- Korolev personally selected the first man for the first space flight - Yuri Gagarin.
- He was the mastermind behind the first orbital flight of Sputnik in 1957. The Sputnik launch was dramatized in The Right Stuff (1983), October Sky (1999) and The Iron Giant (1999).
- While in prison, Korolev created new design for a rocket propelled plane.
- In 1934, Korolev's first book 'Rocket flight in stratosphere' was praised by K. Tsiolkovsky. At that time Korolev was 26.
- Was arrested in 1938 and imprisoned in Siberia for several years under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin.
- There was a lot of concern after the Sputnik launch in 1957 because it meant the Russians were the first to put a man into space, which only fueled the Americans determination to beat them to the Moon.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content