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Astronomy and Space

Exploration

Who was the founder of the Soviet space program?

Sergei P. Korolev (1907–1966) made enormous contributions to the development of Soviet manned space flight, and his name is linked with their most significant space achievements. Trained as an aeronautical engineer, he directed the Moscow group studying the principles of rocket propulsion, and in 1946 took over the Soviet program to develop long-range ballistic rockets. Under Korolev, the Soviets used these rockets for space projects and launched the world’s first satellite on October 4, 1957. Besides a vigorous, unmanned, interplanetary research program, Korolev’s goal was to place men in space, and following tests with animals his manned space flight program was initiated when Yuri Gagarin was successfully launched into Earth’s orbit.

Date Astronaut/Cosmonaut Mission
January 27, 1967 Roger Chaffee (U.S.) Apollo 1
January 27, 1967 Edward White II (U.S.) Apollo 1
January 27, 1967 Virgil “Gus” Grissom (U.S.) Apollo 1
April 24, 1967 Vladimir Komarov (U.S.S.R.) Soyuz 1
June 29, 1971 Viktor Patsayev (U.S.S.R.) Soyuz 11
June 29, 1971 Vladislav Volkov (U.S.S.R.) Soyuz 11
June 29, 1971 Georgi Dobrovolsky (U.S.S.R.) Soyuz 11
January 28, 1986 Gregory Jarvis (U.S.) STS 51L
January 28, 1986 Christa McAuliffe (U.S.) STS 51L
January 28, 1986 Ronald McNair (U.S.) STS 51L
January 28, 1986 Ellison Onizuka (U.S.) STS 51L
January 28, 1986 Judith Resnik (U.S.) STS 51L
January 28, 1986 Francis Scobee (U.S.) STS 51L
January 28, 1986 Michael Smith (U.S.) STS 51L
February 1, 2003 Rick D. Husband (U.S.) STS 107
February 1, 2003 William C. McCool (U.S.) STS 107
February 1, 2003 Michael P. Anderson (U.S.) STS 107
February 1, 2003 Kalpana Chawla (U.S.) STS 107
February 1, 2003 David M. Brown (U.S.) STS 107
February 1, 2003 Laurel Blair Salton Clark (U.S.) STS 107
February 1, 2003 Ilan Ramon (Israel) STS 107


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