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 of outer space by man. The Soviet Union played a leading role in this qualitative leap, which mankind made when it began to explore outer space. Despite the fierce rivalry between the major powers of the world, the USSR and the US, the first people in space were from the Soviet Union, which caused fits of impotent rage in the rival country.
1961
April 12, 1961 is a date that is known to any schoolchild. On this day, the first manned space flight took place. 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 went into space. The year 1961 entered the history of earthlings forever.
The first person inspace - from the Soviet Union
In those years, there was a fierce rivalry between the USSR and the USA. Both there and there actively sought to explore outer space. The United States was also preparing to fly into space. But it so happened that the cosmonaut 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, the famous Belka and Strelka, flew into space, but not a person. The whole world applauded the first astronaut, despite all US attempts to downgrade his flight.
How it was
The Vostok-1 spacecraft launched at 09:00 7:00 from the Baikonur cosmodrome with Yuri Gagarin on board. His flight did not last long, only 108 minutes. It cannot be said that it was completely smooth. During the flight, abnormal situations arose: there was a communication failure; the tightness sensor, due to which the aggregate compartment was not disconnected, did not work; there was also a jamming of the suit.
But the optimism of the cosmonaut and technology as a whole did not disappoint. He landed, catapulting to Earth. But due to a failure 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 for a long time tried to impose its opinion on the world that the flight could not be called complete. However, the attempts were unsuccessful. Gagarin was greeted in many countries as a hero. He has received a huge number of various awards in different countries of the world.
Yuri Gagarin: brief biography
He was born on March 9, 1934in the village of Klushino, Gzhatsky district (currently it is the Gagarinsky district of the Smolensk region) in a simple peasant family. In the same place, he survived a year and a half of occupation by fascist troops, when the whole family was kicked 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 by the Red Army, classes at 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 graduating, he made his first flight. In total there were subsequently 196.
Then he graduated from the military aviation school and served as a fighter pilot. And in 1959 he wrote an application to be included in the group of candidates for astronauts.
Yuri Gagarin passed away very early, at the age of 34. But in his short life, he left a great memory of himself in the hearts of many people who remembered him as a person who first visited extraterrestrial space.
The first woman in space is from the Soviet Union
After the flight of Yuri Gagarin, this direction began to develop even more actively. Man and the cosmos beckoned each other with renewed vigor. Scientists are now fired up with the fact that a woman should visit there. Perseverance and intelligence helped the fair sex Valentina Tereshkova. On June 16, 1963, starting on the Vostok-6 spacecraft, the first woman went into space, having since become famous all over the world.
Valentina Tereshkova: short biography
She was bornMarch 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 job as a bracelet maker at the Yaroslavl plant. In parallel, she received an education at an evening school. In 1959, young Tereshkova began to go in for parachuting and made about a hundred jumps.
She connected her fate with astronautics in 1962, when it was decided to send a woman into space. Of the many applicants, only five candidates were selected. After enrolling in the detachment as an astronaut, Valentina began intensive training and education. And a year later, she was chosen to fly.
First astronaut in open space
Alexey Leonov was the first to step out of a spaceship into open extraterrestrial space. It was March 18, 1965. At that time, no rescue systems for astronauts were provided. It was impossible to dock or transfer from one ship to another. One could only rely on himself and on the equipment that flew with him. Alexey Arkhipovich decided on this, thus realizing the dream of the legendary Tsiolkovsky, who proposed using an airlock for spacewalks.
And again the USSR was ahead of the USA. They also wanted to do the same. But the exit of the first man into space was carried out by the Soviet man.
How it was
At first they wanted to send an animal into the open space, but later they abandoned this idea. After all, the mainthe task of figuring out how a person would behave in space would not have been solved. In addition, the animal would not be able to tell later 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 been, no one had an exact certainty how a person would behave outside the ship.
The crew was chosen very carefully. In addition to excellent physical data, coherence and harmony of the entire team was required. The cosmonauts were Belyaev and Leonov, two people complementing each other in terms of their qualities. The cosmonaut stayed overboard for twelve minutes, during which he flew away from the spacecraft five times and returned back. The problem arose when he needed to return to the cockpit. The suit had ballooned so much in the vacuum that he couldn't squeeze through the hatch. After a series of unsuccessful attempts, Leonov decided, contrary to instructions, to swim inward with his head, and not with his feet. He succeeded.
Aleksey Arkhipovich Leonov: short biography
He was born on May 30, 1934 in a Siberian village, not far from the city of Kemerovo. His father was a miner and his mother was a teacher.
Aleksey grew up in a large family and was the ninth child. While still at school, 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 withstood a strict selection, he was enlisted as an astronaut.
Leonov made his flight to1965. From 1967 to 1970, he led the lunar group of astronauts. In 1973, he was selected for a joint flight with US astronauts, when spacecraft docked for the first time in history.
Alexey Leonov is an international member of the astronaut corps, an academician of the RAA and co-chairman of the Association of Space Flight Participants.
Man and Space
Speaking of the topic of space, one cannot fail to 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, a person nevertheless reached it.
Sergey Pavlovich - the creator of rocket and space technology of the Soviet Union. It was on his initiative that the first artificial Earth satellite and Vostok-1 with Yuri Gagarin on board were sent. When the cosmonaut died, a photo of Sergei 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.
