50 Years of the death of Sergei Korolev, The man that opened Cosmos to humanity!

The Peace of God to all that belong to the Light,
Dear Readers,

An extremely crucial anniversary in this 2016 happened in January 14th, it refers to half a century of the death of a man of Science and Engineering whose contribution to the progress of Humanity is giant, as meaningful that he was responsible of the successful launching of the first artificial satellite of earth, also of the next two with the first alive beings in orbit, as well as to have put also in several orbits around our planet the first two men, and the first and only woman for about 40 years.

Please read:
en.wikipedia.org...

Although just a fraction of these achievements would be enough to leave a permanent mark in History, Nevertheless, his name remained unknown until the precise day of his very death, in a heart surgery that supposedly was going to be routine, from a ailment that was the long run consequence of his years as prisoner in the North Pole Gulag accused of false crimes.

Please check:

www.youtube.com...

The Swedish Academy asked in multiple occasions to his government about his identity with the intention to grant him the Nobel Prize of Physics, without answer. Secrecy and Ideological control over science were the excuses to deprive this great man of the international recognition he deserved as a person.

Please check:
www.youtube.com...

His alter ego, who competed against him all the time to decide the pace of the Space race was the German Engineer Verner Von Braun, who served the Nazi Regime under Hitler. Without the German secrets transferred to the west at the end of WWII probably American men never would have arrived the first to the moon, but also without the unfortunate death of Korolev in 1966. Here the BBC production of the lives of these two notable scientists that open the Cosmos to the human kind.

Please check:
www.youtube.com...

After the death of Korolev the Eastern European Space program would never be the same again. Here some sequence of the movie about Yuri Gagarin historic flight. The real Hero remained anonymous that day and 5 years more of his brilliant career.

Please check:
www.youtube.com...

Sergei Korolev has been , after his tragic death, the most famous Ukrainian ever born, his legacy is really huge, without him we would not be in the technological level we are right now, and even great part of future achievements in space will necessarily credit his pioneer work as a constant reference.

It is said that when Verner Von Braun learnt of the death of Korolev he was quite astonished of that all those achievements were coordinated by only one scientist, that he was in behind so many important projects and got success in all of them.

His mind opened heaven to Humanity, but also challenged many of the most brilliant minds around the world to give the best of them to join him in what seemed to be just a dream, but became the most important human odyssey , one that transformed reality for ever.

Please check:
www.youtube.com...

The thread is opened to the members that share enthusiasm for the progress that can derived from the space exploration.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

He designed very good rockets.

Thanks for the insight angel of light, never heard his name before. Its amazing what single people can achieve to change the direction of humankind.

According to a documentary I watched, Russia was on track for the Moon Landing but his passing slowed down their space program, his successor couldn't cope with the problems.

originally posted by: The angel of light
His alter ego, who competed against him all the time to decide the pace of the Space race was the German Engineer Verner Von Braun, who served the Nazi Regime under Hitler. Without the German secrets transferred to the west at the end of WWII probably American men never would have arrived the first to the moon, but also without the unfortunate death of Korolev in 1966. Here the BBC production of the lives of these two notable scientists that open the Cosmos to the human kind.

Please check:
www.youtube.com...

Both men dreamed of exploring the cosmos. Both men curried favor with reprehensible regimes to gain support for their projects. Both men saw the fruits of their labor perverted into weapons of war, but both men were ultimately able to leave the weapons behind to pursue their dreams.

It is said that when Verner Von Braun learnt of the death of Korolev he was quite astonished of that all those achievements were coordinated by only one scientist, that he was in behind so many important projects and got success in all of them.

I had not heard this, but I am not surprised. Von Braun was a rocket designer - period. Others designed the America's satellites and manned spacecraft. Korolev did it all. Of course, this is why the Soviet manned moon landing program stumbled and fell after his death. If roles had been better delegated, they might have succeeded.
For example, if Chelomei's UR-700 had been selected as the moon rocket instead of Korolev's N1, Korolev could have concentrated on developing his Soyuz "Lunar Orbital Ship" (Yangel was already delegated to build the LK manned lunar lander).
Unfortunately, the Soviet space program was dominated personality clashes and rivalries, and all of it was under the supervision (I use the term very loosely) of the military Strategic Rocket Forces, whose main concern was to build ICBMs and viewed manned space projects as expensive propaganda side-shows.

His mind opened heaven to Humanity, but also challenged many of the most brilliant minds around the world to give the best of them to join him in what seemed to be just a dream, but became the most important human odyssey , one that transformed reality for ever.

Beautifully said. Star & Flag.

a reply to: glend

Dear glend and other members in this thread,

Let me apologize first for my silence with respect to all the nice posts in the thread but I had a trip and was disconnected of the internet for a while.

Yes, many people really don't know about Sergei Korolev, He has not yet received the recognition he deserve in History of Science and Technology, I think in great part due to the secrecy in which his work was kept along decades.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

a reply to: manuelram16

Yes, you are quite right, his unfortunate and unexpected death was an issue that determined the failure of the Soviet space program in many key areas in the so important stage of the sending of manned missions to the moon.

What it was originally his sole responsibility became divided in at least three different teams after him, and they were not really coordinating work as might be, so a lot of terrible mistakes started to happen.

When Sergei Korolev died the Soviet space program was already able to sent robotic spacecrafts to orbit the moon, he was still alive when Luna 9 arrived to that planet and performed the first soft landing, completely automated.

Now, although the line of action of Soviet scientists after him was to try to use relatively heavy Soyuz technology to approach the moon, for manned missions, using the variation spacecrafts called Zond, for some reason Korolev was more in favor to try to reuse the Vostok and Voskhod technology.

I think he was trying to simplify calculations, to reduce planning and control effort, since those spacecrafts were lighter and smaller and then so easier to be sent with success to such long distances.

Korolev also defended the space station approach, he believed it was easier to land on moon with men if they could first maintain in lunar orbit a space station.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

a reply to: Saint Exupery

Hi Dear Saint Exupery,

I appreciate your star and flag to the thread, I think it was so important that Above top secret Space Exploration forum didn't pass through this year without commenting this so important anniversary.

Ukraine is also a subject that is right now all the time in the news, but people don't know to much of their own History and specially their contribution to civilization. Sergei Korolev is the most important man of Science born in that country in all the XX century and one of the most relevant figures in their entire History, for the impact of his research.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness