62 years since the feat of Yuri Gagarin, the first man to go into space

April 12 marks the 62nd anniversary of the birth of the Soviet cosmonaut. Yuri Gagarin became in 1961 the first person to go into space, which became one of the milestones of the space race.

In commemoration of Gagarin’s 108-minute orbital flight on the Vostok-1 spacecraft, which changed the world, World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day is celebrated.

Gagarin He was chosen for this feat by the head of the Soviet space program, Sergei Korolev, due to his experience as a jet fighter pilot. Taking into account the features and capabilities of space technology, specific candidates were needed, absolutely healthy and disciplined professionals at the age of about 30, no taller than 1.70 m and weighing 68-70 kg.

According to RIA Novosti, nine months before the legendary flight, six of the best Soviet pilots met with Korolev, who showed them the first spacecraft and asked who wanted to see the cockpit, to which Gagarin replied by taking off his shoes and climbing up. Luke.

Gagarin He was the perfect candidate who was finally approved to make the first manned flight into space and change the history of the world. Shortly before the trip, Gagarin wrote a letter to his wife Valentina about his long-awaited flight. “Can I dream of something else? This is history, this is a new era! In a day my flight takes off. I fully believe in technology. It should not fail. But sometimes it happens that a person falls in the most unexpected place and breaks him neck. Here, too, something can happen. But I don’t think so. If something happens, I ask you, Valyusha, do not kill yourself from pain, ”the letter said.

The first flight was carried out in automatic mode, it was assumed that the astronaut was a passenger of the spacecraft. However, at any moment he could take it to manual control.

Soviet psychologists did not know very well how a person in prolonged weightlessness would behave, and they assumed that an astronaut might lose control of himself and might want to control the ship manually, so the numerical code for disabling the automatic mode was stored in a sealed envelope. Only a conscious person should read and enter this code. However, before the flight, someone revealed this Gagarin.

The path to the rocket and takeoff

On the way to the rocket, the astronaut was asked for autographs. Already on a metal platform near the entrance to the ship, Gagarin raised both hands, saying goodbye to those who remained on Earth.

Thus began the Soviet adventure in space. At 09:07 (Moscow time) the first manned spacecraft “Vostok-1” was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan). Russian Space Agency records RoscosmosThey assure that, having heard the noise of the engines, Gagarin shouted: “Let’s go!”

The spacecraft circled the Earth and after an hour and 48 minutes landed in the city of Saratov region in southeastern Russia. Radio signals from Soviet spacecraft were intercepted by observers at the American Shemya radar station in the Aleutian Islands.

Five minutes later, an encrypted message was sent to the Pentagon. After receiving it, the night shift clerk called the home of Dr. Jerome Wiesner, senior scientific adviser to President John F. Kennedy, and informed him that the Russians had outpaced the Americans.

In orbit, Gagarin conducted several simple experiments: he drank, ate, wrote with a pencil. All his sensations and observations were recorded by the flight recorder. “Inhabitants of the planet, let’s take care of this beauty, let’s not destroy it,” said the astronaut, making a circle around the Earth.

Descent

During the descent, Gagarin was subjected to an overload 8-10 times greater than usual, but he was ready to overcome it. The most difficult thing was to deal with psychological stress, as the air temperature during the descent can reach 5000ºC and the cabin began to crackle.

At an altitude of 7 kilometers, according to the established flight plan, Gagarin ejected. Yuri was in danger of falling with a parachute into the icy water of the Volga. But thanks to good pre-flight preparation, he was able to perform some maneuvers and landed two kilometers from the river.

The wife of a local ranger, Anna Taitarova, and her six-year-old granddaughter, Rita, were the first to receive a cosmonaut on Earth. (Europe Press)

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