Space exploration in the USSR interesting facts 4. Interesting facts about space, astronauts and planets. New Moon and Full Moon

Space exploration is one of the most significant milestones in the history of Mankind. Since ancient times, people have looked at the stars and could not explain what makes them attractive. Dreamers of the past built fantastic projects to explore the stars and travel in extraterrestrial spaces. People still dream of settling on distant planets. All the plots on the Moon have already been sold out for crazy money. And only in the 20th century the critical mass of human knowledge reached a level when people were able to overcome the gravity of the Earth and began to explore space.

Gagarin traditions

Yuri Gagarin became not only the first person on Earth to make the first flight into space, but was also the initiator of many traditions. Subsequent Soviet cosmonauts accurately repeated the actions of Yuri Gagarin before his first flight.

On site No. 31, better known as the famous “Dvoyka” or “Gagarinsky Start”, not far from the Assembly and Engineering Building, there are two small, one-story houses. On the night of April 11-12, 1961, before the launch of the Vostok ship with a person on board, the chief designer, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, spent the night in one of them. In another house is Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin. Since then, these buildings began to be called: “Korolev’s house” and “Gagarin’s house.” How the pre-flight night went, whether the designer and the cosmonaut managed to fall asleep, history is silent. But a tradition was established: the cosmonaut who was about to go on a space flight spent the night in “Gagarin’s house.”

The only exception was Svetlana Savitskaya, who, for unknown reasons, refused to spend the night in “Gagarin’s house”, but spent the night in a hotel room with her father. Even if we assume that she was afraid to spend the night alone in an empty house, then how can we explain the courage of flying into space? Mystery.

Most likely, female cosmonauts did not observe another Gagarin tradition - to relieve themselves on the wheel of the bus that carries the astronaut to the rocket. On an April morning in 1961, Yuri asked to stop the bus halfway from the site to the rocket. He got out, wet the bus wheel, and headed further to conquer outer space. Among men, the tradition has taken root.

Today these Gagarin traditions are a thing of the past, but his famous “Let's go!” The whole world hears at every launch of Russian space explorers.

In the city of Leninsk (now Baikonur), during the Soviet period, a monument was erected, which today is the pride of not only the residents of the city, but also everyone involved in the space industry, and simply everyone who loves Space. The monument is a full-scale copy of the Soyuz launch vehicle. The rocket is mounted on a reinforced concrete pedestal at an angle to the horizon.

The average person may have a question: why is the rocket not in its natural position, directed upward towards the stars, but at an angle?

Many versions have been put forward, from such that the rocket looks more beautiful this way to the incredible that in the upright position the wind will blow it away. But one single version took root and became firmly entrenched in the minds of the people. During the period of competition in the field of space exploration between the USSR and the USA (it is worth noting that the competition continues), each country tried to classify its inventions and scientific discoveries. Naturally, access for foreign citizens during the Soviet period was limited, but the monument was located on the street that faced the checkpoint leading to the Tyura-Tam railway station. So that the model of the Soyuz rocket in an upright position would not be visible from trains passing by the cosmodrome, it was decided to tilt the model of the launch vehicle at an angle to the horizon.

In this amazing way they tried to hide the secrets and successes of Soviet rocketry.

There are weapons in peaceful space

Do not be alarmed, these are not weapons of mass destruction capable of destroying extraterrestrial civilizations or our Planet. These are ordinary pistols, called “Survival Weapons for Cosmonauts SONAZ (Small Weapons of Portable Emergency Reserve) known under the symbols TP-82 or TOZ-82.

And it all started back in 1965. After flying into space on the Vostok-2 spacecraft, cosmonauts Alexey Leonov and Pavel Belyaev made an emergency landing outside the square assigned by the flight and found themselves in a remote, impenetrable winter taiga. The cosmonauts spent two days waiting for the search and rescue expedition. The Makarov pistol that the cosmonauts had at that time was not suitable for protection against wild animals. For two days the men had to eat something, because the food supply on the ship did not provide for such a situation. As it turned out, the Makarov is not very convenient or effective as a hunting weapon.

Having become a big boss and taking the post of deputy head of the Cosmonaut Training Center, Leonov, remembering the story of his emergency landing, put forward the idea of ​​​​creating special weapons for cosmonauts.

The designers of the weapons factories quickly brought the idea to life. In the summer of 1982, on the Soyuz-6 spacecraft, a TP-82 pistol was included in the cosmonaut’s Portable Emergency Stock. It was a truly unique weapon; its versatility could help astronauts survive in extreme conditions.

The pistol consists of three barrels. The upper two smoothbore barrels are designed for 32 caliber hunting cartridges. The lower rifled barrel is chambered for a 5.4 caliber cartridge. To ensure targeted shooting, the kit includes a detachable buttstock in the form of a machete with a trapezoidal blade. The stock is attached to the bottom of the pistol grip. The set of 11 cartridges also includes flares for sending a distress signal.

We don’t know for sure whether our cosmonauts had to use the TP-82, but let all landings be normal and not emergency. In 1987, the production of such pistols was discontinued. The TP-82 Small Arms were included in the Portable Emergency Stock until 2007. This year the shelf life of cartridges for TP-82 has expired.

Closed project

The rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States in the space sphere sometimes gave rise to truly fantastic projects. The designers of both countries, motivated by their primacy in space exploration, promoted not only space science, but also many other scientific fields.

At the end of the 50s, the idea of ​​​​creating an aircraft that could go into the stratosphere and launch another aircraft into Earth orbit was simultaneously born in two countries.

In 1965, the development of this idea was entrusted to the Design Bureau of A. Mikoyan. The project, named “Spiral,” was headed by designer G. Lozino-Lozinsky.

It was supposed to create a two-stage system, in which the first plane reached a speed of 2 km per second and launched the second plane, controlled by an astronaut, into orbit. An interesting fact is that it was supposed to use the reaction of oxygen and hydrogen as a fuel. This was successfully implemented in the late 80s in the Energia-Buran project. From orbit, the plane could land at any unpaved airfield.

In the late 60s and mid-70s, a number of successful test flights were carried out. First with unmanned vehicles, and then with pilots. The Soviet project was far superior to similar American developments. But in 1969, work was partially suspended, and after test flights of the Mig-105.11 shuttle aircraft in 1976, it was completely closed. This allowed the Americans to overtake the USSR in the use of reusable spacecraft in space exploration.

A similar project “Energia-Buran” also became a one-time demonstration of the achievements of Soviet science in space exploration.

Korolev hedged his bets

S. Korolev’s dream of launching a rocket into space and placing an artificial satellite into Earth orbit was coming to an end. All the drawings were checked, all calculations were double-checked for the hundredth time, the satellite was already on the stand, which was ready to send it into the launch vehicle. By the way, the BSEM-1 computer was used for the first time in calculations for Sputnik.

But the launch date of the first Earth satellite was slightly postponed. One version of the postponement suggests that they wanted to coincide with the opening of the International Astronautics Congress in Barcelona. This is exactly what happened, and the satellite entered orbit on October 4, 1957. The Soviet representative at the congress, Leonid Sedov, solemnly announced this news to the world community.

The second version is that Sergei Korolev simply played it safe. There was information that the launch of a similar American satellite was scheduled for October 3 in the United States. The Americans did not succeed, but they could have been the first in this matter of space exploration. Perhaps our designers were also afraid of failure, and decided to wait for the results of the launch in the USA. In the end, everything worked out, and the whole world heard the signals sent from Sputnik 1 from Space to Earth.

Confuse spies

Construction of the cosmodrome in the Kazakh steppe near the village of Tyura-Tam began on June 2, 1955. At the same time, a plywood village and mock-up launch pads began to be built near the village of Baikonur, Karaganda region. All with only one goal - to confuse enemy spies. The distance between the two construction sites was 300 km. With the start of rocket launches from a real cosmodrome, all official reports were broadcast about rocket launches from a test site near the village of Baikonur.

Only after the successful flight of Yuri Gagarin, the name Baikonur was assigned to the real cosmodrome, and the city that grew up nearby became Leninsky. The plywood town existed until the mid-70s, although Americans knew about the real spaceport since 1957.

And in 1966, when a French delegation headed by Charles de Gaulle visited Baikonur, it was renamed Zvezdograd. Residents asked to leave the name they liked, but the official authorities left the previous name for the city of Leninsk.

From drawing to rocket

In 1923, the creator of the Energia-Buran space complex, Valentin Glushko, was 15 years old. He attended the Odessa Conservatory and art circle. The rocket designer carried his love for music and painting throughout his life.

It was painting and a meeting with the head of the Naval Museum, Alexander Stefanovsky, that predetermined the choice of young Glushko.

Stefonovsky once saw Valentin Glushko’s drawings and immediately invited him to draw a map of Mars for the museum’s exhibition. Valentin complied with the request. While looking at the map of Mars, Stefanovsky started a conversation with Valentin about interplanetary travel and suggested drawing another drawing - a space rocket.

It was while drawing a sketch of a cross-section of a rocket that Valentin Glushko realized how much he needed to know in order to make drawings from a sketch and make specific calculations. And Valentin decided to study physics, mechanics, and chemistry even harder.

In 1923, a sketch of an interplanetary rocket appeared in the halls of the Naval Museum. A year later, Konstantin Tsialkovsky will receive a letter from a teenager with full support for his idea of ​​​​flying into space. And in 1989, Valentin Glushko’s Energia will launch Buran into orbit.

Gagarin was ready to help

The path to Space is thorny and difficult. There have also been failures and disasters that have affected the fate of thousands of people. The death of a person is always a tragedy.

Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, before his second flight into space, seemed to have a presentiment of death. He taught his wife to drive a car, and on March 8th he gave a huge service, saying that you would then receive guests.

And everyone is in a hurry, a successful flight is needed for the 50th anniversary of the revolution. The Soyuz-1 rocket with Komarov on board took off from the launch pad on April 23, 1967.

A series of breakdowns of the iron machine decided the fate of the living person in it. The solar battery did not open, jamming the parachute of the descent vehicle, the automatic braking system failed, the manual braking system managed to slow down the movement of the ship above the calculated point, but the parachute did not open.

At the cosmodrome they learned about the breakdowns, but they could not help the astronaut. Gagarin flew from Moscow to Baikonur and began to beg Korolev to launch the rocket. He was ready to go to Vladimir's aid, dock and transfer him to his ship. Gagarin was ready... But the technology was not ready. At that time it was not possible to prepare a new start so quickly.

Vladimir Komarov has two graves and two death certificates. The descent vehicle and the astronaut burned up in dense layers of the atmosphere. The country celebrated its 50th anniversary without him.

The fact of the tragedy was hidden until the 90s of the 20th century. Because of this, there will be no starts on October 24th. On this day in 1960, an R-16 rocket exploded at launch. According to the official version, 76 people were killed, including the Commander-in-Chief of the Missile Forces, Marshal M.I. Nedelin.

It was impossible to survive an explosion within a 100-meter zone from a rocket. It was a rocket designed by Yangel. A few minutes before the start, he went away to smoke. It saved his life. Nikita Khrushchev unceremoniously then asked him on the phone: “Why didn’t you die?...”

The deputy head of the training ground, Major General Mrykin, also went with Yangel to smoke. He assured the designer that he would now smoke a cigarette with him and quit smoking. After the explosion, the Major General never stopped smoking until the end of his life. All the dead were buried as victims of a plane crash.

Good to the ground

From the very first day of its existence. And during construction, at the Baikonur cosmodrome and in the city of Leninsk, prohibition was introduced. After all, people are mostly military, and they have a lot of responsibility. After all, at the cosmodrome not only ships were launched into space, but also the country’s nuclear shield was created.

Every year, according to orders, a certain amount of alcohol was supplied to the landfill for flushing the systems. In 1957, 12 tons were ordered, but only 7 tons were used. For a long time we didn’t rack our brains about what to do with the leftovers. They dug a hole and poured the remaining product into it. Information quickly spread among the workers, and the pit was opened, violating prohibition. But order was immediately restored. A convoy of soldiers was posted at the pit, and the next day the remaining alcohol was burned off. Korolev remarked with regret: “What a shame, such goodness goes to the ground!”

One of the most outstanding achievements of Soviet science is undoubtedly space exploration in the USSR. Similar developments were carried out in many countries, but only the USSR and the USA were able to achieve real success at that time, ahead of other states by many decades. At the same time, the first steps in space really belonged to the Soviet people. It was in the Soviet Union that the first successful launch was carried out, as well as the launch of a launch vehicle with the PS-1 satellite into orbit. Before this triumphant moment, six generations of rockets had been created, with the help of which it was not possible to successfully launch into space. And only the R-7 generation made it possible for the first time to develop the first cosmic speed of 8 km/s, which made it possible to overcome the force of gravity and place the object into low-Earth orbit. The first space rockets were converted from long-range combat ballistic missiles. They were improved and the engines were boosted.

The first successful launch of an artificial earth satellite occurred on October 4, 1957. However, only ten years later this date was recognized as the official day of the proclamation of the space age. The first satellite was called PS-1, it was launched from the fifth research site, under the jurisdiction of the Union Ministry of Defense. By itself, this satellite weighed only 80 kilograms, and its diameter did not exceed 60 centimeters. This object stayed in orbit for 92 days, during which time it covered a distance of 60 million kilometers.

The device was equipped with four antennas through which the satellite communicated with the ground. This device included an electrical power supply, batteries, a radio transmitter, various sensors, an on-board electrical automation system, and a thermal control device. The satellite did not reach the earth; it burned up in the earth's atmosphere.

Further space exploration by the Soviet Union was, of course, successful. It was the USSR that was the first to send a person into space travel. Moreover, the first cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, managed to return alive from space, thanks to which he became a national hero. However, subsequently, space exploration in the USSR, to put it briefly, was restrained. The technical lag and the era of stagnation had an effect. However, Russia continues to enjoy the successes achieved in those days to this day.

Space exploration in the USSR: facts, results

August 12, 1962 - the world's first group space flight was carried out on the Vostok-3 and Vostok-4 spacecraft.

June 16, 1963 - the world's first flight into space by female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was made on the Vostok-6 spacecraft.

October 12, 1964 - the world's first multi-seat spacecraft, Voskhod-1, flew.

March 18, 1965 - the first human spacewalk in history took place. Alexey Leonov made a spacewalk from the Voskhod-2 spacecraft.

October 30, 1967 - the first docking of two unmanned spacecraft “Cosmos-186” and “Cosmos-188” was carried out.

September 15, 1968 - the first return of the Zond-5 spacecraft to Earth after orbiting the Moon. There were living creatures on board: turtles, fruit flies, worms, bacteria.

January 16, 1969 - the first docking of two manned spacecraft Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5 was carried out.

November 15, 1988 - the first and only space flight of the Buran spacecraft in automatic mode.

Planetary exploration in the USSR

January 4, 1959 - the Luna-1 station passed at a distance of 60 thousand km from the surface of the Moon and entered a heliocentric orbit. She is the world's first artificial satellite of the Sun.

September 14, 1959 - the Luna-2 station was the first in the world to reach the surface of the Moon in the region of the Sea of ​​​​Clarity.

October 4, 1959 - the automatic interplanetary station “Luna-3” was launched, which for the first time in the world photographed the side of the Moon invisible from the Earth. During the flight, a gravity assist maneuver was carried out for the first time in the world.

February 3, 1966 - AMS Luna-9 made the world's first soft landing on the surface of the Moon, panoramic images of the Moon were transmitted.

March 1, 1966 - the Venera 3 station reached the surface of Venus for the first time. This is the world's first flight of a spacecraft from Earth to another planet. April 3, 1966 - the Luna-10 station became the first artificial satellite of the Moon.

On September 24, 1970, the Luna-16 station collected and subsequently delivered samples of lunar soil to Earth. This is the first unmanned spacecraft to bring rock samples from another cosmic body to Earth.

November 17, 1970 - soft landing and start of operation of the world's first semi-automatic self-propelled vehicle Lunokhod-1.

December 15, 1970 - the world's first soft landing on the surface of Venus: Venera 7.

October 20, 1975 - the Venera-9 station became the first artificial satellite of Venus.

October 1975 - soft landing of two spacecraft "Venera-9" and "Venera-10" and the world's first photographs of the surface of Venus.

The Soviet Union did a lot for the study and exploration of space. The USSR was many years ahead of other countries, including the superpower USA.

Sources: antiquehistory.ru, prepbase.ru, badlike.ru, ussr.0-ua.com, www.vorcuta.ru, ru.wikipedia.org

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Still from the film “Another Earth”

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel into space. His flight lasted 108 minutes. Since then, every year on April 12, our country celebrates Cosmonautics Day. This holiday is an excellent occasion to tell your child about the history of space exploration, famous astronauts and scientific research.

The colorful, funny and very interesting book “Cosmos”, which was published in March of this year, will help with this. Several facts from it are on Rambler/Family right now.

Secret words

During the first flights, the astronauts communicated with the Earth using secret words so that no one could guess how everything went. These words were the names of flowers, fruits and trees. For example, cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, in case of increased radiation, had to signal: “Banana!” For Valentina Tereshkova (the first female cosmonaut), the password “Oak” meant that the braking engine was working well, and “Elm” meant that the engine was not working.

Spacewalk

The next task after Gagarin's flight was a spacewalk. Alexey Leonov was the first to do this during his flight on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft. Then no one knew how to behave correctly in zero gravity. Having entered space, Leonov pushed off from the airlock and was violently spun, but the safety rope held the astronaut. Another problem awaited him: the suit suddenly became very inflated, and Leonov could not return to the ship. He simply did not fit into the hatch until he reduced the air pressure in the suit. Because of this, the spacewalk did not last 12 minutes, as planned, but twice as long.

Gravity and cosmic velocities

A space flight

Spaceports are built as close to the equator as possible so that the rocket can use the force of the Earth's rotation during takeoff. This is important because it is very difficult to fly into space. Massive cosmic bodies, such as planets, hold everything around them with enormous force. To fly away from the Earth to a distance from which it cannot pull you back, you need to gain a second escape velocity.

At the first escape velocity it is impossible to fly away from the Earth, but it is possible to enter low-Earth orbit and revolve around our planet without falling or flying away. This is exactly what all artificial Earth satellites do, including the ISS.

ISS

Construction of the International Space Station (ISS) began in 1998, and the first astronauts settled on it on October 31, 2000. The ISS took 10 years to assemble as a huge, complex and very expensive construction kit. Its length is 110 meters. Six people live and work on the ISS at the same time. The ISS in the full sense of the word is an international station; 23 countries are taking part in this project. The ISS orbits the Earth 16 times per day, so astronauts see 16 sunrises and sunsets.

Record-breaking astronauts

It is very difficult to ensure the existence of an astronaut on an orbital station. The crews stayed at the first stations for no more than a month, but now they live on the ISS for six months. The longest flight in the world was made by Valery Polyakov - 438 days (14 months) in a row at the Mir station. And the world record for staying in space belongs to Gennady Padalka - during five flights he spent 878 days (2 years and 5 months) in orbit.

Weightlessness

Still from the movie "Gravity"

Still from the movie "Gravity"

In zero gravity, a lot changes. For example, the distance between the vertebrae increases and people grow taller. There was a case when a person became 10.5 cm taller! It’s also very easy to move around in zero gravity - astronauts simply fly inside the space station. Therefore, muscles lose strength and bones become fragile. The leg muscles suffer the most. In order not to forget how to walk, astronauts take vitamins and exercise every day. They train on a treadmill, to which they are held by ropes so as not to fly away.

Photos from space

Spacecraft fly high above the Earth, but from them you can clearly see everything that is happening on the planet - as if in front of you is a living map. Many satellites constantly photograph the Earth and thereby help draw maps, forecast the weather, warn about storms and volcanic eruptions, observe the migrations of animals and fish, and monitor environmental pollution. Photos from space are also used for agricultural, environmental and many other purposes.

Landing

Many astronauts say that the descent leaves the most vivid impressions of the entire space flight. Through the porthole they see the flames that engulf the ship as it passes through the dense layers of the atmosphere. The ship is lowered to Earth by a large parachute, but it does not open immediately so as not to cause too strong a jerk. First, a very small parachute opens, it pulls out a second, larger one, and only then the main large parachute opens. The entire parachute descent takes 15 minutes.

Recovery

Immediately after the astronaut returns to Earth, the recovery course begins. This takes as much time as a person spent in orbit, and sometimes more. You need to relearn how to balance, train your muscles and strengthen your heart.

As far as I know, the astronomy course is now excluded from the school curriculum. I don't know if this is good or bad. I remember that as a child I was always attracted by everything related to space. But it turned out that the lessons taught boring theory with a bunch of incomprehensible terms. Meanwhile, many of us simply like to look at the stars and fantasize about life in distant galaxies. Is it possible to make learning astronomy fun and not boring?

Summer is the time to explore the starry sky on your own. It’s so mysterious and romantic: lying in a field at night, on the grass, and watching myriads of stars twinkle in the dark sky. Or buy a small telescope, install it on the roof of a country house and feel like a real astronomer! And to get children even more interested in astronomy, tell them interesting facts about space exploration. We assure you that you yourself did not know much of the following.

How to break away from the Earth?

Flying into space is not so easy. To do this, you need to overcome the force of gravity of the Earth. In order to enter low-Earth orbit, it is enough to reach the first escape velocity. For the Earth it is 7.9 km/s. To leave orbit, you need to develop a second escape velocity - 11.2 km/s. And so that during takeoff the rocket can use the force of the Earth’s rotation, all cosmodromes are built as close to the equator as possible.

What is the ISS?

ISS– International Space Station, which is launched into low-Earth orbit for scientific research. This gigantic machine took 10 years to assemble. Its length is more than 100 meters! The first cosmonauts began working on it in 2000. The ISS orbits our planet exactly 16 times per day. This means that astronauts see 16 sunsets and sunrises per day!

About weightlessness

Everyone knows that in zero gravity the human body floats freely in the air. Did you know that if you stay in weightlessness for a long time, you can grow? The fact is that in this condition the distance between the vertebrae increases. Some grew almost 10 cm taller! But here's the problem: muscles lose their strength in zero gravity. After all, they do not experience any stress. And even the bones become brittle. That’s why astronauts train every day in flight: they run on a space treadmill and take special vitamins. After returning to Earth, they undergo rehabilitation. Even an ordinary apple seems heavy to them, let alone the weight of their own body?! They are practically learning to walk again! For the first couple of hours after the flight, astronauts are prohibited from moving at all. Full recovery takes about the same time as a person spent in space.

Record-breaking astronauts

Yuri Gagarin stayed in space for only 108 minutes. The first astronauts worked on the space station for about a month. Today you can live on the ISS for up to six months. The world record for the duration of stay in space belongs to our astronaut Valery Polyakov. At the Mir station he spent 14 months in a row! Another Russian cosmonaut, Gennady Padalka, holds the record for the total number of flights. During his career he spent in space 2 years and 5 months.

Secret space code

Everything related to space is considered top secret. This was especially strict in Soviet times, at the dawn of the development of astronautics. Therefore, during the first flights they spoke using a secret space code. For example, an increase in radiation levels was indicated by the phrase: "Attention, banana!" Engine malfunctions were coded with the word "Elm", and proper operation of the brake motor - in a word "Oak". This is some funny space biology.

Space photo

What do astronauts and satellites film in space? From a flight altitude, the Earth is visible in full view. Images from space help scientists predict the weather, warn about natural disasters, and monitor the migration of animals. Such images are needed by ecologists, geologists, geographers, agronomists and many other scientists.

Fiery Landing

The astronauts claim that the landing process is one of the most exciting and exciting in space flight. Passing through the layers of the atmosphere, the descent vehicle is engulfed in fire. The astronauts see this flame through the porthole - an incredible sight and amazing sensation! And at the same time it shakes so much that it doesn’t seem like much! Then the parachutes begin to open: first small, then medium and only then the largest. This is done so that there are no strong jerks. When less than 500 meters remain from the Earth, the astronauts experience "silence mode": They can’t talk, because when landing, you can break your jaw or bite your tongue. Then follows a very strong impact on the Earth. That's it, earthlings are home!

Hello aliens!

Earthly messages for aliens are flying in deep space. These are spacecraft Voyager I And Voyager II. They were launched by American scientists back in 1977. Each device contains a box with a gold record on which basic information about our planet is recorded: photos of the Earth, classical music, greetings in different languages ​​of the world, some scientific data. In 2007, the Voyagers left the solar system and rushed further into outer space... At the moment they are more than 20 billion kilometers from Earth! Will the messages find their recipients? I hope that we and our children will still be able to witness the discovery of new cosmic secrets.

In this article we have prepared for you a lot of fascinating information about space and astronauts, as well as about the structure of the Universe in general. You may already know some things, but you will hear some things for the first time.

So, in front of you the most interesting facts about space.

Tenth planet of the solar system

Did you know that in 2003, American astronomers managed to discover the 10th planet located beyond? It was named Eris.

This discovery was made thanks to new and improved technology. Soon other space objects were also discovered. They, along with Pluto and Eris, were usually called transplutonian (see).

It is worth noting that such discoveries are also of interest to scientists because they are trying to find out what advantages and dangers this or that cosmic body may conceal.

Scientists are constantly searching for life on other planets. This is due to the frightening events that are unfolding today on. We are talking about the threat of nuclear war, epidemics, global disasters and many other factors.

Mysterious Moon

When telling interesting facts about space, one cannot fail to mention. After all, despite the fact that, compared to other celestial bodies, the Moon has been studied best, we still don’t know much about it.

Here are just some of the mysteries whose answers have not yet been found:

• Why is the Moon so large? It is important to understand here that in the Solar System the planets do not have natural satellites (see), comparable in size to the Moon.
• What is the reason for the fact that the diameter of the lunar disk at the moment of total eclipse perfectly covers the disk of the sun?
• What makes the Moon rotate in a regular circular orbit? This question is difficult to answer, since the orbits of the remaining satellites are elliptical?

Where is the Earth's twin located?

According to some scientists, the Earth has a twin. It turned out that on the satellite, conditions are very similar to our planet.

A similar air shell is also present and observed there in sufficient quantities.

At the moment, Titan is of particular interest in scientific circles and continues to be actively studied by specialists.

The Mystery of Mars

The Red Planet is a nickname it received because of its color. Water was discovered on this planet, and a suitable temperature and atmosphere for the existence of living organisms was determined.

In the mid-20th century, there was a popular song that apple trees would soon bloom on Mars. However, it still remains uninhabited.

Scientists are trying to find any signs of life, but conducting research is quite difficult. The main problem is the long distance to this coveted planet.

An interesting fact is that today Mars is the second most studied object in space after Earth.

Why did flights to the moon stop?

Since the Moon is closest to the Earth, it never ceases to interest people's minds. In 1969, the Americans visited it and managed to collect important space data about this satellite. Today, scientists continue research in one form or another.

However, after American astronauts flew to the Moon, the program to study the satellite was suddenly stopped.

Naturally, this leads to many questions and causes bewilderment: why was a successful space exploration project closed without sufficient grounds?

There is an opinion that there was no flight at all, and all the photos and videos allegedly taken in space were simply falsified in an American film studio.

Considering the fact that at that time the Cold War was in full swing, such a forgery is quite possible.

The first astronaut to visit the Moon, Neil Armstrong, argued that there was another form of life there, in a fight with which man could not emerge victorious. However, his opinion does little to clarify the situation as a whole.

Unfortunately, today many facts about this space object remain classified. Perhaps in the near future we will learn some new interesting facts about the Moon and what space researchers were hiding from us.

Space toilet

An interesting fact is that before sending the first man into space, scientists faced an unusual problem: what kind of toilet should the astronauts be able to use normally in a state of weightlessness?

It is only at first glance that it may seem that creating a toilet for astronauts is an easy task. In reality, everything is much more complicated.

The sewage system must function without interruption. For example, during the takeoff of a spacecraft and its subsequent spacewalk, astronauts have to use special diapers.

As soon as they began to build the rocket, the designers paid special attention to the invention of plumbing devices. They were developed taking into account the individual anatomical characteristics of the crew members.

Every year, toilets in spacecraft became more and more versatile, thoughtful and comfortable.

Superstitions on board

Astronauts, like other people, have many superstitions.

For example, when going into space, they take a branch of wormwood with them so that its smell reminds them of Earth. Before the launch, Russian cosmonauts always play the song of the group “Earthlings” - “Earth in the Porthole”.

The founder of practical Soviet cosmonautics, never allowed space flights to take place on Mondays. He himself did not comment on this, although because of this decision he had many conflicts with management.

Once, when the launch was finally carried out on Monday, by fateful accident a whole series of accidents occurred.

On October 24, 1960, a ballistic missile suddenly exploded at Baikonur. From that moment on, this sad date became associated with bad luck. And today, on this day, no types of work are usually carried out at the cosmodromes.

Unknown facts about space and Russian cosmonautics

The peak of popularity of Russian cosmonautics occurred during the Soviet era. Scientists and designers managed to achieve phenomenal results that amazed the whole world.

However, against the backdrop of victories, there were also tragic moments that need to be treated with understanding. Space exploration was a new and unknown direction in science, so mistakes were inevitable.

Here are some interesting facts that you may not have heard of.

• On the monument erected in Star City, you can see a daisy that the astronaut is holding in his hand (see).
• Many people think that the first living beings sent into space were, but this is not so. In fact they were.
• Do you know why in the middle of the 20th century, 2 cosmodromes were built in the Soviet Union? This was done with the aim of misleading the enemy. Wooden structures imitating genuine space structures were erected from Baikonur at a distance of 300 km.

Fun discoveries and interesting facts about space

• Saturn has a very low density and is a very light planet. If he could be immersed in water, he would not drown in it.
• Among all the planets in the solar system, it is the largest. Surprisingly, all the planets orbiting the Sun could fit inside it.
• The very first star catalog was compiled by the ancient scientist Hipparchus, who lived in the 2nd century BC. e.
• In 1980, the “Lunar Embassy” was formed, engaged in the sale of territories on the Moon. By the way, as of today, about 8% of the lunar surface has already been sold out. So if you are interested in space from a practical point of view, hurry up!
• An interesting fact is that the Americans spent huge amounts of money on developing a special pen that could write in space. After all, in a state of weightlessness, ink does not flow out of the rod, as it does on earth. Soviet cosmonauts considered this problem somewhat far-fetched, and took… a pencil into space to take notes.

NASA's Most Unusual Statements

Throughout its history, NASA has made many different statements, some of which were very unusual and even strange.

• Being in zero gravity, astronauts suffer from “space sickness,” accompanied by nausea and pain. This occurs due to disruption of the full functioning of the inner ear.
• The fluid in the astronaut's body tends to get into the head, as a result of which his nose becomes blocked and his face visibly swells.
• In outer space, a person becomes taller due to the lack of pressure on his spine.
• A snoring person on Earth, in conditions of weightlessness, will not make any sounds.

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