Space explorers of the 20-21st century: a comparative table

The most exciting adventure of all mankind began in the middle of the 20th century, shortly after the completion of the main tragedy of the century - World War II. There was a revolution that captured the minds and souls of people from different countries, and the first space explorers of the 20-21 century appeared. We broke into outer space and mastered it inexorably and uncontrollably. How did this tectonic shift in people's lives and the development of technology occur, what awaits us now, in the 21st century?

The beginning of space exploration

Space exploration was initially carried out by two superpowers - the USSR and the USA, the confrontation of which resulted not only in political skirmishes and the arms race, but also in rivalry in science and technology. Despite the efforts and great financial opportunities, the United States at the dawn of the space age could not become pioneers and leaders in it. Space explorers of the 20-21 century, they will later catch up - they will create manned shuttles, heavy-duty telescopes and send rovers to explore the Red Planet. In the meantime, we will begin by describing the first space launch.

The criterion for classifying a flight as a space flight is the intersection of the Karman line at an altitude of 100 kilometers.

The PS-1, created and launched by the Soviet Union, was able to develop the necessary speed, overcome the Earth's gravity and was launched into orbit in October 1957. Sputnik could not say a catchy, soul-touching phrase about steps for humanity like the one Neil Armstrong said. PS-1 aired only “Beep-Beep!”, But this was enough to open a new era in the history of our civilization.

The first space explorers of the 20-21 century

When asked to remember the pioneers of space, the smiling face of Yuri Gagarin appears before the eyes of any person. But still, the first living organism sent to Earth’s orbit was not he, but Drosophila. Conventional fruit flies were launched by the Americans in 1947 with the aim of studying the effect of high altitude on the degree of radiation in the body.

The flies returned alive and healthy, and after a year, a macaque by the name of Albert I took their place. Albert was less fortunate - he died of suffocation, not reaching the Karman line, which means that he practically did not go into space.

Then there were several Alberts, but still the first mammals that climbed to a height of more than 100 km and returned from there alive were two dogs - Desik and Gypsy. The USSR launched them in 1951. Dogs did not reach orbit. There were several more attempts to conduct an orbital flight, but the first, with a successful return home, only happened in 1960. Squirrel and Strelka, and with them four dozen mice and two rats circled around the Earth and returned safe and sound. Shortly after the flight ended, Strelka became the mother of six puppies, whose fate was taken up by Nikita Khrushchev. He passed one of the puppies of the space dog to the daughter of the President of America - Carolyn Kennedy. Thus, the first space explorers of the 20-21 century were our little brothers, who need to pay tribute to respect and memory.

First man in space

Nothing will ever change the fact that the first cosmonaut of the planet was a Soviet citizen Yuri Gagarin. Saying the phrase “Let's go!” Known to the whole world, he entered low Earth orbit on the Vostok-1 ship.

The flight did not last long - 108 minutes, but all this time below people in different countries listened to the radios and did not take their eyes off the TV screens. They still did not understand, rather felt what significance this flight has for all living on the planet.

Relatively little time has passed, and now the conquerors of space of the 20-21 century are breaking the record again. The flight duration of Valery Polyakov is amazing. At the Mir station, the Russian astronaut spent more than a year.

The most significant space events of the 20th century

Having torn off from the Earth, mankind did not intend to stop. Science fiction writers wrote books in which people explore and colonize other planets, the filmmakers conceived the first space battles and marched forward space explorers of the 20-21 centuries. A comparative table will further show how the development of the cosmonautics era progressed.

The dream to step on the surface of a celestial body, different from the home planet, was embodied in the landing of American astronauts on the moon. The man who conquered the only natural satellite of our planet was Neil Alden Armstrong. He disturbed the Sea of ​​Tranquility on July 20, 1969.

Having studied the nearest celestial bodies, astrophysicists have chosen a new goal - Mars. And now the Mars 2 station belonging to the USSR rushed towards him. With its help, an object created by the efforts of human hands and mind first hit the surface of the Red Planet, and in 1983 at the American "Pioneer 10" the first man-made object left the borders of our solar system.

The last known achievement in the delivery of objects created by mankind, farther from Earth was the exit of the American ship Voyager 1 beyond the borders of the Solar System, then, after years, reaching interstellar space.

Space explorers of the 20-21 century: a comparative table of achievements of the USSR and the USA

Summary table "Conquerors of space 20-21 century"

Conclusions: the lag of the USSR in quantitative indicators of space exploration began to increase from the 1970s of the 20th century. The gap became significant in the late 20th - early 21st century.

Modern cosmonautics

In the 20th century there was a cosmic boom, a revolution, but the surge cannot last long. The development of astronautics has reached a qualitatively different level and has since been continuing sequentially and without shocks. And this is what the conquerors of space of the 20-21 century fought for. In physics, the knowledge obtained is systematized, the achievements in theory and practical research, taken far beyond the earth’s shell, are summarized.

One of the main directions is the development of more advanced manned spacecraft and ships with a nuclear module for interplanetary flights.

Once again, space explorers of the 20th-21st centuries are tearing into space. In physics and astronomy, the possibilities of colonization with the exhaustion of the Earth’s resources or its overpopulation are planned to be planned. The space military industry is developing, while at the stage of spy satellites. Regular flights and launches of satellites raised the question of clearing outer space above the Earth from space debris.