EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE
Gagarin entered space 54 years later, and only 12 years
elapsed between Gagarin’s flight and Neil Armstrong’s
‘one small step’ on to the surface of the Moon. It is worth
noting that there could have been a meeting between
Wright, Gagarin and Armstrong. Their lives overlapped,
and I have had the honour of knowing all three!Valentina Tereshkova,
the first woman in space; she
flew in Vostok 6 from 16–18
June 1963. At the same time,
Vostok 5 was in orbit piloted
by Valery Bykovsky. During
her spaceflight she carried out
an extensive research
programme, and has since
been active in the educational
and administrative field.
I took this photograph of her
in 1992.One small step for
a man. Neil Armstrong
stepped from Apollo 11’s
lunar module Eagleinto
the history books when he
became the first man on
the Moon in July 1969.The rendezvous of
Geminis 6 and 7.Walter
Schirra and Thomas Stafford
(Gemini 6) met up with Frank
Borman and James Lovell
(Gemini 7) on 4 December- It is easy to understand
why the open ‘jaws’ were
likened to an angry alligator.
The first American space
walk.Major Edward White
remained outside Gemini 4
for 21 minutes on 3 June- Tragically White later
lost his life in a capsule fire
on the ground.
The launch of Mercury 6,
Friendship 7. On 20 February
1962 the first manned orbital
flight was launched, carrying
John Glenn into orbit.B Atl of Univ Phil'03stp 31/3/03 3:59 pm Page 27