On February 12, 1955, the first military...
notorious for its tremendous annual temperature fluctuations exceeding 80 degrees Celsius, with biting winds and extreme temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius in winter, and 45-degree heat and sandstorms in summer.Along with the test range, construction began on the top-secret town of Leninsk, which was unofficially called Zarya (Dawn), though all mail was addressed to Kzyl-Orda-50, and later to Tashkent-90.
The first launch pad, used to send the first man to space, Yury Gagarin (1934-1968), whose construction began in July 1955, is still in use today. Test launches of R-7 Semyorka (SS-6 Sapwood) ICBMs commenced in 1957. Although the May 15 and July 12 launches were abortive, the third R-7 missile successfully lifted off on August 21, and its dummy warhead hit a target at the Kura test range on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia"s Far East.
On October 4, 1957, an R-7 ICBM ushered in the Space Age by orbiting Sputnik-1, the first man-made satellite.
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