Who are they - the first people in space? The second half of the twentieth century is significant for many events. One of the most grandiose was the discovery by man of outer space. The Soviet Union played a leading role in this qualitative leap that mankind has taken, beginning to explore space. Despite the strongest rivalry between the leading powers of the world, the USSR and the USA, the first people in space were from the Soviet Union, which caused attacks of impotent anger in a rival country.
1961 year
The twelfth of April 1961 is a date that is known to any student. On this day, the first manned space flight was carried out. It was then that all the people of the Earth learned from the astronaut that our planet is really round. It was then, on April 12, that the first man visited space. The year 1961 entered the history of earthlings forever.
The first man in space is from the Soviet Union!
In those years, there was a tough rivalry between the USSR and the USA. Both there and there actively sought to explore outer space. The United States also prepared to fly into space. But it turned out that the astronaut from the Soviet Union was the first to fly. It turned out to be Yuri Gagarin. Experiments had already been carried out before, and dogs flew into space, the famous Belka and Strelka, but not humans. The whole world applauded the first astronaut, despite all the US attempts to lower the value of its flight.
How it was
The Vostok-1 spacecraft launched at 9 hours 7 minutes from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, on board of which was Yuri Gagarin. His flight did not last long, only 108 minutes. This is not to say that it was completely smooth. During the flight, emergency situations occurred : there was a communication failure; tightness sensor, due to which the aggregate compartment did not disconnect, did not work; there was a jamming of the spacesuit.
But the optimism of the astronaut and the technician as a whole did not disappoint. He landed, catapulting to Earth. But due to a malfunction in the braking system, the device did not descend in the planned area (110 kilometers from Stalingrad), but in Saratov, not far from the city of Engels.
It is precisely because of this that the United States has long tried to impose on the world its opinion that the flight could not be called complete. However, the attempts were unsuccessful. Gagarin was met in many countries as a hero. He was awarded a huge variety of various awards in different countries of the world.
Yuri Gagarin: a brief biography
He was born on March 9, 1934 in the village of Klushino, Gzhatsky District (currently it is the Gagarinsky District of the Smolensk Region) into a simple peasant family. There he survived a year and a half of the occupation of fascist troops, when the whole family was driven out of the house and was forced to huddle in a dugout. At this time, the boy did not study, and only after the liberation of the Red Army, classes at the school resumed. Gagarin graduated with honors from a vocational school and entered the Saratov Industrial College. In 1954, he first came to the Saratov flying club, and in 1955, after graduation, made his first flight. All of them were subsequently 196.
Then he graduated from the military aviation school and served as a fighter pilot. And in 1959 he wrote a statement stating that he would be included in the group of candidates for astronauts.
Yuri Gagarin passed away very early, at the age of 34 years. But for a short life, he left a great memory of himself in the hearts of many people who remembered him as a person who first visited the extraterrestrial space.
The first woman in space is from the Soviet Union!
After the flight of Yuri Gagarin, this direction began to develop at an even more active pace. Man and space attracted each other with renewed vigor. Scientists are now on fire for a woman to be there. Perseverance and mind helped the fair sex Valentina Tereshkova. On June 16, 1963, starting on the Vostok-6 spacecraft, the first woman visited space, having since become famous throughout the world.
Valentina Tereshkova: a brief biography
She was born on March 6, 1937 in the Tutaevsky district of the Yaroslavl region in an ordinary family. Her father was a tractor driver and died at the front, and her mother worked at a weaving factory. In 1953, Valya graduated from seven classes and got a bracelet at the Yaroslavl plant. In parallel, she was educated in evening school. In 1959, young Tereshkova became involved in parachuting and made about a hundred jumps.
She linked her fate with astronautics in 1962, when it was decided to send the woman into space. Of the many applicants, only five candidates were selected. After enrolling in the squad as an astronaut, Valentina began intensive training and education. And a year later, it was she who was chosen for the flight.
The first astronaut in open space
Alexei Leonov was the first to leave the spacecraft in open extraterrestrial space. That was March 18, 1965. At that time, no rescue systems were provided for the astronauts. It was impossible to dock or move from one ship to another. One could only rely on himself and on the technique that flew with him. Alexei Arkhipovich decided on this, thereby realizing the dream of the legendary Tsiolkovsky, who suggested using a lock chamber for access to outer space.
And again, the USSR was ahead of the United States. After all, they also wanted to realize this. But the exit of the first man into space was carried out precisely by Soviet man.
How it was
At first they wanted to send the animal into the open space, but subsequently abandoned this idea. After all, the main task, which is to find out how a person will behave in space, would not be solved. Moreover, the animal could not then tell about its impressions.
Various assumptions were on the lips of the public about the exit of man into open extraterrestrial space. And, despite the fact that the first people in space had already visited, no one had an exact confidence how a person would behave outside the ship.
The crew was selected in the most thorough manner. In addition to excellent physical data, the coherence and harmony of the whole team was required. The astronauts became Belyaev and Leonov, two complementary to each other in terms of human qualities. The astronaut stayed overboard for twelve minutes, during which he flew off the ship five times and returned. The problem arose when he needed to return to the cab. The suit in the vacuum swelled so much that he could not squeeze into the hatch. After a series of unsuccessful attempts, Leonov decided against the instructions to swim in with his head, and not with his feet. He succeeded.
Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov: a brief biography
He was born on May 30, 1934 in a Siberian village, near the city of Kemerovo. His father was a miner, and his mother was a teacher.
Alex grew up in a large family and was the ninth child. Even at a school desk, he began to be interested in aviation technology, and after high school he entered the school of pilots. Then he graduated from the school of fighter pilots. And in 1960, having stood strict selection, he was credited to the astronauts.
Leonov made his flight in 1965. From 1967 to 1970, he led the lunar group of astronauts. In 1973, he was selected for a joint flight with US cosmonauts, when for the first time in history, spacecraft docked.
Alexei Leonov is an international member of the astronaut squad, an academician of the RAA and co-chair of the space flight association.
Man and space
Touching on the topic of outer space, one cannot but mention such people as S.P. Korolev and K.E. Tsiolkovsky. They are not the first people in space and have never been there. However, largely thanks to their efforts and labors, man nevertheless achieved it.
Sergey Pavlovich - creator of the rocket and space technology of the Soviet Union. It was on his initiative that the first artificial Earth satellite and Vostok-1 were sent with Yuri Gagarin on board. When the astronaut died, a photo of Sergey Pavlovich was found in his jacket.
Konstantin Eduardovich - a self-taught scientist, is considered the founder of theoretical astronautics. He is the author of many scientific and fantastic works, promoted the ideas of space exploration.