Thread by @NASAhistory, “Poyekhali!” (Let's go!) #OTD in 1961, USSR cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the [...]

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NASAhistory

“Poyekhali!” (Let's go!)

#OTD in 1961, USSR cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space after being launched aboard his Vostok 1 spacecraft! His flight began a new era of human spaceflight and escalated the space race.

#FunFact: The Vostok spacecraft was designed to eject the cosmonaut at approximately 7 km (23,000 ft) and allow him to return to earth by parachute.

https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1961-012A

#60thAnniversary #HumansInSpace

#FunFact: The Vostok spacecraft was designed to eject the cosmonaut at approximately 7 km (23,000 ft) and allow him to return to earth by parachute. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1961-012A #60thAnniversary #HumansInSpace

What was the first food eaten in space?

Beef and liver paste, yum! Yuri Gagarin ate pureed meat out of an aluminum tube, followed by a tube of chocolate sauce for dessert!

#60thAnniversary #HumansInSpace

[Image: Tube of beef/vegetables from Project Mercury. @airandspace]

There is both a crater on the Moon and an asteroid named for Yuri Gagarin! The crater is around 265 km (~165 miles) in diameter, and the asteroid, 1772 Gagarin, lies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

#60thAnniversary #HumansInSpace

Gagarin wrote a letter to his wife before he left, saying that he probably wouldn't make it back home, but that he loved her and their two girls. Luckily, it was left unopened, and his wife found it upon his return.

#60thAnniversary #HumansInSpace
Image: @airandspace

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