Astazi se implinesc 53 de ani de la celebrul zbor al lui Yuri Gagarin, din 12 aprilie 1961, un zbor care a ramas o referinta in istoria spatiala.

In dimineata acelei zile, incepea misiunea lui Gagarin, la bordul rachetei Vostok 1, lansata din Baikonur. La scurta vreme autoritatile de la Moscova emiteau urmatorul comunicat de presa, care avea sa faca inconjurul lumii:

"The world's first spaceship, Vostok, with a man on board, was launched into orbit from the Soviet Union on 12 April 1961. The pilot space-navigator of the satellite-spaceship Vostok is a citizen of the USSR, Flight Major Yuri Gagarin.

The launching of the multi-stage space rocket was successful and, after attaining the first escape velocity and the separation of the last stage of the carrier rocket, the spaceship went into free flight on a round-the-Earth orbit. According to the preliminary data, the period of revolution of the satellite-spacecraft round the Earth is 89.1 min. The minimum distance from the Earth at perigee is 175km and the maximum at apogee is 302km, and the angle of inclination of the orbit plane to the Equator is 65 degrees 4 minutes. The spacecraft with the navigator weighs 4,725kg, excluding the weight of the final stage of the carrier rocket."

Mai jos documentarul "First orbit", despre zborul lui Gagarin:


Cateva postere realizate de Space Alliance in 2011, ocazie cu care am sarbatorit 50 de ani de la zborul lui Gagarin:

50 years of human spaceflight
http://www.spacealliance.ro/articles/view.aspx?id=20110412051549