Yuri Gagarin. Image: Heritage Images / Contributor via Getty Images
ABSTRACT breaks down mind-bending scientific research, future tech, new discoveries, and major breakthroughs.
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But before Gagarin’s journey 60 years ago, no human had ever crossed into the expanse beyond Earth. The Soviet space program had sent many other animals into space—most famously the dog Laika, the first animal to orbit Earth—but Gagarin faced an entirely new challenge with enormous stakes that would completely change the course of spaceflight history, no matter how the mission turned out.“At the time, in the early 60s, rocket technology was not perfected; despite many tests, early rockets still [tended] to blow up,” Ivanov pointed out. “Before Gagarin’s launch, there were a number of unsuccessful launches. He was literally riding a bomb. Since the cosmonauts knew the statistics very well, it took a lot of courage to climb up Vostok 1 and perform the mission.”Fortunately, the bravery of Gagarin and his team paid off. After spending several hours inside Vostok 1 on the launchpad, Gagarin at last lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, a spaceport in Kazakhstan, at 6:07 UTC. He entered orbit minutes later, and maintained a calm and positive attitude throughout the 108-minute duration of the flight. Vostok 1’s cabin was a spherical module primarily made of aluminum alloy and coated with ablative material. Unlike capsules today, it wasn’t built to safely touch down with Gagarin still inside. As a result, this small metal ball was equipped with an eject option that Gagarin had to execute so that he would be thrown from the craft miles above Earth, enabling him to parachute down to safety, while Vostok 1 landed separately.“He was literally riding a bomb.”
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