People have always aspired to the sky and dreamed of flying across the expanses of the universe. That is why on April 12, 2016 the whole world will celebrate Cosmonautics Day. This is a very young holiday, which was born thanks to the selfless feat of the first man who went into space - Yuri Gagarin. Since then, grateful humanity has been marking April 12 on the calendar every year - the International Cosmonautics Day.

history of the holiday

Scientists from different countries have long and diligently worked on the problems of astronautics and space shipbuilding. And in 1961, the USSR made an unprecedented breakthrough: in March, the preparation of the launch complex at the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan) was completed, and on April 12, Vostok 8K72K, the spacecraft piloted by the first Soviet cosmonaut, senior lieutenant Yuri Gagarin.

He made a historic flight around the planet Earth and proved to the whole world that manned spacecraft are not only an optimistic fantasy of Soviet scientists, but also an objective reality that the engineering geniuses of the USSR were able to embody. People all over the globe, with bated breath, watched the bold and decisive step of the first cosmonaut. Gagarin's flight lasted 1 hour 48 minutes.

A note on the historical feat of Yuri Gagarin

After one near-Earth orbit, a landing was made in the Saratov region, near the village of Smelovka. At an altitude of several kilometers, Gagarin ejected from the descent vehicle and landed by parachute. The first cosmonaut in his homeland was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union, and the date of April 12 was declared Cosmonautics Day by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which has been celebrated annually since 1962.

It is noteworthy that since 1968 Cosmonautics Day has acquired an international status. And, although in ordinary life this holiday is a working day, this does not detract from its significance for the development of astronautics around the world. In 2016, Russia will celebrate the 54th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight, and the rest of the world will celebrate Cosmonautics Day for the 48th time.

Who celebrates Cosmonautics Day?

An important point: Cosmonautics Day is celebrated not only by the astronauts themselves, of whom there are not so many, but also by people of various, equally valuable and respected professions who are directly or indirectly related to this day. After all, for example, without a contribution from the design and engineering staff space travel would have remained an unattainable dream.

Cosmonautics Day is celebrated by all researchers and workers in the aerospace industry. These are cosmodrome employees, senior and junior engineers, medical personnel of all levels, as well as everyone who serves astronaut training. Including employees involved in the design and operation of missile space technology.

Also, the celebration is attended by employees of "space" enterprises and, of course, students and teachers who study and work in universities related to aerospace technology and space. All of them help in space exploration, and therefore have every right to receive congratulations on Cosmonautics Day.

MOSCOW, December 15 - RIA Novosti. The outgoing 2016 in the space industry of Russia was remembered by a number of victories and a series of failures. For the first time, the Soyuz carrier rocket was launched from the new Russian Vostochny cosmodrome, and the first ExoMars-2016 mission in the history of cooperation between the European Union and Russia was launched to Mars. The annual flight of a Russian and an American to the ISS was successfully completed and the Federal Space Program for 2016-2025 was approved, and the private American Antares rocket equipped with two Russian first-stage engines RD-181 flew to the ISS for the first time in history.

On the other hand, the Progress MS-04 space truck crashed and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere, which did not bring the unique greenhouse and the first spacesuit of the new model to the ISS. In general, the Russian Federation set an anti-record: in the year of the 55th anniversary of Gagarin's flight, Russia for the first time since 1999 lost its leadership in the number of space launches, yielding not only to the United States, but also to China.

First launch from Vostochny Cosmodrome

The historical event for Russia took place on April 28, 2016: from the Amur region the new cosmodrome "Vostochny" was the first launch vehicle. It was not without an unfortunate overlay: Soyuz-2.1a was supposed to launch on April 27 in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but automatics canceled the launch for technical reasons, the launch was postponed for a day.

After the correction of the remarks, the rocket was regularly launched on April 28 from the first and so far the only launch pad of the cosmodrome.

"Soyuz-2.1a" with the new launch unit "Volga" successfully delivered into orbit the Russian spacecraft "Aist-2D", the scientific satellite of Moscow State University "Mikhailo Lomonosov", as well as the SamSat-218D nanosatellite.

Launch of the first Russian-European mission to Mars

The first project in the history of cooperation between the European Union and Russia to search for life on Mars, ExoMars-2016 ("ExoMars-2016"), began with the launch of the Proton-M launch vehicle with the Breeze-M upper stage on March 14, 2016 from Baikonur. A bunch of spacecraft TGO-Schiaparelli was successfully put on a flight trajectory to Mars. The main task of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is to search for evidence of the presence of methane in the planet's atmosphere, which could confirm the presence of life or activity in the present or past of Mars. The purpose of the Schiaparelli lander is to test key technologies for the second ExoMars expedition, scheduled for 2020.

After the separation of the devices on October 16, 2016, TGO was launched into an elliptical orbit. However, the Schiaparelli descent module failed to reach the surface of Mars on a regular basis: communication with it was lost approximately 50 seconds before the estimated landing time. According to representatives of the European Space Agency (ESA), the device deployed brake parachutes earlier than planned, and its brake engines worked much less than the estimated time. The ESA later confirmed that the craft had crashed on landing.

Purchase of the floating spaceport "Sea Launch"

After several years of negotiations, it was decided that the unique floating cosmodrome Sea Launch ("Sea Launch") will remain under Russian control. The contract for its acquisition was signed by S7 Group, which owns one of the largest Russian airlines, and the Sea Launch group of companies at the end of September at the International Astronautical Congress IAC 2016 in Guadalajara (Mexico).

The Sea Launch Commander assembly and command ship, the Odyssey launch platform with the rocket segment equipment installed on them, ground equipment in the base port of Long Beach (USA) and the Sea Launch trademark will become the property of S7.

The Sea Launch International Consortium was established in 1995 for commercial launches from the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Sea Launch AG is currently headquartered in Bern, Switzerland. After the reorganization in 2010, 95% of the company's shares were owned by Energia Overseas Limited (EOL) - the "granddaughter" of RSC Energia, 3% - by the American Boeing, 2% - by the Norwegian Aker Solution.

Federal space program approved

The Federal Space Program (FSP) for 2016-2025 was approved by the Russian government chaired by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on March 17, 2016. By 2025, Russia intends to form an orbital constellation of civilian satellites of 70 spacecraft. As Igor Komarov, the head of Roskosmos, said, the new FKP, in particular, is aimed at increasing the share of the Russian Federation in the market for remote sensing and satellite communications services.

Initially, Roscosmos prepared a draft of the Federal Space Program for 2016-2025, based on state funding of 2.1 trillion rubles, but later the FKP budget was reduced to 1.4 trillion. Roscosmos has repeatedly stated that the new FKP managed to preserve the fundamental projects of space exploration, in particular the fundamental Scientific research. The approved version of the program, however, assumes that after 2021 an additional 115 billion rubles can be allocated.

The annual flight of a Russian and an American to the ISS has ended

The annual flight of two members of the ISS crew ended with success. Russian Alexander Kornienko and American astronaut Scott Kelly went into orbit on March 27, 2015 on the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft. By the time of departure, the cosmonauts had spent a total of 340 days at the station. They returned to Earth on March 2, 2016 on the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft. In orbit, Kornienko and Kelly successfully worked 340 days, circled the planet 5440 times, and also conducted more than 400 scientific experiments, significantly expanding the understanding of the influence of space on humans.

The American edition of Fortune in 2016 included Kornienko and Kelly in the list of 50 most influential people in the world, putting them in 22nd place. Representatives of Roscosmos and NASA have repeatedly noted that this expedition, like the entire ISS program, proves that the difficult political situation in the world and sanctions against Russia do not interfere with Russian-American space projects.

For the United States, this was the first experience of a long-term space expedition. Soviet and Russian cosmonauts have already worked in orbit for a year. In 1999, Sergey Avdeev made a flight lasting 379 days, and in 1995 Valery Polyakov was in orbit for 437 days and thus set the world record for the longest flight into space.

Death of Progress

The Progress-MS-04 space truck crashed on the evening of December 1 over a deserted mountainous area in Tuva. Most of its fragments burned up in the atmosphere, but some fragments fell 60-70 kilometers west of the capital of Tuva, the city of Kyzyl. Telemetry data confirms that the space truck separated from the third stage of the Soyuz-U launch vehicle, but so far experts do not understand why it then went out of normal mode and collapsed after some time.

Previously, experts believed that the accident could have occurred as a result of abnormal operation of the Soyuz-U third-stage engines. Versions were put forward about poor-quality assembly, burnout of combustion chambers, damage to the weld. But after processing the telemetry data up to the 383rd second of the flight, we can preliminarily say that the separation occurred, and after that, an emergency situation occurred on the Progress itself, which led to its destruction and subsequent fall.

In addition, versions were put forward according to which the control system of the Soyuz-U rocket could issue a command for an emergency shutdown of the third stage engines, after which the Progress MS-04 truck prematurely separated, then left the normal flight mode and collapsed.

At the same time, according to the cyclogram of the flight, the navigation antennas on the truck opened, but the solar panels did not have time to open, which is confirmed by the words of a NASA commentator in the Mission Control Center near Moscow. Then Progress transmitted telemetry for about a minute and a half, after which it began to deorbit.

The investigation has not yet been completed. State Corporation "Roscosmos" officially announced that the results of the work of the emergency commission will be announced no earlier than December 20, 2016.

The cargo spacecraft was supposed to deliver more than 2.5 tons of cargo to the ISS. In addition to fuel, water and compressed gases, the Lada-2 greenhouse was on board, in which it was planned for the first time to grow Bell pepper in orbit, a space suit of a new modification "Orlan-MKS" with automatic system temperature control, which allows the cosmonauts not to be distracted by turning the heating systems on and off, as well as fruits for the New Year's table of the crew members.

The new manned spacecraft of the Russian Federation was named "Federation"

By decision of the jury, the new Russian manned spacecraft being developed by RSC Energia was given a name following the results of the completed competition. The name "Federation" was recognized as the best of the three "finalists" of the competition ("Gagarin", "Federation", "Vector") and became the official name of the new ship. The names "Gagarin" and "Vector" can be used in the future for other projects of the domestic rocket and space industry.

The decision of the jury was preceded by a public vote, in which 35,105 people took part, who proposed about 6,000 original versions of the names, of which the organizing committee of the competition chose ten for public voting: "Gagarin", "Vector", "Federation", "Astra", "Galaxy" , "Motherland", "Zodiac", "World", "Star" and "Leader".

The new ship developed by RSC Energia will be designed to deliver people and cargo to the ISS, as well as to the Moon.

When creating the "Federation", the latest technologies are used, sometimes having no analogues in the world astronautics. In particular, the return vehicle will be made of composite materials, and a reusable docking unit will be provided.

Modern on-board electronic equipment will make it possible to more effectively solve the problems of rendezvous and docking of the spacecraft, improve the safety of the crew at the stages of launch and descent to Earth. The Federation's crew will be up to four people. The ship will be able to stay in autonomous flight mode for up to 30 days, while flying as part of an orbital station - up to a year.

The total mass of the ship during the flight to the orbital station will be equal to 14.4 tons (19 tons during the flight to the Moon), the mass of the return vehicle will be 9 tons. The length of the ship is 6.1 meters. Rated overload during descent - 3 g. To launch the spacecraft into orbit, it is planned to use the Angara-A5V heavy-class launch vehicle.

Antares first launched to the ISS

On October 18, 2016, the private American Antares rocket, equipped with two Russian RD-181 first-stage engines, was launched to the ISS for the first time in history with the Cygnus space truck. The launch of a new modification of the launch vehicle, called Antares 230, has been repeatedly postponed. American experts wanted to hedge themselves after the accident that occurred in October 2014, when the previous Antares model with AeroJet AJ-26 engines (a modification of the Russian H-33) exploded at the start.

For the new Antares, American specialists have chosen the RD-181 from Energomash near Moscow. In less than a year, the Khimki enterprise developed, manufactured, certified and began delivering the RD-181 for Antares. The contract for the supply of eight engines of this model was signed in December 2014. In the summer of 2015, the first commercial samples of the RD-181 were delivered to the United States. Production and deliveries of RD-181 continue in accordance with the terms of the contract.

Ukrainian specialists also took part in the preparation for the launch. At the same time, Igor Arbuzov, general director of Energomash, told RIA Novosti that Russian and Ukrainian experts worked separately at the American cosmodrome in preparation for the first launch.

Despite the protracted crisis in relations between Moscow and Kiev, the Ukrainian Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and Yuzhmash State Enterprise and the Russian Energomash continue to be participants in the Antares production and preparation program for launches. Ukraine solves its problems in terms of manufacturing tanks for fuel, tanks high pressure, valves, sensors, fuel and power supply systems, and Russia - its own, associated with the supply of RD-180 and their adaptation to the carrier.

The American Orbital ATK acted as an integrator and regulator of all work. Orbital ATK is headquartered in The Dalles, Virginia. The company employs about 12,000 people in 18 states and overseas.

55 years since the first manned flight into space

A call to the new generation "Raise your head!" became in 2016 the motto for the new team of the state corporation Roscosmos. The logo of this holiday - the 55th anniversary of the first manned flight into space - is the image of a smiling Yuri Gagarin.

The countdown to the space era of mankind was given 55 years ago, on April 12, 1961, when Yuri Gagarin went into orbit. He opened the era of manned flights and forever inscribed his name in history as a pioneer of the universe.

Anti-record for space launches

At the same time, it was in the year of the 55th anniversary of Gagarin's flight that Russia for the first time since 1999 lost its leadership in the number of space launches.

According to the first deputy head of Roscosmos, Alexander Ivanov, by the end of 2016, for the first time, Russia will have fewer launches than China and the United States.

"For one simple reason - we have reduced launches in the interests of the Federal Space Program, and in the interests of creating orbital constellations," Ivanov said, speaking at the scientific conference "Cosmonautics in the 21st century."

The cessation of launches, he said, is also due to the lack of orders for the launch of communications satellites: there are no orders from either Federal State Unitary Enterprise Kosmicheskaya Svyaz or Gazprom Space Systems for launches this year and next year.

Russia and China agreed to expand and deepen long-term mutually beneficial cooperation in the space industry, according to a joint communiqué of the parties following the 21st regular meeting of the heads of government of Russia and China.

The last time the United States outpaced Russia in booster launches was in 1999. Then they conducted 31 space launches, with 30 from Russia and four from China. However, already in 2000, the Russian Federation accounted for 39 launches, the United States - 28, China - five. In 2015, these countries made 29, 20 and 19 starts, respectively.

In 2015, Russia carried out 29 launches of carrier rockets: 18 launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, three from the Guiana Space Center, one launch from the Dombarovsk positioning area, and seven launches from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

The famous "Let's go!" said 27-year-old lieutenant Yuri Gagarin, who returned to Earth 108 minutes later as a major, and 2 days later received the world's first rank of pilot-cosmonaut. On April 12, 2016, the world celebrates the 55th anniversary of the beginning of the space age.

TASS was authorized to announce

The main news agency of the USSR - TASS (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union) reports: “On April 12, 1961, the world's first spacecraft-satellite Vostok with a man on board was put into orbit around the Earth in the Soviet Union. The pilot-cosmonaut of the Vostok satellite is a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Pilot Major Gagarin Yuri Alekseevich.

In a special issue of Latest News of the All-Union Radio, the great announcer Yuri Levitan, who had the honor of informing the Soviet people about the most outstanding events of the era, read out in advance to microscopic details a verified, stunning text that could well become an example of PR technologies:

“Two-way radio communication has been established and maintained with the cosmonaut, Comrade Gagarin. The frequencies of the onboard shortwave transmitters are 9.019 megahertz and 20.006 megahertz, and in the ultrashort wave band 143.625 megahertz. With the help of radio telemetry and television systems, the astronaut's condition in flight is monitored. Comrade Gagarin endured the period of launching the Vostok satellite into orbit satisfactorily and is now feeling well. The systems that provide the necessary living conditions in the cabin of the spacecraft are functioning normally. The flight of the Vostok satellite with pilot-cosmonaut comrade Gagarin in orbit continues.

The spacecraft with Gagarin took off from Baikonur at 09:00 7:00. Yuri Levitan read the first news at 10.02, and already at 10.25 Moscow time, as TASS reported, “after flying around the globe in accordance with a given program, the braking propulsion system was turned on and the spacecraft-satellite began to descend from orbit to land in a given area of ​​the Soviet Union". True, it did not work out with the given area - the landing was supposed to take place 110 km south of Stalingrad, but the ship landed in the Saratov region, not far from the city of Engels. Yuri Alekseevich did not wait for the rescuers, but he himself went on the next ride to Engels. Rescuers came to the rescue and removed him from the truck.

Gagarin's first medal

"The astronaut has been taken on board, I'm heading to the airfield," the officers said. At the landing site, Gagarin was presented with his first award for space flight - the medal "For the Development of Virgin Lands". Subsequently, the same medal was awarded at the landing site to many other cosmonauts.

In the evening of the same day, a banquet was held in the city of Kuibyshev, to which General Designer Sergei Korolev and members of the State Commission flew in.

They say that three versions of reports about the first flight of a man to the stars were prepared for the press, which, depending on the development of events, had to be published by order of the Kremlin. But there was only one left - the only one, the brightest and most correct. Like it or not, it is not known for certain. State secret.

How Cosmonautics Day officially appeared

Almost a year after the first manned space flight, on April 9, 1962, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the celebration of Cosmonautics Day was signed. A few years later, in 1969, the holiday acquired international significance and became known as World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day. And almost half a century later, on April 7, 2011, at a special plenary session of the UN General Assembly, a resolution was adopted that officially proclaimed April 12 as the International Day of Human Space Flight. More than 60 states became co-sponsors of the resolution.

How many astronauts on earth

To date, the list of Soviet and Russian cosmonauts - those who participated in space flights - has 120 people, of which 4 are women. To date, 33 Soviet-Russian cosmonauts are no longer alive.

As of March 7, 2016, there are 555 people in the world who have completed an orbital space flight. There are 58 women among the astronauts. Representatives of 35 currently existing states visited the Earth's orbit. But the first was our Yuri Gagarin!

On April 12, the whole world celebrates Aviation and Cosmonautics Day- a memorable date dedicated to the first manned flight into space. This is a special day - the day of the triumph of science and all those who work in the space industry today. As a holiday - Cosmonautics Day - in our country it was established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 9, 1962, and received international status in 1968 at a conference of the International Aviation Federation.

By the way, since 2011 it has had another name - International Day of Human Space Flight. On April 7, 2011, at a special plenary session of the UN General Assembly, at the initiative of Russia, an official resolution No. A / RES / 65/271 was adopted, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first step in the exploration of outer space. More than 60 states became co-sponsors of this resolution.

On April 12, 1961, a citizen of the Soviet Union, Senior Lieutenant Yu. A. Gagarin on the Vostok spacecraft for the first time in the world made an orbital flight around the Earth, opening the era of manned space flights.

The flight, which lasted only 108 minutes, was a powerful breakthrough in space exploration. The name of Yuri Gagarin became widely known in the world, and the first cosmonaut himself received the rank of major ahead of schedule and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

As you know, before a man got into a spaceship, man's four-legged friends were sent on a flight. In August 1960, the Soviet spacecraft "Vostok" with the dogs Belka and Strelka on board made a daily flight with a return to Earth.

The first international flight in the history of cosmonautics took place on July 15, 1975 - the pioneers were the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz-19 and the American spacecraft Apollo.

The holiday itself was recommended to be celebrated at the international level annually on April 12 to commemorate the beginning of the space age for mankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and improving the well-being of states and peoples, as well as in ensuring the realization of their desire to preserve outer space for peaceful purposes.

And today is April 12 in honor of the holiday in different countries various events are held - exhibitions, conferences, scientific and educational lectures and seminars, film screenings and much more. So, in Russia, special projects are being prepared in the main Museum of Cosmonautics, many Russian educational institutions and planetariums hold exhibitions and promotions, public organizations organize solemn rallies and other events dedicated to this Day. After all, this is a common holiday that connects the past, present and future of the people of the Earth.

April 12 is celebrated in Russia as Cosmonautics Day, established by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 9, 1962 in honor of the world's first manned flight into space, made by a citizen of the Soviet Union Yuri Gagarin on the Vostok spacecraft on April 12, 1961.

The launch of the world's first manned spacecraft Sergei Korolev, Anatoly Kirillov, Leonid Voskresensky. The ship "Vostok" with Yuri Gagarin on board spent 108 minutes in near-Earth space, completing one revolution around the planet during this time. Then the descent module of the spacecraft landed on the territory of the USSR. At an altitude of several kilometers above the Earth's surface, the cosmonaut ejected and landed by parachute at 10:55 Moscow time on arable land near the banks of the Volga near the village of Smelovka, Ternovsky District, Saratov Region.

The initiative to establish Cosmonautics Day in the USSR was first made by Yuri Gagarin's understudy pilot-cosmonaut German Titov in 1962. He also proposed, on behalf of the government of the Soviet Union, to apply to the UN with the idea of ​​organizing World Cosmonautics Day.

On April 7, 2011, at the initiative of Russia, the UN General Assembly proclaimed April 12 the International Day of Human Space Flight on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first step in space exploration made by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. More than 60 UN member countries became co-sponsors of this resolution.

The UN General Assembly expressed its deep conviction in the common interest of mankind in promoting the exploration and use of outer space, which is the property of all mankind, for peaceful purposes, in expanding the scale of this activity and in continuing efforts to ensure that all states can enjoy the associated benefits.

In many countries of the world since 2001, the action-event "Yuri's Night" (Yuri "s Night, named after Yuri Gagarin), organized by the Space Generation Advisory Council, the official consultant of the UN program on the use of space It is dedicated to two events: the first manned flight into space (April 12, 1961, USSR) and the first manned flight under the Space Shuttle program (April 12, 1981, USA).

The purpose of St. George's Night is to increase public interest in space exploration and to inspire new generations to explore space.

In 2011, the year of the 50th anniversary of the first manned flight into space, more than 100,000 people in 75 countries took part in St. George's Night.

In 2015, St. George's Night hosted 223 events in 49 countries.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources