After the second world war, the USSR and the USA began the rapid development of missile programs. The US aimed their research at developing the hydrogen bomb, while the USSR’s program was determined to further research on delivering the heavier fission bomb used during the war. The result of this was the R-7 missile, capable of carrying a five ton warhead. The chief designer, Sergei Korolov, realized that this rocket would also be able to orbit a satellite around the earth and proposed the idea of such an endeavor. During this time, the US began another satellite project, named Project Vanguard, also designed to put a satellite into orbit. The USSR’s determination to be first into space put Korolyov’s project on hold, while the first Sputnik (Russian for ‘fellow traveller’) was assemble in a matter of weeks. On October 4th, 1957, Sputnik became the world’s first artificial satellite. This began what became known as the Space Race between the USSR and the USA. The success of the first Sputnik program caused the Soviet leadership (specifically Nikita Khruschev) to demand more results. The second Sputnik was assembled just as hastily as the first, since it was supposed to be in orbit before November 7th, the fortieth anniversary of the Great October Revolution. Unlike the first Sputnik, Sputnik 2 carried a live animal on board- the dog named “Laika.” However, it was not designed to safely return to Earth and the animal was believed by the Soviets to die in orbit. Even though Laika died (since the Russians did not provide for the safe return of the spacecraft or its passenger) the mission did prove that a living being could survive the journey into orbit, and was a precursor to an actual human being making the trip. On May 15, 1958, Korolyov’s original satellite was put into orbit under the name ‘Sputnik 3.’ After the Soviet space program was well under way with the Sputnik launches, it aimed for higher targets including Venus, Mars, and the moon. In 1955 Sergei Korolyov proposed a plan for constructing a multi stage version of the R-7 to be used for sending a payload to the moon, capable of either landing on the surface or orbiting earth’s satellite. On January 28, 1958, the plan became an official proposal and by the end of that year its first launch (even though unsuccessful) had occurred. Initially, the space program attempted to either hit the moon or fly around it (while taking pictures of the far side). Another idea was to include a nuclear warhead in one payload so that in the event of a lunar impact the Earth-bound observers could witness the explosion leaving no doubt that the impact had occurred. However, this idea was never realized. During the period of Soviet space probes, a version of the Vostok rocket was used. This same rocket was later used in orbiting the Earth’s first piloted space vehicle. These rockets were launched into direct ascent trajectories putting them directly from the earth to the locality of the moon. The first manned space vehicle was the Vostok 1, which carried the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Gagarin made a single orbit of the earth on April 12th, 1961. His flight lasted one hour and forty eight minutes. After the dissolution of the Soviet space program and the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Russian Space Agency was formed (also known as the RKA). Using technology and launch sites that formerly belonged to the Soviet space program, the RKA has control of Russia’s civilian space program. The military counterpart of the RKA is the Military Space Forces (or VKS). The VKS controls Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome launch facility, and shares control with the RKA of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The two space agencies also share control of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (named after Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space).