The strastosphere is not a limit for you

Yuri Gagarin at the age of ten

First solo flight in 1955

With his wife Valya and daughter Lenochka

1961 04 12

"The sky is very dark; the Earth is bluish. Everything is seen very clearly"

Y. Gagarin commenting his first view from space.

(photo taken by the ISS007 mission)

"Dear friends, both known and unknown to me, fellow Russians, and people of all countries and continents, in a few minutes a mighty spaceship will carry me into the far-away expanses of space. What can I say to you in these last minutes before the start? At this instant, the whole of my life seems to be condensed into one wonderful moment. Everything I have experienced and done till now has been in preparation for this moment. You must realize that it is hard to express my feeling now that the test for which we have been training long and passionately is at hand. I don't have to tell you what I felt when it was suggested that I should make this flight, the first in history. Was it joy? No, it was something more than that. Pride? No, it was not just pride. I felt great happiness. To be the first to enter the cosmos, to engage single handed in an unprecedented duel with nature - could anyone dream of anything greater than that? But immediately after that I thought of the tremendous responsibility I bore: to be the first to do what generations of people had dreamed of; to be the first to pave the way into space for mankind. This responsibility is not toward one person, not toward a few dozen, not toward a group. It is a responsibility toward all mankind - toward its present and its future. Am I happy as I set off on this space flight? Of course I'm happy. After all, in all times and epochs the greatest happiness for man has been to take part in new discoveries. It is a matter of minutes now before the start. I say to you, 'Until we meet again,' dear friends, just as people say to each other when setting out on a long journey. I would like very much to embrace you all, people known and unknown to me, close friends and strangers alike. See you soon!"

Yuri Gagarin speech before his departure on Vostok I.

The Sharik sphere of the Vostok spacecraft

Sharik means sphere

Crew Size: 1

Length: 5 m

Diameter: 2.3 m

Mass: 2,460 kg

Heat Shield Mass: 837 kg

Recovery equipment: 151 kg

Parachute deploys at 2.5 km altitude

Crew seat and provisions: 336 kg

Crew ejects at 7 km altitude

Ballistic reentry acceleration: 8 g (78 m/s²)

Below the Sharik (or Vostok SA, Spuskaemiy Apparat) is the Vostok PA, Priborniy otsek)

Length: 2.25 m

Diameter: 2.43 m

Mass: 2,270 kg

Equipment in pressurized compartment

RCS Propellants: Cold gas (nitrogen)

RCS Propellants: 20 kg

Main Engine (TDU): 397 kg

Main Engine Thrust: 15.83 kN

Main Engine Propellants: Nitrous oxide/amine

Main Engine Propellants: 275 kg

Main Engine Isp: 266 s (2.61 kN·s/kg)

Main Engine Burn Time: 1 minute (typical retro burn = 42 seconds)

Spacecraft delta v: 155 m/s

Electrical System: Batteries

Electric System: 0.20 average kW

Electric System: 24.0 kW·h

Total Mass Vostok SA + PA : 4,730 kg

Endurance: Supplies for 10 days in orbit

Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8K72K

Typical orbit: 177 km x 471 km, 64.9 inclination

1961 04 12

Toward the stars

Landing of Vostok I.

The Vostok spaceship was not previewed to land with its pilot. Y.Gagarin has jumped in parachute at the altitude of 7km. (therefore, according to the rules of the International Federation of Astronautic, the space flight is not approved, as the pilot has to be within his ship for the landing. USSR lied for the exploit to be approved.)

Earth is the cradle of mankind. One cannot remain in the cradle for ever. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

(there will be a specific post for K. Tsiolkovsky in the future)