more attention to rockets and space flights.

A graduate student at the Moscow Higher Technical University, Korolev, completed his industrial practice at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI), at the Tupolev Design Bureau. At this time he was already working at an aircraft factory in Fili. At the same time, he was preparing his graduation project, deciding to design a light-engine two-seater aircraft SK-4.

The design of the SK-4 aircraft, designed for a record flight range, turned out to be original, thought out to the smallest detail and worked out at the level of a mature specialist. Tupolev himself became the project manager, signing it from the first presentation. This has never happened in the students' practice. The rigor and thoroughness of the designer were known. The design of the single-engine, two-seater SK-4 aircraft, approved by Tupolev, was then built and tested.

In September 1929, Sergei Korolev and his colleague Sergei Lyushin presented an unusual glider at the VI All-Union Glider Competition in Koktebel, approximately 50-90 kilograms heavier than its counterparts. At that time it was believed that the smaller the airframe, the better. A test flight on the Koktebel was made by K.K. Artseulov, reporting to the members of the technical commission: “The glider is well balanced. It obeys the rudders well. It can be cleared for flights.” Twenty-two-year-old Korolev set a soaring record on the Koktebel glider. He hovered in the air for more than four hours.

In October 1930, at the All-Union Glider Rally, Korolev presented a new glider SK-3, which he named “Red Star”. Stress on square meter he had more than Koktebel - 22.5 kilograms. The glider's data was so unusual that the possibility of soaring in the air itself was questioned. However, it was on it that for the first time in the history of aviation, test pilot V.A. Stepanchenok, an experienced glider pilot, made the famous Nesterov loop in free flight. Korolev was not present at the competitions because he fell ill with typhus. As a result of the complication, he developed severe headaches and required craniotomy surgery. It was successful, but remained ordeal for Sergei. After the illness, Korolev’s body was so weakened that he had to leave work for several months. But as soon as it became easier, Sergei began reading Tsiolkovsky’s work “Jet Airplane” with enthusiasm.

Before studying in Kyiv, in Odessa, Korolev met his future wife- Ksenia Vincentini. He tried to do everything to make her become his girlfriend: he walked around her upside down, swam under a barge in the sea, and even did a handstand for her on the edge of the roof of a two-story Odessa morgue. All this made the necessary impression on Ksenia. While leaving to study at the aviation department of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Korolev proposed to her. She replied that, although she loved him, she did not intend to get married until she learned to earn money on her own.

He studied in Kyiv, then at the Moscow Higher Technical School in Moscow, and she studied in Kharkov to become a doctor. After graduation, Ksenia was assigned to work in Donbass. While there, Korolev again tries to get consent to the marriage. In August 1931, she became his wife, and he took her to Moscow. However, Sergei was not known for fidelity in marriage. Her husband’s adventures brought Ksenia to the point where in the spring of 1948 she poured out all her feelings in a letter to Korolev’s mother: “You know the whole story of our love well. I had to endure a lot of grief even before 1938 (the year of Korolev’s arrest. - Author). , and, despite the remaining feeling of affection and some kind of love for S., I firmly decided... to leave him so that he could continue his life under his favorite slogan “Let everyone live as he wants...” Later they divorced.

Korolev’s second wife was translator Nina Ivanovna, who worked in his design bureau.

The daughter of Sergei Korolev and Ksenia Vincentini, Natasha, who was under the influence of her mother, learned about her father’s infidelities at the age of 12. The rift between daughter and father remained for life. According to space age chronicler Yaroslav Golovanov, when Korolev later called her from Baikonur to wish her a happy birthday, she hung up. He sat and cried.

But while Korolev was still interested in aviation, the desire to find a means to fly higher, faster, further brought him close to the idea of ​​​​investigating the possibilities of jet propulsion. He agreed with Tsiolkovsky: “The era of propeller airplanes should be followed by the era of jet airplanes, or stratosphere airplanes.”

In March 1931, Sergei Korolev returned to work at TsAGI, combining work in the Jet Propulsion Research Group (GIRD). It was created in August 1931 under the Bureau of Aircraft of the Central Council of Osoaviakhim (DOSAAF) in the year of the 75th anniversary of Tsiolkovsky’s birth. GIRD became the center where everyone interested in rocketry flocked. Zander was appointed its head, who played an important role in the development of theoretical and practical issues space navigation. The technical council was headed by Korolev. The age of the employees, with a few exceptions, did not exceed twenty-five years. The GIRD was located in an abandoned basement at house 19 on Sadovo-Spasskaya Street.

The idea of ​​​​creating jet engines excited many minds outside the USSR in those years. But the first, main impetus was given by Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, it was he who came up with the idea of ​​​​the birth of a jet engine running on liquid fuel. In the 1920s, work in this direction was carried out by the German scientist Obert, the American professor Goddard and others.

The work of the Girdovites was crowned with success. On August 17, 1933, at the Nakhabino test site near Moscow, the first Soviet rocket GIRD-09, designed by M.K. Tikhonravov, using liquid fuel, rushed into the sky. The rocket rose to a height of 400 meters, the flight duration was 18 seconds. But this luck made the Girdovites finally believe in their strength. Unfortunately, Zander, who was the soul of the whole affair, never saw the rocket launch. Shortly before this, on March 28, he passed away; he died of typhus while on vacation in Kislovodsk. By a special resolution, the Central Council of Osoaviakhim assigned the name of F.A. Tsander to GIRD.

In 1933, the dream of rocketry enthusiasts to create a unified rocket center came true. Cutting off all bureaucratic obstacles, on the personal order of Tukhachevsky, who had a deep understanding of fundamentally new work, GIRD and the Leningrad Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL) were merged into the Jet Research Institute (RNII). I.T. Kleimenov (head of the GDL) was appointed head of the institute, Sergei Korolev was appointed his deputy for scientific work. He was awarded the official rank of divisional engineer (according to modern concepts- rank of lieutenant general of technical troops).

At the same time, Korolev and Tikhonravov were awarded the highest award of the defense society - the badge "For active defense work."

In 1934, Korolev’s first printed work, “Rocket Flight in the Stratosphere,” was published. “A missile is a very serious weapon,” the author warned in his work. Sergei Pavlovich sent a copy of the book to Tsiolkovsky. Soon, Osoaviakhim received a letter from Tsiolkovsky with a review of Korolev’s work: “The book is reasonable, informative and useful.” The scientist only complained that the author did not provide his address and deprived him of the opportunity to personally thank him for the book.

Korolev dreamed of getting serious about the rocket plane, but his plan was not destined to come true. Not everything went smoothly at the newly created institute. Disagreements emerged regarding the primary tasks of the Rocket Institute between Kleimenov and Korolev, as a result of which Korolev was transferred to the ordinary position of senior engineer. In the fall of 1937, the wave of repression and tyranny that swept the country reached the RNII.

Tukhachevsky was shot and Tupolev was arrested, who ended up in a closed Central Design Bureau, where other “enemies of the people” worked - famous designers in the aviation world V.M. Myasishchev, V.M. Petlyakov, R.L. Bartini and others. In Moscow, on Radio Street, the seven-story TsAGI building was converted into a prison for them, with rooms allocated for housing and design work. The specialists here worked not out of fear, but out of conscience, understanding that their work was necessary for the country, and firmly believing that they would soon sort it out and be convinced of their innocence.

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. He was in the first category on the list, which means that the punishment recommended by the NKVD authorities was execution. The list was personally endorsed by Stalin, thereby practically confirming the death sentence. But this was a time of change in the leadership of the NKVD and repressions had already reduced their scope. Therefore, court decisions did not so blindly follow the recommendations of the NKVD.

Lieutenant General Tyulin, a close friend who spoke with Korolev more than once on expeditions, testified: “When V. Glushko, later an academician, one of the creators of Soviet cosmonautics, was arrested on the basis of a denunciation, and declared an enemy of the people, Korolev publicly stated that he could not believe that Glushko is an enemy of the people. Then he himself was taken away a few days later."

Korolev was arrested on June 27, 1938 and sentenced to ten years in forced labor camps in Kolyma. He spent a year in Butyrka prison, during interrogations he was subjected to severe torture and beatings, as a result of which Korolev’s jaw was broken. He also suffered a concussion. On April 21, 1939, Korolev ended up in Kolyma, where he was at the Maldyak gold mine of the Western Mining Administration and was busy with the so-called “general work.” On December 2, 1939, he was sent to the disposal of Vladlag. In the Gulag, an engineer who knew Korolev from the Moscow special prison described him as “a cynic and a pessimist” who repeated: “We will all disappear without a trace.” But he was a rocket scientist, and he was needed. When a call came to Kolyma, send it to " Mainland", he hurried to the pier. However, by that time the last steamer had left. Soon the ship sank, and Korolev waited a year for navigation to begin.

Korolev returned to Moscow on March 2, 1940, where four months later he was tried a second time and sent to a new place of imprisonment - the Moscow NKVD special prison TsKB-29, where, under the leadership of Tupolev, also a prisoner, he took part in the creation of Pe-2 and Tu bombers -2 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 Korolev’s transfer in 1942 to another prison-type design bureau - OKB-16 at Kazan Aviation Plant No. 16, where work was carried out on new types of rocket engines for use in aviation.

Sergei Pavlovich worked, according to the recollections of his “cellmates,” furiously and quickly. He participated in the construction of a dive bomber under the leadership of Tupolev. Here at the Central Clinical Hospital he met the beginning of the war, then evacuated along with everyone else to Omsk. Korolev asked to be a pilot at the front, but Tupolev, who by that time had already been released from prison, having recognized and appreciated him even better, did not let him go, saying: “Who will build airplanes?”

Soon Korolev was appointed deputy head of the Tu-2 assembly shop. But the thought of creating a jet aircraft did not leave him. He did not yet know that in February 1940, the first rocket glider with a liquid rocket engine was tested in the country. It was driven by a tow plane, but it was very important fact and the first step in the development of jet aviation. Before this flight, world practice had not yet known such an experience, and in 1942 the first aircraft with a jet engine was flown. It was piloted by test pilot Grigory Bakhchivandzhi.

Korolev was released in 1944 with his criminal record cleared. This is evidenced by an extract from the Minutes of the meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 27, 1944. On May 13, 1946, a decision was made to create a development and production industry in the USSR missile weapons with liquid rocket engines. In accordance with this resolution, the unification of all groups was provided for Soviet engineers to study the German V-2 missile weapons, which had been working in Germany since 1945, at the Nordhausen Research Institute, of which Korolev was appointed chief engineer and technical director. In Germany, Sergei Pavlovich not only studies the German V-2 rocket, but also designs a more advanced ballistic missile with a flight range of up to 600 kilometers.

He signed his letters to his daughter: “Your friend Sergei”, and his articles - “Professor K. Sergeev”. In the 1950s, his place of work was stated in the directory of the Academy of Sciences: “PO Box 651.”

In 1952, after his criminal record was cleared and he received the order, Korolev applied to be a party candidate. At the bureau of the district committee he is received with difficulty (6 for, 5 against): after all, he is a former enemy of the people. On May 30, 1955, Korolev wrote to the Military Prosecutor’s Office: “I ask you to reconsider my case and completely rehabilitate me, since I was not a member of any anti-Soviet organization...”. The answer had to wait two years: rehabilitation came only in the spring of 1957, a few months before the launch of Sputnik. However, he never felt completely free. “The most tragic thing is that they don’t understand how much there is in common between life in the Gulag and life in freedom.” large area". After all, I’m classified, so if they want, they’ll slam me without an obituary. Another time you wake up, lie there and think: they’ll give a command, and the same guards will burst into the room and yell: “Come on, you bastard, get out with your things!” - from memories of Ozerov, who was with Korlev in the Gulag, and then free.

The first task set by the government for Korolev as chief designer and all organizations involved in missile weapons was to create an analogue of the V-2 rocket from domestic 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 3,000 kilometers. In 1948, Korolev began flight tests of the R-1 ballistic missile (analogous to the V-2) and in 1950 successfully put it into service. This rocket differed from the German one in significantly greater reliability.

At the same time, Korolev was developing a new ballistic missile R-2 with a flight range of 600 kilometers.

The R-2 missile had a supporting fuel tank, a more convenient layout for operation and, most importantly, a warhead that separated in flight. In addition, the rocket propulsion system was significantly modified to increase its thrust, and the autonomous control system had twice the accuracy of fire. The R-2 missile was put into service in 1951, i.e. only a year later than the R-1 missile.

Together with practical work on missile weapons at NII-88, under the scientific leadership of Korolev, large-scale design and experimental research on topics H-I, N-2, N-3 in order to create a scientific and technical basis for the development of qualitatively new missiles.

On the topic N-1, experimental and theoretical studies of the main technical problems related to the implementation of the R-3 rocket project, which has a flight range of 3000 kilometers: it was necessary to ensure the stability of the flight of the rocket without a stabilizer (aerodynamically unstable) design and to obtain data on the behavior of boiling liquid oxygen in a thermally non-insulated oxidizer carrier tank during movement in the active part of the trajectory at elevated external heat flows into the mass of liquid oxygen. Based on the design solutions of the R-2 missile using its uprated engine, a single-stage experimental R-ZA ballistic missile with a stabilizerless design with a flight range of 1,200 kilometers was created. Successful flight tests of this missile gave rise to the Ministry of Defense to adopt it into service in 1956 with a nuclear warhead as the R-5M. This was the first domestic strategic missile, which became the basis of the rocket nuclear shield countries.

On the N-2 topic, studies were carried out on the possibility and feasibility of creating ballistic missiles operating on stable fuel components (using nitric acid with nitrogen oxides as an oxidizer). As a result, the possibility of creating such missiles was confirmed and a preliminary design of the first domestic ballistic missile R-11 with a flight range of 250 km and a launch weight half that of the R-1 was completed. However, taking into account the environmental toxicity of nitrogen oxides and the lower energy characteristics of stable liquid fuels compared to fuels based on liquid oxygen and kerosene, as well as those that arose then serious problems With the development of rocket engines with the required thrust (greater than 8 g), stably operating on these fuel components, it was considered advisable to use a nitric acid oxidizer with nitrogen oxides for BR with comparatively short range flight. When creating missiles with a longer flight range, and especially intercontinental ones, it was recommended to use liquid oxygen as an oxidizer. Sergei Pavlovich turned out to be faithful to this direction in the development of rocket technology throughout his entire creative activity.

The Ministry of Defense entrusted OKB-1 NII-88 with the development of the N-11 missile, and Korolev brilliantly solved this problem by using A.M. Isaev’s 8-ton engine, which had just been created for an anti-aircraft missile, and for the first time using a liquid pressure accumulator to supply fuel to the combustion chamber .

Based on the R-11, Korolev developed and put into service in 1957 the R-11M strategic missile with a nuclear warhead, transported fueled on a tank chassis. Having seriously modified this missile, he adapted it for armament of submarines (submarines) as the R-11FM. The changes were more than serious, as it was done new system control and aiming, and also provided the ability to fire in fairly strong sea conditions from the surface. Thus, Sergei Pavlovich created the first ballistic missiles on stable mobile land- and sea-based fuel components and was a pioneer in these new and important areas of missile development.

He transferred the final development of the R-11FM missile to Zlatoust, to SKB-385, sending there from his OKB-1 the young talented lead designer V.P. Makeev, together with qualified designers and constructors, thereby laying the foundation for the creation of a unique center for the development of ballistic missiles. sea-based missiles.

At NII-88, two research projects were started under the leadership of Korolev with the aim of determining the appearance and parameters of intercontinental ballistic and cruise missiles (topics T-1 and T-2) with the necessary experimental confirmation of problematic design solutions.

Research on the T-1 topic grew into development work related to the creation of the first two-stage intercontinental missile R-7 package design, which still surprises with its original design solutions, ease of execution, high reliability and efficiency. The R-7 rocket made its first successful flight in August 1957.

As a result of research on the T-2 topic, the possibility of developing a two-stage intercontinental cruise missile was shown, the first stage of which was purely rocket and launched the second stage, a cruise missile, to an altitude of 23-25 ​​kilometers. The winged stage, using a ramjet engine, continued to fly at these altitudes at a speed of 3 M and was aimed at the target using an celestial navigation control system.

Subsequently, Korolev developed a more advanced compact two-stage intercontinental missile R-9 (supercooled liquid oxygen is used as an oxidizer) and put it into service (the silo version of the R-9A) in 1962. Later, in parallel with work on important space systems, Sergei Pavlovich began to be the first in the country to develop the solid-fuel intercontinental rocket RT-2, which was put into service after his death. At this point, OKB-1 Korolev stopped working on combat missiles and focused its efforts on creating priority space systems and unique launch vehicles.

While working on combat ballistic missiles, Korolev, as is now clear, strived for more - the conquest of outer space and human space flights. To this end, Sergei Pavlovich, back in 1949, together with scientists of the USSR Academy of Sciences, began research using modifications of the R-1A rocket and launching it to altitudes of up to 100 kilometers, and then using more powerful R-2 and R-5 rockets to altitudes of 200 and 500 kilometers. The purpose of these flights was to study the parameters of near outer space, solar and galactic radiation, the Earth's magnetic field, the behavior of highly developed animals in space conditions (weightlessness, overloads, large vibrations and acoustic loads), as well as testing life support and returning animals to Earth from space - About seven dozen such launches were made. With this, Sergei Pavlovich laid in advance serious foundations for a human assault on space.

In 1955, long before the flight tests of the R-7 rocket, Korolev, M.V. Keldysh, M.K. Tikhonravov came to the government with a proposal to launch an artificial satellite into space using the R-7 rocket. The government supports this initiative. In August 1956, OKB-1 left NII-88 and became an independent organization, with Korolev appointed chief designer and director. And already on October 4, 1957, Korolev launched the first satellite in human history into low-Earth orbit.

The period when spacecraft were created belongs to the fourth period of Korolev’s activity from 1957 until his premature death at the beginning of 1966. During this period, the Queen was distinguished by her breadth of views and inexhaustible creative energy. Working with Korolev was difficult, but interesting. The work went on day and night.

Sergei Pavlovich did not like to repeat himself. While developing some fundamentally new design, bringing it to perfection, he lost interest in it. Instead of then, over the course of many years, creating variants of what had already been mastered, he donated all this to the team of a related organization. And, if necessary, he transferred a group of his employees to the new enterprise.

They started a big business practically from scratch. And yet, over the course of ten years, orientation systems were developed for photographing the far side of the Moon, orientation and correction of the flight trajectories of Mars, Venus and Probes. Automatic and manual control systems have been developed for manned spacecraft Vostok, Voskhod, Soyuz and others. Sergei Pavlovich’s passion was transmitted, as if through a chain, to all participants, from scientists to ordinary workers, and the impossible became possible.

Korolev saw the appearance of space technology after many years. Sergei Pavlovich conducted meetings in a unique manner, allowing everyone to speak and keeping minutes “for himself” in the most careful manner. Upon completion, he thanked everyone present and said that he had heard a lot of interesting things, but he needed to think about it. The decision, which was sometimes made after some time, did not necessarily coincide with the opinion of the majority; often Sergei Pavlovich looked at the problem more broadly than his colleagues, taking into account what went far beyond the scope of the organization he headed. Having outlined the next goal, Korolev had the ability to instill in all participants in the work confidence in imminent success, to inspire them to do seemingly unthinkable things. He knew how to create an atmosphere in which people gave their all and did everything to bring victory closer.

Having organized the work, Korolev moved towards the goal, sweeping away obstacles, maintaining confidence in ultimate success, concentrating his forces on the main direction. Korolev did not convey topics related to manned flights to anyone. This was, on the one hand, due to the special responsibility of manned flights, on the other hand, to the long-standing and persistent sympathies of Sergei Pavlovich - he more than once said with regret that his age and health did not allow him to fly into space himself. Everything related to the work of the cosmonauts was led by Korolev himself and controlled most carefully.

B.V. Rauschenbach wrote about Korolev: “Working with Korolev was difficult, but interesting. Increased demands, short time and novelty... He always wanted to know in detail the problems that his employees were solving; when reporting this or that question to him, I often heard: “I don’t understand, repeat it.” Not every manager could afford this “I didn’t understand”, for fear of losing his authority in the eyes of his subordinate. But such human weaknesses were completely alien to Sergei Pavlovich. All our projects were implemented in rocket technology, first of all, thanks to S.P., whom no one and nothing could stop if he needed something for his business. Korolev said that he always waited for the confirming voice of intuition, “like the third bell”... How often, relying on intuition, did he decide controversial issues and never made a mistake! He was no scientist. They also write that he was a great engineer - this is absolute nonsense... because he did little: there is not a single Korolev theorem, not a single Korolev formula. But he also had another amazing property - even if there is a lack of information, he can still accept the right decision... Again an amazing instinct that never let him down. Such a business as he led could only be carried out with the character of Korolev - the character of a commander. Sergei Pavlovich was an excellent psychologist, without prejudice, without one-sided approach to a person. I didn’t divide into “little white” and “black”, I saw people with all their “stripes” and “speckles”. This helped him make full use of his talent as a leader; he knew how to infect those around him with his mood: enthusiasm, haste, or, conversely, calmness; in a word, what he at that moment considered necessary for the matter. I think that Korolev’s main thing was not that he came up with or invented something. At one time I thought for a long time about Korolev and all those people who really made major discoveries, I would say, discoveries of global significance, and I thought about how to call them in one word: a great scientist, a great engineer? This is all nonsense. There are many great scientists, and many great engineers. And these people were unique phenomena. And I repeat, I couldn’t think of a better word than commander.”

Even before the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, under the leadership of Korolev, projects were being developed for interplanetary stations, satellites for national economic purposes, and manned spacecraft. In January 1959, the first rocket was launched towards the Moon, and in the same year a pennant with the image of the coat of arms was delivered to the surface of the Moon Soviet Union and photographs of its reverse side were obtained. In 1966, less than a month after Korolev’s death, a spacecraft made a soft landing on the surface of the Moon - last work Queen on the lunar exploration program. Korolev’s highest achievement in the field of deep space exploration was the flight of ships to Mars and Venus, and the delivery of a pennant with the coat of arms of the Soviet Union to the surface of Mars.

The Molniya-1 satellite became an example of solving a complex and necessary problem - providing radiotelegraph, radiotelephone and television communications over long distances, in particular between Moscow and the Far East.

But manned space flights are rightly considered the pinnacle of Korolev’s creativity. On April 12, 1961, the Vostok spacecraft launched with Yuri Gagarin on board.

It was as if Korolev himself did not exist during his lifetime. Only after his death was it allowed to talk, write and remember about him. He was an invisible man - without a name, biography, without facial expression and habits, without the two kopeck coins that Korolev always carried in his coat pocket - a strange children's talisman. Even when Korolev was alive, skeptics had ample reason to doubt his reality. The secret behind which this man was hiding resembled something fantastic.

He took on a difficult burden. Nature rewarded him with an analytical mind, the ability to captivate and lead others. Evil tongues, however, have always cast a shadow over the fence, assuring that Korolev is one of many of the same kind. But gossips were wrong: he stood out among others with his audacity, talent, and ability to look to the future. And he worked much more than others, because he took on other people’s burdens. He lived a mythological life, practically ruining his health.

Korolev was sick with rectal sarcoma. In addition, he was found to have atherosclerotic cardiosclerosis, sclerosis of the cerebral arteries, pulmonary emphysema and metabolic disorders.

He died on the operating table. When Korolev was admitted to the Kremlin hospital, the operation was assigned to the middle-aged Professor Petrovsky. It was possible to put Korolev in a foreign clinic, as was the case with Chernenko, but Korolev was a secret scientist. Professor Golyakovsky, who lives in New York and was a former Moscow doctor, recalled this in his book “The Russian Doctor”: “They put Korolev on the operating table and, having begun the operation, discovered that the diagnosis was false. And the operation continued. When the patient became bad, the famous surgeon Vishnevsky was urgently called in. He examined the dying Korolev and muttered gloomily: “I don’t operate on corpses.”

Petrovsky was unable to stop the bleeding during the operation by removing the polyps. They decided to open the abdominal cavity. When doctors began to get to the site of the bleeding, they discovered a tumor the size of a fist. It was sarcoma - malignant tumor. Petrovsky decided to remove the sarcoma. At the same time, part of the rectum was removed. Due to the injury received in exile (the investigator hit Sergei Pavlovich on the cheekbone with a decanter), they could not insert a breathing tube into his throat. Korolev's death occurred on January 14, 1966 from heart failure. He was 59 years old.

The funeral took place on Red Square in Moscow on January 18 at 13:00. The urn with the ashes of Sergei Korolev was buried in the Kremlin wall.

As a sign of recognition of Korolev’s merits, monuments were erected in his homeland in Zhitomir, in Moscow, where he lived, in the Moscow region, where he built rockets and ships, at the cosmodrome, from where he laid roads to the Universe. The Kuibyshev Aviation Institute, the streets of many cities, two research vessels, a high mountain peak in the Pamirs, a pass in the Tien Shan, and an asteroid bear his name. In commemoration of Korolev’s merits in the study of the Moon, the world astronomical community assigned his name to one of the large ring-shaped rock formations on the Moon - the thalassoid.

A documentary film “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” was shot about Sergei Korolev.

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Text prepared by Andrey Goncharov

References:

Academician S.P. Korolev. Scientist. Engineer. Man: Creative portrait based on the memories of contemporaries: Sat. articles / Edited by A.Yu. Ishlinsky. - M., 1986.
Apenchenko O.. Sergei Korolev. - M., 1968.
Astashenkov P.T. Korolev. - M., 1969.
Cosmonautics: Encyclopedia / Ch. ed. V.P. Glushko. - M., 1985.
Cosmonautics of the USSR: Sat. / Comp. L.N.Gilberg, A.A.Eremenko; Chief editor Yu.A.Mozzhorin. - M., 1986.
Pioneers of rocket technology: Kibalchich, Tsiolkovsky, Tsander, Kondratyuk: Scientific works. - M., 1959.
Rauschenbach B. Scientist, designer, organizer. To the 75th anniversary of S.P. Korolev. - Wings of the Motherland., 1982.
Rebrov M.F. Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. Life and extraordinary destiny. - M.: OLMA-PRESS, 2002.
Romanov A. Korolev. - M., "Young Guard", ZhZL, 1996.
Alexander KHARKOVSKY: “Sergei Korolev – through thorns to the races”
Site materials about S.P. Korolev
Wikipedia materials

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev- brilliant scientist, physicist, engineer, designer. He achieved enormous results in the field of practical astronautics and the production of rocket and space technology.

short biography

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev was born January 12, 1907 year in Zhitomir. His father is Pavel Yakovlevich Korolev, a teacher of Russian literature. Mother - Maria Nikolaevna Moskalenko, daughter of a Nezhin merchant.

When he was 3 years old, his mother left the family, and he was sent to the city of Nizhyn to live with his grandparents. Sergei Pavlovich studied in Kyiv, then in Odessa.

It was in Odessa that he met the pilots of the local air squad and spent a lot of time in their company, being interested in the intricacies of their craft. The smart young man was shown what an airplane is made of, how it flies, was allowed to sit at the controls of the plane and was told: to become a pilot, you need to study well.

Study and first job

Sergei Korolev immediately learned the last piece of advice and continued his studies after school. He entered the Kiev Polytechnic Institute. However, the training program there did not quite suit him, and so he transferred to Higher Technical School in Moscow.

After graduating from college, Korolev was sent to work in Central Aerodynamic Institute. During this period, he studied the works of Tsiolkovsky “Jet Airplane”.

Impressed by what he read, he changed jobs: in 1933 Korolev went to work at the new Jet Research Institute. He became deputy head of the institute for scientific work. Then he was 26 years old, and he made grandiose plans for the future.

The young designer and scientist believed that the future of all aviation lay in jet engines and jet technology.

Arrest and continuation of scientific activities

In 1938 A massive purge was taking place in the USSR: they were looking for spies, enemies of the people. Many scientists, designers, and engineers were injured. Korolev was also arrested and sentenced by 10 years in forced labor camps in Kolyma.

At the request of the remaining scientists, he was transferred to the design group Tupolev create the Tu-2 aircraft. While working at Sharashka, he continued to dream of jet-powered aircraft.

Trip to Germany

From his conclusion unexpectedly released in 1944, and in 1945 he was sent to Germany as a specialist in the field of jet rocketry. There he collected military documentation of German scientists who created the famous rockets V-1 and V-2.

From Germany, Korolev was sent to Podlipki near Moscow, where he formed research and production center for the production of liquid fuel rockets. He was appointed chief designer of ballistic missiles. Has begun new stage his life.

New stage

In 1947 Korolev was invited to the Kremlin to report to Stalin on the development of a ballistic missile. He reported, but there was no reaction. And no changes occurred. Changes came after Stalin's death, when the country's new leadership attracted talented scientists and engineers to create a new missile weapons, to space exploration.

First launch into space

In 1954, Korolev completed work on a missile with a nuclear warhead and began creating an intercontinental missile. In October 1957, a rocket carrying the first artificial satellite took off into the sky..

In 1959, three people took turns heading towards the Moon. spacecraft. The first and second brought a pennant depicting the coat of arms of the USSR to the surface of the Moon, and the third took photographs of the far side of the Moon. On April 12, 1961, the world's first manned space flight took place., and on March 18, 1965, man first went into open space.

Korolev was so passionate about his work that he literally spent days and nights in laboratories, test sites, and the cosmodrome. He did not take into account himself, with time, with the work team - he lived by his favorite work and devoted himself completely to it.

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev planned to create a new ship, in the compartment of which cosmonauts could stay without spacesuits, and thought about docking two ships in space. But his heart could not withstand the excessive stress and on January 14, 1966 he died of heart failure.

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 the spacecraft that made the Soviet Union a 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. Korolev is appointed their 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 to launch 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 are launched towards the Moon, the reverse side of which is 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 spacecraft, 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 one could 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.

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (December 30, 1906 (January 12, 1907), Zhitomir - January 14, 1966, Moscow) - Soviet scientist, designer and organizer of the production of rocket and space technology and rocket weapons of the USSR. Founder of practical astronautics.

The largest figure of the 20th century in the field of space rocketry and shipbuilding, together with the German designer Wernher von Braun. With the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite into orbit in 1957, a new era in human history, the space age, began.

Sergei Korolev is the creator of Soviet strategic missile weapons of medium and intercontinental range. His design developments in the field of rocket technology were of exceptional value for the development of Soviet missile weapons, and his contribution to the organization and development of practical astronautics is of global importance.

S.P. Korolev is the creator of Soviet rocket and space technology, which ensured strategic parity and made the USSR an advanced rocket and space power.

Twice Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin Prize, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Member of the CPSU since 1953.

S. P. Korolev was born on January 12, 1907 in the city of Zhitomir (Ukraine) in the family of a teacher of Russian literature, Pavel Yakovlevich Korolev (1877-1929). He was about three years old when his parents divorced. By decision of his mother, little Seryozha was sent to Nizhyn to live with his grandparents.

In 1915 he entered the preparatory classes of a gymnasium in Kyiv, in 1917 he went to the first grade of a gymnasium in Odessa, where his mother, Maria Nikolaevna, and stepfather, Georgy Mikhailovich Balanin, moved.

I didn’t study at the gymnasium for long - it was closed, then there were four months of a 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 distinguished by exceptional abilities and an indomitable desire for the then new aviation technology. In 1922-24 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. 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.

However, he was especially fascinated by flights in the stratosphere and the principles of jet propulsion. In September 1931, S.P. Korolev and a talented enthusiast in the field of rocket engines F.A. Tsander sought to create in Moscow with the help of Osoaviakhim public organization— Jet Propulsion Research Group (GIRD): In April 1932, it essentially became a state research and design laboratory for the development of rocket aircraft, in which the first domestic liquid-ballistic missiles (BR) GIRD-09 and GIRD-10 were created and launched.

On August 17, 1933, the first successful launch of a GIRD rocket took place. In 1936, S.P. Korolev managed to bring cruise missiles to testing: anti-aircraft-217 with a powder rocket engine and long-range-212 with a liquid rocket engine.

Arrested on June 27, 1938. On September 25, 1938, he was included in the list of persons subject to trial by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR. He was in the first category on the list, which means that the punishment recommended by the NKVD authorities was execution. The list was personally endorsed by Stalin, thereby practically confirming the death sentence.

This was a time of change in the leadership of the NKVD and repressions had already reduced their scope. Therefore, court decisions did not so blindly follow the recommendations of the NKVD. 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 sentence was reduced to 8 years in the ITL, released in 1944. Completely rehabilitated on April 18, 1957.

He spent a year in Butyrka prison. During interrogations, he was subjected to severe torture and beatings, as a result of which Korolev’s jaws were broken (he also received a concussion). 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 and sent to a new place of imprisonment - 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 of Pe-bombers. 2 and Tu-2 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 Korolev’s transfer in 1942 to another prison-type design bureau - OKB-16 at Kazan Aviation Plant No. 16, where work was carried out on new types of rocket engines for use in aviation.

S.P. Korolev, with his characteristic enthusiasm, devotes himself to the idea of ​​​​the practical use of rocket engines to improve aviation: reducing the length of an aircraft's takeoff run during takeoff and increasing the speed and dynamic characteristics of aircraft during air combat.

The arrest and stay in the Gulag forever infected Korolev with a pessimistic attitude towards the surrounding reality. According to the recollections of people who knew him closely, Sergei Pavlovich’s favorite saying was the phrase “They’ll slap you without an obituary...”.

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 was thinking 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 the intercontinental R-7 rocket.

In August 1946, S.P. Korolev began working in Kaliningrad near Moscow (then renamed Korolev in 1996), where he was appointed chief designer of ballistic missiles long range and the head of department No. 3 of NII-88 for their development.

The first task set by the government to S.P. Korolev as the chief designer and all organizations involved in missile weapons was to create an analogue of the V-2 rocket from domestic 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 of the R-1 ballistic missile (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. , completes complex and responsible work on the R-5 M missile - with a nuclear warhead. They're coming full swing work on R-11 and its marine version R-11FM, and the intercontinental R-7 is acquiring increasingly clear features.

In 1956, under the leadership of S.P. Korolev, the first domestic strategic missile was created, which became the basis of the country’s nuclear missile shield.

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

In 1960, the first intercontinental missile R-7, which had two missile stages, entered service. This was also a victory for S.P. Korolev and his employees.

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 launches of automatic space stations, S.P. Korolev developed a family of perfect three-stage and four-stage launch vehicles based on a combat rocket.

On October 4, 1957, the first 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 the daring dream of mankind.” - S.P. Korolev said later.

In parallel with the rapid development of manned space exploration, work is underway on satellites for scientific, economic and defense purposes. In 1958, a geophysical satellite was developed and launched into space, and then paired Electron satellites to study the Earth's radiation belts.

In 1959, three automatic spacecraft were created and launched to the Moon. The first and second are for delivering the pennant of the Soviet Union to the Moon, the third is for the purpose of photographing the far (invisible) side of the Moon.

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

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 - USSR citizen Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin 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.

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 meticulous 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 astronauts.

The next year - a joint flight of cosmonauts V.F. Bykovsky and V.V. Tereshkova to spaceships“Vostok-5” and “Vostok-6” from June 14 to 16, 1963 - the possibility of a woman’s flight into space is being studied.

Behind them - from October 12 to 13, 1964 - in space a crew from three people various specialties: ship commander, flight engineer and doctor on the more complex Voskhod spacecraft.

On March 18, 1965, during a flight on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft with a crew of two, cosmonaut A. A. Leonov makes the world's first spacewalk in a spacesuit through the airlock chamber.

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. Unfortunately, Sergei Pavlovich did not live to see his ideas implemented in the Soyuz spacecraft.

Back in the mid-50s, Korolev hatched the idea of ​​launching a man to the Moon. The corresponding space program was developed with the support of N. S. Khrushchev.

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 - L.I. Brezhnev 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.

Medical history and death
* The official medical report was published on January 16, 1966. Is it true. 1966. No. 16 (17333).

“Medical report on the illness and cause of death of Comrade Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.”
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 surgery to remove the tumor with extirpation of the rectum and part of the sigmoid colon. Death of Comrade S.P. Koroleva suffered from heart failure (acute myocardial ischemia).

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.

Details from memoirs
* Sergei Pavlovich was operated on by the USSR Minister of Health, 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 the injury received in exile (the investigator hit Sergei Pavlovich on the cheekbone with a decanter), they could not insert a breathing tube into his throat.

Funeral
* 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 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.

S.P. Korolev was the generator of many extraordinary ideas and the progenitor of outstanding design teams working in the field of rocket and space technology; his contribution to the development of domestic and world manned astronautics is decisive.

One can only be amazed at the versatility of Sergei Pavlovich’s talent and his inexhaustible creative energy.

He is a pioneer in many main areas of development of domestic missile weapons and rocket and space technology. It is difficult to even imagine what level she would have reached if the premature death of Sergei Pavlovich had not interrupted the creative flight of his thoughts.

In 1966, the USSR Academy of Sciences established gold medal named after S.P. Korolev “For outstanding achievements in the field of rocket and space technology.” Scholarships named after S.P. Korolev were established for students of higher educational institutions.

Monuments to the scientist were built in Zhitomir, Moscow, Baikonur, and other cities, and memorial house-museums were created. The Samara State Aerospace University, a city in the Moscow region, the streets of many cities, two research vessels, a high mountain peak in the Pamirs, a pass in the Tien Shan, an asteroid, a thalassoid on the Moon bear his name.

S. P. Korolev - Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, laureate of the Lenin Prize, twice Hero of Socialist Labor. Awarded 3 Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Badge of Honor and medals. Honorary citizen of the city of Korolev.

Named in honor of Korolev and bear his name
Monument in the city of Baikonur
Research vessel "Akademik Sergey Korolev"
* Naukograd Korolev, Moscow region (renamed in 1996 from “Kaliningrad”). The central avenue of this city also bears the name of Korolev.
* Crater on Mars.
* Crater on back side Moons.
* Asteroid 1855 Korolev.
* SSAU - Samara State Aerospace University named after. Academician S.P. Korolev.
* Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia named after. S. P. Koroleva.
* Research vessel "Akademik Sergei Korolev".
* Military Institute in Zhitomir.
* Korolev Avenue in the city of Baikonur.
* Academician Korolev Avenue in Kyiv.
* Academician Korolev Street in Moscow.
* Academician Korolev Street in Perm.
* Academician Korolev Street in Odessa.
* Academician Korolev Street in Kazan.
* Academician Korolev Street in Chelyabinsk.
* Academician Korolev Street in Ternopil.
* Academician Korolev Street in Tomsk.
* Academician Korolev Street in Ufa