Sergei Korolev

The name of my hero is Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. He was a Russian rocket scientist although he was Ukrainian by birth. He held the position of Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer and held the rank of Colonel in the Red Army. He worked during he Space Race between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. He was originally trained as an aircraft designer but was also quite competent in strategic planning, design integration, and organization. He spent six years in a labour camp after supposedly being denounced by a friend of his, Valentin Glushko. This may have caused Korlolev and Glushko's resentment towards each other. Korolev was told the Glushko had denounced him and upon being released, confronted him. Glushko's reply was simple, he told Korolev that he too, was told that Korolev had denounced him. Glushko's skill was in designing rocket engines and would later work with Korolev in building the R7. He attended the Kiev Polytechnic Institute to continue his degree in aerospace engineering. His mentor was Andrei Tupolev, the designer of the Tu-95 "Bear". Eventually, he graduated and earned a pilot's license. He then learned about liquid fuelled rocket engines and wanted to use them to propel aircraft. He joined a group, which was a state funded organization for rocket research. Korolev then went on to develop cruise missiles and a manned rocket powered glider. He was known to be demanding, hardworking leader that paid attention to the smallest details. He was a charismatic leader but could easily bring someone down if they failed him, much like Steve Jobs's management style.

After being released and briefly working under Glushko at a penitentiary for intellectuals, he worked on military projects assigned by the Communist party. In 1945, Korolev was given the badge of honour for his work for the military in developing rocket motors for military aircraft. At the end of World War 2, Korolev was tasked with replicating plans for the German made V-2 rocket. When news reached Russia that the head of the V-2 project, Wernher von Braun was working for the U.S., Stalin began to prioritize rocket and missile development. Korolev was made the chief designer of long-range missiles. Here, Korolev demonstrated his abilities by keeping the compartmentalized organization running. Korolev's team began working on the Russian copy of the Vengeance 2 (V-2), designated the R-1. They succeeded and the missile could carry 785kg. to a maximum range of 270km. with an accuracy of 5km. In 1947, Korolev and his team started working on improvements to range and weight. The R-2 doubled the range of the V-2 and was the first missile design to use a separate warhead. Shortly thereafter, the R-3 was developed with a range of 3000km., a range capable of targeting England. In 1952, Korlev went on to develop the R-5 with a range of 1200 km. He continued his rocket development and came up with the R-7, the world's first Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The two stage rocket had a maximum payload of 5.4 tons, enough to carry the USSR's nuclear bomb over a distance of 7000 km. In 1952, Korolev joined the Communist Party, a strategic move that would allow him to request funds from the Party in future. Despite the USSR's superior ICBM program, Korolev, much like Von Braun, saw the application of rockets beyond what the military saw. Korolev and Von Braun were both amazed by outer space as children and their dream was to explore space. Both saw the potential of rockets to better the lives of many, not just the military. In 1953, Korolev proposed using the R-7 to launch a satellite into orbit with a few adjustments to the trajectory of the rocket. He proposed his idea to the Politburo and was finally approved. He successfully launched satellites that took photos of the dark side of the moon. They were also developing plans for manned flights into outer space. His next goal was to launch a satellite with scientific instruments such as Geiger counters for space research. Unfortunately, the various companies that were tasked to make these instruments did not build within Korolev's size and weight restrictions and the satellite could not be launched. A simpler version was built, containing only a radio transmitter, and was named Sputnik. Sputnik was launched and proved the superiority of Communism over Capitalism. Korolev would go on to launch the first animals into outer space as well as the first human into outer space, and the first spacewalk.

As a child, Korolev was born in Zhytomyr in what was then the Russian Empire, but is now Ukraine. His father was Russian and his mother was Ukrainian. At the age of three, his parents divorced and was told by his mother that his father had died. As a result, Korolev grew up with his grandparents. He did well in school especially in math. Korolev continued continued his studies at the Odessa Building Trades School, a vocational school, and learned about carpentry and various academics despite the fact that his primary interest was aeronautical engineering.

He was born on the twelfth of January, 1906, and died on the fourteenth of January in 1966 at the age of 59. The exact cause of his death is not known and is still debated. On December 3, 1960, Korolev suffered from his first heart attack. When he was sent to the hospital, it was discovered that he had a kidney disorder, probably as a result of his time in a labour camp. Doctor's warned Korolev that the stress of his work would kill him, and that he needed to take some time off from work. Korolev did not heed the advice reasoning that if the Soviets lost their superiority in space, the Politburo would stop funding him. He continued to work. In 1962, his health problems were piling up. At one point, he suffered from intestinal bleeding that caused him to be sent to the hospital in an ambulance. In 1964, he was diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia, a heart condition that causes an irregular heartbeat. In February of that year, he spent just over a week in a hospital for inflammation of his gallbladder. Doctor's suspected this was because of his increasing stress from work as well as fatigue. In December 1954, he was supposedly diagnosed with a bleeding polyp in his large intestine. On the fifth of January, 1966, he went to the hospital for a routine surgery to remove the polyp. Nine days later, Korolev passed away. The government had claimed that Korolev had a large cancerous tumour. However, Glushko stated that he had died due to a poorly performed operation as was often in the Soviet medical system. Yet another account states that Korolev started to bleed during the surgery and the doctors attempted to intubate him to allow him to breathe. However, his jaws, which had been injured while working at a labour camp, did not heal and prevented the breathing tube from fulfilling its function. Korolev died without regaining consciousness. The last account claims that Korolev's heart simply stopped during the surgery and attempts to restart his heart failed. After his death, his identity was finally revealed to the world and the peoples of the USSR. His ashes were interred in the Kremlin Wall, a place where Gagarin's ashes would also be placed a few months later. Von Brain, the Nazi who had surrendered and was working for the Americans finally found out who he had been competing against. Although Von Braun and Korolev were competing against each other for their countries, they both had similar goals and had a great respect for each other.

Korolev is important to me because he has shown that anything is possible with hard work. His success came from what is now known as a STEM programs. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. I am interested in becoming an aerospace engineer and as part of my STEM education, I am taking Computer Studies (ICS3U), Technological Design (TDJ3M), and joined my school's FRC robotics team. He has demonstrated to the world that solving virtually any problem can be done through innovation using the STEM approach. He has inspired me to believe in the sciences and that virtually anyone, with the proper education and training, when put together, can solve any problem put before them.