Sergei Korolev facts for kids

Sergei Korolyov
Quick facts for kids Sergei Korolyov
	Сергей Королёв
Born	Sergey Pavlovich Korolev; Сергей Павлович Королёв ; 12 January [O.S. 30 December 1906] 1907; Zhitomir, Volhynian Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	14 January 1966 (aged 59); Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Resting place	Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow
Nationality	Russian, Ukrainian
Education	Kiev Polytechnic Institute, Bauman Moscow State Technical University
Occupation	Rocket engineer, Chief Designer of the Soviet space program
Spouse(s)	Ksenia Vincentini; Nina Ivanovna Kotenkova
Children	1
	Military career
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Red Army
Years of service	1945–1952
Rank	Polkovnik (colonel)
Signature

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev or Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov (Russian: Сергей Павлович Королёв; IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ kərɐˈlʲɵf]; Ukrainian: Сергій Павлович Корольов; January 12 [O.S. December 30] 1907 – 14 January 1966) was a lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He is regarded by many as the father of practical astronautics. He was involved in the development of the R-7 Rocket, Sputnik 1, launching Laika, Belka and Strelka and the first human being, Yuri Gagarin, into space.

Although Korolev trained as an aircraft designer, his greatest strengths proved to be in design integration, organization and strategic planning. Arrested on a false official charge as a "member of an anti-Soviet counter-revolutionary organization" (which would later be reduced to "saboteur of military technology"), he was imprisoned in 1938 for almost six years, including some months in a Kolyma labour camp. Following his release he became a recognized rocket designer and a key figure in the development of the Soviet Intercontinental ballistic missile program. He later directed the Soviet space program and was made a Member of Soviet Academy of Sciences, overseeing the early successes of the Sputnik and Vostok projects including the first human Earth orbit mission by Yuri Gagarin on 12 April 1961. Korolev's 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 (Главный Конструктор), or the Chief Designer, to protect him from possible Cold War assassination attempts by the United States. Even some of the cosmonauts who worked with him were unaware of his last name; he only went by Chief Designer. Only following his death in 1966 was his identity revealed and he received the appropriate public recognition as the driving force behind Soviet accomplishments in space exploration during and following the International Geophysical Year.

Images for kids

Korolev as a boy in 1912.
Korolev in the 1920s.
Korolev sitting in the cockpit of glider "Koktebel."
Korolev shortly after his arrest, 1938
"Chief Designer" Korolev (left) with "father of the Soviet atomic bomb" Igor Kurchatov (centre) and "Chief Theoretician" Mstislav Keldysh (right), 1956
Korolev's tomb (left) in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis
Korolev on a 1969 Soviet stamp (10 kopeks)
Korolev (left) and Valentin Glushko on a 2007 Ukrainian stamp