During this period the development of space studies has recorded
another brilliant success. Alongside the automatic interplanetary stations
(AIS), manned flights were also made possible. On April 12th 1961 Yury
Gagarin in the spaceship Vostok made the first in the world flight of man in
space. The road to space was opened.
On July 16th 1969 Apollo 11 was launched with three astronauts on
board — N. Armstrong, M. Collins and E. Aldrin. On July 21st 1969
Armstrong stepped on the surface of the Moon in the region of the Sea of
Calm. A few minutes later that he was followed by Aldrin. This historical
moment was marked by placing a plate reading: “Here men from the
planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July, 1969 A. D. We come in
peace for all mankind”.
After this remarkable flight the investigation of the Moon turned into a
routine research procedure. Soon after another 10 astronauts visited it.
The thorough photograph-mapping of the Moon, the excursion on its
surface by lunar modules as well as the samples taken from different
sites proved that there is no life on the Moon, in which even the NASA
(National Aeronautics and Space Administration) experts were not
convinced prior to 1960. The reasons for this negative results are
basically the lack of water, absence of atmosphere and temperatures with
drastic diurnal fluctuations from minus 160°C to plus 130°C.
Mercury. The planet situated nearest to the Sun. The high
temperatures (167°C on the average) and the absence of atmosphere
make the existence of life on it impossible for the present at least.
Venus. The “bright beauty” of the Solar system was thought to be
capable of sustaining life. The studies carried out by radiosounding
methods and AIS from the series of Mariner and Venus showed that the
temperature there is very high (466°C on the average) which does not allow
for the presence of water in liquid state. Besides, its atmosphere is almost
entirely made up of CO₂ and the atmospheric pressure is 90 times higher
than the Earth’s.
The high temperature on Venus is due to the so-caled
greenhouse effect. Sunlight reaches its surface heating its upper layer
then is radiated back in the form of heat which, stopped by its
impermeable to infra-red (heat) rays atmosphere is retained to disperse
in space. By contrast to the Earth, where CO₂ is dissolved in water and
precipitated in the soil layers as carbonates (lime-stones and dolomites),
CO₂ on Venus remains in the atmosphere. Its “clouds” consist of small
drops of concentrated (70—80%) sulphuric acid. Under such conditions
it is for now considered lifeless.
Mars. Also called the “red planet”, wrapped in mystery and raising
hopes for life existence. In 1659 the Dutch mathematician and
astronomer Ch. Huygens has noticed the permanently existing “white
polar caps“ which have been until recently taken for eternal snows and