Yuri Gagarin just before takeoff. – WIKIPEDIA
April 12 () –
This April 12 marks 63 years since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became, in 1961, the first human to travel to space. one of the milestones of the space race.
In commemoration of the 108 minutes of orbital flyby of Gagarin aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft, that changed the worldWorld Aviation and Cosmonautics Day is celebrated.
Gagarin was chosen for this feat by the head of the Soviet space program, Sergei Korolev, for his experience as a jet fighter pilot. Taking into account the characteristics and capabilities of space technology, specific candidates were needed, absolutely healthy and disciplined professionals, who were about 30 years old, They measured no more than 1.70 meters and weighed between 68-70 kilos.
According to RIA NovostiNine months before the legendary flight, the six best Soviet pilots met with Korolyov who showed them the first spacecraft and asked who wanted to see the cockpit, an offer to which Gagarin responded, taking off his shoes and going up the hatch.
Gagarin was the ideal candidate who was finally approved to make the first flight of man into space and change universal history. Shortly before the trip, Gagarin wrote a letter to his wife, Valentina, about his expected flight. “Can I dream of something else? It's history, it's a new era! My flight takes off in a day. I believe in technique completely. It must not fail. But sometimes it happens that a man falls in the most unexpected place and breaks his neck. Something can happen here too. But I do not think so. If something happens, I ask you, Valiusha, do not kill yourself with pain,” the letter said.
The first flight was carried out in automatic mode, it assumed that the cosmonaut was a passenger on a spacecraft. However, at any time, he could take manual control of it.
Soviet psychologists did not know very well how a person subjected to prolonged weightlessness would behave, and they admitted that the cosmonaut could lose control of himself and might want to steer the ship manually, so the numerical code to deactivate the mode automatic was kept in a sealed envelope. Only a conscious person was supposed to be able to read and enter this code. However, before the flight someone revealed it to Gagarin.
THE ROAD TO THE ROCKET AND TAKEOFF
On the cosmonaut's way to the rocket, people asked him for autographs. Already on the metal platform next to the entrance of the ship, Gagarin raised both hands, saying goodbye to those who remained on Earth.
There began the Soviet adventure in space. The first manned spacecraft Vostok-1 was launched at 09:07 (Moscow time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazkhstan). The records of the Russian space agency Roscosmos assure that when hearing the noise of the engines, Gagarin shouted: “Let's go!”
The spacecraft circled the Earth and landed an hour and 48 minutes later in a village in the Saratov region of southeastern Russia. Radio signals from the Soviet spacecraft were captured by observers at the American radar station Shemya, located in the Aleutian Islands.
Five minutes later, the Pentagon was sent an encrypted message. Upon receiving it, the night shift employee called the home of Dr. Jerome Wiesner, President John F. Kennedy's senior science advisor, to inform him that the Russians had overtaken the Americans.
In orbit, Gagarin performed some simple experiments: drinking, eating, writing with a pencil. All his sensations and observations were recorded with a recorder on board. “People of the world, let us safeguard this beauty, let us not destroy it,” said the cosmonaut while orbiting the Earth.
THE DESCENT
During the descent, Gagarin was subjected to an overload 8 to 10 times greater than normal, but he was prepared to overcome it. The most complicated thing was combating psychological stress since the outside temperature during the descent can reach 5,000ºC and The cabin began to crackle.
At an altitude of 7 kilometers, according to the established flight plan, Gagarin catapulted himself. Yuri was in danger of falling with his parachute into the icy water of the Volga River. But thanks to good pre-flight training, He was able to carry out some maneuvers and landed two kilometers from the river.
The first people to welcome the cosmonaut to Earth were the wife of a local forest ranger, Anna Takhtarova, and her six-year-old granddaughter, Rita.
