How space research is carried out. Fundamental space research. Flags on the Moon

Space... One word, and how many mesmerizing pictures appear before your eyes! Myriads of galaxies scattered throughout the Universe, the distant and at the same time infinitely close and dear Milky Way, the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, peacefully located in the vast sky... The list can be endless. In this article we will get acquainted with the history and some interesting facts.

Space exploration in ancient times: how did they look at the stars before?

In ancient times, people could not observe planets and comets through powerful telescopes like Hubble. The only instruments for admiring the beauty of the sky and performing space exploration were their own eyes. Of course, human “telescopes” could not see anything except the Sun, Moon and stars (except for the comet in 1812). Therefore, people could only guess about what these yellow and white balls in the sky actually look like. But even then the population of the globe was attentive, so they quickly noticed that these two circles were moving across the sky, then hiding behind the horizon, then appearing again. They also discovered that not all stars behave the same way: some of them remain stationary, while others change their position along a complex trajectory. This is where the great exploration of outer space and what lies in it began.

The ancient Greeks achieved particular success in this field. They were the first to discover that our planet is spherical. Their opinions about the location of the Earth relative to the Sun were divided: some scientists believed that it revolved around a celestial body, others believed that it was the other way around (they were supporters of the geocentric system of the world). The ancient Greeks never came to a consensus. All their works and space research were captured on paper and compiled into a whole scientific work called “Almagest”. Its author and compiler is the great ancient scientist Ptolemy.

The Renaissance and the destruction of previous ideas about space

Nicolaus Copernicus - who hasn't heard this name? It was he who, in the 15th century, destroyed the erroneous theory of the geocentric system of the world and put forward his own, heliocentric, which argued that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and not vice versa. The medieval Inquisition and the church, unfortunately, did not sleep. They immediately declared such speeches heretical, and the followers of Copernicus’ theory were brutally persecuted. One of her supporters, Giordano Bruno, was burned at the stake. His name has remained for centuries, and to this day we remember the great scientist with respect and gratitude.

Growing Interest in Space

After these events, the attention of scientists to astronomy only intensified. Space exploration has become more and more exciting. As soon as the 17th century began, a new large-scale discovery occurred: the researcher Kepler discovered that the orbits in which the planets revolve around the Sun are not at all round, as previously thought, but elliptical. Thanks to this event, major changes occurred in science. In particular, he discovered mechanics and was able to describe the patterns by which bodies move.

Discovery of new planets

Today we know that there are eight planets in the solar system. Until 2006, their number was nine, but after that the most recent and distant planet from heat and light - Pluto - was excluded from the number of bodies orbiting our celestial body. This happened due to its small size - the area of ​​Russia alone is already larger than the entire Pluto. It was given the status of a dwarf planet.

Until the 17th century, people believed that there were five planets in the solar system. There were no telescopes then, so they judged only by those celestial bodies that they could see with their own eyes. Scientists could not see anything further than Saturn with its icy rings. We would probably still be mistaken to this day if it weren’t for Galileo Galilei. It was he who invented telescopes and helped scientists explore other planets and see the rest of the celestial bodies of the solar system. Thanks to the telescope, it became known about the existence of mountains and craters on the Moon, Saturn, and Mars. Also, the same Galileo Galilei discovered spots on the Sun. Science not only developed, it flew forward by leaps and bounds. And by the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists already knew enough to build the first one and set off to conquer the stars.

Soviet scientists conducted significant space research and achieved great success in the study of astronomy and the development of shipbuilding. True, more than 50 years passed from the beginning of the 20th century before the first space satellite set off to conquer the vastness of the Universe. This happened in 1957. The device was launched in the USSR from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The first satellites were not chasing high results - their goal was to reach the Moon. The first space exploration device landed on the lunar surface in 1959. And also in the 20th century, the Institute of Space Research was opened, where serious scientific work was developed and discoveries were made.

Soon, satellite launches became commonplace, and yet only one mission to land on another planet ended successfully. We are talking about the Apollo project, during which, according to the official version, Americans landed on the Moon several times.

International "space race"

1961 became a memorable year in the history of astronautics. But even earlier, in 1960, two dogs, whose names the whole world knows: Belka and Strelka, went into space. They returned from space safe and sound, having become famous and becoming real heroes.

And on April 12 of the following year, Yuri Gagarin, the first person who dared to leave the Earth on the Vostok-1 ship, set off to explore the expanses of the Universe.

The United States of America did not want to cede primacy to the USSR in the space race, so they wanted to send their man into space before Gagarin. The United States also lost in launching satellites: Russia managed to launch the device four months before America. Such space explorers as Valentina Tereshkova and the latter were the first in the world to perform a spacewalk, and the most significant achievement of the United States in the exploration of the Universe was only launching an astronaut into orbital flight.

But, despite the significant successes of the USSR in the “space race,” America was also no slouch. And on July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft, carrying five space explorers on board, launched towards the surface of the Moon. Five days later, the first man set foot on the surface of the Earth's satellite. His name was Neil Armstrong.

Victory or defeat?

Who actually won the lunar race? There is no exact answer to this question. Both the USSR and the USA showed their best side: they modernized and improved technical achievements in space shipbuilding, made many new discoveries, and took invaluable samples from the surface of the Moon, which were sent to the Space Research Institute. Thanks to them, it was established that the Earth's satellite consists of sand and stone, and that there is no air on the Moon. The traces of Neil Armstrong, left more than forty years ago on the lunar surface, are still there today. There is simply nothing to erase them: our satellite is deprived of air, there is no wind, no water. And if you go to the Moon, you can leave your mark on history - both literally and figuratively.

Conclusion

Human history is rich and vast, including many great discoveries, wars, epic victories and devastating defeats. The exploration of extraterrestrial space and modern space research rightfully occupy far from the last place on the pages of history. But none of this would have happened without such brave and selfless people as Nicolaus Copernicus, Yuri Gagarin, Sergei Korolev, Galileo Galilei, Giordano Bruno and many, many others. All these great people were distinguished by their outstanding intelligence, developed abilities for studying physics and mathematics, strong character and iron will. We have a lot to learn from them; we can adopt invaluable experience and positive qualities and character traits from these scientists. If humanity tries to be like them, read a lot, train, study successfully at school and university, then we can say with confidence that we still have many great discoveries ahead, and deep space will soon be explored. And, as one famous song says, our traces will remain on the dusty paths of distant planets.

Planetary scientists have set priorities in studying the Solar System.

For people born during the era of space exploration, books about the solar system published before 1957 often lead to a state of shock. How little the older generation knew, not even having an idea about the huge volcanoes and canyons of Mars, in comparison with which Mount Everest seems like a forest anthill, and the Grand Canyon looks like a ditch by the side of the road. Perhaps it was previously believed that under the clouds of Venus there could be a luxurious humid jungle, or an endless dry desert, or a seething ocean, or huge tar swamps - anything, but not what actually turned out to be: huge volcanic fields - scenes Noah's flood of frozen magma. The appearance of Saturn previously seemed dull: two vague rings, while today we can admire hundreds and thousands of elegant rings. The satellites of the giant planets were spots, not fantastic landscapes with methane lakes and dust geysers.

In those years, all the planets looked like small islands of light, and the Earth seemed much larger than it does today. No one has ever seen our planet from the outside: blue marble on black velvet, covered with a thin layer of water and air. No one knew that the Moon owed its birth to the impact, or that the death of the dinosaurs occurred at the same time. No one fully understood how humanity could completely change the environment of the entire planet. In addition, the space age has enriched us with knowledge about nature and opened up new perspectives.

Since Sputnik's launch, planetary exploration has had several ups and downs. For example, in the 1980s. work has almost come to a standstill. Today, dozens of probes from different countries are roaming the solar system - from Mercury to Pluto. But the budget is being cut, expenses are rising and do not always lead to the desired result, which casts a shadow on NASA. The agency is currently going through a difficult period in its history since Nixon ended the Apollo program 35 years ago.

“NASA specialists continue to search for priority areas for research,” says Anthony Janetos ( Anthony Janetos) from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a member of the National Research Council (NRC), which oversees NASA's Earth observation program. -Are they exploring space? Are they studying man or doing pure science? Are they rushing towards galaxies or are they limited to the solar system? Are they interested in shuttles and space stations or just the nature of our planet?”

In principle, this development of events should bear fruit. Not only must robotic probe programs be revived, but manned spaceflight must also be revived. President George W. Bush set the goal in 2004 to set foot on the Moon and Mars. Despite the controversy of this idea, NASA seized on it. But the difficulty was that it quickly became an unfunded mandate and forced the agency to break through the wall that traditionally “protects” science and manned programs from cost overruns. "I think everyone knows that the agency doesn't have enough money to do all the work that needs to be done," says Bill Claybaugh ( Bill Claybaugh), Director of NASA Research and Analysis. “Money doesn’t rain like gold on the space agencies of other countries either.”

The NRC sometimes takes a step back and wonders how planetary science is faring around the world. Therefore, we present a list of priority goals.

1. Monitoring the Earth's climate

In 2005, a National Research Council panel concluded: “there is a risk that the environmental satellite system will fail.” Since then the situation has changed. NASA has transferred $600 million over five years from Earth exploration projects to support programs for the shuttle and space station. At the same time, development of a new national system of polar-orbiting Earth observation satellites has gone over budget and must be cut. This applies to instruments that study global warming, measuring solar radiation incident on the Earth and infrared rays reflected from the Earth's surface.

As a result, more than 20 Earth Observing System satellites will cease to function even before new devices come to replace them. Scientists and engineers hope that they will be able to keep them in working order for some time. “We are ready to work, but now we need a plan,” says Robert Cahalan ( Robert Cahalan), head of the Climate and Radiation Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. “You can’t wait for them to break.”

If satellites stop functioning before replacements arrive, there will be a data gap that makes it difficult to track changes. For example, if the next generation of devices notice that the Sun has become brighter, it will be difficult to understand whether this is really so, or whether the instruments are incorrectly calibrated. Unless continuous satellite observations are carried out, this issue cannot be resolved. Observations of the Earth's surface from satellites Landsat, conducted since 1972, have been discontinued for several years, and the US Department of Agriculture is forced to buy data from Indian satellites to monitor the crop.

The NRC is calling for restoration of funding and the launch of 17 new spacecraft monitoring ice cover and carbon dioxide over the next decade to study how such factors influence weather and improve forecasting methods. Unfortunately, climate research is caught between routine weather observation (NOAA's job) and science (NASA's job). “The main problem is that no one is tasked with monitoring the climate,” says climate scientist Drew Schindel ( Drew Shindell) from NASA's Goddard Space Research Center. Like many other scientists, he believes that government climate programs, distributed among different departments, should be brought together and transferred to one department that will deal only with this topic.

Action plan

• Fund 17 new satellites proposed by NASA in the next decade (cost: about $500 million per year).
• Establish a climate research office.

2. Preparing protection from asteroids

Asteroid threat

Asteroids with a diameter of 10 km (dinosaur killers) fall to the earth on average once every 100 million years. Asteroids with a diameter of about 1 km (global destroyers) - once every half a million years. Asteroids 50 m in size capable of destroying a city occur once every millennium.

The Space Defense Survey identified more than 700 kilometer-sized bodies, but all of them are not dangerous to us in the coming centuries. However, this survey will be able to detect no more than 75% of such asteroids.

The chance that among the undetected 25% there will be an asteroid that will fall to earth is small. The average risk is up to 1 thousand deaths per year. The risk from smaller asteroids is on average up to 100 people per year.

The asteroid is so huge, and the space probe is so small... but give it time, and even a weak rocket can deflect the giant rock from its dangerous orbit

Like climate monitoring, protecting the planet from asteroids appears to be caught between two stools. Neither NASA nor the European Space Agency ( European Space Agency, ESA) do not have a mandate to save humanity. The best thing they did was the Survey for Space Defense program ( Spaceguard Survey, NASA) with a budget of $4 million per year to search in near-Earth space for bodies with a diameter of more than 1 km, which can cause harm not only to any region of the planet, but also to the Earth as a whole. However, so far no one is engaged in a systematic search for smaller “regional destroyers”, of which there should be about 20 thousand in the vicinity of the Earth. There is also no Space Threats Directorate that would sound the alarm if necessary. If security technology existed, it would take at least 15 years to provide protection against a dangerous intrusion. "There is no comprehensive plan in the US right now," says Larry Lemke ( Larry Lemke), engineer at NASA's Aimson Center.

In response to a request from Congress in March 2007, NASA published a report stating that the detection of bodies ranging in size from 100 to 1000 m could be entrusted to the Large Survey Telescope ( Large Sinoptic Survey Telescope, LSST), developed to survey the sky and search for new objects. The developers of this project believe that in the form in which the telescope was conceived, it will be able to detect 80% of these bodies within 10 years of operation (2014-2024). With an additional $100 million invested in the project, efficiency could increase to 90%.

Like all ground-based instruments, the LSST telescope's capabilities are limited. Firstly, it has a blind spot: it can observe the most dangerous objects moving near the Earth’s orbit slightly ahead or behind our planet only in the rays of morning or evening dawn, when the sun’s rays make it difficult to detect them. Secondly, this telescope can determine the mass of an asteroid only indirectly - by its brightness. In this case, the mass estimate can differ by half: a large dark asteroid can be confused with a small but light one. “And this distinction can be very important if we need protection,” says Claybaugh.

To solve these problems, NASA decided to build a $500 million infrared space telescope and place it in orbit around the Sun. It will be able to detect any threat to the Earth and, observing celestial bodies at different wavelengths, determine their mass with an error of no more than 20%. “If you want to do it right, you need to observe infrared from space,” says Donald Yeomans ( Donald Yeomans) from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, co-author of the report.

What to do if the asteroid is already moving towards our planet? The rule of thumb is that to deflect an asteroid by the radius of the Earth, you need to change its speed ten years before impact by a millimeter per second, pushing it with a nuclear explosion or pulling it back with gravitational attraction.

In 2004, the NASA Commission on Expeditions to Near-Earth Objects recommended testing. According to the $400 million Don Quixote project, it is supposed to change its trajectory by hitting a four-hundred-kilogram obstacle. The release of material after the collision as a result of the reaction effect will shift the direction of the asteroid, but no one knows how strong this effect will be. Determining this is the main task of the project. Scientists must find a body in such a distant orbit that the impact does not accidentally put it on a collision course with the Earth.

In the spring of 2008, ESA completed the preliminary draft and immediately put it on the shelf due to lack of money. To implement its plans, it will try to join forces with NASA and/or the Japanese Space Agency ( Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA).

Action plan

• Advanced search for asteroids, including small bodies, possibly using a dedicated space infrared telescope.
• Experiment on controlled deflection of an asteroid.
• Development of a formal system for assessing potential hazards.

3. Search for a new life

Before the launch of the satellite, scientists considered the solar system to be a real paradise. Then optimism diminished. It turned out that Earth's sister is a living hell. Having approached dusty Mars, the Mariners discovered that its cratered landscape was similar to that of the Moon; Having sat on its surface, the Vikings could not find a single organic molecule. But later, places suitable for life were discovered. Mars still shows promise. The planetary moons, especially Europa and Enceladus, appear to have large subsurface seas and enormous amounts of raw material for the formation of life. Even Venus may have once been covered by an ocean. On Mars, NASA is not looking for the organisms themselves, but for traces of their existence in the past or present, focusing on the presence of water. The latest Phoenix probe, launched in August, is due to land in the unexplored north polar region in 2008. This is not a rover, but a stationary device with a manipulator capable of digging into the soil several centimeters deep to search for ice deposits. The Mars Science Laboratory is also preparing for flight ( Mars Science Laboratory, MSL) is a $1.5 billion, car-sized Mars rover due to launch in late 2009 and land a year later.

But gradually scientists will return to the direct search for living organisms or their remains. ESA plans to launch the ExoMars probe in 2013 ( ExoMars), equipped with the same laboratory as the Vikings, and a drill capable of going 2 m deep into the soil - enough to reach layers where organic compounds are not destroyed.

Many planetary scientists consider it a priority to study the rocks brought from Mars to Earth. Analyzing even a small amount of it will provide an opportunity to penetrate deeply into the history of the planet, as the Apollo program did for the Moon. NASA budget problems have pushed back the multibillion-dollar project to 2024, but the agency has already begun upgrading MSL so it can preserve samples from the collection.

For Jupiter's moon Europa, scientists would also like to have an orbiter to measure how the moon's shape and gravitational field respond to tidal influences from Jupiter. If there is liquid inside the satellite, its surface will rise and fall by 30 m, and if not, only 1 m. A magnetometer and radar will help you look under the surface and possibly feel the ocean, and cameras will help you map the surface in preparation for landing and drilling .

A natural extension of Cassini's work near Titan would be an orbiter and lander. Titan's atmosphere is similar to Earth's, allowing for the use of a hot air balloon that can occasionally descend to the surface and take samples. The purpose of all this, says Jonathan Lunin ( Jonathan Lunine) from the University of Arizona would “analyze surface organics to test whether there is progress in the self-organization of the substance that many experts believe began the origin of life on Earth.”

In January 2007, NASA began reviewing these projects. The agency plans to make a choice between Europe and Titan in 2008. The $2 billion probe may be launched within the next ten years. The second celestial body will have to wait another ten years.

In the end, it may turn out that earthly life is unique. This would be sad, but it would not mean that all efforts were wasted. According to Bruce Jakoski ( Bruce Jacosky), director of the Astrobiology Center at the University of Colorado, astrobiology allows us to understand how diverse life can be, what its prerequisites are, and how it began on our planet 4 billion years ago.

Action plan

• Obtaining samples of Martian soil.
• Preparing for the exploration of Europa and Titan.

4. The clue to the origin of the planets

Like the origin of life, the formation of planets was a complex, multi-step process. Jupiter was the first and then ruled the others. How long did this education take? Or did it originate in a single gravitational compression, like a small star? Did it form far from the Sun and then move closer to it, as evidenced by its anomalously high content of heavy elements? And could he at the same time push small planets along his path? Jupiter's Juno satellite, which NASA plans to launch in 2011, should help answer these questions.

The development of the idea of ​​the Stardust probe, which in 2006 delivered samples of dust from the coma surrounding the solid nucleus of the comet, would also help to understand the formation of planets. According to project leader Donald Brownlee ( Donald Brownlee) from the University of Washington, Stardust showed that comets were colossal collectors of protosolar nebula material early in the solar system's formation, which was frozen into ice and preserved to this day. "Stardust has brought back remarkable dust grains from the inner solar system, from extrasolar sources, and, apparently, even from destroyed objects like Pluto, but they are very few." JAXA plans to obtain samples from comet nuclei.

The Moon can also become a platform for astroarchaeological research. It was a kind of Rosetta Stone for understanding the history of impacts in the young solar system, because it helped link the relative age of the surface, determined by counting craters, with the absolute dating of samples returned by Apollo and the Russian Luna. But in the 1960s. the landers visited only a few places. They didn't make it to Aitken Crater, a continent-sized basin on the far side whose age may indicate when planet formation ended. NASA is now considering sending a robot there to take samples and bring them back to Earth.

Another mystery of the solar system is that the Main Belt asteroids appear to have formed before Mars, which in turn formed before Earth. It appears that a wave of planet formation was going inward, probably triggered by Jupiter. But does Venus fit into this pattern? After all, this planet, with its acidic clouds, enormous pressure and hellish temperatures, is not the most pleasant place to land. In 2004, the NRC recommended deploying a balloon that could briefly descend to the surface, take samples, and then gain the necessary altitude to analyze them or send them back to Earth. In the mid-1980s. The Soviet Union has already sent spacecraft to Venus, and now the Russian Space Agency is planning to launch a new lander.

The study of planet formation is in some ways similar to studies of the origin of life. Venus is located on the inner edge of the life zone, Mars is on the outer edge, and Earth is in the middle. Understanding the differences between these planets means advancing the search for life outside the solar system.

Action plan

• Obtain samples of matter from the nuclei of comets, the Moon and Venus.

5. Beyond the solar system

Two years ago, the legendary Voyagers overcame the financial crisis. When NASA announced that they were going to shut down the project, public outcry forced them to continue working. Nothing man-made has ever been as far away from us as Voyager 1: 103 astronomical units (AU), i.e. 103 times further than the Earth from the Sun, and adding another 3.6 a.u. In 2002 or 2004 (according to various estimates), it reached the mysterious multilayer boundary of the Solar System, where solar wind particles collide with a flow of interstellar gas.

But Voyagers were designed to explore the outer planets, not interstellar space. Their plutonium power sources are drying up. NASA has long been thinking about creating a special probe, and the NRC report on solar physics from 2004 advises the agency to begin work in this direction.

External boundaries

The interstellar probe should explore the border region of the solar system, where gas ejected from the Sun meets interstellar gas. It must have speed, durability and equipment that Voyagers and Pioneers do not have.

The probe must measure the amino acid content of interstellar particles to determine how much complex organic matter entered the solar system from outside. He also needs to find antimatter particles that could be born in miniature black holes or dark matter. It must determine how the edge of the solar system reflects matter, including cosmic rays that can influence Earth's climate. He also needs to find out whether there is a magnetic field in the interstellar space around us, which can play an important role in the formation of stars. This probe can be used as a miniature space telescope to conduct cosmological observations free from the influence of interplanetary dust. It would help study the so-called Pioneer Anomaly, an unexplained force acting on the two distant space probes Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, and also test Einstein's theory of general relativity by indicating where the sun's gravity collects rays of light from distant sources into focus. It could be used to study in detail one of the nearby stars, such as Epsilon Eridani, although it would take tens of thousands of years to get there.

To reach a celestial body at a distance of hundreds of astronomical units during the lifetime of the scientist (and the plutonium energy source), one must accelerate to a speed of 15 AU. in year. To do this, you can use one of three options - heavy, medium or light, respectively, with an ion engine powered by a nuclear reactor, or a solar sail.

The heavy (36 t) and medium (1 t) probes were developed in 2005 by teams led by Thomas Zurbuchen ( Thomas Zurbuchen) from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Ralph McNutt ( Ralph McNutt) from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. But the easiest option looks more acceptable for launching. ESA is now considering a proposal from an international team of scientists led by Robert Wimmer-Schweingruber ( Robert Wimmer-Schweingruber) from the University of Kiel, Germany. NASA may also join this project.

A solar sail with a diameter of 200 m will be able to accelerate a five hundred kilogram probe. After launching from Earth, it must rush towards the Sun and pass as close to it as possible (inside the orbit of Mercury) in order to catch a powerful surge of sunlight. Like a windsurfer, the spacecraft will tack. Before the orbit of Jupiter, it must drop the sail and fly freely. But first, engineers must develop a sail that is light enough and tests it in a simplified version.

“Such a mission under the auspices of ESA or NASA would be the next logical step in space exploration,” says Wimmer-Schweingruber. Over the next 30 years, the cost of this project is estimated at $2 billion. Studying the planets will help us understand how Earth fits into the overall scheme, and studying our interstellar neighborhood will help us find out the same for the entire solar system.

Man has always been interested in how the world around him works. At first, these were simple observations and naive interpretations of ongoing phenomena. They have come down to us in the form of legends and myths. Gradually knowledge accumulated. Ancient scientists, observing the Sun and Moon, were able to predict solar and lunar eclipses and create calendars. The accuracy of these calculations amazes modern researchers: after all, in those days there were no instruments; scientists made their observations with the naked eye.

Later, various instruments were created to facilitate observations. The most important of them was the telescope (from the Greek words “tele” - far, “skopeo” - to look). The use of telescopes made it possible not only to study the solar system, but also to look into the depths of the Universe.

The next step in the study and exploration of space was the creation of a rocket. The first scientist who proved that a rocket would be a real means of space exploration was our compatriot, the founder of modern cosmonautics, Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935). But years passed before this problem was solved. On October 4, 1957, the first artificial Earth satellite was launched in our country.

A great contribution to the development of domestic cosmonautics was made by the scientist, designer and organizer of the production of rocket and space technology Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (1906-1966). A new era in space exploration has begun.

Currently, Russia, the USA, many European countries, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Canada, and Ukraine are participating in space exploration. Space stations have been launched to the planets of the Solar System and their satellites, photographs of them have been taken from close range, and landings have been carried out on the surface of Venus, Mars and other planets.

Some important dates in space exploration

November 3, 1957 - launch of the second artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik-2, on board which for the first time carried a living creature - the dog Laika (USSR).

September 14, 1959 - the Luna-2 station was the first in the world to reach the surface of the Moon, delivering a pennant with the coat of arms of the USSR (USSR).

October 4, 1959 - the Luna-3 station was the first in the world to photograph the side of the Moon invisible from Earth (USSR).

August 19-20, 1960 - the first orbital flight into space of living beings - the dogs Belka and Strelka - on the Sputnik-5 spacecraft with a successful return to Earth (USSR).

April 12, 1961 - the first manned flight into space on the Vostok-1 spacecraft (Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, USSR).

June 16-19, 1963 - the first flight into space of a female cosmonaut on the Vostok-6 spacecraft (Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova, USSR).

March 18, 1965 - the first human spacewalk from the Voskhod-2 spacecraft (Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov, USSR).

March 1, 1966 - the first flight of a spacecraft from Earth to another planet; The Venera-3 station reached the surface of Venus for the first time, delivering the pennant of the USSR (USSR).

September 15, 1968 - the Zond-5 spacecraft returns to Earth after its first flyby of the Moon. There were living creatures on board: turtles, fruit flies, worms, plants, seeds, bacteria (USSR).

July 21, 1969 - the first human landing on the Moon as part of the lunar expedition of the Apollo 11 spacecraft, which also delivered lunar soil samples to Earth (Neil Armstrong, USA).

March 3, 1972 - launch of the first Pioneer 10 spacecraft, which subsequently left the solar system (USA).

April 12, 1981 - launch of the first reusable transport spacecraft Columbia (USA) into orbit.

June 24, 2000 - the Near Shoemaker station became the first artificial satellite of an asteroid (USA).

April 28 - May 6, 2001 - flight of the first space tourist on board the Soyuz-TM-32 spacecraft to the International Space Station (Dennis Tito, USA).

1. How did ancient people study the Universe?
2. Which scientist proved that space exploration can be done using a rocket?
3. When was the first artificial Earth satellite launched?
4. Who was the first astronaut?

Man has always been interested in how the world around him works. In ancient times, people observed and tried to explain natural phenomena. Later, various instruments were created, the most important of which was the telescope. The use of telescopes made it possible not only to study the solar system, but also to look into the depths of the Universe. The next step in the study and exploration of space was the creation of a rocket. A great contribution to the development of domestic cosmonautics was made by K. E. Tsiolkovsky, S. P. Korolev, Yu. A. Gagarin. Currently, many countries of the world, including Russia, are participating in space exploration.

Modern ideas about the structure of the Universe developed gradually over the centuries. For a long time, the Earth was considered its center. This point of view was held by the ancient Greek scientists Aristotle and Ptolemy.

A new model of the Universe was created by Nicolaus Copernicus, the great Polish astronomer. According to his model, the center of the world is the Sun, and the Earth and other planets revolve around it. According to modern concepts, the Earth is part of the Solar System, which is part of the Galaxy. Galaxies form superclusters - megagalaxies.

The solar system is formed by 8 planets with their satellites, asteroids, comets, and many dust particles. Planets are divided into two groups. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars are the terrestrial planets. The group of giant planets includes Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

Asteroids and comets are small celestial bodies that are part of the Solar System. A meteor is a flash of light that occurs when a particle of cosmic dust burns on the earth, and cosmic bodies that do not burn up in the atmosphere and reach the surface of the Earth are called meteorites.

Stars are giant flaming balls located very far from our planet. The closest star to us is the Sun, the center of our solar system.

Earth is a unique planet, only life has been discovered on it. The existence of living things is facilitated by a number of features of the Earth: a certain distance from the Sun, the speed of rotation around its own axis, the presence of an air shell and large reserves of water, the existence of soil.

In ancient times, people observed phenomena occurring in nature and tried to explain them. The invention of various instruments, including the telescope, facilitated these observations. The next step in the study and exploration of space was the creation of a rocket. Currently, many countries around the world are taking part in space exploration.

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Not many years have passed since the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite in 1957, but in this short period of time space research has managed to occupy one of the leading places in world science. Feeling like a citizen of the Universe, man naturally wanted to get to know his world and its surroundings better.

Already the first satellite transmitted valuable information about the properties of the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere, about the peculiarities of the passage of radio waves through the ionosphere. The second satellite marked the beginning of a whole scientific direction - space biology: on board it, a living creature - the dog Laika - went into space for the first time. The third orbital flight of the Soviet apparatus was again devoted to the Earth - the study of its atmosphere, magnetic field, interaction of the air envelope with solar radiation, and meteor conditions around the planet.

After the first launches, it became clear that space exploration should be carried out purposefully, according to long-term scientific programs. In 1962, the Soviet Union began launching automatic satellites of the Cosmos series, the number of which is now approaching 2 thousand. Cosmos satellites are launched into orbits near and far from the Earth, equipped with scientific instruments for studying the immediate environs of the planet and diverse phenomena in the upper atmosphere and near-Earth space.

The Electron satellites and the Prognoz orbital automatic observatories spoke about the Sun and its decisive influence on earthly life. By studying our star, we also comprehend the secrets of distant stars, and get acquainted with the work of a natural thermonuclear reactor, which has not yet been possible to build on Earth. From space we also saw the “invisible sun” - its “portrait” in ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays, which do not reach the Earth’s surface due to the opacity of the atmosphere in these parts of the electromagnetic wave spectrum. In addition to automatic satellites, long-term studies of the Sun were carried out by Soviet and American cosmonauts at orbital space stations.

Thanks to research from space, we have better learned the composition, structure and properties of the upper layers of the atmosphere and ionosphere of the Earth, their dependence on solar activity, which has made it possible to increase the reliability of weather forecasts and radio communication conditions.

The “Cosmic Eye” made it possible not only to evaluate the “external data” of our planet in a new way, but also to look into its depths. From orbits, geological structures are better detected, the patterns of the structure of the earth's crust and the placement of minerals needed by humans can be traced.

Satellites make it possible to view vast areas of water in a matter of minutes and transmit their images to oceanographers. From orbits they receive information about the directions and speeds of winds, and the zones of origin of cyclonic vortices.

Since 1959, the study of the Earth's satellite, the Moon, began with the help of Soviet automatic stations. The Luna 3 station, having flown around the Moon, photographed its far side for the first time; Luna 9 made a soft landing on the Earth's satellite. To have a clearer picture of the entire Moon, long-term observations were needed from the orbits of its artificial satellites. The first of them - the Soviet station "Luna-10" - was launched in 1966. In the fall of 1970, the station "Luna-16" left for the Moon, which, returning to Earth, brought with it samples of lunar soil rocks. But only long-term systematic studies of the lunar surface could help selenologists understand the origin and structure of our natural satellite. This opportunity was soon provided to them by self-propelled Soviet scientific laboratories - lunar rovers. The results of space exploration of the Moon have provided new data about the history of the origin of the Earth.

The characteristic features of the Soviet program for studying planets - systematicity, consistency, gradual complication of the problems being solved - were especially clearly manifested in the research of Venus. The last two decades have brought more information about this planet than the entire previous more than three-century period of its study. At the same time, a significant part of the information was obtained by Soviet science and technology. The descent vehicles of the Venera automatic interplanetary stations have repeatedly landed on the surface of the planet and probed its atmosphere and clouds. Soviet stations also became the first artificial satellites of Venus.

Since 1962, Soviet automatic interplanetary stations have been launched to the planet Mars.

Cosmonautics also studies planets more distant from Earth. Today you can view television images of the surface of Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn and their satellites.

Astronomers who had space technology at their disposal naturally did not limit themselves to studying only the Solar System. Their instruments, taken outside the atmosphere, opaque to short-wave cosmic radiation, were aimed towards other stars and galaxies.

The invisible rays coming from them - radio waves, ultraviolet and infrared, x-rays and gamma radiation - carry the most valuable information about what is happening in the depths of the Universe (see Astrophysics).