Sergei Korolev

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (12 January 1907 [O.S. 30 December 1906] – 14 January 1966) was a Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer who led the development of the Soviet space program during the early years of the Space Race. Korolev directed development of the R-7 rocket, the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and was a leader in the Soviet space programme which used modified versions of the R-7 for several notable achievements. Under his leadership, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite; Laika, the first animal to orbit Earth; Luna 2, the first human-made object to reach another celestial body; and Belka and Strelka, the first animals to survive orbital spaceflight. He also directed the missions that carried Yuri Gagarin into space aboard Vostok 1, making him the first human in space, and enabled Alexei Leonov's spacewalk during Voskhod 2, the first extravehicular activity by a human.