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February 2007 Issue
CENTENARY OF SERGEI KOROLEV
(1907-1966)
The chief of the Soviet rocket design and engineering in the 1950s-60s. His role in the space programme was kept secret until after his death. Throughout his work on the programme he was known as the "Chief Designer". His incredible energy, intelligence, belief in the prospects of rocket technology, managerial abilities and almost mythical skills in decision-making made him the head of the first Soviet rocket development centre. He deserves the greatest credit for turning rocket weapons into instruments of peaceful space exploration and for making the Soviet Union the world's leader in space research.
Sergei Korolev was born in 1907, in the city of Zhitomir (present day Ukraine) into the family of a Russian language teacher. In 1910, Sergei's parents separated and, together with his mother, he moved to his grand-parents’ home. In 1922, as the city was still recovering from the civil war, Sergei passed his qualifying exams and was admitted to the second year of a technical college. In addition to a top-notch staff, this college gave its graduates the privilege of entering any technical University without sitting for the entrance exams. At the time, Sergei was already interested in aviation. Most probably he was inspired in this interest by his step-father who was a well-educated engineer with a booming dual career in the railroad industry and in technical education. In June 1923, Korolev joined the newly created Society of Friends of Air Fleet. In 1924, Korolev joined a group of glider enthusiasts. Two years later he enrolled into the Moscow Bauman High Technical School, MVTU, the best engineering college in Russia and in 1932 he was appointed chief of the Jet Propulsion Research Group, one of the earliest state-sponsored centres for rocket development in the USSR. In 1933, the group was reorganized into the Jet Propulsion Research Institute, where Korolev worked as Deputy Chief of the institute. At RNII, Korolev led the development of cruise missiles and of a manned rocket-powered glider. During World War II Korolev participated in the development of the Tu-2 bomber, a major aircraft of the Soviet Air Force.
Korolev was absorbed in studying the use of rockets for space travel. In 1953 he first proposed the use of the R-7 design for launching a satellite into orbit. He promoted his ideas with the Russian Academy of Sciences, including a concept for sending a dog into space. Sputnik, the first man-made object sent into space, was developed in less than a month. It had a very simple design, consisting of a polished metal sphere, a transmitter, thermal measuring instruments, and batteries. Korolev personally managed the assembling and, on October 4, 1957, the satellite was placed into orbit. The effect of this launch was dramatic and in a month’s time, on November 3, 1957, Sputnik 2 was launched.
Korolev now turned his attention to reaching the Moon. The ‘Luna-1’ mission in 1959 was intended to impact the surface, but missed by about 6,000 km; then the ‘Luna-2’ successfully impacted the surface, giving the Soviets another first. This was followed by an even greater success with Luna 3. It was launched only two years after Sputnik 1, and was the first spacecraft to photograph the far side of the Moon.
Korolev's planning for the manned mission began in 1958, when design studies were made on the future Vostok spacecraft. It had a single passenger wearing a space suit, and was fully automated. The capsule had an escape mechanism in case of problems prior to launch, and a soft-landing and ejection system during the recovery. In 1960 an unmanned prototype performed 64 orbits round the Earth, but failed to return. Later, four tests were sent into orbit carrying dogs, of which the last two were fully successful. Finally, a modified version of the R-7 was used to launch Yuri Gagarin into orbit on April 12, 1961, making him the first man in space. He returned to Earth by means of a parachute after ejecting at an altitude of 7 km.
In the following years, Korolev led the development of several generations of ballistic missiles, launch vehicles, science, military and communications satellites, interplanetary probes and manned spacecraft. In 2006, the Soyuz spacecraft, which he conceived at the dawn of the space era, had been forty years in operation. Korolev died at the height of his career on January 14, 1966.
THE YEAR OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE
IS TO BE HELD IN 76 COUNTRIES DURING 2007
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H.E.Andrey Granovsky,
San Anton Palace.
6th January, 2007
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Students of the Russian Language School presenting
Russian Christmas Poetry at San Anton Palace:
Claire Galea, Ingrid Eomios,
Reaunell Klein, Alice Horne, Anthony Camilleri
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H.E. Edward Fenech Adami
San Anton Palace.
6th January 2007
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Russian is the mother tongue of 170 million people. Over 350 million people understand it. This makes Russian the fourth most widespread language in the world. It is the language of communication among the people of over 160 nationalities that live in modern Russia. Russian literature, which is acknowledged and read worldwide, was written in the Russian language. It was the first language spoken in space.
Today over 30 million Russians are living abroad, whilst over 180 million non-Russians are currently studying it. This makes Russian a language of global communication. The Year of the Russian Language in the World is meant to highlight the role of the Russian language in the sphere of modern communication, to address the world’s growing interest in all things Russian and to increase the country’s attractiveness to investors. All Russian Centres for Science and Culture now operating in 76 countries are taking an active part in the activities being held within the scope of The Year of the Russian Language.
In January 2007, the Year of the Russian Language was inaugurated in several European countries. Malta was the first country to declare open The Russian Language Year. This happened on January 6th, 2007. during the traditional celebration of the Russian Orthodox Christmas at San Anton Palace. These celebrations were held under the distinguished patronage of H.E. the President of Malta, Dr Edward Fenech Adami and Mrs Fenech Adami
The main event of the Year will be consisting of a competition of essays written in the Russian language. This will be open to non-Russian students studying at Centres and partner-organizations outside Russia. Each country will adjudicate the essays for content and language use, and will declare the winning essay. As a prize, the winner will be invited to Moscow to participate in the final event of The Year. This is scheduled to take place in November 2007.
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Moscow is the coldest megalopolis of Europe. Winter starts there in mid-November and is over by the first days of April. The average temperature in January is -10oC, while in July it is +20oC. The highest temperature ever recorded was in August 1936, when it rose to 36.7oC. The lowest ever was in January 1940, when it fell to – 42.2oC.
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| The Spasskaya Clock Tower, built in 1491, is the symbol of the Moscow Kremlin. This Tower received its name when the icon of ‘Spass’ (‘Спас Нерукотворный’–‘The Saviour’) was placed above the Tower Gate. |
 | The Hall of Facets (Грановитая Палата) is Moscow’s oldest civic building. It used to be the home of the two assemblies, the ‘Zemsky Sobor’, as well as the ‘Duma of the Boyars’ (both of them parliamentary systems of the period from the 15th to the 19th centuries) |
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 | The tallest office buildings are to be found in the ‘Moscow City’. The ‘Federation Building’, which is now under construction, will be rising to 430 metres. It is going to be Europe’s tallest building. The ‘Rossia’ building is designed to reach a height of 600 metres. |  | The ‘Tsar Bell’, lying inside the Kremlin walls, is the world’s biggest bell. It was cast in 1735 and is 6,14 metres tall. Weighing 202 tons, it is famous for its rich ornamental frieze. |
| The Bolshoi theatre, founded in 1825, is one of the oldest theatres of Russia. In its grandeur it is equal to ‘La Scala’ and is unique in its artistic value. |  | The Tretyakov Gallery, the museum which houses Russia’s national art, owns 100,000 paintings by Russian artists. The oldest paintings go as far back as the 10th century. |  |
 | In 2002 Muscovites set a new world record when 2, 226 couples were recorded kissing at the same time on the bridge of the Kiev Railway station. The previous record was registered in the USA. |  | The Yaroslavl Railway station of Moscow is the starting point of the world’s longest railway. This line runs from Moscow to Vladivostok and connects cities that are 9302 km apart. This railway traverses the European territories of Russia, the Urals, Siberia, China and Mongolia. |
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