The visage
of Sergei
Korolev, the "Great Designer" of Soviet spacecraft, accompanied a
Russian cargo ship into space on Jan. 17 (EST).
A portrait
of Korolev (left), who led the former Soviet Union’s teams to launch the first unmanned and piloted
spacecraft into orbit, rode into space attached to the payload fairing of a
Russian-built Soyuz rocket that lofted the unmanned Progress 24 cargo ship towards
the International Space Station (ISS) late Wednesday.
The
spacecraft’s launch, which can be seen in the right image, occurred at 9:12
p.m. EST (0212 Jan. 18 GMT) [image].
Korolev,
who died of a heart attack in 1966 at the age of 59, rose out of a forced labor
camp to first design combat aircraft for the former Soviet Union, and then lead
the nation’s spacecraft design efforts. During a celebration
that chronicled the 100th
anniversary of Korolev’s birth on Jan. 12, his daughter Natalia said the
spacecraft designer long dreamed about flying in space himself.
“I should
have done it, but age is a problem and they wouldn’t let me do it anyway,”
Korolev was quoted by his daughter as saying in an Associated
Press report.
Korolev’s
life is the subject of a movie titled “S.P. Korolev, The Chief Designer,” according
to the Russian spacecraft corporation RSC Energia, where some scenes were
filmed. Actor Sergei Astakhov is portraying Korolev in the film, which is part
of Russia’s Federal Space Agency’s planned activities to honor the chief
designer’s 100th birth anniversary.
Meanwhile,
NASA officials said the Progress 24 spacecraft is performing as expected, and
will dock at the Russian-built Pirs docking compartment aboard the ISS at 10:03
p.m. EST on Friday (0303 Jan. 20 GMT). The space station’s three-astronaut
Expedition 14 crew will then begin unpacking the new supply ship, which is
laden with 2.5 tons of new hardware, spare parts, fresh food and other vital equipment.
-- Tariq Malik
Credit: Right image: NASA, Left: RSC
Energia.
