After the war Korolev was released from prison and continued work on long range ballistic missiles.Р”В¦ Sputnik On October 1957 the Soviet government announced that it had launched the first satellite, named Sputnik 1 (sputnik is Russian for fellow traveller).Р”В§ Sputnik 2 carried Laika, a Siberian husky, which became the first animal to go into orbit. During WWII he and other engineers were sent to prison design camps, where imprisoned engineers designed rockets for military use. In 1938, he was arrested on trumped-up charges and sent to prison he spent the next few years in several forced labour camps. In the 1930s he worked on developing long range missiles. Korolev was born in 1907, and trained at university to become an aerospace engineer.

Following the war he worked in the US Army developing rockets which would lead to the beginning of the US space programР”Тђ The Russian satellite effort was led by Sergei Korolev, though his name was kept secret until after his death in 1966. A Prussian, Von Braun worked with the Nazi's in their rocket program until the end of the war. Werner von Braun is acclaimed as being the father of modern rocketry. It may have looked like a climbing frame, but it worked РІР‚вЂњ just!!Р”В¤ Despite GoddardРІР‚в„ўs achievements, Germany was the most successful with rocket development over the next 20 years. But where did it all begin?Р”Р€ Robert Goddard in 1926 became the first person to launch a liquid fuelled rocket. ItРІР‚в„ўs 4.15am on Wednesday 16th July 1969 and Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin РІР‚СљBuzzРІР‚Сњ Aldrin (below L - R) wake up knowing that today is a special day РІР‚вЂњ they are about to make history. Then, there were communication difficulties that caused the astronautsРІР‚в„ў messages at times to РІР‚Сљbreak up.' At one point, Astronaut Michael Collins in the command ship volunteered to work overtime РІР‚вЂњ into a scheduled sleep period РІР‚вЂњ to clear communication РІР‚Сљbugs.1 Apollo 11 The Moon Landing 20th July 1969 Scientists were hopeful that examination of photos made on the moon will finally pinpoint a definite location of the Sea of Tranquility. Tracking instruments on earth are not precise enough to do the job. Better moon maps will be needed in the future.Р”Р„lso, the exact location of EagleРІР‚в„ўs landing was still undetermined a week after the event. Scientists are still puzzling over the boulder-filled moon crater that eluded their preflight mapping. Scientists speculated that the Soviet spacecraft was on a mission also to pick up moon samples and return them to earth. When Astronaut Armstrong saw the Eagle heading straight for a boulder-filled moon crater, he seized the controls and piloted it to a safe landing.Р”В«y contrast, RussiaРІР‚в„ўs unmanned Luna 15 steered itself helplessly to destruction on the moon. If the landing-ship Eagle had been piloted by computer alone, it probably would have crashed on this trip, dooming the men. Man has a unique role in space exploration.It turned out that hours had been wasted on earth developing alternate gaits РІР‚вЂњ including a 'kangaroo hop' РІР‚вЂњ for use on the moon. They bounded around easily and confidently in their bulky spacesuits. Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin dispelled fears that explorers might not be able to control themselves in lunar gravity, where men РІР‚СљweighРІР‚Сњ one sixth as much as they do on earth. The spacesuits were enough to protect the men from the searing 243-degree sun. They were not struck down by any radioactive 'death rays,' feared by generations of earthmen. The men reported no meteorite downpours on the moon during their two-hour walk on the Iunar surface. Even their spacecraft dug in only about 3 inches.

The men did not sink into any bottomless dust pits.

The moon is not so forbidding as some feared.

First man on the moon apollo 11