Philips Atlas of the Universe

Man in Space

ATLAS OF THE UNIVERSE

M

anned spaceflight began on 12 April 1961, when

Major Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Air Force was

launched in the spacecraft Vostok 1 and made a full circuit

of the Earth before landing safely in the pre-arranged

position. His total flight time was no more than 1 hour

40 minutes, but it was of immense significance, because it

showed that true spaceflight could be achieved.

Up to that time nobody was sure about the effects of

weightlessness, or zero gravity. Once in orbit, all sensation

of weight vanishes, because the astronaut and the spacecraft

are in ‘free-fall’, moving in the same direction at the same

rate. (Lie a coin on top of a book, and drop both to the floor;

during the descent the coin will not press on the book – with

reference to the book, it has become weightless.) In fact,

zero gravity did not prove to be uncomfortable. The stage

was set for further flights, and these were not long delayed.

The Russians had taken the lead, but the Americans

soon followed, with their Mercury programme. All the

‘original seven’ made spaceflights (though Deke Slayton

had to wait until long after the Mercury missions), and

one, Alan Shepard, went to the Moon with Apollo 14 in

1971. Shepard was actually the first American in space; he
      made a brief sub-orbital ‘hop’ in 1961.
      The first American to orbit the Earth was John Glenn,
      on 20 February 1962; his flight lasted for 4 hours 55 minutes
      23 seconds. His capsule, Friendship 7, was tiny and decid-
      edly cramped. In October 1998 Glenn made his second
      spaceflight, in the Shuttle Discovery; the contrast between
      the Discoveryand Friendship 7is indeed striking! At the
      age of 77 Glenn was much the oldest of all astronauts.
      By then there had been many space missions, with
      elaborate, multi-crewed spacecraft; there had been men
      and women astronauts from many countries, though the
      vehicles used were exclusively Russian or American.

Inevitably there have been casualties. Two Space Shuttles

have been lost; in 1986 Challenger exploded shortly after

launch, and on 1 February 2003 Columbia broke up during

re-entry into the atmosphere. Yet, all in all, progress has

been amazingly rapid. The first flight in a heavier-than-air

machine was made by Orville Wright, in 1903; Yuri

Yuri Gagarin,the first man

in space; on 12 April 1961 he

completed a full circuit of the

Earth in Vostok 1. The

maximum altitude was

327 km (203 miles), and the

flight time 1h 48m. Tragically,

Gagarin later lost his life in

an ordinary aircraft accident.

The Mercury astronauts.

The original seven

astronauts chosen for the

Mercury programme were:

(front row, left to right)

Walter M. Schirra, Jr,

Donald K. Slayton, John H.

Glenn, Jr, and Scott

Carpenter; (back row, left to

right) Alan B. Shepard, Jr,

Virgil I. Grissom and

L. Gordon Cooper.

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