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Sergei Korolev

Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer (1907-1966) · Russia · Scientists · Lived 1906 to 1966 · aged 59

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The Soviet engineer who put the first satellite, the first animal, and the first human into space - but whose name stayed classified until he died. The Cold War knew him only as "Chief Designer."

DevelopersAcademicSciencePhysicsWeb Development20th Century

A life in dates

1976International Space Hall of FameAward1966Died14 January 19661961"Hammer and Sickle" gold medalAward1957“Today the dreams of the best sons of mankind have come true. The assault on space has begun.”In their wordsAs quoted in 1957, Red Star in Orbit by James Oberg (1981)

Lenin PrizeAwardOrder of LeninAward1956"Hammer and Sickle" gold medalAwardOrder of LeninAward1949Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"Award1945Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"AwardOrder of the Badge of HonourAward1906Born30 December 1906

Also in Deutsch

Photos 11

Korolev with his nanny Varvara Marchenko in 1907Korolev with his nanny Varvara Marchenko in 1907Korolev in 1912Korolev in 1912Korolev in 1925Korolev in 1925Korolev in 1927Korolev in 1927Korolev sitting in the cockpit of glider "Koktebel."Korolev sitting in the cockpit of glider "Koktebel."Korolev (right) with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and Marshal Kirill Moskalenko, before Gagarin's launch in Vostok 1 (1961)Korolev (right) with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and Marshal Kirill Moskalenko, before Gagarin's launch in Vostok 1 (1961)Korolev's tomb (left) in the Kremlin Wall NecropolisKorolev's tomb (left) in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis

In their own words 5

,
Sergei Korolev
,
5 statements, newest first

  1. Today the dreams of the best sons of mankind have come true. The assault on space has begun.

    1957, As quoted in 1957, Red Star in Orbit by James Oberg (1981), Own words

  2. Why congratulate me? We are miners, no one knows our names, we work underground.

    Response when congratulated with the fifth anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight, Own words

  3. The time will come when a spacecraft carrying human beings will leave the earth and set out on a voyage to distant planets to remote worlds.

    Abbreviated Lives Tragic Tales of Artists Scientists and Writers, pg. 128 (2022), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

International Space Hall of Fame1976
"Hammer and Sickle" gold medal1961
Lenin Prize1957
Order of Lenin1957
"Hammer and Sickle" gold medal1956
Order of Lenin1956
Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"1949
Order of the Badge of Honour1945
Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"1945
Medal "For Labour Valour"
Hero of Socialist Labour
Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

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Sergei Korolev

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About this person

Sergei Korolev trained as an aircraft designer before the Great Purge swallowed him in 1938 on false charges; he spent nearly six years in prisons and labour camps, including months in Kolyma. Released, he returned to engineering and directed development of the R-7 rocket, the world's first ICBM. Modified versions of the R-7 carried Sputnik 1 into orbit in 1957, then Laika, then Luna 2 to the Moon's surface. In 1961 his team launched Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1, making him the first human in space; in 1965 Alexei Leonov walked outside Voskhod 2, the first human EVA. Korolev died in January 1966, ending Soviet hopes he would beat the Americans to a lunar landing.

Country
Russia
Category
Scientists
Type
Scientist
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1906 to 1966 · aged 59

Scientists from Russia 6

Zhores Alferov62.5Maria Vorontsova61.7Mikhail Botvinnik62.5Vladimir Komarov61.6Igor Tamm62.8Konstantin Novoselov61.6

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