Sergei Pavlovich Korolev was a Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer. He was involved in the development of the R-7 Rocket, Sputnik 1, and launching Laika and the first human being, Yuri Gagarin, into space. He later directed the Soviet space program and was made a Member of Soviet Academy of Sciences. He died of a heart attack in 1966, at the age of 48, and was buried in a private ceremony in Moscow.
About Sergei Korolev in brief
Sergei Pavlovich Korolev was a Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer. He is regarded by many as the father of practical astronautics. He was involved in the development of the R-7 Rocket, Sputnik 1, and launching Laika and the first human being, Yuri Gagarin, into space. His unexpected death in 1966 interrupted implementation of his plans for a Soviet crewed Moon landing before the United States 1969 mission. Before his death he was officially identified only as Glavny Konstruktor, or the Chief Designer, to protect him from possible Cold War assassination attempts by the U.S. Even some of the cosmonauts who worked with him were unaware of his last name; he only went by Chief Designer. He later directed the Soviet space program and was made a Member of Soviet Academy of Sciences. He oversaw the early successes of the Spputnik and Vostok projects including the firsthuman Earth orbit mission by YuriGagarin on 12 April 1961. He died of a heart attack in 1966, at the age of 48, and was buried in a private ceremony in Moscow. His widow, Maria Nikolaevna Koroleva, was a daughter of a wealthy merchant from the Ukrainian city of Nizhyn, with Zaporozhian Cossack heritage. His mother also had a sister Anna and two brothers Yuri and Vasyl. He never saw his father after the family break-up, and Pavel died in 1929 before his son learned the truth. His father moved to Zhytomyr to be a teacher of the Russian language.
Three years after Sergei’s birth the couple separated due to financial difficulties. Although Pavel later wrote to Maria requesting a meeting with his son, Sergei was told by his mother that his father had allegedly died. As a child, Sergei grew up a lonely child with few friends. He began reading at an early age, and his abilities in mathematics and other subjects made him a favorite student of his teachers, but caused jealousy from his peers. He endured hardships with many other families through the tumultuous years following the Russian Revolution and internecine struggles until the Bolsheviks assumed unchallenged power in 1920. In 1913 he began designing a glider as a diversion for his vocational exams. In 1916 he received vocational training in carpentry and carpentry. In 1917 he became a member of the Odessa Trades School of Aeronautical Engineering. In 1918 he became an engineer. In 1925 he became the first Ukrainian to be awarded a doctorate in aeronautical engineering. In 1926 he was made an Officer of the Order of the Red Star of the Soviet Union. In 1930 he was awarded a Doctor of Science for his contributions to the Soviet rocket program. In 1931 he was given a Doctorate of Science in Aeronautics. In 1932 he was appointed to the USSR’s Academy of Science. In 1934 he was promoted to the position of Deputy Chief Designer of the Rocket Program.
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