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| STS-1 launch |
Thirty years ago, the Space Shuttle program lifted off for the first time. Really, it did! Today marks the thirtieth anniversary of
STS-1, the first flight of the back-then new Space Shuttle program. Commander John Young (a
Gemini and
Apollo veteran) and his crewmate Bob Crippen took
Columbia on a successful two-day mission to check out the Space Shuttle (or in NASA lingo, orbiter) and see how it worked.
Even though there were several problems to fix (the toilet didn't work as it should, and more heat shield tiles came off then should have), everyone decreed the mission a success as Young and Crippen landed at Edwards Air Force Base on April 14, 1981. Notice in the above picture that
STS-1 was one of the few missions to have a white External Tank (the big rocket in the middle). Later the decision was made to not paint the External Tank white, or any color for that matter, to reduce weight.
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| Yuri Gagarin |
Fifty years ago, mankind lifted off for the first time. Really, he did! Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic flight, leading mankind into the realm called space for the first time. On April 12, 1961 Gagarin soared into space, launched from the Soviets' Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and secured his place in history as the first person in space. (see below video for footage of Gagarin's launch.) For about two hours Gagarin experienced spaceflight in his tiny
Vostok 1 spacecraft, and just less than two hours later found him safe on Russian soil. Meeting a Soviet farmer and his daughter, Gagarin had to convince them that he was not to be feared, and that they had just met the world's first spaceman!
Of course you know the American reaction. Three weeks later, Alan Shepard rocketed into space and secured the title of First American in Space, though originally that was not the one he had wanted.
Today surely is a rich day in space history.
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