The first manned flight into outer space
was reported in the small hours of April 12, 1961. The world's first cosmonaut
- Russia's Yuri Gagarin - spent 108 minutes in circumterrestrial orbit
and landed, at 10:55 a.m., near the Volga Valley city of Saratov.
A booster missile that took off from the
Soviet cosmodrome of Baikonur, sent a metal ball with four antennas and
a radio station inside it flying to outer space at 22:28, Moscow time,
on October 4, 1957. It put in orbit the first man-made space sattelite.
The satellite ("sputnik") put up the antennas and started signaling Earth
as soon as it was put in orbit.
The first manned flight into outer space
is an historic event of global dimensions. People took up a new trade -
cosmonautics. Everyone who would like to become a cosmonaut undergoes years-long
training programs, is subjected to the heaviest overload and psychological
tests, and has to wait for what seems to be interminably long before they
are allowed or discouraged to join the ranks of cosmonauts.
Behind every significant event in the
history of space exploration there are people who spared no effort to blaze
a trail into outer space. Today we know many names of outstanding scientists
and engineers whose contribution to space exploration is great.They are
bold researchers and inventors whose inquisitive mind made cosmos clearer
to us turning mankind's most fantastic dreams into reality
For a long time people could watch what
was going on in outer space only with the help of a telescope.At that time
people could only dream of travelling into outer space.The launching of
the first sputnik of the Earth by the Soviet Union symbolized the beginning
of the era of space exploration.In less than half a century mankind made
a stride from the use of primitive flying devices to multi-functional orbital
stations capable of making research
Responses of the Voice of Russia listeners
to the Space Quiz
We invite you to take part in the quiz
devoted to the first manned flight into outer space
Space has always had a mesmerizing effect on humans. The Universe tickles our imagination and inspires the writers, musicians, artists and all other connoisseurs of the beautiful...
