In the early autumn morning of 1957, or rather on October 3, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the launch vehicle of the world's first artificial Earth satellite was carefully placed in a vertical position. The enormous work of many collectives throughout the Soviet Union was approaching its logical conclusion. There were still forty hours of testing, debugging and unrest, but the appearance of the spaceship already inspired some kind of conviction in the success of such a difficult task. He was wonderful. The weather was freezing cold, and the entire rocket, fueled by a nearby railroad tanker, was covered in frost, sparkling in the sun like diamond dust.
The first Soviet satellite PS-1, and it was already in the bow of the ship, was small (weighed less than 84 kilograms), spherical, its diameter was 580 mm. Inside it, in an atmosphere of dried nitrogen, was an electronic unit that, by the standards of today's achievements, might seem too simple. However, one should not rush to conclusions - on the lamp element base and with the use of mechanical automatic devices,rather complicated algorithm. When the first satellite separated from its carrier, four whip antennas came out of it, providing a stable passage of the radio signal in all directions. Orienting the position of the device in space was then a premature measure, and the omnidirectionality of the emitters solved the problem of alerting ground services about the operation of systems and the location in orbit.
The transmission was carried out alternately by two one-watt transmitters, after demodulation it was an audio signal in the form of a “dash”, and in the event that the operation of one of the nodes became abnormal, the “beep” would sound more often. The callsign received by radio amateurs was supposed to indicate that the first satellite was actually orbiting.
The equipment needed strict compliance with
temperature regime, and it was supported by built-in fan heaters.
The first satellite launched the R-7 carrier into orbit, at that time the latest, which had the secret code of the “object 8K71PS”. It was only the fifth launch of a rocket created in the design bureau headed by S. P. Korolev. Its main and original purpose is the delivery of nuclear weapons, the goal is the American continent. But this formidable technique also found a peaceful application - to launch the first satellite into near-Earth space.
It was not easy for the General Designer to convince the leadership of the need for space flights, and when he succeeded, the deadlines were very tight. The work of various ministries and departments was carried outat the same time, much was unknown, and technologies were developed as tasks and problems arose. The first satellite was created on schedule.
At 10:28 pm Moscow time, October 4, the rocket took off into the sky, and soon TASS announced the realization of an old dream of all mankind - travel to distant galaxies has become a real possibility, proven in practice.
A small star, the first satellite, was flying high on the heads of the inhabitants of the entire planet. The USSR became its homeland, scientists, engineers and workers became its creators, and there was no limit to the rejoicing of all the people who felt their involvement in this achievement.
