(My answer on Quora)
They were extremely committed to the task and utilized the skill sets at their disposal and the resources available effectively.
A great deal of Soviet success with respect to their Space Program is a consequence of the actions of this man: Sergei Korolev.
Korolev played a key role in the development of Sputnik I (1957) and Yuri Gargarin’s Vostok I flight in 1961. He was the father of the Soviet Space program (and indeed of the science of astronautics) and its ICBM initiatives.
Korolev passed away prematurely in 1966 which some believe handicapped Soviet aspirations with respect to a manned moon landing. Such was his clout. In a sense he was the Soviet version of Werner von Braun.
However it is important to note as well that the Soviet Space Program had more than its fair share of German scientists that gave them their own version of a Project Paperclip. It was the Soviets who captured the German V1 and V2 missile development and production locale at Peenemünde during World War Two (although production by this time had been moved to Nordhausen).
Beginning in October 1946 the Soviets moved over 6,000 technical specialists and their families to the Soviet Union in a coordinated drive known as Operation Osoaviakhim. They would be relocated at a site about 250 km from Moscow.
In doing so the Soviets had at their disposal the brainpower of such luminaries as Siegfried Günter (developed the first rocket-powered turbojet airframe), Friederich Asinger (a renowned chemist) and Ferdinand Brandner (father of the Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprop) plus others (Brunolf Baade, Erich Apel).
The Soviet’s also had at their beck and call another brilliant German, Helmut Gröttrup whose team worked under Korolev would develop a knack for reverse engineering German rocket designs. The R-1 for example has its origin in the German A-4.
Helmut Gröttrup (Besides being an incredible rocket engineer he would later go into to develop the smart card system used in credit cards) Image source: collectspace
In 1947 the Soviets started their ICBM program to counter American strengths in this early phase of the Cold War and the spin offs that accrued energized their space program.
From the get go there is no understating Soviet commitment and indeed in 1955 they established a commission whose chief purpose was to guarantee a Soviet win in the race to place a person in Earth orbit.
Korolev would head this initiative (indeed it was likely his brainchild). A great deal of effort was undertaken to ensure secrecy although the Soviets were selective in releasing pertinent information especially with respect to the Sputnik missions for propaganda purposes.
Success was forthcoming. The R-7 launch provided impetus for Sputnik I on October 4th 1957 as the Soviets pushed ahead in firing the first shots of the Space War. It was the first artificial satellite placed in Earth orbit.
The US would have to catch up and they stumbled initially with the Vanguard failure on the 6th December 1957 (it was broadcast live on TV). However the Americans would bounce back with the launch of Explorer I in January 1958. On April 2nd of that year NASA was born.
Still the Soviets had the lead. The dog Laika went into orbit with Sputnik II on November 3rd, 1957 (unfortunately she died as a result of stress caused during overheating). In 1960 the dogs Belka and Strelka returned safely from orbit on Sputnik V. The Americans had similar animal success with the chimpanzee Ham who returned safely to Earth on January 31st, 1961 on board Mercury-Roadstone 2.
Worth noting is that the opinion among the NASA elites in 1959 was that the Soviets would win the race to place the first human in orbit. After all they enjoyed a considerable lead in their development program. In this regard they did not disappoint.
Yuri Gargarin source: Yousuf Karsh archive
Using a similar spacecraft bus system that would underpin Zenit Satellite program the Soviets launched Vostok I into orbit on April 12th, 1961. Onboard was the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin . It would orbit the Earth for 108 minutes with Gargarin eventually landing back on Terra Firma with a parachute. His iconic status was born. (sadly he would die in a training jet incident in February 1968 age 34).
The Soviets were clearly ahead in the Space Race for now. Would they win it? Only time would tell. There were many chapters scheduled to unfold.
Source: Neufeld, Michael J. (1996). The Rocket and the Reich. Harvard University Press. ISBN
No comments:
Post a Comment