How it was №1 10.04.1999 (1999)

Video chronicle: The first manned flight into space.

Yuri Gagarin, Sergei Korolev before the rocket launch.

General jubilation.

Yuri Gagarin reports to Nikita Khrushchev (Leonid Brezhnev is next to him).

A ceremonial rally on Red Square.

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is welcomed in foreign countries.

Military tests of launching ballistic missiles.

Development of "space defense" systems.

Graphic work: the "Proton" system in action.

The command console for launching missiles.

The peaceful action of the Soviet cosmonaut's flight grew into a military arms race.

The program is dedicated to the work of the NPO "OKB-52", headed by academician Vladimir Chelomey, which had been classified for many years.

Vladimir Polyachenko characterizes the state of the military-industrial complex in the USSR. The OKB employees, on government instructions, developed a space missile defense system.

Anatoly Blagov talks about potential threats that could arise in connection with the exploration of space by other countries, in particular the United States.

The first maneuvering unmanned apparatus of the OKB, designed to detect potential threats emanating from space, was "Polet-1".

Video chronicle: The Pravda newspaper (issue of November 2, 1963) reports on the launch of the Polet-1 station into space.

Graphic work demonstrating the technical capabilities of the apparatus.

Model of "Polet-1".

Leonid Shelepin talks about the beginning of work on the development and creation of the global space complex "Almaz" (since 1964).

Leonid Shelepin talks about the purpose and technical capabilities of "Almaz", clearly demonstrating on the model installed in the program studio.

Video chronicle: Orbital station "Almaz" in the production hangar.

Vladimir Chelomey.

Launch of the orbital station "Salyut-1" - created on the basis of "Almaz" in the Mishin Design Bureau.

A year later, the orbital station "Almaz", modified in the Chelomey Design Bureau, was launched into space under the name "Salyut-2".

The launch of the orbital station "Salyut-3".

On board are the cosmonauts: Pavel Popovich and Yuri Artyukhin.

Newspapers with informational reports about the launch of the station.

Pavel Popovich talks about the goals of the flight of "Salyut", about the dual purpose of the station.

He recalls the tasks set before the cosmonauts.

Vladimir Polyachenko emphasizes that the development of "Salyuts" was carried out during the Cold War, so the stations provided for the placement of defensive weapons on board.

Leonid Shelepin talks about the pre-installed defense system on the station, which assumed its self-destruction in the event of interception of the station.

Pavel Popovich talks about the constant rivalry with the United States and that during the Cold War these stations were necessary, despite their high cost.

Max Karatayev (from the audience) talks about the selection of a special cosmonaut detachment in 1968, at the request of Vladimir Chalomey.

Alexey Grichannik and Valery Romanov, pilots who passed the selection and joined the special cosmonaut detachment, the so-called Chelomey detachment, talk about how they got into the detachment, about training, and continuous preparation for the flight.

Pavel Popovich talks about the salaries of Soviet pilot-cosmonauts.

Video chronicle: Training of Vladimir Chelomey's cosmonaut detachment.

The tragic death of the Salyut-11 crew during landing in 1971. The cosmonauts receive medical assistance.

The bodies of the deceased Vladislav Volkov, Viktor Patsayev, Georgy Dobrovolsky at the landing site of the descent module.

The incident with the death of the cosmonauts served as a start for the development of personal protective equipment for pilots.

Video chronicle: Rocket testing, work in design bureaus.

Orbital station "Almaz" in the production hangar.

Information about the closure of the project.

Vladimir Chelomey with cosmonauts, with designers.

American President Ronald Reagan speaks on television.