6 important events that mark 60 years of human conquest of the universe

Let's review 6 scientific events that mark the process of studying and conquering human universe through the following article.

The first satellite flew into space

At 22h283 pm on October 4, 1957 (Moscow time), the R-7 rocket was activated at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, carrying Sputnik 1 satellite - in the shape of an aluminum sphere - flying in Time and quickly disappeared in the night in the Northeast.

314.5 seconds after detaching from the missile, the satellite starts signaling "Beep! Beep" that can be heard from the monitoring stations on Earth. As the world's first satellite built by the Soviet Union, Sputnik 1 went into orbit, reaching a height of 947km and carrying the aspiration to conquer humanity's universe.

First prototype of Sputnik 1. (Photo: RT).

This 58cm and 83kg weighed ball flew around Earth's orbit 1,440 times with a total distance of 60 million km within 92 days.

Sputnik 1 is not equipped with modern technology compared to modern satellites today. It has only 4 antena to send simple audio signals to Earth from multiple directions.

Following the success of Sputnik 1, the Soviets launched Sputnik 2 with Laika on November 3, 1957. Laika became the first living creature to enter the universe, although it was burnt during his historic journey.

The fact that Sputnik 1 flew into space was considered the beginning of the era of human conquest of the universe. Four months later, Americans also successfully launched their first satellite, Explorer 1, in January 1958.

1961: The first Soviet man flew into space

At 9:07 am on April 12, 1961, the Oriental spacecraft (Vostok) brought astronaut Yuri Gagarin from the launch pad at Baikonur space airport, Kazakhstan. 10 minutes later, the ship entered orbit at a speed of 29,000km / h, reaching a maximum height of 327 km. Gagarin became the first to see our shared home from outer space.

Oriental Train 1 - the ship takes Gagarin into space.(Photo: ITN).

After finishing the journey around the Earth in 108 minutes, Gagarin astronaut and his landing gear landed safely on parachute into a field in Saratov state. The first flight that brought people into the universe was successful, becoming the pride and the greatest achievement of the Cold War Soviet Union.

According to information revealed by the Soviet Union, Gagarin was chosen only four days before the Oriental ship entered space, making him more and more popular throughout the planet. Even Gagarin's popularity overshadowed Sergei Korolev's role, the designer of the spacecraft bringing Gagarin into space.

Astronaut Yuri Gagarin.(Photo: ITN)

Hundreds of thousands of Soviet people filled the streets of Moscow then to celebrate Gagarin when he returned to Earth successfully. This event followed the success of the Sputnik rocket generation, showing the Soviet leadership in the race to space.

'The leap of humanity'

Not to be outdone by Soviet rival. The Americans responded, but in a more "humble" way, bringing the astronaut Alan Shepherd into orbit on May 5, 1961. However, Shepherd's flight only took place over 15 minutes, so the train could not make it all the way round the Earth.

It was not nearly a year after Gagarin's flight, the United States successfully conducted the orbit. The flight, bringing astronaut John Glenn, took place on February 20, 1962.

Neil Armstrong and the American flag on the moon.(Photo: ITN).

However, to overcome the Soviet Union, these events are not enough. So Americans planned a very daring event: becoming the first country to conquer the Moon.

On July 16, 1969, the Saturn V rocket delivered Apollo 11 spacecraft and three American astronauts including Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin leaving Earth. After more than 3 days of flying around orbit, on July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 ship officially became the first ship to reach the Moon.

Two of the three astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, were honored to receive orders to land on the Moon's natural surface with the Eagle landing chamber. Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the Moon. He and Aldrin put the American flag on the moon's surface and sampled the satellite's material for analysis and research.

Armstrong's statement when he steps on the Moon is still famous until today: 'This is the small step of a man, but the great leap of mankind'.

Viking ships landed on Mars

The Viking program was officially launched on August 20, 1975 by the US Aeronautics Agency (NASA) with two Viking 1 and Viking 2 ships with identical structures. Each ship consists of two modules. A command-receiving module circled around Mars orbit, the other module landed on the surface of the "red planet".

Viking 1 left the launch pad on August 20, 1975, while Viking 2 departed on September 9, 1975. This is NASA's most expensive but successful space program in the 70s of the last century.

Viking 1. (Photo: NASA).

Throughout its life cycle, the Viking has gathered a lot of important information about Mars, thereby greatly benefiting the planet, which is considered to be the most Earth-like in the Solar System.

Notably, the data obtained shows traces of large streams flowing thousands of kilometers, creating valleys as well as deep grooves into the rock. Some traces of the southern hemisphere also show that rain may have fallen on the planet.

Dissatisfied with the results of the Viking ship, in 2011, Americans once again successfully launched the Curiosity probe to the surface of Mars. The 1-ton high-tech ship, worth $ 2.5 billion, flew eight months at an average speed of about 21,000 km / h before landing lightly on the southern hemisphere 'red planet' in 2012.

For the past five years, Curiosity has sent hundreds of images of the Martian environment, thereby helping early and concluding whether the 'brother' to the Earth is capable of facilitating life.

Build ISS space station

The construction of the ISS began in 1998. The first crew came to the station in 2000. From that time, ISS was considered the universal home of astronauts and space researchers from other countries. in the world, headed by Russia, America, Japan, Canada, etc.

ISS space station.

By 2011, countries have officially completed the construction of ISS. Russia and the United States contribute the most important modules to ISS, others contribute modules for research.

The ISS station is said to play an important role in easing the Cold War tensions. After the Soviet Union dissipated, Russia lost its territory, resources, technical facilities and financial resources to maintain its own space station program called Mir.

In 1993, after the initial agreement on Russia and the United States to cooperate in the mission of Mir, the global space partners (USA, Europe, .) officially ensured Russia's participation in the ISS program. , establishing new relations between Russia and other countries.

The ISS station is currently an important scientific research facility, playing a role in developing the next target for human travel flights to space, beyond Earth's orbit.

Earth seen from ISS station.(Video: Youtube).

ISS will operate for another 11 years, that is, until 2028. However, the world will not need to worry about the future because of new information revealed by the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos), Russia and the United States recently. has just reached an agreement to build a new space station on Moon's orbit.

Space exploration, including joint missions on the ISS, seems to be the only area where Moscow and Washington are cooperating effectively despite diplomatic tensions between the two countries."ISS is a concrete example of what Russia and America achieve when working together" , Roscosmos representative shared.

Reach Pluto

On July 14, 2015, the US New Horizons spacecraft completed its historic mission after passing 4.8 billion km in 9 years and sending to Earth the best images of Pluto - one the most distant bodies of the Solar System.

During his nine years of space travel, New Horizons approached the Moon in turn and Jupiter, the largest planet of the solar system. From here, the ship is "accelerated" by the gravitational attraction of this planet (slingshot) to minimize the time to travel to Pluto.

Journey to conquer Pluto by New Horizons.(Video: NASA).

New Horizons has also many times been nearly ruined: in 2006, New Horizons accidentally "crossed" a meteor with a diameter of 2.3 km at a distance of more than 100km, before flying through Jupiter.

After surpassing Pluto, this spacecraft will continue its journey into the Kuiper belt. There it will approach other celestial bodies and gather more information, helping scientists better understand the formation of the solar system.

This event brings great thought in the history of humanity's discovery of the universe and at the same time helps the United States become the first country to bring spacecraft to every planet, from Mercury to Pluto.