The Cold War sowed not only fear in the hearts of people, but also hope for a better future. Indeed, in addition to rivalry in the development of the military sphere, both sides - the USSR and the USA - tried to increase their superiority over their opponents in more peaceful areas, for example, in the same space. From 1957 to 1991, we witnessed the launch of the first space rocket, the first spacewalk, and the first steps of man on the moon. Humanity, fueled by the rivalry between the two superpowers, has achieved such results in scientific and technological progress that no one could even dream of before. In today's collection, we will consider 10 very interesting space stories from the Cold War.
The Nazis were the first in space
“This is the first time we have gone out of the atmosphere thanks to our rocket,” the scientist said, happily raising his glass up.
“A new era of transportation is coming - space transportation,” the scientist said that day.
This scientist was Walter Dornberger. It was October 3, 1942, and Dornberger was a Nazi. He and his team have finally completed work on the A-4 ballistic missile (better known as the V-2), the first ever launched into space.
When the Nazis failed, their dreams of space travel faded with them. The nations that won them took apart all the technologies and developments that were available. Stalin convinced some scientists to cooperate, and who could not be convinced - literally forced them. The US, in turn, launched Operation Paperclip, hiring nearly 500 Nazi scientists to help the Americans recreate the A-4 missile.
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In both cases, the development of new projects was crowned with success. The space race began, and the NASA aerospace agency was formed, which was actually founded by Nazi scientists forgiven by the United States.
USSR and USA argued over the right to own space
When America decided to launch its first rocket into Earth orbit, President Eisenhower was plagued by one question. On land and water, the boundaries of states can be clearly marked, but no one has ever thought about how to designate these boundaries when it comes to height. If an American space probe were to be over Soviet airspace, then this incident could lead to a real war.
Therefore, Eisenhower began a struggle for the so-called "freedom of outer space." According to the memorandum drawn up, everything that is at an altitude of 100 kilometers above sea level must belong to "outer space" and not belong to any of the nations.
The USSR did not agree with this wording. The Soviet government wanted this border to be much higher.
In the end, Eisenhower got his way, but lost technically. It was the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik-1 that was the first to enter Earth's orbit. Of course, at some point, this device also flew over American airspace, so the USSR had no choice how to sign the agreement. It's all about the spy satellites that both the Americans and the Russians wanted to have in low-earth orbit.
The United States and Russia agree not to launch nuclear strikes on the Moon
Once space launches became a reality, every sci-fi story in the West was seen as a real possibility. Hysteria is growing among the US government about the possible development of events in which Russia could start nuclear bombing of the Moon.
Two nations sign a "space treaty". The main part of the document is related to the promises of free and peaceful conquest and exploration of space. One of the parts of the contract is related to the Moon. It says that our natural satellite should not be presented as a site for the deployment of military bases. You cannot send soldiers to the moon, conduct military exercises there. In addition, it describes a ban on the placement of nuclear or any other weapons of mass destruction in Earth's orbit.
In addition, the countries participating in the treaty undertake not to carry out nuclear bombing of the moon. Even for the sake of curiosity.
A space laser pistol was created in the USSR
In the Land of the Soviets, not only space rockets were developed. From the point of view of the West, the USSR did not just strive to get into space - it wanted to win in all space spheres and issues, including those related to possible space conflicts. For this reason, a space laser pistol was created, a non-lethal weapon designed to destroy sensitive optical devices of a potential enemy both in the closed conditions of a spacecraft and in open space in close combat without the risk of damaging the skin and non-optical equipment.
The project was eventually closed. Now one of the copies of the Soviet space laser pistol is kept in the exposition of the Museum of the History of the Strategic Missile Forces Military Academy named after Peter the Great.
People still flew into space armed. For example, Yuri Gagarin, the first person to fly into space, took a semi-automatic pistol - just in case - with him. The Americans did not lag behind in this regard either. More precisely, in technical terms, they were just lagging behind, as they took ordinary hunting knives with them, apparently not suspecting the possibility of laser firefights.
USSR and USA could fly to the moon together
For some time, the USSR was leading in each separate area of the space race, but closer to the mid-60s, the Soviet superpower began to lose ground. In 1963, as part of a cooperative program, the Soviet Academy of Science invited scientists from NASA to exchange experience. Scientists from NASA then came to the conclusion that the USSR had decided to abandon plans to send a man to the moon.
At that time, US President Kennedy did not believe this conclusion, but nevertheless thought about it. Shortly after this trip, he came up with a proposal for joint work of the two nations.
“There are prerequisites for new cooperation. Among the opportunities, I include a joint expedition to the moon,”the US President said at the time.
According to Khrushchev's son, the Soviet leader was ready to agree to this level of cooperation. However, Kennedy was soon killed, and Khrushchev did not trust Lyndon Johnson, who took his place. As soon as the United States had a new president, plans to jointly conquer the moon were immediately abandoned.
During the historic landing on the moon, a Soviet space probe fell on the satellite
During the Apollo space missions, the Soviet side decided to resort to a different plan. The USSR wanted to send a robotic probe to the moon and collect samples of lunar soil. This device was supposed to be the "Moon". Specifically, the apparatus "Luna-15" went to the Earth satellite three days before the launch of "Apollo-11".
Both countries have exchanged their flight plans to avoid the risk of spacecraft collisions. Remarkable is the fact that in fact the USSR hid the plans and tasks of the Luna-15 space probe, but nevertheless shared with America information about where the device was going to avoid a possible collision during flight and landing.
While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were making their first steps on the moon, a Soviet probe descended to the surface of a natural satellite. The device crashed on a lunar mountain during landing and was completely destroyed.
Neil Armstrong brought one of Yuri Gagarin's medals to the moon
Before the flight to the moon, a conversation took place between Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and the wife of Yuri Gagarin. The first person to be in space died a year earlier, and his wife asked the astronauts for one thing: to take one of the commemorative medals of the deceased husband to the moon. The astronauts fulfilled this request, leaving on the moon, among other medals and nameplates of other cosmonauts and astronauts, the Gagarin medal.
A similar ceremony took place as part of the Apollo 15 mission. The crew of the spacecraft brought with them to the moon a plaque with the names of each astronaut and cosmonaut who died for one reason or another. The astronauts thus paid tribute to those people, one way or another thanks to whom they are now on the moon. Astronaut Dave Scott later told the space flight control center that as part of the mission he followed the rover and secretly dropped a sign and a small figurine with the signature "Fallen Astronaut."
The USSR went to the rescue of the Apollo 13 crew
The Apollo 13 mission failed. The service module's fuel cells exploded, taking half of the oxygen with them into space. The mission team had no choice but to deploy the apparatus and try to return back to Earth alive.
The Soviet Union learned about this incident and was ready to help. When the American device began to enter the Earth's atmosphere, the USSR believed that the waves of Soviet radar stations could negatively affect the emergency landing. Therefore, it was decided to turn off absolutely all radio channels using the same frequency with Apollo 13.
Several Soviet ships left for the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, ready to conduct emergency rescue operations. In the end, the module with the crew was picked up by an American vessel.
The last Apollo mission was carried out together with the USSR
The USSR and the USA never flew to the moon together, but there was cooperation in outer space between the two powers. In 1975, President Kennedy's dream became a reality. The last Apollo mission turned out to be a joint one, and within its framework, it was docked with the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz.
The two spacecraft took off at intervals of 30 minutes. Docking took place two days later. Over the next two days, the teams of both ships carried out joint scientific experiments, after which, having undocked the devices, they returned back to earth.
For more effective communication before the flight, both teams learned each other's languages. Every Soviet cosmonaut learned English, and every American learned Russian.
USSR and USA considered a joint mission to Mars
After the Americans landed on the moon, Gorbachev expressed a desire to conduct a series of joint unmanned space missions, the key task of which was to send a spacecraft and explore Mars by 2000. The idea found support in both countries, and American congressmen even wrote to President Reagan, urging him to agree.
In 1988, the American side took the first step towards implementing this plan. They agreed to help the Soviet side launch a spacecraft to Mars in 1994. However, within a few days it was decided to abandon this idea. Reagan was worried about the extra financial costs. And then the USA ceased to be considered by the USSR as the main player in the space race.
The spirit of cooperation between the two countries ended there. A few years later, the Soviet Union collapsed and the spirit of competition between the two countries evaporated. Thus, the space race has come to an end.
NIKOLAY KHIZHNYAK
