Sergei Korolev was a major figure an driving force in the development of the Russian space program. Influenced by the ideas of interplanetary flight put forth by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky , Korolev became interested in rocketry, and in the early 1930s helped to found a rocket research group which was responsible for training numerous scientists and engineers who would later become the core of Russia's space program.

Korolev was responsible for many of Russia's well-known achievements in space exploration. He helped design the rocket used for Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. The rocket was a modified Soviet Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) about 100 feet (30.48 m) in length with a weight of 300 tons (272,400 kg). This became the most widely used rocket in the world. Another success associated with Korolev was Luna 3, which was a probe that provided the first views of the far side of the moon. In...