The Space Race: Soviet--Vostok 3KA First Earth Orbit (1961)

Space Race Vostok
Figure 1.--Here Soviet Cosmonaut and space hero Yuri A. Gagarin, the first man in spave, visits with Young PioneersT, pssibly at the Artek camp in the Crimea. Hollywood central casting could not have created a more perfect individual for the public face of the Soviet Union. He was born on a collective farm and he and his parents endured the world war II German occupation. He became a fighter pilot and was chosen for the Cosmonaught program. Hansome and with an enfectous smile, he was a sharp contrat to dour men of the Kremlin. He never made another spce flight, but he helped support the idea that the Soviet Union was the wave of the future.

Most of the initial firsts in space were achieved by the Soviet Union. The Soviets launched the first satellite. They also put the first man in space. Vostok 3KA was used by Yuri Gargaran for the first manned trip into space and the first earth orbit (1961). Soviet Air Force Lieutenant Yuri A. Gagarin become the first man in space when his Vostok spacecraft (Swallow) was launched into space by the massive SS-6 Sapwood ICBM (April 12, 1961). Gargaran spacecraft and mission is often referred to as Vostock 1. From space Gagarin famously whistled the tune "The Motherland Hears, The Motherland Knows". This was a song known to many Russians, it began, "The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows/Where her son flies in the sky". It was a patriotic song written by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1951. Nikita Khrushchev later said, "Gagarin flew into space, but didn't see any God there". Soviet media began attributing the comment to Gagarin himself. Unlike America missions, the Gagarin flight was not televised live, least the mission fail. Gargarin and Shallow made one Earth orbit and 108 minutes after launching he returned to Earth, landing near the village of Smelovaka. Once Gagarin safely returned, Khrushchev rushed to his side and Gagarin issued a statement praising the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Gagarin became an instant Soviet celebrity. The only comparison we can think of is Charles Lindburg--Lucky Lindu in America. He was soon making tours estoling the achievements of Soviet science. He never made another space flight. The 1961 Voistok He was elected to the Supreme Soviet. He returned to "Star City" to work on reusable spacecraft. He became the Star City deputy training director. Hollywood central casting could not have created a more perfect individual for the public face of the Soviet Union. He was born on a collective farm and he and his parents endured the World War II German occupation. He became a fighter pilot and was chosen for the Cosmonaut program. Handsome and with an enfectous smile, he was a sharp contrat to dour men of the Kremlin. He never made another spce flight, but he helped support the idea that the Soviet Union was the wave of the future. Where ever he went, he attracted huge crowds, even in places like Poland where the Russians were not very popular. He was but was tragically killed on a routine training mission (1968).






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Created: 4:34 PM 6/5/2007
Last updated: 7:29 AM 12/19/2015