06 The MoonWalk January 2009

He was brought back from a prison in Siberia for a single cause: to lead USSR in the cold war
by the use of rockets, but he convinced the nation that going in space was the best way to do
it. His identity as the Chief Designer of the Soviet rocket program remained a secret until after
his death in 1966. His accomplishments in the development of the rockets and Soviet
Satellite missions were described and Korolev was given a state funeral.

On August 30, 1955, the Soviet Academy of Sciences recommended the launching
of an artificial satellite. The Soviets were aware of American attempts and failures in
the launching of rockets. The R-7 Rocket was developed as an intercontinental
ballistic missile, but it's primary (and almost exclusive) use would be for launching
satellites. And finally on the historical evening, Sputnik 1 was launched on October
4, 1957 aboard an R-7 rocket.

LIFE magazine described the transmissions in their October

14, 1957 issue as:
"An eerie, intermittent croak - it sounded like a cricket with a
cold - was picked up by radio receivers around the world
last week. It came from beyond the stratosphere and
signaled an epochal breakthrough into the new age of
space exploration."