On April 12, 1961, the USSR pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made his first flight into near-earth space. The visit to space lasted only 108 minutes, but was a giant technological breakthrough for humanity. Now it is difficult to imagine how difficult the first ascent of man to the stars was.
First space mission
The leadership of the Soviet Union and the Chief Designer of Space Technology S. P. Korolyov, there was no doubt about the candidacy of the world's first cosmonaut. Of the several pilots selected for testing, Yuri Gagarin was chosen, who during the preliminary training showed himself to be an unconditional leader, by his moral and psychological qualities capable of solving any problems associated with a risky flight ("Yuri Gagarin", L. A. Danilkin, 2011) …
The task of the state commission contained instructions: to complete a single orbit around the planet for an hour and a half and land in a predetermined area. The purpose of the space flight was to test the capabilities of a person while in outer space. It was also necessary to check the calculations, to make sure of the reliability of technology and space communications.
How was the space flight
The launch of the Vostok spacecraft took place at 0900 hours from the Baikonur cosmodrome. Following the specified program, the spacecraft with a man on board completed one orbit around the planet at an altitude of 181-327 km from its surface, after which at 10 hours 55 minutes it landed in the Saratov region, near the village of Smelovka.
During this rather short flight with Yuri Gagarin, a stable two-way communication in the range of ultrashort waves was maintained. During this time, special radio telemetry equipment monitored the physical and psychological state of the astronaut. Thus, the entire flight took place under complete control from Earth.
From the very beginning, it was assumed that the flight would take place in a regular automatic mode with minimal human participation in the control of the apparatus. And yet, Yuri Gagarin was not an ordinary passenger on the ship, since at any time he could turn off the automatic equipment and switch to manual control mode if an emergency arose.
None of the specialists could have known in advance how the human psyche would behave during space overloads, so the astronaut had a special code to turn off automatic control, which was in a sealed envelope. It was assumed that only a person who is in a sane state is capable of accurately entering the code in order to affect the automation.
When the spacecraft entered its intended orbit, Gagarin conducted a series of the simplest experiments to test the effect of weightlessness on humans. He drank, ate, and tried to write with a regular pencil. Experiments showed that all items on board the ship had to be attached, otherwise they would very quickly float away. The astronaut recorded all his observations and reports on the state of affairs on a tape recorder.
Completion of the first space mission
After flying around the Earth, the braking system was switched on on the ship. He entered the atmosphere, descending along a ballistic trajectory with very serious G-forces. This was one of the most critical stages of the flight, since upon entering the airspace, the vehicle's skin caught fire and began to crackle dangerously. Upon reaching an altitude of seven kilometers, Yuri Gagarin performed the ejection.
Due to a small malfunction of the braking system, the astronaut landed much to the west of the given point. However, the moment of the cosmonaut's return was clearly recorded by air defense systems. A group of local collective farmers and a unit of military personnel soon arrived at the place of Gagarin's landing, who were warned in advance about a possible visit of a special guest. Thus ended the first manned flight into space, full of dangers and uncertainties.
