{"id":11759,"date":"2021-04-12T20:04:59","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T12:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/april-12-marks-60-years-since-gagarins-spaceflight-40-years-since-shuttle-debut\/"},"modified":"2021-04-12T20:04:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T12:04:59","slug":"april-12-marks-60-years-since-gagarins-spaceflight-40-years-since-shuttle-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/april-12-marks-60-years-since-gagarins-spaceflight-40-years-since-shuttle-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"April 12 marks 60 years since Gagarin\u2019s spaceflight, 40 years since shuttle debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_51026\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51026\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-51026\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/gagarin1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"850\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/gagarin1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/gagarin1-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/gagarin1-768x544.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/gagarin1-678x480.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-51026\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin before launch April 12, 1961. Credit: Roscosmos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sixty years ago Monday, a 27-year-old Russian test pilot named Yuri Gagarin strapped into a Vostok capsule in Central Asia and rode into orbit atop a launcher derived from a Soviet nuclear missile, becoming the first human to travel into the void of space.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty years later, in 1981, the era of reusable spacecraft dawned with the first launch of NASA\u2019s space shuttle.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a coincidence that the two famous anniversaries fall on April 12. NASA scrubbed the first try to launch the space shuttle Columbia on April 10, 1981, due to a timing error in the ship\u2019s flight computers.<\/p>\n<p>April 12 is celebrated as Cosmonautics Day in Russia, marking each anniversary of Gagarin\u2019s historic launch into space.<\/p>\n<p>Gagarin\u2019s flight began with a liftoff from a Soviet spaceport named the Baikonur Cosmodrome, now part of the independent republic of Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n<p>The launch from the cosmodrome on the barren steppes of Kazakhstan occurred in secret. Only a relatively small group of Soviet government officials, engineers, and the launch crew knew of the mission\u2019s schedule.<\/p>\n<p>Gagarin climbed into his Vostok 1 capsule on top of a Vostok rocket at Baikonur. Burning highly refined kerosene as fuel, the Vostok rocket fired away from its launch pad at 0607 GMT (9:07 a.m. Moscow time) on April 12, 1961.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPoyekhali!\u201d Gagarin radioed at liftoff. That translates to \u201clet\u2019s go\u201d in English.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1381676293264175109&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2021%2F04%2F12%2Fapril-12-marks-60-years-since-gagarins-historic-spaceflight-40-years-since-shuttle-debut%2F&amp;sessionId=19a35432d44f560c8139b1c0372615a132e67c59&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782469019347109727=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sixty years ago today, a 27-year-old Russian test pilot named Yuri Gagarin strapped into a Vostok capsule in Central Asia and rode into orbit atop a launcher derived from a Soviet nuclear missile, becoming the first human to travel into the void of space. https:\/\/t.co\/Z3NC8MQ00k pic.twitter.com\/R005rlALFb<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) April 12, 2021<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Within 10 minutes, Gagarin was in orbit around Earth inside the confines of his one-man spaceship.<\/p>\n<p>He flew around Earth one time, reaching a maximum altitude of 203 miles (327 kilometers) before the Vostok capsule\u2019s automatic flight control system fired retro-rockets to allow the spacecraft to plunge back into the atmosphere. Gagarin carried an envelope containing the code to unlock the Vostok capsule\u2019s manual controls if necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Gagarin bailed out of the capsule \u2014 as planned \u2014 at an altitude of about 23,000 feet (7 kilometers) as it descended toward landing.&nbsp;The cosmonaut and the spacecraft both touched down under parachutes in rural southern Russia, completing a 108-minute flight.<\/p>\n<p>Sixty years later, space crews launching from Baikonur still follow some traditions started by Gagarin. Like Gagarin, present-day cosmonauts and astronauts each plant a tree near the cosmodrome, and get pre-flight haircuts at crew quarters near the cosmodrome. They also often sip champagne on launch day.<\/p>\n<p>Legend has it that Gagarin had to relieve himself on the bus ride to the launch pad, and stopped to urinate on one of the bus\u2019s tires. Some crews have continued to ask for the bathroom break on the trek to the pad at Baikonur.<\/p>\n<p>Gagarin remains a near-mythical fixture in Russian space lore. Crew members preparing to launch to the International Space Station lay flowers at Gagarin\u2019s tomb in the Kremlin Wall in Moscow, and make the pilgrimage Gagarin\u2019s office at the cosmonaut training center in Star City, Russia. They also visit the cabin Gagarin slept in the night before his 1961 flight.<\/p>\n<p>Gagarin died in an airplane crash in 1968. He was 34.<\/p>\n<p>Major fixtures of Russia\u2019s space program have been named for the Soviet hero. The Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, where crews prepare for space missions, is named in his honor. The launch pad at Baikonur where the Vostok 1 capsule took off has been &nbsp;named Gagarin\u2019s Start.<\/p>\n<p>Cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station marked the 60th anniversary of Gagarin\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The man who dared to set off into this flight, Yuri&nbsp;Alekseyevich Gagarin, is our compatriot,\u201d said Sergey, Kud-Sverchkov, a flight engineer currently aboard the space station. \u201cOn that day, the whole planet learned his name, as it was then that a new history began \u2014 the history of crewed space flights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The legendary 108 minutes of Gagarin\u2019s flight became an example of heroism for his followers, including us,\u201d said Oleg Novitskiy, another cosmonaut on the space station.<\/p>\n<p>NASA astronaut Alan Shepard followed Gagarin\u2019s orbital mission with a shorter, 15-minute hop into space on May 5, 1961. Another suborbital flight by astronaut Gus Grissom followed in July 1961.<\/p>\n<p>The first U.S. astronaut to accomplish an orbital mission was John Glenn, who flew around Earth three times inside his Friendship 7 spacecraft in February 1962.<\/p>\n<p>Before Glenn\u2019s launch, Russian cosmonaut Gherman Titov completed a 25-hour orbital mission in August 1961. The Soviet Union\u2019s string of spaceflight firsts, which began with the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957, continued for several years. Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became first woman to fly in space in June 1963, and Alexei Leonov performed the first spacewalk in 1965.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the United States took the lead in Space Race and landed the first astronauts on the moon in July 1969.<\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Space shuttle&nbsp;Columbia flies 20 years after Gagarin<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>NASA developed the space shuttle after the end of the Apollo moon missions. After years of delays, the first shuttle \u2014 Columbia \u2014 finally blasted off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 12, 1981, at 7 a.m. EST (1200 GMT).<\/p>\n<p>Veteran astronaut John Young commanded Columbia. The mission was piloted by Bob Crippen.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XKr09ZbXYUo\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSTS-1 was a pure test mission, and all we really wanted to do was to prove that the system would work,\u201d Crippen said during a recent NASA podcast. \u201cSo our job was to take off, get into orbit, check out all the systems on the vehicle, and bring it in safely for a landing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Young and Crippen guided Columbia through a two-day test flight in low Earth orbit, becoming the first people to fly on a reusable spaceship, and the first astronauts to launch with the help of solid-fueled rocket boosters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was only when the count got inside of about a minute that I turned to John and I said, \u2018I think we might really do it,&#8217;\u201d said Crippen, now 83. \u201cAnd I think it was at that point my heart rate went up to about 130. It was probably one of the most exciting moments of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And unlike any spaceship before, Columbia returned to Earth for landing on a runway April 14 at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Young flew the 100-ton spaceplane by hand during the final approach and landing.<\/p>\n<p>NASA\u2019s fleet of space shuttles, which eventually numbered five orbiters, launched 135 times, carrying to orbit satellites, cutting edge laboratories, components to build the International Space Station, and hundreds of astronauts from numerous countries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt allowed us to fly a diverse group of people into space to become astronauts,\u201d Crippen said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t need just test pilots any more. So it opened up the field of the astronauts to a much broader range than we\u2019d ever had before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But two fatal accidents that killed 14 astronauts in 1986 and 2003 raised questions about the shuttle\u2019s safety. The George W. Bush administration directed NASA to end the shuttle program after completing assembly of the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<p>The final shuttle flight concluded July 21, 2011, with the landing of Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a fantastic flying machine, but it was also a fragile one,\u201d Crippen said. \u201cIt took lots of TLC, and the people at Kennedy Space Center were very good at that. When Atlantis landed after the last flight, that vehicle was as good of condition as it could have possibly been, and it was certainly capable of flying some more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the politics and the accidents spelled the end of that,\u201d Crippen said. \u201cAnd it\u2019ll be a long time before we have a vehicle that\u2019s nearly as magnificent as the space shuttle was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the shuttle could only fly to an altitude of a few hundred miles. Since 2011, NASA has turned over responsibility for crew and cargo transportation to the private sector, and the agency is focusing on launching astronauts back to the moon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do need to get out of Earth orbit. We need to go back to the moon,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin before launch April 12, 1961. Credit: Roscosmos Sixty years ago Monday, a 27-year-old Russian test pilot named Yuri Gagarin strapped into a Vostok capsule in Central Asia and rode into orbit atop a launcher derived from a Soviet nuclear missile, becoming the first human to travel into the void of space. Twenty [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1601,1784,1785,1786,25,190,311,234],"class_list":["post-11759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-baikonur-cosmodrome","tag-bob-crippen","tag-columbia","tag-john-young","tag-launch","tag-nasa","tag-reusability","tag-roscosmos"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11759"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11759\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}