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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0514.PDF
522 FLIGHT, 20 April l<j->\ Missiles and Space flight MAN IN ORBIT Major Yuri (George) Aleksey- evich Gagarin is 27 years old. He is one of a number of Soviet "Cosmonauts," several of whom will probably make orbital flights during the next few months before starting a direct assault on space with manned flights well away from Earth ON the morning of April 12 the Soviet news-agency Tassbegan to broadcast one of the greatest announcements inthe history of mankind. The message began to come through at 07.59BST (one minute to ten, local Russian time) andopened in the following terms: "The world's first spaceship, Vostok (East), with a man onboard was launched into orbit from the Soviet Union on April 12, 1961. The pilot space-navigator of the satellite spaceship Vostokis a citizen of the USSR, Flight Major Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin. "The launching of the multi-stage space rocket was successfuland, after attaining the first escape velocity and the separation of the last stage of the carrier rocket, the spaceship went into freeflight on a round-the-Earth orbit. According to preliminary data, the period of the revolution of the satellite spaceship around theEarth is 89.1min. The minimum distance from the Earth at perigee is 175km (108.7 miles) and the maximum at apogee is 302km(187.6 miles), and the angle of inclination of the orbit plane to the equator is 65 4'. The spaceship with the navigator weighs 4,725kg(10,416.81b), excluding the weight of the final stage of the carrier rocket." The fact that this announcement was by no means unexpected inno way detracted from its stunning impact on the entire world. Ever since Sputnik 1 went into orbit on October 4, 1957, mannedspaceflight has been the obvious next major milestone, and the Soviet Union, largely as a result of greater available first-stagethrust and apparently excellent reliability, has placed in orbit a far greater tonnage than the US and has successfully recoveredspacecraft of much greater size. The accompanying table (p. 523) includes all relevant dates. As in all Soviet space launchings, no details have been given ofthe location of the firing, nor of the recovery area, neither have any particulars been divulged concerning the launch vehicle. The spacevehicle itself is certain to be the same as that used in all the Soviet firings listed in the table since May 15, 1960. In addition to thefive test shots preceding Gagarin's flight, the vehicle has undoubtedly been subjected to extensive static and systems testing, and theoverall reliability of the entire booster and capsule appears to be remarkably high. The vehicle is considerably larger than theAmerican Mercury capsule (Flight, February 12, 1960), which weighs some 2,1001b loaded, and may well be capable of accom-modating two men without great modification, and can certainly carry very heavy instrument payloads. According to the Russian announcements, the capsule had "adouble wall of thin metal"—Mercury uses two layers of 0.1 in titanium alloy—and the Cosmonaut was strapped to a contouredfoam-rubber couch. It may be inferred that it also had a controllable retrorocket system, and a series of parachutes forfinal recovery. The launch took place at approximately 0907hr local time (0707BST), and one complete orbit was accomplished.The recovery sequence began at 1025hr local time. Two-way radio communications were established, three announced fre-quencies being 9.019Mc/s, 20.006Mc/s and 143.625Mc/s. 0722BST) , - , -„ . , t (over Africa at O815BST). The landing was made "safely at a pre-determined spot in the Soviet Union" at 0855BST (1055 local time). Gagarin then said "Please report to the Party and Government,and personally to Nikita Khrushchev: the landing was normal, I feel well I have no injuries or bruises." Prime MinisterKhrushchev at once sent the following telegram: "I warmly con- gratulate you I embrace you. Until our meeting soon in Moscow."On April 13, before his triumphantentry into Moscow the following day Gagarin was interviewed at length by Tass. The result was aunique narrative, in some places of a personal and recollective nature but in others containing straightforward descriptions ofsights never before seen by man. "I had," he said, "no feelings of loneliness in space. I knew v.e|]that my friends, the entire Soviet people, were following my spice flight. I was sure that the Party and the Government would alwaysbe ready to help me if I found myself in a difficult situation. I fel; fine, and could have spent much longer in the spaceship; but sheduration of my flight had been fixed in advance. "The sunlit side of the Earth is visible quite well, and one caneasily distinguish the shores of continents, islands, great rivers, large areas of water and folds of the land. Over Russia I sawdistinctly the big squares of collective-farm fields, and it was possible to distinguish which was ploughed land and which wasmeadows. "Before this I had never been above 15,000m (49,213ft). Fromthe spaceship satellite one does not, of course,see as well as from an aeroplane, but very,very well all the same. During the flight I sawfor the first time with my own eyes the Earth'sspherical shape. You can see its curvature According to the Russian caption, this photograph shows Gagarin still wear- ing his sky-blue space- suit, and the wording even suggests that he is alight- ing from the capsule. In fact, he is descending from an aircraft—almost certainly an 11-14—and is wearing a fleece - lined leather helmet when looking to thehorizon. "1 must say the viewof the horizon is quite unique and very beauti-ful. It is possible to see the remarkably colour-ful change from the light surface of theEarth to the completely black sky in which onecan see the stars. This dividing line is very thin, just like a belt of film surrounding the Earth's sphere. It is of a delicate bluecolour. And this transition from the blue to the dark is very gradual and lovely. It is difficult to put it in words. "When I emerged from the shadow of the Earth the horizonlooked different. There was a bright orange strip along it, which again passed into a blue hue and once again into a dense blackcolour. What struck me most remarkably was how near the Earth seemed, even from the height of 187 miles. "I did not seethe Moon. The Sun in outer space is tens of timesbrighter than here on Earth. The stars are visible very well: they are bright and distinct. The whole picture of the heavens is muchmore contrasty than when seen from the Earth. "When weightlessness appeared 1 felt excellent. Everything waseasier to perform. This is understandable. Legs and arms weigh nothing. Objects are swimming in the cabin, and I did not sit inthe chair, as before, but was suspended in mid-air. During the state of weightlessness I ate and drank, and everything was like onEarth. "I was working in that state, noting my observations. Hand-writing did not change, though the hand was weightless. But it was necessary to hold the writing block, as otherwise it would floataway from the hands. 1 was in communication contact on various channels, using a telegraph key. "I was convinced that weightlessness has no effect on the abiliKto work. The passage from weightlessness to gravitation, to the appearance of the force of gravity, happens smoothly. Arms andlegs feel as previously, the same as during weightlessness, but now they have weight. I ceased to be suspended over the chair, bi;teased myself into it. "When I returned to the Earth I was overjoyed. I was warml
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