First man in space
Gagarin’s orbital flight
secured place in history
On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin
became the first man in space. His
mission lasted 108 minutes and he
made one orbit around the globe.
Upon his return to Earth, he was
lauded as a hero and the Soviet
Union enjoyed its continued position
as the leading power in space.
But in the years and decades
that followed, details of the flight
revealed a very different picture of
this historic Soviet accomplishment.
Despite its disadvantaged technological position to the United
States, the launch of Sputnik in
October, 1957 gave the U.S.S.R. the
early lead in the space race.
Both the U.S. and the Soviet Union
had begun taking steps towards
manned spaceflight in 1959 –
American astronauts and Soviet
cosmonauts were selected and
entered into training. Flight tests of
launch vehicles and unmanned
capsules progressed at steady rates
in both countries.
The Soviets won the race to put
a man in orbit first with Gagarin’s
Vostok 1 flight. It would be almost a
year before NASA would put John
Glenn into orbit around the Earth.
Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom’s
1961 suborbital flights paled in
comparison.
According to reports published
by the Soviet Union, a calm Gagarin
met launch day with resolve. He
and his backup pilot Gherman Titov
suited up together before piling into
the van that would take the men
to the launch pad. Upon arrival,
Gagarin faced the men gathered
around the launch vehicle and
Russia’s Yuri Gagarin, first man in space.
addressed them as a group with a
stirring farewell speech.
Vostok 1 launched on time at
9:22 a.m. Moscow time. The mission
was like clockwork with Gagarin
performing perfectly. The launch
vehicle
performed
perfectly,
enabling the capsule to achieve
an optimal orbit. Orientation of
the capsule and the all-important
retrofire manoeuvres were on time.
The capsule’s sections separated
cleanly – the instrument section and
the descent vehicle were meant to
come down separately to ensure
the two pieces didn’t collide upon
landing. Gagarin landed safely
inside his capsule at 10:55 a.m.
Immediately after the flight, the
Authored by Amy Shira Teitel, an expanded version
of this article appears on her Vintage Space blog.
Photos are courtesy of Retro Space Images.
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pilot’s first comment was a formal
mention to the Communist Party
and specifically Nikita Khrushchev
that the mission was successfully
accomplished and that he landed
safely at his preselected point
without injury.
The elation of the Soviet people
was evident in their press releases
and public announcements. Great
attention was drawn to the symbolism
of the flight. Vostok translates as
“east” or “dawn” and the flight was
in the morning. It was said to be the
true morning of a new era. Central
to praise was Gagarin, the model
Soviet and communist who would
lead the world into the future.
These
reports
and
press
conferences, however, carried
a strange tone. Speeches were
filled with imagery highlighting the
new era and praising Gagarin as
its ambassador, but little was said
about the actual flight. Reports were
vague with repeating emphasis on
Vostok’s perfect landing.
In his post-mission address,
Gagarin said very little of substance
and his responses to questions
were almost evasive. When asked
at what point he’d been told he
would be the first cosmonaut, he
responded that he had been told
“in good time.”
Slowly, over the ensuing years,
the perfect flight of Vostok 1 was
unravelled to reveal an imperfect
mission.
The morning of launch, Gagarin
was indeed calm and in good spirits.
His heart rate and breathing were
both normal. His only complaint
was boredom while waiting for
launch. He requested some music
to keep him company inside the
capsule. The ground crew obliged
and transmitted Russian love songs
to him. Throughout the mission, his
spirits remained high. Every time a
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