Vostok 1Spacecraft:3KA-3 Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8K72 Launched: 12 Apr 1961 |
Prime Crew |
Description: 1st Vostok 3KA SL-3 manned orbital |
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Yu A Gagarin 
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Backup Crew |
G S Titov
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| Duration: 0.0750 days
Decay Date: 1961-04-12 USAF Sat Cat: 103 COSPAR: 1961-Mu-1 Apogee: 315 km (195 mi) Perigee: 169 km (105 mi) Inclination: 65.0000 deg Period: 89.30 min First manned spaceflight, one orbit of the earth. Three press releases were prepared, one for success, two for failures. It was only known ten minutes after burnout, 25 minutes after launch, if a stable orbit had been achieved. The payload included life-support equipment and radio and television to relay information on the condition of the pilot. The flight was automated; Gagarin's controls were locked to prevent him from taking control of the ship. The combination to unlock the controls was available in a sealed envelope in case it became necessary to take control in an emergency. After retrofire, the service module remained attached to the Sharik reentry sphere by a wire bundle. The joined craft went through wild gyrations at the beginning of re-entry, before the wires burned through. The Sharik, as it was designed to do, then naturally reached aerodynamic equilibrium with the heat shield positioned correctly. The pilot ejected after re-entry and descended under his own parachute, as was planned. However for many years the Soviet Union denied this, because the flight would not have been recognized for various FAI world records unless the pilot had accompanied his craft to a landing. The mission insignia shown above is post factum. References:
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