Introduction to Space Exploration - First Man In Space

On April 12, 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934–68) became the first human ever to travel beyond Earth's atmosphere, enter the frontier of space, and return safely to Earth. Gagarin was born in a village near Gzhatsk (now Gagarin) in central Russia. He grew up in a peasant family, dreaming of becoming a pilot. Before being recruited to be a cosmonaut, Gagarin was serving as a lieutenant in the Soviet air force.

His flight took him roughly 200 miles above Earth and he spent 108 minutes circling the planet, completing one entire orbit and part of another one. His cramped spacecraft was equipped with a radio for communicating with ground control. Looking down at the planet beneath him he reported, "The Earth is blue. How wonderful. It is amazing."

The weightlessness bestowed by space travel had always been a worry for scientists. There is a common misconception among the public that there is no gravity in space. This is not true. Actually the force of gravity remains very strong for great distances around Earth. Objects and people that leave Earth's atmosphere experience weightlessness, because they are in free fall toward Earth throughout their trip.

At the time of Gagarin's flight scientists were not sure how the human body would react to weightlessness. His spacecraft included a computerized automatic pilot, in case Gagarin lost consciousness or was unable to move. This fear proved to be unfounded. The mission showed that humans can not only withstand weightlessness but can function quite well in it.

Gagarin returned to Earth safely. He ejected from his spacecraft somewhere over Russia and parachuted to the ground. He became a national hero and an international sensation. His picture was on the front page of every major newspaper in the world.

The scientific teams in the United States were impressed with Gagarin's accomplishment but also envious of it. A NASA spokesman congratulated the Soviets for their achievement and summed up the U.S. space program with these glum words: "So close, but yet so far." In Huntsville, Alabama, rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was more blunt, saying, "To catch up, the U.S.A. must run like hell."